Wednesday, February 22, 2012

ash wednesday

New Delhi, The Royal Observatory, Photo by Thomas Merton
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is nothing again
Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessed face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice
 - from Ash Wednesday by T.S. Eliot

3 comments:

  1. T.S. Eliot - one of favorite poets! Love this excerpt from his poem "Ash Wednesday," especially:

    "I rejoice that things are as they are and
    I renounce the blessed face
    And renounce the voice
    Because I cannot hope to turn again
    Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
    Upon which to rejoice"

    Thanks for posting, Beth.

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  2. Every time I read T.S. Eliot, it seems that something else jumps out at me.
    The way that he can touch the very heart of ash wednesday, the deep sense of our mortality ...

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  3. Indeed, T.S. Eliot's poems contain a wealth of insight. One can spend a whole lifetime and probably not plumb the full depth of meaning of his poems...

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