Original Lyrics Based on Classic Works Read in the University of Chicago Basic Program
(first printed as The Incompleat Gargoyle)
(c) Joan D. Levin, 2002
OK to copy my work for personal use – but not for sale – but hey, who would lay out cash for this anyway?
And, nota bene, the very title "The Incompleat Gargoyle" was shamelessly lifted from "The Compleat Gargoyle," with information about the University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies, the home of this wonderful course!
https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu
And, nota bene, the very title "The Incompleat Gargoyle" was shamelessly lifted from "The Compleat Gargoyle," with information about the University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies, the home of this wonderful course!
https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu
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Here is the building where we spent each Wednesday morning from September, 1998 through June 2002, immersed in the Great Books, through the Basic Program of the University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies.
In the great tradition of our esteemed landlord, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, we had no windows in our downtown Gleacher Center basement classrooms.
Yet we enjoyed an unsurpassed view of the world through the eyes of some of the greatest minds of every age.
Yet we enjoyed an unsurpassed view of the world through the eyes of some of the greatest minds of every age.
.
So now we can turn a new page.
Having completed this part of the journey together, we may move on to more adventures of the mind in Graham School graduate programs in this same place!
See you soon!
Having completed this part of the journey together, we may move on to more adventures of the mind in Graham School graduate programs in this same place!
See you soon!
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---- Well, not exactly a Yearbook, Folks, but ---
The Complete “Basic Verses” of Joan Levin
Slightly Expurgated; Nicely Bound and Gagged!
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| Don't confuse me with Athena! She's the one with the nifty helmet! |
Dedicated to my Basic Program Classmates and Teachers in the Wednesday Morning Section at Gleacher Center, September 1997 through June 2002.
I hope these verses bring back pleasant memories of our four years together. It was wonderful to explore these classics with you!
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These verses are mostly what I scribbled the margins and flyleaves of my books during class, with a few changes here and there. During our first year, my Muse rested on her couch, eating chocolates and watching soaps. She arose during our second year, and really got going in the third year. By our fourth year she became quite manic and was feeding me lines as fast as I could write them down! (Maybe I shouldn’t have given her that cell phone!)
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Early in our Second Year I was impressed by the advantages the Greek gods enjoyed, and chief among these – immortality!
General Immortality on Olympus;
Tune: Dixie
Oh, I wish I lived on Olympus’ heights,
Where all the Gods have all the rights,
They survive, alive, and never go as we go!
The Greeks and Trojans, moderns too,
Make wars that wipe out me and you,
They bleed, birds feed, but mainly wars feed egos!
So I wish I were immortal! Today! Today!
The Gods can stand on shifting sand,
While we storm Hades’ portal!
Survive! Alive! It pays to be immortal!
Survive! Alive! It pays to be immortal!
In Plato’s Republic we read about The Hamlet, that simple village far from the demands of the busy city-state (and its unhealthful diet), where we could live quietly as artisans.
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Second Year, Second Quarter.
In Homer’s Odyssey, we learned how Penelope, faithfully awaiting Odysseus’ return, was obliged to encourage prospective suitors in order to protect her son, Telemachus. She housed them and fed them fine meals, and said she would choose one to marry when she finished her weaving. But each night she ripped out that day’s work to delay the time when she might have to marry one of them. And here is what these unwanted guests sang to Penelope!
Tune: Your lips tell me no no, but there’s yes yes in your eyes!
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Your loom tells us no no,
But there’s yes yes in your pies –
While you’re ripping your weaving,
You’ve served food praised to the skies –
You’re the hostess with the mostest,
While Ulysses sails the foam –
While your loom tells us no no,
It’s yes yes in your home!
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In Plato’s Republic we read about The Hamlet, that simple village far from the demands of the busy city-state (and its unhealthful diet), where we could live quietly as artisans.
*********
Tune: I’ll take Manhattan
I’ll take the hamlet,
The healthy hamlet, where life’s swell –
The fevered state is hell, I know!
I love the hamlet,
Where I can sit and watch grass grow,
It’s all so quiet, you know,
I’ll just make shoes and sew,
And scorn the nouveau –
The fevered state is,
A hotbed of philosophy,
It’s got more books than I can bear –
I’ll never be one of the elites,
And I only get fat on sweets,
I’ll take the Hamlet,
And Basic Program there!
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In the Third Quarter of our Second Year we read Antigone. I thought it would make a great musical comedy, so here is the first act closer for ANTIGONE!, a musical comedy based on her truncated life! It would be sung by Antigone, in Euripedes’ play, as she prepares to bury her brother Polynieces, in contravention of her Uncle Creon’s orders not to do so, under pain of being sealed in a cave. We talked about the difference between “deontological” and “teleological” asking whether we follow orders because they are simply ordained from on high, or because we will derive some practical benefit.
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He’s Getting Buried in the Morning!
Tune: I’m Getting Married in the Morning!
He’s getting buried in the morning;
Creon is gonna rant and rave;
Deontological? Or Teleological?
I’ll think about that in the cave!
Playwrights will rush to tell my story.
