{"id":1059,"date":"2015-05-26T07:37:45","date_gmt":"2015-05-26T12:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/?p=1059"},"modified":"2015-07-12T17:11:25","modified_gmt":"2015-07-12T22:11:25","slug":"edifying-thoughts-of-a-tobacco-smoker-by-j-s-bach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/archives\/1059","title":{"rendered":"Edifying Thoughts of a Tobacco Smoker by J.S. Bach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"pinImg fullBleed loaded fade\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com\/236x\/88\/5f\/ee\/885feee7cea3a56955797bfc92ebc9d3.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Comments that have been made over the years about Bach, my favourite Classical composer.  Incidentally, one of those quoted is also my favourite interpreter of Bach's keyboard works: Glenn Gould.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If Bach wrote such stunning music, does it not follow that he would write good poetry? Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Edifying Thoughts of a Tobacco Smoker <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>by J.S. Bach<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Whene\u2019er I take my pipe and stuff it<\/p>\n<p>And smoke to pass the time away<\/p>\n<p>My thoughts, as I sit there and puff it,<\/p>\n<p>Dwell on a picture sad and grey:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It teaches me that very like<\/p>\n<p>Am I myself unto my pipe.<\/p>\n<p>Like me this pipe, so fragrant burning,<\/p>\n<p>Is made of naught but earthen clay;<\/p>\n<p>To earth I too shall be returning,<\/p>\n<p>And cannot halt my slow decay.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My well used pipe, now cracked and broken,<\/p>\n<p>Of mortal life is but a token.<\/p>\n<p>No stain, the pipe\u2019s hue yet doth darken;<\/p>\n<p>It remains white. Thus do I know<\/p>\n<p>That when to death\u2019s call I must harken<\/p>\n<p>My body, too, all pale will grow.<\/p>\n<p>To black beneath the sod \u2019twill turn,<\/p>\n<p>Likewise the pipe, if oft it burn.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Or when the pipe is fairly glowing,<\/p>\n<p>Behold then instantaneously,<\/p>\n<p>The smoke off into thin air going,<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Til naught but ash is left to see.<\/p>\n<p>Man\u2019s fame likewise away will burn<\/p>\n<p>And unto dust his body turn.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>How oft it happens when one\u2019s smoking,<\/p>\n<p>The tamper\u2019s missing from it\u2019s shelf,<\/p>\n<p>And one goes with one\u2019s finger poking<\/p>\n<p>Into the bowl and burns oneself.<\/p>\n<p>If in the pipe such pain doth dwell<\/p>\n<p>How hot must be the pains of Hell!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Thus o\u2019er my pipe in contemplation<\/p>\n<p>Of such things \u2013 I can constantly<\/p>\n<p>Indulge in fruitful meditation,<\/p>\n<p>And so, puffing contentedly,<\/p>\n<p>On land, at sea, at home, abroad,<\/p>\n<p>I smoke my pipe and worship God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If Bach wrote such stunning music, does it not follow that he would write good poetry? Enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[263,28,35,264,3],"class_list":["post-1059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writings","tag-bach","tag-funny","tag-humor","tag-music","tag-poetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4WcVY-h5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1059"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1127,"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions\/1127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasmusen.org\/special\/ameliajane\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}