The Beautiful Changes - Essay Example

Thomistic philosophy s that goodness, as a transcendental quality is foun din all categories of being. In a metaphysical way, goodness is convertible with being, and a thing’s goodness is its being as that is the object of an inclination. As a dictum to during Aquinas’ milieu, “the good is what everything desires” and universally, everything is good insofar as everything is a being. In essence, Wilbur’s statement that the ultimate character of things is comely and good is a recapitulation of this Thomistic view that centers on the perspective that everything that exists is good.

The absolute goodness of a thing is its perfection that is, having all the being it is supposed to have. “The Beautiful Changes” by Richard Wilbur has to be seen in this perspective, for much of his poem to make sense. However, it must be noted that the title of Wilbur’s seminal work in 1947 is “Beautiful Changes”, where everything seems to be in a state of flux and transformation is implied. This may be rooted from his experience, coming from a war stricken era, when he was wed in 1942 during the critical years of World War II, and many of his classmates in his university who had enlisted in the war had already been killed.

It is most probable that his formative outlook of the “universe” was triggered by this realization: when everything fades fast and you never know when loved ones will be taken from you, only then will you appreciate existence for what it is, and transcendentally accept that everything is good. In retrospect, we can analyze his poem as thus: that every movement of a thing, implying change, is a move to be more of itself, to perfect itself, and to ultimately be more good as is the pattern and shape of how things should be.

A fall meadow, should be waded from all sides eventually to clean it and prepare for the next season. A queen’s lace should fall gracefully like lilies on water. A chameleon naturally turns its skin and a mantis naturally stays on leaf and so on. Everything that seems to follow this notion of natural law is what makes everything more good and perfect. However, the more interesting reading of “The Beautiful Changes” by Wilbur makes the actions of man as a subject of his poem, as man is a thing in itself.

Hence the question of what makes a man good or more accurately what pattern and shapes must his energies follow for him to be perfected is proposed. From this standpoint, the most inquisitive answer that Wilbur puts forward is for man to be amazed at this world, to ever wonder and to give things more meaning than its face value, not only in the way we see objects but more importantly the way we see other people. How does “dry grass turn into a lake” is almost the same as asking, how can a simple man or a man with no remarkable abilities turn into a great man?

At first glance, one would never know a man can do so much more, can be so great because first impressions “valleys” our perception from something so great such as the fabulous city of Lucernes. A second look at people will show you that their interiority, memories, abilities and imagination is simply “deeper than anyone knows” and all the things can people do can make one lose a moment to wonder how can he or she can be so much more? In essence, these are the “beautiful changes” that one must personally in things and in people.

I personally agree with Richard Wilbur that everything, including people are naturally good and everything can be made “more good” from ones perspective if only one takes the time to wonder about that person. Rephrasing Wilbur’s statement, I feel that the universe is full of glorious energy from people, and that this energy takes pattern and shape, and that the ultimate character of people is comely and good.Works CitedWilbur, Richard. The Beautiful Changes by Richard Wilbur. 1947. 11 May 2012 .