Students will ask if I were brave –
Or simply mulish! Gosh, was I foolish?
I’ll think about that in the cave!
No food to eat! No light, no heat!
It will be dark and dank, no one to save!
But someday my name will live in glory,
Gold stones of fame my path will pave!
No more earthly tricks; I’ll soon cross the Styx!
I’ll think about that in the cave!
Oh yes I'm sure to think about that in the cave!
Oh yes I'm sure to think about that in the cave!
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| Can you say: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix?" YES |
During this same Third Quarter of our Second Year, Lyric Poetry with Aditya Adarkar was a font of inspiration. Nearly every poem cried for a response!
One of these, in my opinion, was Andrew Marvell's poem To His Coy Mistress, a rather long poem which you can read here:
One of these, in my opinion, was Andrew Marvell's poem To His Coy Mistress, a rather long poem which you can read here:
*********
You’re pouring wine to fill my cup,
And telling me to give it up?
Well think it over, ‘cause I see,
You’ll soon be stepping out on me.
You gave me lots of tacky things,
With others waiting in the wings;
Of passing hours you make rhyme,
But it all comes to “making time!”
Virginity may be a bore,
But it’s not your biz, so there’s the door!
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As we read Lyric Poetry, we were each asked to bring in a favorite poem to read. Mark McNary read Jorge Luis Borges’ poem, Alexander Selkirk. Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721) was the real-life model for Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. Read more about him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Selkirk
The Borges poem is a sonnet (abba, cddc, eeffgg), written in Spanish and translated into English. It is about what a sailor’s life is like when he returns home from his adventures at sea. I liked this poem a lot, so I am including here the original Spanish poem, the English translation, and then my own parody!
The Borges poem is a sonnet (abba, cddc, eeffgg), written in Spanish and translated into English. It is about what a sailor’s life is like when he returns home from his adventures at sea. I liked this poem a lot, so I am including here the original Spanish poem, the English translation, and then my own parody!
Alexander Selkirk – by Jorge Luis Borges
Sueño que el mar, el mar aquél, me encierra
Y del sueño me salvan las campanas
De Dios, que santifican las mañanas
De estos intimos campos de Ingleterra.
Cinco años padeci mirando eternas
Cosas de soledad y de infinito,
Que ahora son esa historia que repito,
Ya como una obsession, en las tabernas.
Dios me ha devuelto al mondo de los hombres,
A espejos, puertas, números y nombres,
Y ya no soy aquél que eternamente
Miraba el mar y su profunda estepa
¿Y cómo hare para que ese otro sepa
Que estoy aquí, salvado, entre mi gente?
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I dream the sea, that sea, surrounding me,
And from the dream I’m rescued by the bells
Of God, which bless and sanctify the mornings
Of those domesticated English fields.
Five years I suffered, looking at eternal
Images of infinity and solitude,
Which have become that story I repeat
Now like an obsession, in the pubs.
God has returned me to the world of men,
To mirrors and doors and numbers and names,
And I am no longer he who eternally
Looked at the sea and its deep barren plain.
But now what shall I do so it may find
That I am here, and safe, among my kind?
Translator: Stephen Kessler
(I wrote the following sonnet in honor of our Second Year Completion Ceremony, May, 2000.)
Here is my parody following the abba, cddc, eeffgg rhyme scheme of the Spanish sonnet:
Alexander Selkirk sailed back home,
To England, where he didn’t have a job.
At pubs o’er beer and skittles he’d hobnob,
And tell the folks of long days on the foam.
But in a while, each Harry, Dick and Tom,
Found Alex’ chatter easy to forget,
Today he likes to tell tales on the net.
You’ll find him now at Robinson-dot-com!
He’s selling hiking boots, mosquito hoods;
A full line of survival camping goods,
And fishhooks made of sharpened high-tech steel,
To capture everything from shark to eel.
So when folks tire of your elocution –
A web-based income stream’s the best solution!
Dedicated to Mark McNary with thanks for introducing us to this fine poem!
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(I wrote the following sonnet in honor of our Second Year Completion Ceremony, May, 2000.)
A Sonnet for the Wednesday Morning Regulars!
Growing older we avert decay,
With Basic Program prodding every week.
We exercise our minds and thus delay,
Brain rot. Even though our memories leak,
We don’t forget our Wednesday morning class,
Where Homer, Rousseau, and Euripides,
Shakespeare, Locke and Aristotle pass,
In steady march. We’re busier than bees,
‘Midst flowers in a literary yard,
Filling up our mental hives with honey,
Sometimes cloudy, sticky, downright hard,
Sometimes clear and smooth and sweetly runny!
Though Basic Program won’t cool aging’s jets,
It helps that process be good as it gets!
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| We celebrated our Second Year Graduation! Here we are! Adam, Aditya, Diana, Greg, Ina and me, Joan |
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In our Third Year we read Pascal’s Pensées and Montaigne’s Essays.
We learned that Montaigne was the Mayor of the town of Burgundy when he wrote these, and our instructor Amy told us – and this is a direct quote from Amy – that he was “the very model of a moral anthropologist.” Previously we had been discussing the “Learned Virgins” mentioned by Pascal. So here's the song!
