Emet / Truth
Quotes 4: Poetry from John Merick
posted Thursday, 1 December 2005
John Merick, otherwise known as the Elephant Man, suffered from hideous disfigurements. However, beneath his exterior features was said to be a noble, gentle man who accepted his fate as coming from G-d. Below is some poetry attributed to him. Let us learn from this man how powerful faith in G-d is and how the soul is the measure of a man.
"'Tis true my form is something odd,
but blaming me is blaming god.
Could I create myself anew,
I would not fail in pleasing you.
Was I so tall, could reach the pole,
or grasp the ocean with a span;
I would be measured by the soul.
The mind's the standard of the man."
- a poem often quoted by Joseph Carey Merrick
[http://www.phreeque.com/joseph_merrick.html]
[http://www.victorianweb.org/books/suicide/06b.html]
"'Tis true my form is something odd,
but blaming me is blaming god.
Could I create myself anew,
I would not fail in pleasing you.
Was I so tall, could reach the pole,
or grasp the ocean with a span;
I would be measured by the soul.
The mind's the standard of the man."
- a poem often quoted by Joseph Carey Merrick
[http://www.phreeque.com/joseph_merrick.html]
[http://www.victorianweb.org/books/suicide/06b.html]
comments (2)
1. Greg left...
Wednesday, 31 January 2007 12:17 am
I watched part of the 1980 movie about John Merrick last night, and like
most times that I watch the film, I cried. What a gentle soul.
He was the master of showing that what is in the heart and what is in the
mind of a person IS what makes a person, not thier appearance.
2. Mike left...
Wednesday, 5 December 2007 11:42 am
Like so often He does, God brought us John Merrick to teach us that
goodness, beauty and kindness lie deep beneath what we see. When will we
ever learn?