Dark Brightness

Dr. Esolen offers a beautiful affirmation of what ought to be evident, but in our sadly skewed culture must be repeated again and again. I am reminded of a Shakespeare sonnet I often teach in my Intro to Lit classes, one which perhaps tells us why he valued chastity:

The expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Is lust in action; and till action, lust

Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,

Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;

Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight;

Past reason hunted; and no sooner had,

Past reason hated, as a swallowed bait,

On purpose laid to make the taker mad:

Mad in pursuit, and in possession so;

Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;

A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;

Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.

All this the world well knows; yet none knows well

To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

I shudder to think of how these plays must be visited at my state university alma mater now that the new wave of relativists and deconstructionists have almost total sway. Thanks for publishing this encouraging essay, the link to which will probably find its way to my students when we visit Shakespeare later this summer.

This is a comment from this essay. Worth reading in full.

ia Desires Run Not Before Honor | First Things.