That sheep are sheep, and food for wolves or worse,
That cricketsong dies with the autumn sun,
In your eye summed up all the universe.
It would perplex you to see justice done.
But then, the Thracian bondsman’s bitter eye
Owes its sad prudence to life’s long abuse:
There’s runtish truth by rude strength left to lie
In its own blood, where strength is strength’s excuse;
Here lies the eagle from whose side once fell
A feather that one day made its return
Fledged to an arrow. It is no joy to tell
These savage things, the sober and and the stern
Rewards of servitude marked by the whip
From whose patterns your fables took their shapes.
Things sweeter lay too far for you to grip.
You were the fox who could not reach the grapes.
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The Imaginative Conservative is an online journal for those who seek the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. We address culture, liberal learning, politics, political economy, literature, the arts and the American Republic in the tradition of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Edmund Burke, Irving Babbitt, Wilhelm Roepke, Robert Nisbet, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, Eric Voegelin, Christopher Dawson, Paul Elmer More, and other leaders of Imaginative Conservatism. Some conservatives may look at the state of Western culture and the American Republic and see a huge dark cloud which seems ready to unleash a storm that may well wash away what we most treasure of our inherited ways. Others focus on the silver lining which may be found in the next generation of traditional conservatives who have been inspired by Dr. Kirk and his like. We hope that The Imaginative Conservative answers T.S. Eliot’s call to “redeem the time, redeem the dream.” The Imaginative Conservative offers to our families, our communities, and the Republic, a conservatism of hope, grace, charity, gratitude, and prayer.
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