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-The labor of Sisyphus-
by Ashok Sharda
The labor of Sisyphus
Condemned to carry a rock
On to the steep mountain
The rock falling back again
And again.
With the courage
Imbibed with passion and pain
Fully aware of the absurdity
And the labor in vain
OÂ’ Sisyphus
You kept on climbing, unceasingly
Again and again.
Not unlike yours, I too
Know my destiny
I am bound to fall back again
With the burden I am carrying
Of odd situations
And the laws barricading my path
The gods of paradise do not want me back.
But I shall continue to climb
Aware of the absurdity of this human fate
On to the steep pathless rocky path
Of joy beauty and love.
OÂ’ Sisyphus!
The love gives me courage.
04/26/2004 Author's Note: The Sisyphus was condemned by the Gods, for stealing their secrets, to carry a rock to the top of a mountain, where in the rock would fall back, again and again, of its own weight.
His scorn of the Gods, his hatred of death and his passion for life won him this dreadful penalty where in the whole being is bound to exert in this absurd nothingness. This is the price he must pay for defying the God.
His torment has no end, nor his suffering, nor the end of his absurd labor. And this is what makes him more aware, more conscious. This is what provides him solace. This is what makes him ALIVE. He is powerless but rebellious. And he derives these energies from his passion for this life.
“Happiness and absurd are two sons of the same earth,” says Albert Camus.
“ I conclude that all is well,” says Oedipus. In the beginning Oedipus obeys the fate without knowing. The moment he becomes aware of the fate taking its own course, his tragedy begins. Yet, despite the gloom, blind and desperate, he realizes that the only bond linking him to the world is the cool hand of a girl. “ Despite so many ordeals, my advanced age and nobility of my soul makes me conclude that all is well”
“I conclude all is well” says Oedipus and adds Camus-“ and this remark is sacred. It echoes in the wild and limited universe of man. It teaches that all is not, has not been exhausted. It drives out of this world a God who had come into its with dissatisfaction and a preference for futile suffering. It makes of fate a human matter, which must be settled among men. If there is a personal fate, there is no higher destiny, or at least there is, but one, which Sisyphus concludes, is inevitable and despicable. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy. “
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The only course left open is to defy the Gods, even if it’s absurd. Sisyphus does this knowing the absurdity of the hopeless labor.
I cannot but completely identify with this myth of Sisyphus. This is as real to me as real my life is.
Posted on 04/26/2004
Copyright © 2024 Ashok Sharda
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by JD Clay on 04/26/04 at 03:18 AM The precept of man lies in the ability to record history, whereby learning from his fellow and professor, but slavery went out with Lincoln. Our labors do not go unrequited either, Ashok, because of the beauty, love, and joy in which you speak. And your reflective poetry finds a multitude of praise in the same. Now where did you want that road?
Pe4ce... |
| Posted by Michele Schottelkorb on 04/26/04 at 02:10 PM ashok, i believe there are some people that have an orb of light surrounding their being... this does not mean that they are always happy and content... but their mind is of light and good... you possess such an orb... and you know of which the burden you carry---MUST carry... you have written eloquently of it here... the comparison of yourself to Sisyphus is one of the best analogies of a human to a mythological being i have yet to come across... i would imagine that with the many that you take under your wing, with the myriad of issues their souls present, it would feel like a rock... yet, you continue, driven by the sheer presence of: Love... you are truly a good man... and we know it and are grateful... blessings, dear ashok... in light and beyond... |
| Posted by Anne Engelen on 04/27/04 at 05:27 AM There are a couple poets on here who's words leave me lost for some of my own. And who's poetry is just to be taken in and by doing so it's altering, nurishing and sometimes underlining my own vision. Your words my friend are eye openers for the soul. |
| Posted by Michelle Angelini on 04/27/04 at 06:08 AM I love Greek mythology and the legends and stories about the gods. Wonderful poem. I don't know Latin, but am aware of word origins and linguistics, another of my interests. Maybe Plato believed that a writer had to be slightly of of his mind to write poetry, but you sure seem to have defied that description. |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 04/27/04 at 11:41 AM
A most singularly engrossing poem! Yet, its message is very troubling. The purpose of living is to be purposeless other than being rebellious? The thought that Love only takes us through more suffering to suffer again and again just to suffer is beyond my comprehension or acceptance!
For me, Ashok, because Christ suffered purposefully I can endure suffering. Because Christ loved beyond measure, I too can love beyond measure; assured in that Love that there is not an endless travail but a Peace and Joy with Christ endlessly. That is my faith, that is my hope. That brings me satisfaction and joy in spite of suffering, it is beyond rebelling, or resignation. It is full of purpose--an everlasting goal of peace, harmony, and love--to worship without hindrance or lack our Creator, Savior, God! |
| Posted by Mara Meade on 04/27/04 at 05:33 PM Full of passion and intent. Regardless of what we are called to do, regardless of what we KNOW, we press on. Ashok, this is inspiring. |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 04/28/04 at 02:25 AM As a mere mortal, often feeling myself as a plaything for gods or God, I can strongly relate to most of this. Fascinating update to myth. |
| Posted by Glenn Currier on 04/28/04 at 01:25 PM The god pathos led me to your poem this morning... for yesterday was one of those days I kept falling back and the rocks on me... all over me... almost covering me up... So, thanks my friend for this connection I needed today to start back up that mountain and to do it in Love. |
| Posted by Jeanne Marie Hoffman on 04/29/04 at 02:15 PM This brings up a lot of interesting points. Sometimes I wonder what is life and living if we are all just following routine -- it seems as if as soon as something is accomplished, something else goes wrong. But it is these things that cause use to become impassioned and cause us to strive for greater things |
| Posted by Graeme Fielden on 05/01/04 at 02:33 AM As so many fables tell, it's the path walked rather than the destination that's important...you can walk endless paths over the same cobblestones - over & over - yet do you realize that each is a different path? Realization brings enlightenment...Keep walking my friend :) |
| Posted by Alison McKenzie on 05/07/04 at 04:12 PM But what is added to Sisyphus' understanding as he makes the trek up the hill again and again? How are his thoughts expanded when he is sentenced to such a mindless life? I hear you saying his thoughts (or rather his growth) are expanded greatly despite the absurdity of the task at hand....a sort of hellish ground hog day (in reference to the modern day movie)in which one is given a bizarre freedom to discover in the repetition of the mundance what others miss in their chaos. I'm VERY glad I ingested your words today. |
| Posted by George Hoerner on 05/25/09 at 01:53 PM And so many don't even see the absurdity, and as a result miss one of the greatest acknowledgements of human existence, the simplest of chance occurrences that produced life doomed to die when the universe expires. A great write sir. Some day the universe will come crashing down and everything will return to its primal existence. At that time we shall be one. |
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