The Metaphysics of Time



The nature of time.
Who can answer my question.
To a hidden truth.
Time spawned by eternity.
The Bible has the answer.

Ponder on verse eight.
Second Corinthians Four.
The truth is revealed.
The world of olam ha-zeh.
How fleeting this world of time!

We are from below.
That is called olam ha-zeh.
Compared to our world.
The Holy ONE dwells above.
The home of olam ha-ba.

About this poem

After having composed two poems concerning the mystery of time and eternity, I recognize that the distinction is explained rabbinically as a theological contrast of the world of time (“olam ha-zeh”) and the world of eternity (“olam ha-ba”). In the New Testament Book of Second Corinthians, Chapter Four, this distinction is summarized succinctly in verse eight (NASB), which reads: “while we look not at the things which are seen [the things of time], but at the things which are not seen [the things of eternity]; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. ” I have used an extended format of the one-stanza, five-line Japanese tanka to compose this three-stanza poem, and to deliver a timely Pauline message. Let those who have eyes to see, see that which is not seen. 

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Written on February 09, 2022

Submitted by karlcfolkes on February 09, 2022

Modified on May 01, 2023

24 sec read
346

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXXX XXXBA XBXXX
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 371
Words 83
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5

Karl Constantine FOLKES

Retired educator of Jamaican ancestry with a lifelong interest in composing poetry dealing particularly with the metaphysics of self-reflection; completed a dissertation in Children’s Literature in 1991 at New York University entitled: An Analysis of Wilhelm Grimm’s “Dear Mili” Employing Von Franzian Methodological Processes of Analytical Psychology. The subject of the dissertation concerned the process of Individuation. more…

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