Addendum
Men's curiosity searches past and future
And clings to that dimension. But to apprehend
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time, is an occupation for the saint--
No occupation either, but something given
And taken, in a lifetime's death in love,
Ardour and selflessness and self-surrender.
For most of us, there is only the unattended
Moment, the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,
The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts. These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.
-- T.S. Eliot, Dry Salvages
And clings to that dimension. But to apprehend
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time, is an occupation for the saint--
No occupation either, but something given
And taken, in a lifetime's death in love,
Ardour and selflessness and self-surrender.
For most of us, there is only the unattended
Moment, the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,
The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts. These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest
Is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.
-- T.S. Eliot, Dry Salvages
posted by johnk at
5:38 PM
3 Comments:
Sehnsucht! Lewis' conception of Joy.
This is one of my favorite Eliot pieces, as evidenced by its use on my moniker for the Pappy blog.
I'm fascinated by transcendant experiences as moments of incarnation and intimations of the infinite.
By
Christopher, At
9:24 AM
Indeed. Life is scattered with these incarnational (or sacramental, rather) "hints and guesses". Eliot has many nice expressions for this idea in the Four Quartets, e.g. the "still point of the turning world", "all is always now". I also love Dom Gregory Dix's phrase, used within a liturgical context, "eternity transfixed in time".
By
johnk, At
11:59 AM
I don't know about bigotry, but some of his earlier poetry might seem a little anti-semitic at times (e.g. there are a few unflattering words about a Jewish person in "Gerontion"). On the other hand, I read somewhere else that he deeply regretted this stuff later in life. Let me leave you with another quote from the Four Quartets.
"And last, the rending pain of re-enactment
Of all that you have done, and been; the shame
Of motives late revealed, and the awareness
Of things ill done and done to others' harm
Which once you took for exercise of virtue.
Then fools' approval stings, and honor stains."
By
johnk, At
6:25 AM
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