[General] I am the tears of the world that weeps

[MarioCaracciolo]

Hi all
Few days ago I went to science museum in London and in one room, the one that is dedicated to material I have heard this expression referred to the rubber material: "I am the tears of the world that weeps" I didn't get it at all. I would like know how this expression is referred to rubber material.
Thank you so much for the eventual answer.

Mario Caracciolo

 

[SoothingDave]

I don't get it either. Why would rubber be related to crying?

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Mightn't it be a reference to the Hevea brasiliensis (better known as the rubber tree) exuding its sap?

 

[Rover_KE]

Good point, Roman. That could work if the quotation actually reads "I am the tears of the wood that weeps".



!

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

That's so funny!

But as Samuel Beckett wrote in Waiting for Godot, "The tears of the world are a constant quantity". Perhaps the point being made is one of conservation of natural resources.

 

[SoothingDave]

No, the intelligence of the world is a constant. The population keeps growing.

 

[aachu]

Not a teacher

Natural rubber is obtained from rubber trees. Cuts are made into the bark of such trees and bucket like structures are hung under the cuts with the trees. The rubber in the form of thick fluid, called latex, collects in those buckets. In the sentence 'I am the tears of the world that weeps' the writer equates rubber tree with the eyes of the world and the latex exuding from the rubber tree with the tears sliding down from that eye. Eye of the world that is.

 

[Raymott]

In the sentence 'I am the tears of the world that weeps' the writer equates rubber tree with the eyes of the world and the latex exuding from the rubber tree with the tears sliding down from that eye. Eye of the world that is.

Yes, but why? It's not a particularly clever metaphor. Perhaps in the context of rapacious colonialism and enforced labour in rubber plantations, it might have some effect. But why would the world weep? The trees aren't being destroyed are they? - unless virgin rainforest is being cleared for rubber trees. Still, rubber production is sustainable, because, as we know, rubber balls keep bouncing back.

 

[Tdol]

It is a poor sentence- it suggests that only a part of the world weeps, so it's not even a very good conscience for the planet.

 

[5jj]

Everybody's guessing here, because we have no confirmation of the actual words of the sign. My own guess is that Roman and Rover are probably right in post #3 and #4.

 

[emsr2d2]

No, the intelligence of the world is a constant. The population keeps growing.

(Off topic)

It strikes me that the more the population grows, the more the world's intelligence goes down. Evidenced by the fact that the population keeps growing.