"There are ... / Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem / From insignificance"

If, on account of the political situation,
There are quite a number of homes without roofs, and men
Lying about in the countryside neither drunk nor asleep,
If all sailings have been cancelled until further notice,
If it's unwise to say much in letters, and if,
Under the subnormal temperatures prevailing,
The two sexes are at present the weak and the strong,
That is not at all unusual for this time of year.
If that were all we should know how to manage. Flood, fire,
The desiccation of grasslands, restraint of princes,
Piracy on the high seas, physical pain and fiscal grief,
These after all are our familiar tribulations,
And we have been through them all before, many, many times.

—For the Time Being, "Advent," part II, lines 1-13

Every so often I find myself needing to return to Auden for solace.

Sometimes, he also managed honesty.

---L.