Vincent Van Gogh 15 - Learning Latin & Greek Poem by Geeta Radhakrishna Menon

Vincent persevered relentlessly reading and writing
Trying his very best to comprehend the ancient
Classical languages of Latin and Greek.
To his brother Theo he wrote:
'How shall I ever arrive! At night, I am tired
And I cannot get up as early as I wish.
My head is sometimes heavy and often it burns
And my thoughts are confused - to get used to
And persevere in simple regular study
After all those emotional years is not always so easy.'

Each morning, Vincent would get up before the sunrise,
Start the day by reading the Bible.
After a while, he would look out of the window
Till the sun had fully risen and have his breakfast,
Just with a piece of dry bread and a glass of Beer,
Followed by a long seven hours study of Latin & Greek.
He worked relentlessly trying to pump rules into his head,
Until, it was time for him to go to Mendes for further lessons.

Mendes De Costa was a typical Jew with a thin spiritual face.
Mendes taught Vincent Greek, Latin, Dutch history,
Algebra and Grammar, and was paid handsomely by Uncle Jan.
Vincent would wait for an opportunity to divert Mended
Into his pet subject of lithographs. One day, Vincent gifted
His teacher- Mendes with a book -‘A Baptism' by Maris.
Holding the book in his hand, Mendes said:
‘It is good. It catches something of the spirit of universal religion.'
Vincent's weariness disappeared. He launched into an Appreciation of Maris's art while Mendes shook his head
And urged his pupil to get back with his lessons.

Sometimes, in life, we just follow what others decide for us.
Parents desire their child to follow in their footsteps.
There are other people who freely advice others as to
How they should lead and their lives!
Listening to others, many a times you fall into a trap
From where it is impossible to extricate oneself.
Vincent tried many things and learnt a lot too.
But heart of heart, he desired something very different.
For Vincent, art, nature, love, loomed large above everything else in life.

A Biographical Poem