I meant to post this yesterday in observance of Labor Day. Hearing Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” caused me to remember “In Praise of Solid People” by C. S. Lewis.
Below you will find an excerpt of what is one of the better poems Lewis wrote in his collection, Spirits in Bondage. You can also find my review of this book here along with some additional thoughts here.
An Excerpt from “In Praise of Solid People”
Thank God that there are solid folk
Who water flowers and roll the lawn,
And sit and sew and talk and smoke,
And snore all through the summer dawn.
Who pass untroubled nights and days
Full-fed and sleepily content,
Rejoicing in each other’s praise,
Respectable and innocent.
Who feel the things that all men feel,
And think in well-worn grooves of thought,
Whose honest spirits never reel
Before man’s mystery, overwrought.
Yet not unfaithful nor unkind,
With work-day virtues surely staid,
Theirs is the sane and humble mind,
And dull affections undismayed.
O happy people! I have seen
No verse yet written in your praise,
And, truth to tell, the time has been
I would have scorned your easy ways.
But now thro’ weariness and strife
I learn your worthiness indeed,
The world is better for such life
As stout suburban people lead.
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