Law
Laws, as we read in ancient sages,
Have been like cobwebs in all ages.
Cobwebs for little flies are spread,
And laws for little folks are made;
But if an insect of renown,
Hornet or beetle, wasp or drone,
Be caught in quest of sport or plunder,
The flimsy fetter flies in sunder.
poem by James Beattie
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The Wolf And Shepherds. A Fable
Laws, as we read in ancient sages,
Have been like cobwebs in all ages:
Cobwebs for little flies are spread,
And laws for little folks are made;
But if an insect of renown,
Hornet or beetle, wasp or drone,
Be caught in quest of sport or plunder,
The flimsy fetter flies in sunder.
Your simile perhaps may please one
With whom wit holds the place of reason:
But can you prove that this in fact is
Agreeable to life and practice?
Then hear, what in his simple way
Old Æsop told me t' other day.
In days of yore, but (which is very odd)
Our author mentions not the period,
We mortal men, less given to speeches,
Allow'd the beasts sometimes to teach us.
But now we all are prattlers grown,
And suffer no voice but our own;
With us no beast has leave to speak,
Although his honest heart should break.
'Tis true, your asses and your apes,
And other brutes in human shapes,
And that thing made of sound and show,
Which mortals have misnamed a beau,
(But in the language of the sky
Is call'd a two-legg'd butterfly),
Will make your very heartstrings ache
With loud and everlasting clack,
And beat your auditory drum,
Till you grow deaf, or they grow dumb.
But to our story we return:
'Twas early on a Summer morn,
A Wolf forsook the mountain den,
And issued hungry on the plain.
Full many a stream and lawn he past
And reach'd a winding vale at last;
Where from a hollow rock he spied
The shepherds drest in flowery pride.
Garlands were strew'd, and all was gay,
To celebrate a holiday.
The merry tabor's gamesome sound
Provoked the sprightly dance around.
Hard by a rural board was rear'd,
On which in fair array appear'd
The peach, the apple, and the raisin,
And all the fruitage of the season.
But, more distinguish'd than the rest,
Was seen a wether ready drest,
That smoking, recent from the flame,
Diffused a stomach-rousing steam.
Our Wolf could not endure the sight,
Courageous grew his appetite:
His entrails groan'd with tenfold pain,
He lick'd his lips, and lick'd again:
At last, with lightning in his eyes,
He bounces forth, and fiercely cries:
'Shepherds, I am not given to scolding,
But now my spleen I cannot hold in.
By Jove, such scandalous oppression
Would put an elephant in passion.
You, who your flocks (as you pretend)
By wholesome laws from harm defend,
Which make it death for any beast,
How much soe'er by hunger press'd,
To seize a sheep by force or stealth,
For sheep have right to life and health;
Can you commit, uncheck'd by shame,
What in a beast so much you blame?
What is a law, if those who make it
Become the forwardest to break it?
The case is plain: you would reserve
All to yourselves, while others starve.
Such laws from base self-interest spring,
Not from the reason of the thing—'
He was proceeding, when a swain
Burst out,—'And dares a wolf arraign
His betters, and condemn their measures,
And contradict their wills and pleasures?
We have establish'd laws, 'tis true,
But laws are made for such as you.
Know, sirrah, in its very nature
A law can't reach the legislature.
For laws, without a sanction join'd,
As all men know, can never bind;
But sanctions reach not us the makers,
For who dares punish us, though breakers?
'Tis therefore plain, beyond denial,
That laws were ne'er design'd to tie all;
But those, whom sanctions reach alone:
We stand accountable to none.
Besides, 'tis evident, that, seeing
Laws from the great derive their being,
They as in duty bound should love
The great, in whom they live and move,
And humbly yield to their desires:
'Tis just what gratitude requires.
What suckling, dandled on the lap,
Would tear away its mother's pap?
But hold—Why deign I to dispute
With such a scoundrel of a brute?
Logic is lost upon a knave,
Let action prove the law our slave.'
An angry nod his will declared
To his gruff yeoman of the guard;
The full-fed mongrels, train'd to ravage,
Fly to devour the shaggy savage.
The beast had now no time to lose
In chopping logic with his foes;
'This argument,' quoth he, 'has force,
And swiftness is my sole resource.'
He said, and left the swains their prey,
And to the mountains scour'd away.
poem by James Beattie
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Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.
quote by Jonathan Swift
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Inner Voice - Conscience
Laws on earth can be made, unmade;
Laws can be bettered or worsened by change;
Laws may be just or unjust and never perfect;
Laws can be changed for comfort and convenience.
Laws may change from time to time;
Laws cannot reflect truth always;
Laws depend on the constituent makers;
Laws can never be ideal for all times!
