To those who don’t believe in afterlife
King Lear is unrelenting tragedy;
Sadistic, even, given the needless strife
That leads to Cordelia dying violently.
What’s more, precisely because of Lear’s progression
To empathetic love from willful hate
(Thanks to the kind and selfless intercession
Of Kent and “Fool”), he follows her exit straight.
Yet, those who feel we each possess a Soul
Transcend the tragic ending of the play
And Shakespeare’s perspicacity extol
For giving Divinity the final say.
In Hamlet there’s Providence in “a sparrow’s fall”;
In Lear it can be found in “ripeness is all”.
Ramat Gan
30 March 2024