ABCWednesday

Oh, Oh, Oh  - the letter this week is O


O is for Opulence

An 'Opulent' Hotel in Budapest

Opulence is such an ambivalent word.

The sumptuous beauty and the gilded richness it describes

somehow carry with them a faint hint of Obscenity and Decadence.

Centuries ago Aeschylus said.....

'Human prosperity never rests but always craves more, till blown up with pride it totters and falls.  

From the Opulent mansions pointed at by all passers-by none warns it away,

none cries, 'Let no more riches enter'

And although there is a certain opulence in nature,

in an over-the-top sunset

or a majestic sea-scape

still, I'm with Wordsworth.....

The World is too much with us;  late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not.........

I figure that true happiness and sensibility lie in moderation

but a glimpse of opulence is nice

if not our passion!

For more comments on the letter O visit here at ABC Wednesday

with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and her Obedient helpers.