Hope and History

      One of the many ways in which Joe Biden and Donald Trump differ is that Biden quotes poetry. He's especially prone, given his ancestry, to quote the poets of Ireland. When accepting his party's nomination for the presidency, Biden recited one of his favorites by Seamus Heaney. The most famous of its lines are: 

 History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

Seamus Heaney 

     These lines come from The Cure at Troy, Heaney's translation of an ancient play by Socrates. He, along with other modern Irish bards, saw parallels between the Trojan War and the Troubles in their own land. Heaney drew inspiration from the triumph of one man who became president -- Nelson Mandela -- and heard his translation quoted by another (Bill Clinton) during the peace process in Northern Ireland.

     Biden went to far as to release a campaign video built around his recitation from The Cure at Troy. Americans of all colors and creeds can agree that it's difficult to imagine the current resident of the White House doing something similar.  

     Heaney will not be invited to speak at any inaugural -- mostly because he died in 2013. Luckily, he lived in the 20th century, so we can enjoy not only his words, but his voice.