(I never finished this – so maybe someone else would like to do so! I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to it. Regard it as you would Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, or Mozart’s Requiem!)
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I am the very Model of a Moral Anthropologist.
Tune: I am the very model of a Modern Major General from Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.
I am the very model of a moral anthropologist,
Eschewing learned virgins who are only waiting to be kissed,
With pleasures incorruptible, I’m toiling in my lonely room,
I’ve left behind the noisy world, and taken up my pen in gloom.
[Here is where it needs work!]
I’m thinking this and thinking that and thinking just like Aristotle,
My Burgundy is of the sort that cannot be kept in a bottle,
In idleness I lose the gist; when writing essays I can’t miss,
I am the very model of a moral anthropologist!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Second Quarter of the Third Year we read Dante's Inferno. This song is one of my personal favorites!
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In the Second Quarter of the Third Year we read Dante's Inferno. This song is one of my personal favorites!
Dante’s Inferno -- Tune: Windmills of your Mind -- theme from the ’60s version of movie “The Thomas Crown Affair.” (This follows the pattern of the two verses -- there is a very long trailing chorus that I didn't even try to complete.)
Down!
Past philosophers and infants as they do their limbo dance,
Past the glutton eating mutton never leaving meals to chance,
Past the foolish and the selfish, past the one who offs himself,
Past the pimps and the seducers who would sell their wives for pelf,
Past the folks who steal your wallet, past the folks who steal your trust,
Past the flattering bullshitters (Hold your nose here with disgust),
And we tarry, if we must, in that special place for lust!
Down!
Join the fraudulent and faithless, feel the flames against your skin,
You are paid your daily wages, compensation for your sin,
The Inferno is awaiting, all the haves and the have-nots,
Alighieri paints the picture, you can just connect the dots,
When you saw that you were falling did you try to make amends,
Or was rising back to sunshine simply giving you the bends,
As you lingered in the spell, of a hard day’s night in Hell!
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We noted the difference in how men and women are treated in literature and the classics – here, in particular, in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, where everyone’s nose was out of joint because Clytemnestra had whacked Agamemnon in the bathtub, but no one blinked an eyelash when huge wars killed zillions of people all because of that eye-candy Helen or some young thing to whom Menelaus had taken a liking.
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It’s a Man’s Man’s World
Tune: It's a small, small world
Oh if you’re a queen and your hubby strays,
And you wipe him out, you'll be damned always,
But if you are a male in a classical tale,
You can make great nations fall!
It's a man's world after all, it's a man's world after all,
You can send ships to sea to avenge cuckoldry,
It's a man's, man's world!
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When we read the Confessions of St. Augustine, as with Antigone, I thought this would be a great musical comedy.
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First Act Closer for “AUGUSTINE!”
Tune: Chorus of “I Can’t Say NO” from Oklahoma!
I’ll be a Saint ‘cause I said “No!”
Though in my youth I said “Yes!”
Sinning will simply have to go,
As I confess and confess!
First I tried to join the Manichees,
But their abstention warn’t my cup of tea,
Mother Church then brought me to my knees,
I’m good to Her and She’s so good to ME!
One night, that light lit up my room,
I saw it, and thought I would faint!
Now sex seems silly and quaint!
I’ll be a celibate saint!
‘Cause I SAID NO!
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And sometime around then – wasn’t it in the Confessions of St. Augustine – or where was it – we got to talking about psychiatry, and this led to someone mentioning how Freud had a colleague named Fliess (I'm not sure how to spell this but it was pronounced "fleece") who had this idea that women's sexuality was involved with the inside of their noses, and subjected women to horrendous nose surgery -- and it seems that Freud bought into that --
We didn’t get into this in class, but even today the principal local anesthetic for nasal surgery is topical cocaine – so maybe that’s how Freud got into THAT!
We didn’t get into this in class, but even today the principal local anesthetic for nasal surgery is topical cocaine – so maybe that’s how Freud got into THAT!
Freud:
His patients were dogged with neuroses,
Their gardens weren't coming up roses,
But Freud made his peace,
With a colleague named Fliess,
So the ladies could win by their noses.
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During the Third Year we read Descartes' Meditations. His proofs for the existence of God were a ripe field for parody! In constructing these proofs, Descartes explored his dreams, his ability to construct proofs, how being exists in will, the limitations of body, the fairness of God, etc., all in the service of logically proving the existence of God. Here are four songs about this.
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1) My Cheatin’ Mind – to be sung by Descartes, while meditating! – Spring, 2001.
Tune: Your Cheatin’ Heart
My cheatin’ mind, could drive me mad –
Are thoughts the same, as dreams I had?
And are my dreams, true as can be?
My cheatin’ mind’s confusin’ me!
Am I a construct? Or am I real?
I think; I am! It’s no big deal!
I’ll leave my senses, far behind,
This world ain’t cheatin’ on my mind!
_________________
Here are three more of those four songs inspired by Descartes Meditations, regarding his proofs of the existence of God.
