WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.110 align:middle line:90% 00:00:01.110 --> 00:00:03.780 align:middle line:84% Well, now I want to read something 00:00:03.780 --> 00:00:06.660 align:middle line:84% called "New Letters from Thomas Jefferson." 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:10.560 align:middle line:84% I have another-- I have a definition of poetry, 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:14.070 align:middle line:84% it's anything that you submit to the poetry editor. 00:00:14.070 --> 00:00:15.880 align:middle line:84% Or another way to put it is, of course, 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:19.500 align:middle line:84% what shows up among the ads in the back pages. 00:00:19.500 --> 00:00:22.530 align:middle line:84% Well, this is something I submitted to a poetry editor 00:00:22.530 --> 00:00:25.450 align:middle line:84% but it just says "New Letters from Thomas Jefferson." 00:00:25.450 --> 00:00:27.810 align:middle line:84% And it had straight margins on both sides 00:00:27.810 --> 00:00:29.830 align:middle line:90% but it was printed as a poem. 00:00:29.830 --> 00:00:31.860 align:middle line:90% So I want to read it as a poem. 00:00:31.860 --> 00:00:33.450 align:middle line:84% It's about-- it's one, two-- what's 00:00:33.450 --> 00:00:35.820 align:middle line:90% about five short letters. 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:37.620 align:middle line:84% "New Letters from Thomas Jefferson." 00:00:37.620 --> 00:00:42.330 align:middle line:84% Dear sir, in Washington, we are breathing very sincerely. 00:00:42.330 --> 00:00:43.980 align:middle line:84% Very sincerely, Thomas Jefferson. 00:00:43.980 --> 00:00:47.150 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:47.150 --> 00:00:49.530 align:middle line:90% The second one is-- 00:00:49.530 --> 00:00:54.870 align:middle line:84% dear friend, I give you the faith of the young. 00:00:54.870 --> 00:00:57.900 align:middle line:84% Earlier generations were more limited and selfish 00:00:57.900 --> 00:01:00.120 align:middle line:90% than the young generation. 00:01:00.120 --> 00:01:02.700 align:middle line:84% They polluted the world, oppressed 00:01:02.700 --> 00:01:06.060 align:middle line:84% the weak, indulged hypocritically in alcohol 00:01:06.060 --> 00:01:10.740 align:middle line:84% and food, flaunted their styles as superior, certain decorums 00:01:10.740 --> 00:01:12.660 align:middle line:90% in dress and speech. 00:01:12.660 --> 00:01:14.700 align:middle line:84% Remnants of that generation can be 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:17.580 align:middle line:84% identified, besides by their age, 00:01:17.580 --> 00:01:20.670 align:middle line:84% by their callousness and arrogance. 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:25.650 align:middle line:84% They do not have interesting ideas or lifestyles or tastes. 00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:28.230 align:middle line:90% They are cruel and dishonest. 00:01:28.230 --> 00:01:31.290 align:middle line:84% The governments they maintained or tolerated 00:01:31.290 --> 00:01:34.290 align:middle line:90% were oppressive and corrupt. 00:01:34.290 --> 00:01:37.380 align:middle line:84% Very sincerely, Thomas Jefferson. 00:01:37.380 --> 00:01:39.060 align:middle line:90% The third letter. 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:40.830 align:middle line:90% My friend. 00:01:40.830 --> 00:01:42.420 align:middle line:90% Dear friend. 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:45.900 align:middle line:84% It is like the common wind that touches you 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:48.990 align:middle line:90% by chance at your window. 00:01:48.990 --> 00:01:56.070 align:middle line:84% Our stupendous coincidence to be alive at the same time. 00:01:56.070 --> 00:02:01.740 align:middle line:84% Being contemporaries, having this common disability, 00:02:01.740 --> 00:02:04.890 align:middle line:90% we must endure together. 00:02:04.890 --> 00:02:08.520 align:middle line:84% I lift this day and carry it carefully west, 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:10.410 align:middle line:90% lay it at your door. 00:02:10.410 --> 00:02:13.290 align:middle line:84% It is an instant heirloom so precious 00:02:13.290 --> 00:02:17.100 align:middle line:84% that the whole sky closes on its gray edge. 00:02:17.100 --> 00:02:19.710 align:middle line:84% Everything in the world has been caught 00:02:19.710 --> 00:02:22.950 align:middle line:90% in the scene we happen to share. 00:02:22.950 --> 00:02:26.910 align:middle line:84% Through all that calendar filigree stronger than steel, 00:02:26.910 --> 00:02:29.550 align:middle line:84% I speak to you on this island that 00:02:29.550 --> 00:02:32.640 align:middle line:90% is caving toward us all around. 00:02:32.640 --> 00:02:34.440 align:middle line:90% Dear friend. 00:02:34.440 --> 00:02:36.030 align:middle line:90% My friend. 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:39.630 align:middle line:90% Yours, Thomas Jefferson. 00:02:39.630 --> 00:02:40.890 align:middle line:90% Next to the last. 00:02:40.890 --> 00:02:44.400 align:middle line:90% George W., sir. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:48.120 align:middle line:84% This turn has become the way, wait when acting. 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:50.130 align:middle line:90% Add one further turn. 00:02:50.130 --> 00:02:53.280 align:middle line:84% Hidden by time, there lives this extra advantage, 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.260 align:middle line:90% coiled and elegant. 00:02:55.260 --> 00:02:57.960 align:middle line:90% Our choices now disguise. 00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:00.480 align:middle line:90% Wait for what the world wants. 00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:02.580 align:middle line:90% Old courtesy, new strategy. 00:03:02.580 --> 00:03:06.570 align:middle line:84% We follow by going ahead of what we know is coming. 00:03:06.570 --> 00:03:09.420 align:middle line:90% By hand, Thomas Jefferson. 00:03:09.420 --> 00:03:12.150 align:middle line:84% And the last one from Monticello. 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:14.040 align:middle line:90% My old friend. 00:03:14.040 --> 00:03:17.130 align:middle line:84% This morning, the bees were swarming in the window 00:03:17.130 --> 00:03:19.680 align:middle line:90% well of the washroom. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:22.380 align:middle line:90% Birds were hunting each other. 00:03:22.380 --> 00:03:24.270 align:middle line:84% The root of the big yellow poplar 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:26.970 align:middle line:90% was holding quiet as ever. 00:03:26.970 --> 00:03:31.680 align:middle line:84% Despite what we know and have done, I felt limited. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:33.450 align:middle line:90% Alone. 00:03:33.450 --> 00:03:37.470 align:middle line:84% Across the morning light, particles were signaling what I 00:03:37.470 --> 00:03:39.360 align:middle line:90% cannot see. 00:03:39.360 --> 00:03:42.840 align:middle line:90% As ever, Thomas Jefferson. 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:46.170 align:middle line:84% Well, the story about this is after it appeared, 00:03:46.170 --> 00:03:50.140 align:middle line:90% I got a letter from a scholar. 00:03:50.140 --> 00:03:52.260 align:middle line:84% And he said, will you please tell me 00:03:52.260 --> 00:03:53.968 align:middle line:84% the source of the new letters you've 00:03:53.968 --> 00:03:55.260 align:middle line:90% discovered by Thomas Jefferson? 00:03:55.260 --> 00:03:57.360 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:03:57.360 --> 00:03:58.260 align:middle line:90% 00:03:58.260 --> 00:04:00.110 align:middle line:90% Right here. 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:03.000 align:middle line:90%