Greatness Is Effect Far More than Cause

Music: Mathis der Maler: 2nd Movement (Grablegung)
By Paul Hindemith. Sequenced by David Siu at Kunst der Fuge.

Hear me read the poem: As a .wav file As an MP3 file Alpha List Epitaphs Name Poems Poems for Other Holidays Contents Home Copyright by Nicholas Gordon

Greatness is effect far more than cause. Each hero is the servant of his fate, On whom is laid the sacrificial weight Reserved for those who would heed higher laws. Given peace, I would have shunned applause, Electing to remain a farmer, great With long-gestating plans for my estate, A much-loved labor lost to much-loathed wars. So was I the father of a nation, Having given over life and love, Instrument of some far greater hand, Not by choice but of necessity. Glory was the means by which to fashion The myth that would a king’s replacement prove: Only I would do, and that demand Narrowed, deepened, scoured, chastened me.