A Thai English Poem by Pompen Hantrakool explicated

A Thai English Poem- People and Peace

By Pompen Hantrakool

Explicated by Dr. Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

Text

In war, people long for peace.

In peace, people long for happiness.

In happiness, people still long for more happiness.

With too much happiness, there is no peace for people any more.

Explication

The poem opens with a commonplace statement – in war, people long for peace. That is simple and obvious. But war could be understood on n levels. Everyone is at war with one’s desire or in other words everyone is at war with himself. The materialistic civilization about us is ever creative innovating fresh objects of pleasure. Thereby it kindles our desires that multiply along geometrical progression. Thus we are in the thrall of the beautiful beau called materialism. Under its spell we have to choose between our desires . Thus we are plunged in getting and spending. The world is too much with us. Just as every individual is at war with himself and with the environment that surrounds him consisting of supermarkets and tourist hubs , similarly every state is at war with itself trying to destroy the possibilities of insurrections if any. At the same time , every state is either at war or engaged in friendship treaty with another state. Thus in fact we live in a state of war . And of course we want peace. So if we take the first line of the poem as a premise of an argument to show up, the premise seems to be a universal truth. One cannot challenge it. Hence it seems that the inferences from the same could be true as well. The argument of a poet is qualitatively different from the argument put forward by a logician. A poet is commonly overflowing with the milk of love and kindnesss. And driven by fine excess of love and kindness , Pompen tells us- suppose the wars fought on numerous levels of the existence are quelled all of a sudden. Suppose we reach the Utopia- the land that is nowhere where peace reigns supreme. Could that peace be sustainable?Will there be the end of history? The economist might look forward to a division of labour among the countries where Brazil will be feeding coffee all over the world, Thailand , Vietnam and India will be sending rice to them . And toys will be distributed all over the world from China . And there will be no shortage of Champagne as France might rain Champagne upon the different countries all over the globe. Rolls Royce from England will function as the transporters  and the Americans will turn into fishermen fishing at Newfoundland to distribute the wealth among the people  all over the globe. Hurray! But Pompen observes that in times of peace people long for happiness. Peace could be defined as an absence of unrest , unhappiness and fear. But happiness is a positive term. By the by the bookstalls around all over the globe  abound with books exhorting – Think Positive.May be some criticism of such outlook lurks in the shirt sleeves of the poet. The third line of the poem reads – in happiness people still long for more happiness. That is a commentary on human psychology. But in order to understand the true import of this comment we had better enquire into the kind of happiness that men long for. While peace could be defined as an absence for desire , happiness could be described as the fulfillment of desire. Well could man ever imagine of a state where infinite thirst drinks in boundless manna. Nope. The young man might cry- Nor Jove nor Mars, mine will be some figured flame  that blends and transcends them all. But we are the denizens of a multiverse where countless solar worlds are born and die. And if ever the young man realizes his figured flame he will find it pale beside some star shining in a nebula afar. Give everybody the basic requirements of life food, shelter and clothes. Then they will ask for a car. Give them the car, they will ask for helicopters . Thus desires are never extinguished with the enjoyment of the objects of desire. Pouring gasoline into fire does not put off the fire. The more you pour gasoline into fire, the more the fire increases. So in happiness people still longs for more happiness. Pompen succinctly remarks – with too much happiness there is no peace for people anymore. If happiness implies possession of the objects of desire, the more we possess our lust for possession will grow along the path of a hyperbola. It will bring back war upon earth again. One wonders whether paradise was lost or else whether we were banished from Eden simply due to longing for more and more happiness. The poem is thus an instance of deft poetic skill. Every line in a sense involves anti thesis. There are war and peace, peace and happiness, happiness and more happiness. Finally the poem leads the readers to encounter a paradox. The more people want  happiness the more they become prey to sorrows and sufferings. Ideal poetry seldom revels in statements . Curiously enough Pompen revels in statements as it were. But on a second thought we find that the lines that are statements on the surface are loaded with rich ore of suggestions. Does not the poem tell us that true happiness can only be found only when we do not long for happiness?L