But the inner Voice -the Conscience is static;
It always speaks the truth irrevocably;
It is not transmutable anytime;
It can never lie ever even by chance.
The Inner Voice scores over laws always;
One's conscience always tells what is right;
Freedom of man's conscience is paramount;
Laws to stifle the Inner Voice are simply futile!
Laws are needed but must be just and fair;
Laws aren't needed to fetter the conscience;
Laws are man-made and transmutable;
Conscience is God-given, remaining the same in everyone!
Obey the laws when they are fair and just;
Heed to your Conscience, God's law-maker within!
Copyright by Dr John Celes 14-02-12
poem by John Celes
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Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.
quote by Honore de Balzac
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Solon used to say that speech was the image of actions... that laws were like cobwebs, --for that if any trifling or powerless thing fell into them, they held it fast while if it were something weightier, it broke through them and was off.
quote by Laertius Diogenes
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Flying V
Flying V
If you're standing underneath it, you will see when you inspect it
That a flying V is made of flying geese
The pointed end flies in the lead
So when it flies, it's hard to read
You've got to tip your head to see
Flying V, Flying V
It's a V
In the window of a music store, or on stage at a rock show
Now a flying V is made of a guitar
The pointed end flies in the lead
So when it flies, it's hard to read
You have to be upside-down to see it
song performed by by They Might Be Giants
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It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.
quote by James Madison
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The Laws of God, The Laws of Man
The laws of God, the laws of man,
He may keep that will and can;
Not I: let God and man decree
Laws for themselves and not for me;
And if my ways are not as theirs
Let them mind their own affairs.
Their deeds I judge and much condemn,
Yet when did I make laws for them?
Please yourselves, say I, and they
Need only look the other way.
But no, they will not; they must still
Wrest their neighbor to their will,
And make me dance as they desire
With jail and gallows and hell-fire.
And how am I to face the odds
Of man's bedevilment and God's?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.
They will be master, right or wrong;
Though both are foolish, both are strong.
And since, my soul, we cannot fly
To Saturn nor to Mercury,
Keep we must, if keep we can,
These foreign laws of God and man.
poem by Alfred Edward Housman
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Men may make laws to hinder and fetter the ballot, but men cannot make laws that will bind or retard the growth of manhood … progress is the law of nature; under God it shall be our eternal guiding star.
quote by Booker T. Washington
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Cobwebs & Dust
Island goodbye, island goodbye
We been too long together, my island and i
'cross the blue sea, cross the blue sea
We been too long together, my island and me
Cobwebs and dust, cobwebs and dust
I hate to leave you but leave you i must
Float through the sky, float through the sky
We been too long together, my cobwebs and i
Unlock the gate, unlock the gate
Lower the drawbridge the hour is late
Whom shall it be, whom shall it be
We been too long together, my drawbridge and me
Troubles goodbye, troubles goodbye
We been too long together, my troubles and i
'cross the blue sea, cross the blue sea
We been too long together, my troubles and me
Cobwebs and dust, cobwebs and dust
I hate to leave you but leave you i must
Float through the sky, float through the sky
We been too long together, my cobwebs and i
Tear down the walls, tear down the walls
Gather my treasure and scatter it all
Whom shall it be, whom shall it be
We been too long together, my treasure and me
Kisses goodbye, kisses goodbye
We been too long together, my kisses and i
'cross the blue sea, cross the blue sea
We been too long together, her kisses and me
Cobwebs and dust, cobwebs and dust
I hate to leave you but leave you i must
Float through the sky, float through the sky
We been too long together, my cobwebs and i
Run to her side, run to her side
Run to my island and make her yer bride
Whom shall it be, whom shall it be
We been too long together, my island and me
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cobwebs Dust
Island goodbye, island goodbye
We been too long together, my island and i
cross the blue sea, cross the blue sea
We been too long together, my island and me
Cobwebs and dust, cobwebs and dust
I hate to leave you but leave you I must
Float through the sky, float through the sky
We been too long together, my cobwebs and i
Unlock the gate, unlock the gate
Lower the drawbridge the hour is late
Whom shall it be, whom shall it be
We been too long together, my drawbridge and me
Troubles goodbye, troubles goodbye
We been too long together, my troubles and i
cross the blue sea, cross the blue sea
We been too long together, my troubles and me
Cobwebs and dust, cobwebs and dust
I hate to leave you but leave you I must
Float through the sky, float through the sky
We been too long together, my cobwebs and i
Tear down the walls, tear down the walls
Gather my treasure and scatter it all
Whom shall it be, whom shall it be
We been too long together, my treasure and me
Kisses goodbye, kisses goodbye
We been too long together, my kisses and i
cross the blue sea, cross the blue sea
We been too long together, her kisses and me
Cobwebs and dust, cobwebs and dust
I hate to leave you but leave you I must
Float through the sky, float through the sky
We been too long together, my cobwebs and i
Run to her side, run to her side
Run to my island and make her yer bride
Whom shall it be, whom shall it be
We been too long together, my island and me
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wise-Men
Who told you that Heaven is for free? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You better learn the laws and be free!
