Miscellany #12 Money, poems by Philip Larkin and Robert Frost

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants - Epictetus

From the Editor

The poem reflects on the evolution of the human brain over millions of years and the development of societies over thousands of years. However, it highlights how everything has been reduced to a relentless pursuit of money and the influence it holds over relationships and hardships.

Money

Centuries passed, a human mind emerged,

Yet bound by the pursuit of wealth, it surged.

Societies arose, civilizations took hold,

But divisions formed by caste and riches, we behold.

Money dictates bonds, kinships it steers,

Hardships under its sway, fueling fears.

This is the world in which we reside,

Driven by money, a relentless tide.

Greed, an ancient companion we bear,

From the dawn of time, it's been our snare

Money by Philip Larkin

The poem "Money" by Philip Larkin reflects on the reproachful nature of money. The speaker is confronted by money, questioning why they let it lie idle when it could provide them with material possessions and pleasure.

Quarterly, is it, money reproaches me:

'Why do you let me lie here wastefully?

I am all you never had of goods and sex.

You could get them still by writing a few cheques.'

So I look at others, what they do with theirs:

They certainly don't keep it upstairs.

By now they've a second house and car and wife:

Clearly money has something to do with life.

-In fact, they've a lot in common, if you enquire:

You can't put off being young until you retire,

And however you bank your screw, the money you save

Won't in the end buy you more than a shave.

I listen to money singing. It's like looking down

From long French windows at a provincial town,

The slums, the canal, the churches ornate and mad

In the evening sun. It is intensely sad.

Money by Robert Frost

Robert Frost's poem "Money" was originally published in the 1936 edition of Poetry Magazine. It is part of Frost's collection called "Ten Mills," which consists of a series of concise and often humorous reflections on life. Within this poem, Frost offers a cautionary message against becoming overly preoccupied with money.

Never ask of money spent

Where the spender thinks it went.

Nobody was ever meant

To remember or invent

What he did with every cent.