_______________________
2) Tune: This World Is Not My Home (Gospel Hymn)
This world is not my home,
Cognition tales me hence,
I’m heading for a place,
That can’t be known by sense.
I’ve proved that God’s alive,
Don’t need no sights-sounds-smell,
All that’s left is my Creator,
And my own thoughts as well!
My thoughts, Exist!
And therefore God does too!
Can’t touch or taste or see,
And yet I know it’s true!
I’m leaving now; so long!
Don’t know what to expect –
But I’ll get by with proofs,
And my own intellect!
_____________________
3) Tune: Theme from Chorus Line
ONE winning combination,
Mind and body’s all it takes!
ONE quest for logical perfection,
With high philosophical stakes!
ONE day all folks will know,
Without a physical clue,
That I’ve proved the existence of:
You Know Who!
Body has limit and duration,
Knows the bounds of time and space,
But an infinite God will cut you a fair deal!
So --
Though you ignore or outvote me,
Argue, or even misquote me –
He’s for real!
__________________
4) Tune: I Got Plenty of Nothin’ from Porgy & Bess.
Oh I got plenty of nothin’
And that’s sufficient for me!
I’m real that’s true,
And if I like you,
I’ll will your existence too!
Now folks who think they are something,
They doubt the existence of God,
That powerful guy,
Who owns the sky,
And doesn’t have a bod –
Get’s my nod!
(No use denyin’!)
I’ll give you rock solid math,
Two plus two is four!
If that truth exists in my head,
Then you must agree,
God ain’t dead,
As some wise guy has said,
So please don’t be misled!
Now atheists ain’t got the story,
Their definitions are all in a mess –
But take my line, God’s in my mind,
And my mind don’t exist unless --
God’s a Yes! God’s a Yes!
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| Would you Like to Read Aquinas? YES! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the Third Year, Third Quarter, we read Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams. Here are three songs about the need to attend to dreams, the importance of not censoring thoughts, and the limitations of the constructs of modern life.
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1) You Gotta Cope with Your Unconscious
Tune: You Gotta Cross That Lonesome Valley (Folk Song)
You gotta cope with your unconscious,
So put that book back on the shelf.
Oh no one else can do it for you,
You must interpret for yourself!
Some say dreams are wish fulfillment –
Some say dreams can come from drugs
But I say dreams are a natural way,
To work out those daytime bugs!
So bring your dreams to deep analysis!
You’re sure to find great wisdom there!
But as you roam your mind’s vast palaces –
Don’t look for help from Medicare!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
2) This was inspired by Amy talking about “trains of thought” in connection with Freud on Dreams.
This Train will Tell your Story
Tune: This Train is Bound for Glory (Gospel Hymn)
This train will tell your story, this train –
Trains of thought both good and gory, this train!
This train, is fueled by dreaming
It’s derailed by conscious scheming,
Day and night, those thoughts are steaming on this train!
Don’t want no censors ridin’ this train!
Your dreams cannot be hidin’ on this train!
Sigmund made the first selections,
You can make your own connections –
All Aboard for dream inspections on this train!
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3. Freud also wrote about the problems of modern life, as compared with a pagan existence
Give me the Pagan Life!
Tune: Give me the Simple Life.
Civilization leaves every nation,
Mired in storm and strife.
Jewish or Christian, they both are missin’,
Give me the Pagan life!
Some like their prayin’ but they are strayin’
Far from my cutting knife,
I like my folks stronger, you can’t be wronger,
Without the Pagan life!
I really find my soul awakened,
By Grecian heroes and such,
Those Bible-thumpers are mistaken,
What do I think of them? Not much!
And did I mention, feelings of tension
Are better for man and wife.
So stop bellyaching, stop giving, start taking,
Groove on the Pagan life!
 YES! |
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In our Fourth Year, second Quarter, we read Euclid’s Propositions with Michaelangelo Alloca.
We studied Euclid’s geometric proofs, beginning with his definitions of points, planes, etc. While so doing, we were well nourished by wonderful bagels that Debby brought each week!
We studied Euclid’s geometric proofs, beginning with his definitions of points, planes, etc. While so doing, we were well nourished by wonderful bagels that Debby brought each week!
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So Many Points on my Plane
Tune: I Get a Kick out of You!
So many points on my plane,
So many points that they crowd into curves,
So my dieting’s simply in vain –
And now I’m a spherical plane!
I pick on any excuse,
I say a bagel is just partless points,
But I eat them and grow more obtuse,
So each day my scale brings bad news!
I’ve got a figure contained by boundaries,
That keep right on expanding –
My circumference has wandered so far from center,
It’s a wonder I’m still standing!
So here is my point, learn it well:
Euclid may teach it, but I just can’t reach it,
In my life there’s no parallel,
I guess I’m just square, truth to tell!
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In his Propositions, Euclid discusses the difference between “demonstrations” (empirical) and “proofs” (logical)
It has to be Proof
Tune: It Had to be You
It has to be proof,
Absolute proof,
For propositional queries,
Leading to theories,
That never go “Poof!”
If A equals B, in angles, you see,
Constructed the same,
Each figure you name,
Will have to agree!
