20th June 2016 - Questions from A Worker Who Reads - Bertold Brecht

[LauraT]

Who built Thebes of the seven gates?
In the books you will find the name of kings.
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?
And Babylon, many times demolished.
Who raised it up so many times? In what houses
Of gold-glittering Lima did the builders live?
Where, the evening that the Wall of China was finished
Did the masons go? Great Rome
Is full of triumphal arches. Who erected them? Over whom
Did the Caesars triumph? Had Byzantium, much praised in song,
Only palaces for its inhabitants? Even in fabled Atlantis
The night the ocean engulfed it
The drowning still bawled for their slaves.

The young Alexander conquered India.
Was he alone?
Caesar beat the Gauls.
Did he not have even a cook with him?
Philip of Spain wept when his armada
Went down. Was he the only one to weep?
Frederick the Second won the Seven Years' War. Who
Else won it?

Every page a victory.
Who cooked the feast for the victors?
Every ten years a great man.
Who paid the bill?

So many reports.
So many questions.

[LauraT]

This is how I see the History, the one with capital H.
I've loved this "didascalic" poem since I was in school ...

[[deleted user]]

Great choice, Laura. I'm a huge fan of Brecht. The theme really hits home with me. Well done!

[Gill]

An excellent poem, Laura. Thanks.

[Leslie]

I love this! Thanks so much for sharing it Laura.

[Alannah]

Excellent poem Laura, thanks for sharing it.

[Greg]

Oops, I just saw this posting; sorry for posting so late.

This poem is so true Laura, very thought provoking. History is written as though it's the leaders that matter, but without everyone else, there'd be no history to write!!

[LauraT]

Thanks all. Greg this is exactly what I think