By Tom Burke / Herald Columnist
William Blake (1757 – 1827), the English poet, painter and printmaker was (maybe) quite mad or (maybe) just a whole bunch idiosyncratic.
Either way, he was very good at all his crafts and his poetry has influenced a diverse cast of creatives such as William Butler Yeats, The Doors’ Jim Morrison, Alan Ginsberg and the poets of the 1950s Beat Generation, Irish troubadour Van Morrison, philospher Aldus Huxley, and Bob Dylan, who needs no description.
I heard one of Blake’s poems, “Who Can Stand?” set to music in “Lullaby” by Loreena McKennitt on her 1985 album “Elemental” and it resonated deeply with me, directed at 18th century sins but reflecting now on what we must be asking ourselves and how we must answer to survive the next three years and beyond.
The poem is part of a larger work, “Poetical Sketches,” and is the stuff to stiffen resolve and self-examine where we stand, today, at the crossroads of democracy.
Here is “Who Can Stand”:
O for a voice like thunder, and a tongue To drown the throat of war! When the senses Are shaken, and the soul is driven to madness, Who can stand?
When the souls of the oppressed Fight in the troubled air that rages, who can stand?
When the whirlwind of fury comes from the Throne of God, when the frowns of his countenance Drive the nations together, who can stand?
When Sin claps his broad wings over the battle, And sails rejoicing in the flood of Death; When souls are torn to everlasting fire, And fiends of Hell rejoice upon the slain, O who can stand?
O who hath causèd this? O who can answer at the throne of God? The Kings and Nobles of the Land have done it! Hear it not, Heaven, thy Ministers have done it!
Our wanna-be king, “President” Donald Trump and his “nobles and ministers” J.D. Vance, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, Mike Johnson, John Thune, Tulsi Gabbard, et al have done it!
And you, gentle reader, must ask yourself, Who Can Stand against these “fiends of Hell?”
The people of Minneapolis stood.
The people of Los Angles stood.
Those citizens who fought and beat down Trump’s illegal tariffs stood.
Those who warned our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines not to obey illegal orders stood.
The Epstein survivors are standing.
The millions who marched for two No Kings Day protests stood.
The native Americans who protested for 71 days at Wounded Knee and the 12,000 who demonstrated against the Dakota access pipeline at Standing Rock, N.D. stood.
And those who marched in Selma, sat in in Greensboro, and refused, like Rosa Parks, to ride in the back of a bus, they stood, bravely.
Can you stand?
Will you stand against the graft and grift that put millions and millions of dirty dollars into Trump’s and his family’s pockets as he profits off the presidency?
Will you stand against the fascist, masked, bully-boy murderous terror being inflicted on us by Immigration and Customs Enforcement?
Will you stand as Trump raises great banners to himself on the Departments of Justice, Agriculture, et al; while the East Wing is razed to make way for his $400 million ballroom; as a 250-foot-tall Trump Arch is planned for Washington’s Memorial Circle?
Will you stand against Trump unilaterally declaring war against Iran?
Will you stand against murder on the high seas as those in boats are slaughtered without legal justification, process or proof?
Will you stand against the invasion of Venezuela simply to get their oil?
Will you stand against Trump calling global warming a “hoax,” a “con job” and a “scam?”
Will you stand against Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE starving children and withholding medicine from millions when they destroyed the U.S. Agency of International Development?
Will you stand against Trump’s re-naming the Kenney Center for himself?
Will you stand against Trump’s attack on history trying to erase the story of Washington’s slaves in Philadelphia?
Will you stand against the creation of Trump gulags across the nation?
Will you stand against Trump’s vilification of the Supreme Court and personal attacks on the justices?
Will you stand against Trump’s pardon of 1,600 Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists?
Will you stand against Trump, red state and MAGA gerrymandering; abolishment of mail-in voting; armed troops at polling stations; and onerous voting restrictions to steal the 2026 midterms?
Will you stand against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s and Trump’s attacks on science and destruction of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?
Will you stand against Trump’s disastrous economic policies and tariffs driving prices and unemployment up while driving economic growth and vitality down?
Will you stand against Trump’s phony “Board of Peace?”
Will you stand against Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, in government and at schools and universities?
Will you stand against Trump’s threats to close Canada’s new Gordie Howe Bridge to Detroit after a Trump-aligned PAC received $1 million from the Republican mega-donor who owns (and makes a huge profit) from Detroit’s other bridge?
Will you answer the call on the next No Kings Day on March 23?
Will you answer the call and keep informed about Trump/MAGA’s continued attacks on our Constitution?
Will you answer the call of Who Can Stand in November and vote to oust the Republicans in the mid-terms?
And with “a voice like thunder, and a tongue to drown the throat of war!
When the senses are shaken, and the soul is driven to madness,
When the souls of the oppressed Fight in the troubled air that rages. …
Will you stand?
Slava Ukrani.
Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