Some theories we’ve heard,
Lead to the absurd,
Euclid proposes,
Then he disposes,
With just a brief word –
But with compass, straight-edge, and brain,
We do it again, again, and again,
With never a goof –
Then we’ve got proof –
Absolute Proof!
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Side Note: The Melancholy Minstrel, sung by Vaughn Monroe in the 50’s, was on the flip side of my 45 rpm record of the above song, and here’s a Euclidian version of that song:
The straight line makes its journey, from point to distant point,
Joined by an intersection (with equal-angled joints),
To its lover in the distance, another line so sweet,
But those two are parallel lines, so they’ll never, never meet!
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| Would you like another bagel? YES! |
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In the Third and last Quarter of our Fourth Year, we read the basic American Documents – including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers.
Our instructor, Zoe Eisenman, introduced herself, and told us about her dissertation on the role of hair growth and removal in ancient times. Our reading for that day was the Declaration of Independence.
Something pertaining to hair seemed appropriate, so here is a rendition of “Hair” from the 1960’s musical of that title!
Note: Your Editor is saddened to learn of the recent passing of James Rado who wrote the original lyrics for Hair. Read more about this talented lyricist at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Rado
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Here’s a great Declaration,
Spelling out emancipation.
From King George who just would not play fair!
We’ll give our explanation,
As we write this Declaration,
To assure freedom’s station,
For our population –
And we’ll swear,
Put it there!
Yes we dare!
And we all have long hair!
But natives, women and slaves,
May not ride freedom’s waves,
And most of us don’t even care!
We are male and we’re white,
And we’ll stay through the night,
In Philadelphia’s summer heat,
‘Til revolution’s drums beat –
And we’ll swear,
Put it there!
Yes we dare!
And we all have long hair!
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Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address brought to mind what detractors said of some of his views. This includes both angry and tempering thoughts. I considered omitting all or part of it, but decided to leave it all. You can be the judge!
Tune: Battle Hymn of the Republic
My eyes beheld the language of the Gettysburg Address,
And the words I read there moved me close to tears, I must confess,
But the more that I considered them,
I understood them less,
While those words kept marching on.
Chorus:
Of and by and for the people,
Shout it loud from every steeple,
Acts are dear, but words are cheap, still
Those words keep marching on!
Now this talk is quite a monument of elegant oration,
With its pointed parallels and àpropos alliteration,
But the speaker never said one word about emancipation,
While his words kept marching on!
Chorus [as above]
Soldiers went to rest at Gettysburg with honor they were due,
They had given full devotion in their uniforms of blue,
But the lynch mobs rode untrammeled, no one cared what they would do,
Only words kept marching on!
Chorus [as above]
Some folks think that Lincoln said “Lets send those slaves across the sea,
For they really shouldn’t stay here side by side with you and me.”
But he spoke of “birth of freedom” and “conceived in liberty.”
Yes his words kept marching on!
Four score and seven years before,
Some brilliant white men met,
And they hammered out some documents,
We never shall forget.
But it did not free most folks,
And there are repercussions yet,
While their words keep marching on.
Chorus [as above]
It won’t be long until the sesquicentennial celebration,
Of Lincoln’s long-remembered call for our rededication,
It is memorized by children in the schools across our nation,
Thus those words keep rolling on!
Chorus [as above]
Abe said: God wanted slavery to end without delay,
So He sent down thunderbolts of war to drive that scourge away.
And the Union re-elected Abe to bring about that day,
While his words went marching on!
Chorus [as above]
He said: Down with ugly malice here and up with charity,
We’ll bind up the nations wounds today from sea to shining sea,
Now I’m going out to see a play, Ford’s Theatre quite suits me,
But my words will still march on!
Chorus [as above]
We are struggling towards freedom,
When our grasp won’t meet our reach,
And we all can be inspired by,
A ringing, zinging speech.
Now the time has come to practice,
And no longer just to preach,
While Abe’s words go marching on!
Chorus:
Of and by and for the people,
Shout it loud from every steeple,
Acts are dear, but words are cheap, still
Those words keep marching on!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moving on to Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, we spoke about the role of inheritance, one’s parentage, in determining one’s station in the world, one’s work, etc. both before and after the Revolution.
____________________
Welcome to France
Tune: Summertime
Tune: Summertime
Bienvenu à France,
Where the monarchy’s booking*
Heads are dropping,
And emotions run high.
Oh your daddy’s poor,
And your mom lives by hooking,
But dear little French kid,
No need to cry!
One of these bonjours,
You’ll inherit the culture,
And you’ll rule the land,
And enjoy liberté,
So don’t cry “au secours!”**
You’ve shot down royal vultures,
So rich and poor will have:
Égalité!
___________________
*To book. Jazz musicians term for “depart” from the phrase “close the book.”
** Au secours! Help Help!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Burke discussed personal freedom and the right to do as one can for oneself, as long as one does not trespass on others.
**************
Tune: Don’t Fence Me In by Cole Porter:
Oh give me freedom to be just whatever’s in my line,
Just don’t take mine!
