Analysis of FOOLISH FOOL
Barry Green Jr 1973 (Florida)
"How is it" asks the 'wise' man, "that you see
Hope in a man dead on an ancient tree?
We must make things better alone
We have no sin to atone "
"Make families secure and crime will end
The killer kills 'cause he has no friend
No one to love him, no way to learn
So in violence attention he'll earn"
"Your own morality is based in fear
So you watch what you say, do, and hear
But Man has no higher intellect than his
And thus Man need never do this"
"We are the end product of evolution
There is simply no other viable solution
Except this one I find rather odd
A Higher Being, an Almighty God"
The Preacher answered, "How do you love the killer
Or the rapist, adulterers, thief, or stealer
If you have no morality to call upon?
Without morals all reasons are gone
"Indeed without morals, what is love?
What it contain, what's it made of?
Christ teaches us to love and turn the other cheek
A message to make the strong outta the weak"
"My morality is based in love, not fear
Out of love I guard my mouth, eye, and ear
I love a Power greater than mine
And that, my friend, is man's greatest find"
"Darwin posed a theory;you call a fact
On an idea you think and act
I believe that in one accord
All evidence points to the Lord!"
The 'wise' man sat, deep in thought
" Fanantics are the end of all religions taught
Science and reason must hold sway
Not these myths and superstitions you pray"
"For man to make the next leap of evolution
Reason must rule,the end of myth and intuition
Man is a rational being of intelligent mind
We must leave religions far behind"
"For how can God exist with evil all around?
Why does He not utter a sound?
Pollution and war threaten the earth
Man is the only option of worth!"
The preacher answered in this way
" Fanatics often come the other way
A blind faith in the unerring accuracies of the mind
Can cause even a reasonable man to be blind"
" What is the evil you speak?
Is that not a myth that peeks
Past the walls of rational?
Can't be both ways, one will fall"
"The ultimate meaning you search
Is known in the humblest church
Every child in Sunday School knows
That Jesus died, and then He Rose!"
The 'wise man said, "You're a fool
A hack, a pawn, a religious tool
I have nothing left to say!"
The 'wise' man stalked away
Many years went by
Both men die
And again they meet
Before the Judge's Seat
To the Preacher the Lord said
"Oh welcome pilgrim; Spirit led
To come before the Throne
Enter your rest, your sin I atone"
The Preacher entered the Gate
Not once did he hesitate
To acknowledge through Christ, not man
Did he enter this Promise Land
To the 'wise man the Lord said
"Oh you damned sorrowful dead
I cried to you from this very Throne
Yet you choose to pay the price alone!"
And the 'wise' man fell
Into the deepest Hell
Fell into damnation's fuel
Fell he, the foolish fool
AMEN
Scheme | AABB CCDD EFXX GGHH IIXX JJKK EFXL MMNN OOPP GGLL QQRR PPLL KXSX TTUU VVPP WWXX YYBB ZZXX YYBB 1 1 SVX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111011111 1001111101 11111001 1111101 1100010111 010111111 111111111 1010001011 1101001101 111111101 1111101011 01111011 1101101010 1110110100010 011111101 0101010101 010101111010 101001001110 111101001101 011011011 010110111 11011111 110111010101 01011011001 10100110111 1111111101 110101011 011111101 10101101 110101101 10110101 11001101 0111101 1101110101 10010111 111001011 11110111010 10111110010 11010010101001 111010101 111101110101 11111001 010011001 110101011 01010011 0101010101 0110011000101 1110010001111 1101011 1110111 1011100 1111111 01001011 11001001 10010111 11010111 0111101 010100101 1110111 011101 10111 111 00111 010101 1010011 11010101 110101 101111101 0101001 111110 10101111 11101101 1011011 1111001 111111101 111110101 00111 010101 101110 110101 01 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,873 |
Words | 597 |
Sentences | 14 |
Stanzas | 20 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5 |
Lines Amount | 81 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 109 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 27 |
About this poem
Psalm 14 1 The fool a says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
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"FOOLISH FOOL" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 31 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/183550/foolish-fool>.
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