Superlatives

by R. D. Ashby

There is built-in theology in nature;
limits and limitation, it appears,
are intended to vaunt the infinite.

See! Mount Everest’s peak is clearly in view;
the sun’s brightness is enclosed in its light;
the night sky holds the universe in fullness.

Yet these delineated forms reflect
transcendence, for a moment even in theirs
discerned, crystallised in superlatives.

The highest, the brightest, the vastest known
suffices for awe, the principle grasped
of infinite quality on its own.

It is in principle, superlatives
are exceeded, without which they are lost
as pointers to, limit to limitless.

03-Feb-2016

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Comments on this Poem

The highest, the brightest, the vastest known
suffices for awe, the principle grasped
of infinite quality on its own.

I feel I should explain. Brightness is a principle that defines all bright things: a candle, an electric bulb - go up the scale of lumens from filament bulb to halogen bulb to arc lighting - the sun, the moon, Betelgeuse - all share brightness as a principle. Should one come across the brightest light, it would still sub-serve the principle brightness and be reduced to limitation. The Egyptians worshipped the sun, implying it was the brightest body in the sky and none brighter - hence the deity:

Yet these delineated forms reflect
transcendence, for a moment even in theirs
discerned, crystallised in superlatives.

Brightness is clearly an infinite concept, since nothing can define it but is itself defined by it. Think then, without the infinite concept of brightness, there can be no concept of brightness manifested! Brightness the infinite principle defines the limited quality of bright objects. Likewise, all qualities manifested in things have an infinite principle that enables them - beauty, goodness, power, majesty - 'Infinite' means a principle that cannot be defined except by itself; and the proof of its self-sustained existence is its manifestation in limited form that points to it. In the last lines of the poem;

It is in principle, superlatives
are exceeded, without which they are lost
as pointers to, limit to limitless.

rdashby
06-Feb-2016 20:03 PM