‘Cause we each have a chance to amass a fortune fine,
Just don’t take mine!
All this talk of equality goes just so far,
You can take the bus while I ride in my car,
I’ve earned my fine champagne,
While you must drink cheap wine, but –
Don’t take what’s mine!
Just give me stuff, lots of stuff, glorious stuff, all the treasures I can find,
I won’t play rough, if you know well enough What is yours and what is mine!
Now all the royals are gone,
To the very last Earl,
And each of us is a material boy or girl,
Getting my fair portion has my head a-whirl, So -- Don’t take what’s mine!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With instructor Ray Ciacci we read Plato’s Phaedo, about Socrates’ last day before drinking the hemlock. Here, in the proposed musical comedy “SOCRATES!” our hero explains why he will drink the lethal potion as ordered, rather than attempt to escape.
*********
Hemlock’s Sweeter than Wine
Tune: Kisses Sweeter than Wine
When I was convicted, my friends said to me,
“Oh Socrates, we’ll send you over the sea!
We’ve written down your words,
Just as good as on tape,
So please Father Socrates, make your escape!”
I said “Oh, No, Hemlock’s sweeter than wine!”
They said “You’ve been a gadfly, pricking the state,
And you’ve done it all without rancor or hate!
But they say you’ve spoofed the gods,
And laughed at libations –
And laughed at libations –
So why not take a little vacation?”
I said “Oh, No, Hemlock’s sweeter than wine!”
I said “I’m an Athenian, bred to the bone,
And this is the only place I’d call home!
I’ve thought it all over, examined my life,
(Without any visible help from my wife!)”
I said “Oh, No, Hemlock’s sweeter than wine!”
They said “Socrates, they’ve found you guilty of corruption!
But they’re wrong, so go on living without interruption!”
I said “No, the laws of Athens are reasonable and just,
So I’ll take the potion, as they say I must!”
I said “Oh, No, Hemlock’s sweeter than wine!”
“My words will not be lost like yesterday’s Play-Doh,
For they’ve all been recorded by my student Plato!
So please be assured, ere I pass through Death’s portal,
This is the way we will ALL be immortal!”
I said “Oh, no, Hemlock’s sweeter than wine!”
Oh, OH, Hemlock's sweeter than wine!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we began this study of Phaedo, Ray had us read another dialogue by Plato, Theatetus, in which Socrates likens himself to a midwife with her potions and incantations, not only in helping others give birth to good ideas, rather than useless fantasies, but also in matching people with thoughts appropriate to them. In the latter, he cited a lesser known role of the midwife, that of the matchmaker who keeps people from bad company, and, instead, joins them with those with whom they would produce good offspring.
*************
Socrates, Socrates, Make me a Match!
Tune: Matchmaker, Matchmaker from Fiddler on the Roof
Socrates, Socrates, make me a match!
Join me with thoughts, that I can catch!
Illumine my mind with ideas that are real,
Not phantoms I only feel!
Socrates, Socrates, bad company,
Can lead me astray, that I can see!
Keep me on track with your questions that show,
Where my errant thoughts must go!
You’ve said you’re a “Midwife of Reason”
With potions of high intellect,
And so, you are in this season,
The O-B-G-Y-N that I’d select!
Socrates, Socrates, I know you’re kind,
Please find the wisdom that hides in my mind,
You’re the Great Gardener of my arid patch,
Please cultivate me to match!
Please cultivate me to match!
 |
| Is the Soul Immortal? YES! |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On Socrates’ last day on earth Socrates conducted a discourse about the immortal soul, and the importance of eliminating distractions to find the purity of soul. These are from three songs with words that “sound like” soul!
****************
****************
Tune: O Sole Mio*
Que bella cosa,**
Watch me drink the potion
And find serenity, after stormy emotion!
I’m letting go now, but I’ve got the know-how,
To reach my goal: To be immortal soul!
(chorus)
My soul’s immortal! At end of day,
My body’s leaving, but here I’ll stay!
For when that final bell shall toll –
You’ll have me with you – Thanks to my soul!
* Oh my sun
**What a beautiful thing
**What a beautiful thing
_____________________________________
2) The Shoemaker Song (I Scarpini)
This was popular in the ‘50s Remember? (A shoe has a “sole!” Get it? – If you know it you can do the little “taps” in the right places!)
With my friends there I sat,
And I told them where it’s at,
So I tapped away,
On my last day!
I may die, but don’t cry,
Better yet that you should try,
To understand,
Why my soul is grand!
My body’s but a TEMPORAL machine,
It will soon be gone! You must carry on!
And though it is an ELEGANT machine,
It is my soul, that can rock and roll!
Chorus:
You must teach it to the others, brothers,
Keep tap-tapping on their minds!
That would surely be my druthers, brothers,
When I leave this world behind!
When I leave this world behind!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3) Only Soul!
Socrates impressed his friends with the importance of the soul, and the importance of eliminating distractions to the purity of soul. Here’s the Third “sounds like soul” song: “Soul” also sounds like “sole” meaning “unique, or only!”
Tune: Only You (as sung by the Platters – thanks, Pat!)
