A Sonnet on the Occasion of the Call for Communing with the Eels of the Sumida Aquarium
by Gabriel Graetz, in the style of John Donne
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For thou, o slender, dappled, furtive things,
And for the gladness of this wicked earth,
Will I, as doves on heaven-mounting wings,
Spring up and prove my specie’s doubtful worth.
Fear not the face of man, nor fly his speech,
As all do dote and praise thy sinuous charms,
And merely wish, as humble pilgrims each,
That thou couldst give embrace with absent arms.
Perchance thou see’st the cruelty of man’s deeds,
His coldness, hardness, vanity and spite,
How truth and kindness not one wise man heeds,
While perjury and folly breed delight.
But, gentle friends, think not that all our kind
Be brutes who only gold and rule desire,
For many hold a kinder, clearer mind,
And wish for peace and charity entire.
Then, as my face to yours stands plain and clear,
Remember this: ’tis love that conquers fear.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/01/japanese-aquarium-urges-public-to-video-chat-eels-who-are-forgetting-humans-exist