Biden Defeats Trump

I tend to dislike politicians, and I think the country is still a big dumpster fire, but we shouldn't blame this on Seamus Heaney:

History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

If people want to quote these lines, then hurray! They're terrific lines. They're from "The Cure at Troy," about the Trojan War. The speaker is saying: History teaches us not to be optimists. Even so, there are occasions in a life when justice wins, and the win is like a tidal wave; the sense of triumph is overpowering.

The lines of verse have several nice features. Life is merely "this side of the grave." Justice is like a tsunami, rare and memorable. My favorite part: "Hope" and "history" can rhyme. These two "h" words--so different, so far from rhyming--can, occasionally, become a "hat"/"cat" pair. The weirdness of that idea matches the weirdness of a crafty villain's loss. Form matches content. Sometimes, two and two is five.

Maybe Jill will review these points, on television, next week.

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