In light of the recent tragic earthquake in Haiti, a poem came to mind: “Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne”, or “Poem on the Disaster of Lisbon” written by Voltaire. As the name suggests, the poem is about the the great Lisbon earthquake which occurred in 1755. It is a harsh critique of an idea espoused by many thinker of the time, most notably Gottfried Leibniz and his idea of “The best of all possible worlds”.
It’s so unfortunate that tragedies like this are still happening despite all the advances in earthquake engineering. I hope to play my part in advancing the construction practice, and prevent another disaster like this from happening. Quoting the poem in its entirety below:
Unlucky mortals! O deplorable earth!
All humanity huddles in fear!
The endless subject of useless pain!
Come philosophers who cry, “All is well,”
And contemplate the ruins of this world.
Behold the debris and ashes of the fallen -
These women and children heaped in common ruin,
These scattered limbs under the broken marble.
See the hundred thousand whom the earth devours!
Torn and bloody, they are still breathing,
Entombed beneath roofs, and they die without
Relief from the horror of their suffering lives.
As the dying voices call out, will you dare respond
To this appalling spectacle of smoldering ashes with:
“This is the necessary effect of the eternal laws freely chosen by God?”
Seeing this mass of victims, will you say,
“God is avenged. Their death is the price of their crimes”?
What crime, what fault had the young committed,
Who lie bleeding at their mother’s breast?
Did the fallen Lisbon indulge in more vices
Than London or Paris, which live in pleasure?
Lisbon is no more but they dance in paris.