The earth Gods is a small and beautiful book of poetry filled with thoughts and philosophy which discuss the various Gods we create in the world ignoring the presence of them inside us.
“Man is a child of our younger heart
Man is god in slow arising;
And betwixt his joy and his pain
Lies our sleeping, and the dreaming thereof”
Kahlil Gibran is a name which needs no introduction. It is my opinion that Kahlil write poetry well, than his prose. And when I saw that ‘The Earth Gods’ is poetry I did knew what I can expect from the book and it was a pleasant read.
The book helps us to hear the discussion between 3 gods. Oh no…don’t start ask questions like what? How many gods?? They are different images of ‘God’ we hold within us (despite our re-assertion that there is only one god). With different religions and time, we have created a lot of God images within us. When we meet an accident and when we do a sin, it is not the same ‘god’ image enter our mind. Sooner, depending on our thought pattern, we typecast the image for ‘God’ without giving sufficient thought about what god want from us. A god which punishes, A god which require sacrifices, A god whom we have to fear, A god who creates and protect all of us, A god watches all our deeds like a policeman, A god who don’t dare to kill all our enemies and bring success to us….what is the God image we hold dear to us?
The Earth-born Gods meets upon the mountain. The first God is fed up of the odors of dead things killed in the name of sacrifice and turn his face from the wind. The second God however believes that ‘God live upon sacrifice, their thirst quenched by blood’ and the first God don’t need to turn the face. The Third God on the other hand is looking on the earth and watching the youth. Beautiful poetry and high philosophy are traded between them.
“…I have led man from shrine to shrine, And turned his mute fear of things unseen to tremulous faith in us, the unvisited and the unknown”. ‘A creature bred on hunger and made food for hungry gods. A vine that creeps in dust beneath the feet of death-less death’‘My heart longs for what my heart conceives not, And unto the unknown where memory dwells not, I would command my spirit’ ‘Does the womb of the virgin infinite Bear the seed of they Redeemer, One mightier than thy vision Whose hand shall deliver thee from thy captivity’The first god truly represent the ‘God’ of the basics and ‘God’ of instincts. The God’s promise is on the redeemer. The author asks a serious question through the first god. Who created him? Is there a super god who created the first god? ‘What super-god caught you in your flight And made you breed in the cage? What giant sun warmed your bosom To give me birth?’
The second God is more of the God of sacrifice and hard work. “I could not but choose the hardest way; To follow the seasons and support the majesty of the years; To sow the seed and to watch it thrust through the soil; To call the flower from its hiding place And to give it strength to nestle its own life….To raise man from secret darkness, Yet keep his roots clinging to the earth; To give him thirst for life, and make death his cup bearer; To endow him with love that waxeth with pain…” ‘We have planted man, our vine, and tilled the soil….Man is food for the gods, And the glory of man begins When his aimless breath is sucked by gods’ hallowed lips…..the mute grain turns to love songs when swallowed by the nightingale, Even so as bread for gods shall man taste godhead.’ ‘…And on to crucifixation. Man is born to bondage….’
The third God however is watching the youth. The girl and the boy. The Singer and the dancer. The song is reached to the dancer and she is now fully dancing to the song and the third God is inviting other ‘Gods’ to join the celebration.
The discussion come to a happy conclusion, where the first god says, ‘And in that dancing and in that singing A god is slain within me. My god-heart within my human ribs Shouts to my god-heart in mid-air.’ & ‘Beauty is a path that leads to self self-stain’. The second god observes that ‘Save where self is wedded to self, And beauty is the witness and the priest……The most distant is the most near. And where beauty is there are all things’. He also establishes that there is no difference between Man and god by saying man is god in slow rising and ‘Immortal and mortal twin rivers calling to the sea. There is no emptiness between call and call.’ The third god confirms that, ‘Love triumphs…Love is our lord and master…To sing and dance its secret to eternity. Love is youth with chains broken….Love is distant laughter in spirit’ ‘The bride comes from the heart of dawn, And the bridegroom from the sunset. There is a wedding in the valley. A day too vast for recording’
The third God concludes:
‘Now I will rise and strip me of time and space,
And I will dance in the field untrodden,
And the dancer’s feet will move with my feet;
And I will sing in that higher air,
And a human voice will throb within my voice”
Like other books and thoughts of Kahlil, here too, the influence of Rabindranath Tagore is visible. ‘Christianity’ and the book of ‘Job(Eyob)’ must have had an influence on him. The book possibly must have influenced Osho in framing his philosophy of God and Deepak Chopra on writing his book, ‘How to know GOD’. For one who read Tagore, Tulsi Das, Kabir Das etc. will be very familiar with the concept where Kahlil expressed it giving beautiful metaphors and powerful words. ‘The Earth Gods’ is a beautiful expression of Poetry!!!
Read this small book which I am sure will be in the liking of two kinds of people. One, who love good poetry. Two, those who likes philosophy. I liked the book very much and this review is my recommendation and invitation.
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