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empirically tested. So tested, Mr. Eliot's polity will not, I think,
stand.
If,
for example, he believes that there is an historical
instance or a practical likelihood of a church effectively providing
the "tensions" he speaks of, he is, I think, deceiving himself. I
think, indeed, that, whatever his intentions, the ecclesiastical
instrument upon which he relies is, in "the practical sphere," bound
to be maleficent.
If
I have tried to say that the assumptions of
materialism have largely failed us, it was surely not to conclude
that the assumptions of supernaturalism can aid us. Based as it is
on supernatural assumptions, Mr. Eliot's politics is no doubt thor–
oughly vulnerable. But I have spoken of it with respect because it
suggests elements which a rational and naturalistic philosophy, to
be
adequate, must encompass.
Nemea
A song in the valley of Nemea:
Sing quiet, quiet, quite quiet here.
Song for the brides of Argos
Combing the swarms of golden hair:
Quite quiet, quite quiet there.
Under the rolling comb of grass
The sword outrusts the golden helm.
Agamemnon under tumulus serene
Outsmiles the jury of skeletons;
Cool under cumulus the lion queen;
Only the drum could celebrate,
Only the adjective can outlive them.
A song in the valley of Nemea.
Sing quiet, quiet, quite quiet there.
Song of the frog in the empty well,
Tone of the bald bee on the cold skull,
Quiet, quiet, quiet.
Lawrence Durrell
