The Unequal Opportunity
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Unequal Opportunity
Scripture Reference:
- Proverbs 12 (further images / scripture text)
Description: Two men, one is clad in armor [cloak of Virtue] and the other is scantly clothed, try to penetrate a thorn bush. 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 Proverbs 12:21.
Poem:
Two needed to go through Thorns,
For unavoidable reason,
The One wore Armor,
From top to the bottom.
There the sharp point did not find a hold,
To tear and prick the skin,
But found everything solid, hard and slippery,
To penetrate unhindered.
But the Other mostly naked,
Only scantily clad,
Became miserably red from blood,
Through the tearing of his clothing and limbs.
Oh Death! If thou art those Thorns,
Through which each, necessarily must pass.
It’s worthwhile, that we always,
Learn, that necessary Armor-making.
How foolish is it, when one sees,
That many during their entire lives,
Because of business, weave nothing else,
Than the thin cloak of the world!
That tears and breaks when needed while dying,
And leaves to Points and hooks,
The poor Soul naked and bare,
To make her as red as blood.
Oh Fair Armor, cloak of Virtue,
We all have double reason
Until Old Age, from our Youth,
To rivet and weld you.
We have already heard too well,
How many in this thorn hedge,
Call so miserably, fire and murder,
And lament their negligence;
While the courageous wise man,
In the solid Armor of Virtues,
Passed peacefully and quietly,
With hope of eternal joy.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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