It's only optimistic if you look slantwise. I was being a bit wry about it. I'm sure the poet thought he was being all moody and bleak about existence. And, of course, he was influenced by his religion which taught Original Sin, so he's merely stating that no one is born free of the taint of sin.

Still, I think he misses the whole point of our being responsible for the havoc we wreak in the world. If our worst crime is being born, that's not even something we chose, is it? What then of all the things we choose to do. All the dreadful decisions that ought to be charged to our accounts?

Is it a sin just to exist? I don't think so. Certainly not for all of us. Not from the beginning. I suppose you might ask whether some of us sin by continuing.



Begging your pardon. My cousin will have my hide for this if I'm not careful. I'm supposed to be changing for dinner, not foisting morose poetry on you.