← All chapters
Poetry · Chapter
Famine in Prosperity explained
Two monks observe lean cattle on a battlefield, surrounded by abundant dead flesh, and one remarks on the irony of cows starving amidst plenty.
What happens
Two monks observe lean cattle on a battlefield, surrounded by abundant dead flesh, and one remarks on the irony of cows starving amidst plenty.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The poem highlights the ironic contradiction of starvation amid abundance, reflecting a deeper hypocrisy in the natural or moral order.
Key passages
“All flesh is grass—I’m quite confounded That cows should starve by hay surrounded.”
All living things are like grass, and I am astonished that cows would starve while surrounded by hay.
The monk expresses bewilderment at the paradox of starvation in the midst of plenty, using the biblical metaphor 'all flesh is grass' to underscore the irony.