Real Despair

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Wed Jan 3 18:00:26 PST 2001


Doug Henwood wrote:


>
>
> I'm assuming this is a typo for Despair, but I'm curious about the
> Capital - is this some Miltonic evocation, as in "Hail divinest
> Melancholy"?

Damned if I know! I guess it just seemed right at the time.

On the other hand, if one could imagine someone of real progressive politics still self-consciously committing him/herself to the Democratic

Party, the words of Satan on Mount Niphates are of some interest:

All hope excluded thus, behold instead

Of us outcast, exiled, his new delight,

Mankind created, and for him this world.

So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear,

Farewell remorse: all good to me is lost;

Evil be thou my good; by thee at least

Divided empire with heavn's king I hold . . . .

(PL 4, 105-11) Of course I can't imagine a Democrat with Satan's level of consciousness.

Carrol



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