Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Western Morality

Woman Reading
 
I see some women dressed in veils go by,
And next to them, some women barely dressed.
I contemplate this contrast, and ask why,
Our western girls are eager to divest.

Yet once our ladies were much better dressed,
They wore fine hats and clothes from head to toe.
They went to church decked in their Sunday best;
They walked with grace wherever they would go.

Those ladies knew their place and had respect,
For gentlemen and everyone around.
The men in turn, did honour and protect,
Those ladies, whose good name was safe and sound.

Detail of Dancing Couple from Le Bal a Bougival

What happened to this modesty and grace,
That ladies used to have in years gone by?
What evil has so cursed the human race,
That such fine female modesty should die?

The devil offered Woman that old fruit,
Of knowledge and of freedom and of power.
And since the sixties this has been the root,
Of decadence, the loss of Woman’s flower.

And just like Adam, Man must share the blame,
For he stood by inactive, when the flow,
Of sexual immorality became,
As filthy and as strong as we now know.

And some men, full of lust, to their delight,
Abuse the girls who think that they are free,
Who think that being equal is their right,
But equal to the worst that men can be.

Seated Woman with Bent Knee

Now chivalry and modesty are spurned,
As women prize equality and force;
And many noble gentlemen are burned,
As they encounter women tough and coarse.

I know that not all women are like this;
There are still modest ladies on this earth,
Who've never listened to the serpent’s hiss,
Who know their source of grace and inner worth.

Lighthouse Walk at Biarritz, c.1906

For God the loving Father made us pure,
All men and women special, not the same;
In His eyes, we are equal, to be sure.
Our holy lives will glorify His name.

Good Christian men and women, listen up!
Fulfill the role that God has given you.
And if you do, we shall all drink the cup,
Of love and joy and harmony anew.

– Emile Joseph

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Woman Reading
Claude Monet
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