Only soul, will be my sole delight!
Soul is solely what’s within my sight,
Food and drink and clothing never leave me whole!
Even sex plays second fiddle to my soul!
Solely soul! But how with surety,
Will I reach my soul’s sole purity?
I’ll eliminate distractions to all thought,
Just as I ought!
‘Til I’ve reached my goal,
My sole delight, that’s soul!
_______________________________________
During the last five minutes or so of that class we spoke of how Plato had written of telling people in a cave that they were only looking at shadows. And just before that we had talked about tenured professors in academia.
*************
Find the Cave and Tell the People
Tune: Wake the Town and Tell the People
Find the cave and tell the people,
That it’s shadows on the wall,
One who takes that giant leap’ll
Never be afraid at all!
Some will leave the cave forever,
And march bravely to the light –
Others, darkness’ bonds won’t sever:
Tenured magisters of fright!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Continuing with Phaedo, we read that the soul is never destroyed. It may change form, but it never disappears. Socrates tells of the soul taking the form of bees, ants and wasps (all members of the insect order “hymenoptera.”)
***************
***************
Your Soul Just Won’t Stop Coming Back
Tune: You Keep Coming Back Like a Song [back to the ‘50s again!]
Your soul just won’t stop coming back.
That “Alien” keeps reappearing.
If you were a bee in a hole in a tree,
You could just morph into someone like me!
You may think you’re Jewish today,
But you might find WASP life endearing,
So don’t be afraid of hymenopterous attack,
It may be your soul coming back!
______________________________________
Continuing our exploration into the nature of the immortal soul, we read about how the body, glued to the soul, keeps the soul entrapped.
***************
***************
Tune: Please Release Me, Let Me Go!
Please, release me, I’m your soul!
Philosophy has the keys I know.
She takes me gently by the hand,
And leads me to a better land.
My body scorns both pain and pleasure,
For they ruin soul’s great treasure,
They rivet soul fast to the bod,
But soul’s true freedom gets my nod.
Like the loom of Odysseus’ wife,
Soul oscillates throughout our life,
‘Twixt the worldly and divine,
Till death displays that exit sign.
The swan, whose living songs are jokes,
Sounds like Tebaldi when she croaks,
She isn’t sad, as you might say,
For she can see beyond that day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ray introduced the analogy of a watch with a broken mainspring.
Tune: Jim Croce’s “If I could put time in a bottle.”
*************
If I could put time in a wristwatch,
When its worn out mainspring is shot,
I could easily solve the analogy Ray gives us,
Of soul, when the body is not.
If I could put soul back in body,
When earthly remains turn to dust,
I’d have cheered Socrates on his very last day,
When he had but one thin thread to trust.
But we never seem to know the way,
To bring them back together, once they separate.
So be philosophical, accepting the finality,
And don’t be irate!
When soul’s strength is gradually sinking,
When coma or other ill strikes,
You hardly know what one is thinking about,
So say something that he or she likes!
And where will our Socrates linger,
Secreted where nobody looks?
Or will his dear soul find its ultimate goal,
Consigned to our shelves full of books?
_________________________________
Socrates then likens soul to body, and body, in turn, to a worn cloak which after a time may no longer be replaced. Is this the end of the soul?
**********
Tune: This Old House.
This old cloak is worn and threadbare,
This old cloak has lost its cloth,
This old cloak has been a victim,
Of dirt, decay and moth.
But you may keep on renewing,
And acquiring brand new clothes,
‘Cause your soul keeps right on shopping,
Till the last boutique has closed.
Ain’t a gonna get new cloaks at some point,
When your credit card expires,
And someday that mythic tailor,
Is going to retire.
So keep grabbing those new garments,
And enjoy your earthly loot,
‘Cause someday you’ll meet your maker,
Dressed up in your birthday suit!
Dressed up in your birthday suit!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guided by Chris Sheppard, we learned about the River Lethe (“LAY-thee”) – the river of forgetting, and we learned the word “alethea” from “a” (not) and “lethe” (forgetting) – in other words, remembrance. This is important in reading Phaedo because Socrates offers as evidence of the existence of soul, its attribute of remembering things and qualities from a time before birth.
*************
Somewhere over the Lethe.
Tune: Somewhere over the Rainbow.
Somewhere over the Lethe,
Memories fly;
There we may recollect ideas,
That have gone bye-bye.
Things we thought we had learned,
We always knew;
For we’re born knowing bad from good,
And the false from true.
Because your soul has always been,
There isn't much it's not already knowing.
There isn't much it's not already knowing.
Someday you’ll see this logic rules,
And disbelief is just for fools,
And disbelief is just for fools,
While soul keeps right on going!
Sudden surges of insight, and recall,
Prove your soul is forever,
The ultimate know-it-all!
Prove your soul is forever,
The ultimate know-it-all!
If little recollections try,
To fill your mind,
You know your soul's no lie!
To fill your mind,
You know your soul's no lie!
So Much to Learn; So Little Time!
