Hedonism and stoicism; Good and evil: A poem 

To be driven by pleasure 

Is not by any measure 

What one should treasure 

It is a shame if we only seek to ourselves titillate 

The joys of life should be honest and sublime at any rate 

True ecstasy is in eternity if we only choose to wait 

Happiness not pleasure is what one should seek to find 

And happiness in a little, not abundance, is ever so fine 

This should be our aspiration to be in tune with the divine 

Grief is not a mere curse, but also the alchemy of the soul 

To live with it and yet to find joy is in being totally whole 

True sublimation for sure will never see you out in the cold 

From life one ought to learn to be unwaveringly stoic  

The way to earn eternity is to be spiritually pragmatic 

It is foolish to be short-sighted and fall prey to Satan’s tricks 

For God is waiting for us to opt to be morally peerless 

It is not for the faint-hearted and certainly not for the careless 

His judgement favours those that do not deign, not the morally reckless 

Though good is always under threat, but to be evil has no duress