For the ticket to Heaven is to follow the laws.
The laws were made for our learning and,
Mankind need to follow them to gain Heaven!
For the Wise-Men followed the laws too and they met the Star.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Dead Man, Dead Man
Uttering idle words from a reprobate mind,
Clinging to strange promises, dying on the vine,
Never bein able to separate the good from the bad,
Ooh, I cant stand it, I cant stand it,
Its makin me feel so sad.
Dead man, dead man,
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind,
Dust upon your eyes.
Satan got you by the heel, theres a birds nest in your hair.
Do you have any faith at all? do you have any love to share?
The way that you hold your head, cursin God with every move,
Ooh, I cant stand it, I cant stand it,
What are you tryin to prove?
Dead man, dead man,
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind,
Dust upon your eyes.
The glamour and the bright lights and the politics of sin,
The ghetto that you build for me is the one you end up in,
The race of the engine that overrules your heart,
Ooh, I cant stand it, I cant stand it,
Pretending that youre so smart.
Dead man, dead man,
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind,
Dust upon your eyes.
What are you tryin to overpower me with, the doctrine or the gun?
My back is already to the wall, where can I run?
The tuxedo that youre wearin, the flower in your lapel,
Ooh, I cant stand it, I cant stand it,
You wanna take me down to hell.
Dead man, dead man,
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind,
Dust upon your eyes.
song performed by by Bob Dylan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Laws, like the spider's webs, catch the flies and let the hawk go free.
Wasps In A Garden
The wall-trees are laden with fruit;
The grape, and the plum, and the pear,
The peach and the nectarine, to suit
Every taste, in abundance are there.
Yet all are not welcome to taste
These kind bounties of Nature; for one
From her open-spread table must haste
To make room for a more favoured son:
As that wasp will soon sadly perceive,
Who has feasted awhile on a plum;
And, his thirst thinking now to relieve,
For a sweet liquid draught he is come.
He peeps in the narrow-mouthed glass,
Which depends from a branch of the tree;
He ventures to creep down,-alas!
To be drowned in that delicate sea.
'Ah say,' my dear friend, 'is it right
These glass bottles are hung upon trees?
Midst a scene of inviting delight
Should we find such mementos as these?'
'From such sights,' said my friend, 'we may draw
A lesson, for look at that bee;
Compared with the wasp which you saw,
He will teach us what we ought to be.
'He in safety industriously plies
His sweet honest work all the day,
Then home with his earnings he flies;
Nor in thieving his time wastes away.'-
'O hush, nor with fables deceive,'
I replied, 'which, though pretty, can ne'er
Make me cease for that insect to grieve,
Who in agony still does appear.
'If a simile ever you need,
You are welcome to make a wasp do;
But you ne'er should mix fiction indeed
With things that are serious and true.'
poem by Charles Lamb
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Dzansi
Shoplifting!
But, respect the laws of the land;
For the shoplifters were nabbed.
Efforts,
Performance,
Gained,
Best,
Mistake,
Making,
Legitimately! !
But try to respect the laws of the land,
For, we need the laws to guide us on.
Brief,
Illiteracy,
Intelligent,
To seek!
But with the help of Dzansi your friend;
And, the shoplifters were caught.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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The main foundations of every state, new states as well as ancient or composite ones, are good laws and good arms you cannot have good laws without good arms, and where there are good arms, good laws inevitably follow.
quote by Niccolo Machiavelli
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Laws
Laws created to curb the rise of domestic violence.
Laws created to curb the rise of racial tensions.
Laws created to curb interpretations,
Of what is and what is not politically correct.
But those who are corrupted and create the laws...
Can not see their own flaws,
That initiate the mess.
Laws created to curb a racial profiling on the rise.
Laws created to curb a greed that has affected lives.
Laws that limit freedoms to blatantly discriminate...
Those who do this anyway,
No matter what the laws are to perpetuate a hate.
Laws created to curb the rise of domestic violence.
Laws created to curb the rise of racial tensions.
Laws created to curb interpretations,
Of what is and what is not politically correct.
But those who are corrupted and create the laws...
Can not see their own flaws,
That initiate the mess.
And those upset by these laws,
Want more of them and yet neglect!
Like 'Commandments' given no respect.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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