Lyric Poetry: Lying Under Conditions by Nathaniel Campbell

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Under the influence of which a man is said to be kind, may be defined as helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped. Kindness is great if shown to one who is in great need, or who needs what is important and hard to get, or who needs it at an important and difficult crisis.

Here, the philosopher describes how political speech, the case for or against an action, can be used by an orator to portray an opponent as either kind or unkind, in a favorable or unfavorable light, by claiming kindness’s conditions as either having been met or not; however, the poet can use these same conditions to examine the passion(s) of his choosing.

In “<a href="https://youtu.be/985vOw2eD28" style="” target="_blank">One Love</a>,” the Queens, New York, rapper, Nasir “Nas” Jones, reads a letter to an incarcerated friend, who could be said to be at a “difficult crisis,” offering him encouragement, as well as delineating some of the recent events in their neighborhood, along with the affairs of some mutual acquaintances, to lift his spirits, demonstrating helpfulness towards “someone in need not in return for anything … but for that of the person helped.”

Anger may be defined as an impulse, accompanied by pain, to a conspicuous revenge for a conspicuous slight directed without justification towards what concerns oneself.

We are angry with those who oppose us though they are our inferiors: for all such persons seem to feel contempt for us; those who oppose us seem to think us inferior to themselves.

Envy is pain at the sight of such good fortune as consists of the good things. We feel it towards our equals; not with the idea of getting something for ourselves, but because the other people have it.

“<a href="https://youtu.be/TbSm6HsX_ek" style="” target="_blank">Warning</a>” by Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, paints the late, Brooklyn, New York, emcee, being warned, out of kindness, by a friend, as having been disrespected by several of his peers envious of his success, who’ve heard about “the Rolexes and the Lexus with the Texas plates out of state” and plotted against him to dispossess him of “the good things,” in “pain at the sight of such good fortune,” piquing him: “There’s gonna be a lot of slow singing and flower bringing, if my burglar alarm starts ringing!”

The song’s three subjects including B.I.G. himself, his friend, and his cast of enemies, each position themselves under the requisite conditions of their respective passions: anger, kindness, and envy—with the third precipitating the first and the second.

When starting a poem, it may be helpful to first select the passion(s) to be inspected and the subject(s) placed under whatever the appropriate conditions thereof, e.g., anger; love; hate; indignation; kindness; calmness; fear; confidence; nostalgia; envy; lust; lovelornness; lonesomeness; and so on.

The lyric poet concerns himself with the human condition, the managing of the passions, as he positions his subject under the requisite conditions of the passion he desires to explore, e.g., those of kindness, which Greek Philosopher, Aristotle, identifies in Book II of Rhetoric: Under the influence of which a man is said to be kind, may be defined as helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped. Kindness is great if shown to one who is in great need, or who needs what is important and hard to get, or who needs it at an important and difficult crisis. Here, the philosopher describes how political speech, the case for or against an action, can be used by an orator to portray an opponent as either kind or unkind, in a favorable or unfavorable light, by claiming kindness’s conditions as either having been met or not; however, the poet can use these same conditions to examine the passion(s) of his choosing. In “One Love,” the Queens, New York, rapper, Nasir “Nas” Jones, reads a letter to an incarcerated friend, who could be said to be at a “difficult crisis,” offering him encouragement, as well as delineating some of the recent events in their neighborhood, along with the affairs of some mutual acquaintances, to lift his spirits, demonstrating helpfulness towards “someone in need not in return for anything … but for that of the person helped.” Anger may be defined as an impulse, accompanied by pain, to a conspicuous revenge for a conspicuous slight directed without justification towards what concerns oneself. We are angry with those who oppose us though they are our inferiors: for all such persons seem to feel contempt for us; those who oppose us seem to think us inferior to themselves. Envy is pain at the sight of such good fortune as consists of the good things. We feel it towards our equals; not with the idea of getting something for ourselves, but because the other people have it. “Warning” by Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, paints the late, Brooklyn, New York, emcee, being warned, out of kindness, by a friend, as having been disrespected by several of his peers envious of his success, who’ve heard about “the Rolexes and the Lexus with the Texas plates out of state” and plotted against him to dispossess him of “the good things,” in “pain at the sight of such good fortune,” piquing him: “There’s gonna be a lot of slow singing and flower bringing, if my burglar alarm starts ringing!” The song’s three subjects including B.I.G. himself, his friend, and his cast of enemies, each position themselves under the requisite conditions of their respective passions: anger, kindness, and envy—with the third precipitating the first and the second. When starting a poem, it may be helpful to first select the passion(s) to be inspected and the subject(s) placed under whatever the appropriate conditions thereof, e.g., anger; love; hate; indignation; kindness; calmness; fear; confidence; nostalgia; envy; lust; lovelornness; lonesomeness; and so on.