The Harmful Wish
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Harmful Wish
Scripture Reference:
- Luke 16 (further images / scripture text)
Description: A man gestures to a ladder leading from the earth to the clouds on the rungs of which can be read [from low to high]: I have been hungry; I have been thirsty; I was a stranger; I was naked; I have been ill; I was in prison; Give and you shall be given; Give alms. 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 Luke 16:9.
Poem:
He who has life in his bosom,
And love for his money and goods,
Which made him have a troublesome wish:
That nobody should receive anything,
But each should earn his necessities,
From all the people around him:
So that what he had,
He would possess in peace,
And without the biting of conscience
That otherwise ceaselessly gnaws and complains,
Since he carries the full bag,
While many sit in poverty:
He wishes, (as he considers this,
Extremely blind and unthinking,
Like one, unskilled in wisdom;)
That on the Ladder, that stands there,
On Earth and goes to Heaven,
No Rungs were for his foot,
If it were a wooden ladder,
That went to a mountain of gold,
I think he would, (according to men’s nature)
Not lazy, nor lame, but his very best,
And awake from the comfortable nest,
Not wish away rungs from that Ladder.
With this he should take then his measure,
How firm he is in his Belief,
How deep his roots went:
On which his heart’s arm leans,
Whether he leans on tangible things,
Or on invisible things.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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