The Impracticable Existence
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Impracticable Existence
Scripture Reference:
- Matthew 7 (further images / scripture text)
Description: Man, carrying the World, is too large to pass through the small gate that leads to a narrow road; a crowned skull and some bones are on the top of the gate. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712), whose initials are at the lower right, was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and for the poem that accompanies it (below). The attendant scripture text is Matthew 7:13, 14.
Poem:
Thou art too broad, and much too big,
Put first thine flesh and ballast down:
This way thou canst not pass through the small gate,
Nor follow the narrow heavenly path,
Loaded with so much stuff,
And as a result will turn around.
However, the road to salvation which thou seest,
Is it worthy, that thou already dost abandon it
In order to carry the very best away from it,
Like a precious Jewel,
The worthy Soul, that eternal part
The wisdom leading to joy.
One would indeed like to go to heaven,
And keep all that ballast,
With flesh and world overloaded:
How does that narrow gate appear to thou?
Canst thou with that width pass through it?
Thou canst consider it thyself:
However, since thou seest it clearly,
Now omit it no longer,
So that by waiting too long,
That gate, so small for the heart of flesh,
From narrow and tight won’t be closed,
and ah! and lamentation!
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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