But What Wonderful Companions along the Way!!
 |
| George & Karen; Chris; Cindy; Diana listening; Diana reading; Pat, Ina, Samantha and Pete. |
Cynthia in happy contemplation; Mark and Diana in intense concentration; Duke in flawless administration; Ray in measured libation; Pat, Ina, Samantha and Pete in serious consideration; Pat in precise bagelification; Mel in deep contemplation; Joan and Mel in mutual admiration; Pat, Samantha and Pete in quiet anticipation!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
One Last Song to Sum it Up!
With Apologies to Frank Sinatra
-- June 15, 2002 – Our Way!
From Meno right through Phaedo, we have reached the final chapter,
We’ve truly been caught up in it, so some might call it rapture,
The doors that once were tightly shut, are now at least ajar, they--
Beckon still, so go we will, but do it Our Way!
We read of battles fought by Persia, Athens, Troy and Sparta,
And many over women who had won some warrior’s heart. A
Brave sailor made his way back home, despite temptations bar, say--
Just like him, we’d sink or swim, and do it Our Way!
Coda:
We traipsed along with Chaucer’s march,
We saw how King Lear lost his starch,
Sophocles, Euripedes,
And Aeschylus, all sure to please,
We’ve done it all, see you next fall!
Now summer’s Our Way!
Heroditus, Thucidides, made sense of conflicts gory,
Our leaders might learn from them, though Plutarch can’t tell their story.
Compare with Huck Finn, with no army, but he went a far way,
To use his freedom well; may this be Our Way!
Aristotle classified our politics and ethics,
And taught us how to measure the unmeasurable: aesthetics.
Smith and Marx explained world wealth, made, kept and lost the hard way,
Aquinas showed the source of law for Our Way!
Coda:
And many things have laws we know,
For Aristotle told us so,
Lucretius and Newton found this true,
And Kant said morals have laws too,
Don’t do what others should not do,
Just do it Our Way!
We saw Agamemnon’s, Oedipus’, and Creon’s kingly scheming,
And Freud showed how our own schemes find expression in our dreaming.
Darwin’s work elucidated how life changed to our day,
It was involved, but we evolved, and did it Our Way!
De Tocqueville, Montaigne, Descartes, Pascal, each of them a Frenchman,
While Augustine was once, and Tom Jones ever was, a wenchman.
Though mostly serious we would sometimes laugh the “har-har-har” way.
Could lyric poets find better rhymes with “Our Way?”
Coda:
We saw the house of Atreus’ flaws,
And folks who kept the Bible’s laws,
The epic poets told their tales,
Homer and Virgil never fail,
We’ve done it all, see you next fall!
Alumni, Our Way!
Rousseau wrote with life unfettered, we would never know gloom,
Virginia Woolf insisted every girl should have her own room,
Hobbes showed us a strong state, yes, his whale could swim a far way,
Let’s spurn the bad for good, Nietzsche’s not Our Way!
Some works were quite straightforward; others left us in confusion,
Where, like Euclidean triangles, we wallowed in obtusion,
But as we’ve learned, through difficulty, we ascend the star way,
“Ad astra per aspera,”* Yes, that’s Our Way!
Coda:
We read of revolution’s dance,
Both in our own land and in France,
We read the words that made us free,
That have transfigured you and me,
I’ll cop that line, because it’s fine,
And it was Our Way!
Shakespeare, Austen, Swift and Joyce, were on our endless list,
Alighieri, Machiavelli, well you get the gist!
Dostoevsky, worth rereading, in our up-to-par way,
Alumni Classes wait for us, on Our Way!
Coda:
“Crescat Scientia, Vita
Excolatur,”** you know that that means,
That knowledge is the great hurrah,
That cheers us onward to our dreams,
May wisdom, wealth and also health empower Our Ways!
*To the stars through difficulty
** Let knowledge increase that our lives may be enriched. A motto of the University of Chicago.
________________________________________
Note: If you want to sing along with Frankie be aware that his song “My Way” has Verse 1, Verse 2, Coda 1, Verse 3, Coda 2 -- just three verses and two codas. This song has 9 verses and 5 codas. See how much more you get for your money with the Basic Program!
Note on Note: Strictly speaking this isn’t a coda, but I don’t know what else to call it!
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| Claudia asks: "Would You Like to Read Ulysses?" YES!
With Thanks to our sensational Basic Program Instructors who led us to greater understanding and appreciation of so many timeless works, and who also (surely as an unintended by-product), inspired these verses!
Aditya Adarkar
Michaelangelo Alloca
George Anastaplo
Ray Ciacci
Zoë Eisenman
Claire Geiman
Elliott Krick
Robert Licht
Marissa Love
Gregg Osborne
Joel Rich
Adam Rose
Cynthia Rutz
Chris Sheppard
Charles Thomas-Elder
Amy Thomas-Elder
Claudia Traudt
And with Thanks to my fabulous Classmates who made Wednesday mornings times of endless delight!
Rosalie Bork
Diana Brown
Ina Burd
Samantha Burd
Mel Goodman
Debbie Hymanson
Mark McNary
Mary Olsen
Pete Ruel
Happy Trails!
Have a Great Summer!
See you in Alumni Classes!
Joan Levin
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