Following on from my presentation on existentialism and the Absurd, I found reading Louis MacNeice's London Rain particularly interesting, given the poems focus on the consideration of human existence. It must be stressed that I have used the word 'consideration' here, rather than 'search', given the poem's apparent indifference to actually discovering definitive meaning. MacNeice considers the notion of two types of existence, one with and without the presence of God, but soon after concludes that "Whichever wins [i.e God or No-God] I am happy". Unlike existentialist thought which would usually settle on one scenario and discuss its implications on the meaning of existence, MacNeice accepts a contented, agnostic middle ground (one which I find I can relate to): "For God will give me bliss/ But No-God will absolve me/ From all I do amiss". MacNeice's optimistic position is, I feel, something which can be related to and also simultaneously rejected. For example, whilst I agree with there being benefits to both the existence and non-existence of God, it is hard to agree with his controversial statement later in the text, albeit a fascinating progression of thought: "if we are under No-God/ Nothing will matter at all,/ Adultery and murder/ Will count for nothing at all." MacNeice takes his argument to the extreme, disregarding any sense of morality. As such, are we meant to believe that without God, all morality goes out of the window? This seems to contend that the presence of God is the prerequisite for human morality, however, this is something I find difficult to agree with.
Another aspect of the poem I found striking was the depiction of his passions as fenced off "stallions of the soul". Having researched the passions for my last essay (in connection with Milton), this portrayal of human emotions reminded me of the classical thought that the body was an internal landscape populated by wild animals (the passions), which required taming and restraint. In the absence of God, the speaker's lust is said to be "riding horseback/ To ravish where I choose,/ To burgle all the turrets/ Of beauty as I choose".
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