On Plato's Republic
© Richard Jones
PHI 110 Spring 2002

2
You are a man.
This is your soul.
How does it function?
How do you know?

3
Knowledge is the path,
So brilliant and clear.
Of course! That's it!
But to where from here?

4
Take a dash of imagery
And a pinch of shadow;
With this you'll have the ability
To fathom what's hallow.

5
Not from a man,
Perhaps from a god,
It has always been,
Waiting for man to de-sod.

6
It seems as a fantasy,
A mere dream in the night;
But once you know it,
You'll know what's right.

7
Justice and the good:
They live there as well.
Simply imagine a cave
And people who would in such a place dwell.

8
Send them from the cave
And into the light;
They'll recognize the forms
And return ever so bright.

9
The sun is as the good
But only a child thereof,
For the good seems more obscure,
Yet illuminates all things above.

10
Justice in a city
As well as a soul;
Good in a realm intelligible,
Which only the learnéd can know.

11
Only philosophers can rule
In a world virtuous and just.
Give them a clean canvas
So they may paint from the zenith to the dust.

12
Through Socrates' words
And from Plato's mind,
Are created ideals of perfection
That all wish to see.
It sounds wonderful and grand;
Too bad it can never be?

The first thing one may notice after reading this poem is that the first and last stanzas don't follow the same rhyme pattern and don't follow much of any rhyme pattern. One might also notice that the last line of the poem is a question rather than an answer. Both of these features of the poem are figurative displays of Socrates' method of speaking in the book (or Plato's style of writing). Socrates seems to mention many things without providing any or only a partial explanation. He does this to get his audience to ponder about these things without creating a total distraction from the conversation at hand. Having these stanzas at the beginning and end so as not to distract one from the flow of the poem in between these is an illustration of this. Leaving the last line as a question rather than a resolution seems to imitate Socrates' methods of leaving holes in his explanations for each member of his audience to fill in him-or-herself. Leaving the last line in this fashion allows the reader of the poem to draw his or her own conclusion rather than providing one.

It seems that the main focus of this poem is on justice and the good. They are mentioned several times throughout the writing and also seem to be two issues discussed at length in the Republic. The poem makes allusions to several illustrations used by Socrates to illustrate different parts of his strategy to find justice and what's good. The most easily-recognized of these allusions is that of reference to the cave illustration in Book 7 of the Republic which occupies stanzas 7 and 8 of the poem. Other illustrations that are referenced in the poem are the divided line illustration from Book 6 509d-511e (stanzas 4, 9, and 10), the painters illustration from Book 6 500d-501c (stanza 11), and the child of the good illustration from Book 6 507a-508c (stanza 9).

The poem's rhyme scheme from stanzas 2 through 11 (ABCB, DEFE, etc.) gives it sort of a light-hearted feel such as that of a children's story. This would seem to be an allusion to Socrates' discussion of children's stories, true falsehoods, and censorship of literature in Book 4 of the Republic since this rhyme pattern seems to be contradictory to the overall mood and tone of the poem. The use of words with few syllables and punctuation which allows for quite a bit of pausing seem to counteract this light-heartedness enough to give the poem an overall tone of seriousness.

The poem in general seems to simply be a snapshot of one's thoughts on the Republic after finishing a certain section or perhaps the whole book. The title, "On Plato's Republic," provides indication that this is the idea of the poem, and the various references to different parts of the book with no true emphasis on one part over another leaves one with the impression that the author has the same feelings as if he had just looked at some portrait, sculpture, or other work of art and is reflecting on this experience.

Richard Jones