I majored in social sciences in university but I also really enjoyed courses in the humanities, particularly English literature. I looked forward to novel and short story studies but admit I was less than enthusiastic about poetry.
An exception to that was a unit on 18th century poets where we studied the work of Thomas Gray, a writer who feverishly wrote and then rewrote his poems numerous times. Despite publishing just 13 of them, he is considered an important writer of the time. Famous lines emerged from his work including the phrase 'ignorance is bliss', the last line of "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College", published in 1747.
Gray's own life shaped the subject matter. He was born in London, the fifth of 12 children, but sadly the only one to survive infancy. At the age of 9 he began attending the prestigious Eton College.
The 10 stanzas of "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College" celebrate the innocence of childhood. He speaks of a return visit as an adult where he recognizes that the process of growing up and acquiring knowledge puts a person on a path of unhappiness. He recalled joyful and carefree times as a student. Yes, they had responsibilities, but those just seemed to make playtime all the more enjoyable. For children, tears shed are soon forgotten. They don’t lie awake at night worrying.
But he warns a time is coming when these children won’t be so happy. Misfortune will seize them, along with shame, sorrow and despair. His final stanza speaks about these inevitable outcomes and his desire that children not know what awaits. This leads to his conclusion in the final line “where ignorance is bliss, 'Tis folly to be wise.”
The idea of ignorance being bliss has been used extensively as a suggestion that happiness can be found in being unaware of what is going on—or what hazards may be ahead. Being ‘ignorant’ of things means being free from worry.
There are times—many times—we might wish we weren't in the know. We don’t want to hear another loved one has cancer. We don’t want to be told of another mass shooting or terrorist attack. Our brains can’t absorb more devastating pictures following a barrage of bombs, or the loss faced by those in the path of wildfires, hurricanes or flooding. Our hearts can’t continue to break for refugees, the hungry or the homeless.
Oh, to be an ostrich and bury our heads in the sand. To shut out the agony, the horror and the heartbreak.
But here’s the thing. Ostriches do not, and never have, buried their heads in the sand. They lie low and press their necks to the ground to become less visible, so it may look as if they are burying their heads to avoid what is going on above ground, but the truth is they aren’t. They can’t. They wouldn’t be able to breathe. Neither would we.
Ostriches dig holes as nests for their eggs and several times each day the bird puts their head in the hole and turns the egg. They are working…doing what needs to be done. And so must we.
The Latin ignorare is the root of our word ‘ignorant’ as well as another word; a word with far greater consequences. The word ‘ignore’. I would argue that far worse than ignorance of a situation is knowing yet ignoring it.
Whatever we may wish to remain ignorant of out of fear, regret, despair, fatigue or other obstacle, one thing is sure…ignoring it won't make it go away, but dealing with it helps the ignorance fade. The less we ignore, the more we see. The more we see the more we understand. The more we understand the greater we can be emboldened to do something about it.
We need to be like the flightless bird and get to work. What we can offer is likely exactly what’s needed. Whether it's time, money, blood, clothes, food, helping hands, transportation, love, understanding or a soft shoulder, we can all offer something. And that takes away the power of the terror, smooths an edge off the hate, and diminishes the despair over the disease.
While the cherished innocence of childhood rightly shaped Gray’s acclaimed poem, we shouldn’t allow its most famous line to become our theme. Rather, we can be like the ostrich as we put our ear to the ground, our nose to the grindstone, and stick our necks out for others. Let’s not ignore the problem. Instead, let’s ignite the response. That's my outlook.
