ORWELL MATTERS, “A Little Poem” and … “Power is not a means. It’s an end.”

His impression on those of us raised in the 20th Century is indelible. We remembered him when Reagan adopted the language of the oligarchy, such as “Peace through strength.” Now, in this world where the President declares that he is free to “disagree with the facts” (Sean Spicer), we need him even more. The animals are truly running the farm.

THE POET BY DAY

George Orwell (1903-1950), BBC Photograph in the public domain, curtesy of Penguin Books, India

A LITTLE POEM

A happy vicar I might have been

Two hundred years ago

To preach upon eternal doom

And watch my walnuts grow;

But born, alas, in an evil time,

I missed that pleasant haven,

For the hair has grown on my upper lip

And the clergy are all clean-shaven.

And later still the times were good,

We were so easy to please,

We rocked our troubled thoughts to sleep

On the bosoms of the trees.

All ignorant we dared to own

The joys we now dissemble;

The greenfinch on the apple bough

Could make my enemies tremble.

But girl’s bellies and apricots,

Roach in a shaded stream,

Horses, ducks in flight at dawn,

All these are a dream.

It is forbidden to dream again;

We maim our joys or hide them:
Horses are made…

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