Existential
Not fare well,
But fare forward, voyagers.
T.S. Eliot, The Dry Salvages
To know, not in the skeptic mind,
but in the unassuming heart,
that there's a mindful God would be
a comfort deeper than our certain
death. Such hope must open love
beyond the tensioned force of jawed doubt
that feeds on common disappointment.
To envy faith, to envy love --
is there a fate more hateful? Choices
scatter like stars. Too many.
Should one choose the brightest? One
so dim it might be the afterimage
of a light too bright to face?
The worlds revolve, unseen. They stream out,
numberless, and wait for us,
veiled by so much space and time.
But fare forward, voyagers.
T.S. Eliot, The Dry Salvages
To know, not in the skeptic mind,
but in the unassuming heart,
that there's a mindful God would be
a comfort deeper than our certain
death. Such hope must open love
beyond the tensioned force of jawed doubt
that feeds on common disappointment.
To envy faith, to envy love --
is there a fate more hateful? Choices
scatter like stars. Too many.
Should one choose the brightest? One
so dim it might be the afterimage
of a light too bright to face?
The worlds revolve, unseen. They stream out,
numberless, and wait for us,
veiled by so much space and time.
A thoughtful piece... and thought provoking.
I would love to hear this spoken by a worthy voice.
Yowsa!
*
Yes. I really do think this is good, well written, insightful... add some modifiers. Thanks.
Thanks very much, James and Bill.
Thank you, Steve.
Amazing lines -
"The worlds revolve, unseen. They stream out,
numberless, and wait for us,
veiled by so much space and time."
Wish I'd written them. Great poem, Gary.
Goodness! The persistent beat of this really drives the verse home. Absolutely love this.
I would love to hear this read aloud...by James Lloyd Davis (!).
Thank you very much, Sam.
Thank you, Sally. Iambic tetrameter with lapses here and there.
Any poem with an epigraph by Eliot better be a good one. This is.*
a peach of a poem. i agree with JP! *
Agree with everyone. Amazing...
*
Nice, Gary. Love the last line. *
So, JP, I didn't misappropriate Old 'Possum? That's a good thing.
Thanks, James, Gloria, and Tina. Thank you all very much.
Just saw this and glad I did. Thoughtful is an understatement. "To envy faith, to envy love --
is there a fate more hateful?"
Just saw this and glad I did. Thoughtful is an understatement. "To envy faith, to envy love --
is there a fate more hateful?"
Thanks very much for finding this and reading it, Gary.
"To envy faith, to envy love --
is there a fate more hateful?" Goodness, you nailed a very tender spot here. *
Thank you, Beate.
Amazing insights fleshed out in this beautiful poem.
*
Thank you very much, Susan.
You set yourself a challenge with the Eliot epigraph and met it. Well done.*
Thank you, John.
Well done, Gary.
Thank you , Gessy.
"To envy faith, to envy love"
Yes.
To envy poets. *
Thank you, Mykell.
Thanks, Sheldon. I appreciate your reading this.
Beautiful. Shakespearean even. There is such yearning expressed in the opening:
To know, not in the skeptic mind,
but in the unassuming heart,
that there's a mindful God would be
a comfort deeper than our certain
death.
People with faith may be the ruin of us all, but they are also very, very lucky as they live their lives.
Thanks for reading this, Gloria.
I loved this so much it stayed with me and I came back to fave it. It spoke deeply to my own issues. Thank you for writing it.
Gloria, thank you for returning to this.
Gary, thank you for visiting, "Dialogue" and your kind words.
I enjoyed your "Existential" and I feel as though, as you have posited, I could be always leaving the "after-image on the hunt for the brightest star"