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The poem, 'Three Passions' tells us the passions with which the poet 'Bertrand Russell' wants to live his life. Life, despite all odds and difficult phases, is beautiful and has some purpose. Bertrand Russell, known for his philosophical thoughts and writings, composed these lines to show the passion of a person to live life to the fullest. Lord Byron said the great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain. And same is the philosophy of Bertrand Russell. Russell says that love and knowledge have been his passions to live and these two are enough to take him to heaven. But, his third passion, pity, makes him think twice before moving to heaven. He says that the sorrow in the world, in the form of famine, torture and war, makes him not wanting to leave the earth. Rather, he wants to work towards elevating people from the grim realities.
Three Passions
Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering [of humankind].
Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts [of people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living.
