This fantastic poem by Dylan Thomas came up in the Francis Schaeffer book I'm reading: The God Who Is There. The author's broad argument is to trace the modern way of thinking - what he calls the "line of despair" - down through different areas of culture. Music and literature is one of the last, and in here it finds exemplary expression.
Too proud to die; broken and blind he died
The darkest way, and did not turn away,
A cold kind man brave in his narrow pride
On the darkest day, Oh, forever may
He lie lightly, at last, on the last, crossed
Hill, under the grass, in love, and there grow
Young among the long flocks, and never lie lost
Or still all the numberless days of his death, though
Above all he longed for his mother's breast
Which was rest and dust, and in the kind ground
The darkest justice of death, blind and unblessed.
Let him find no rest but be fathered and found,
I prayed in the crouching room, by his blind bed,
In the muted house, one minute before
Moon, and night, and light. The rivers of the dead
Veined his poor hand I held, and I saw
Through his unseeing eyes to the roots of the sea.
(An old tormented man three-quarters blind),
I am not too proud to cry that He and he
Will never never go out of my mind.
All his bones crying, and poor in all but pain,
Being innocent, he dreaded that he died
Hating his God, but what he was was plain:
An old kind man brave in his burning pride.
The sticks of the house were his; his books he owned.
Even as a baby he had never cried;
Nor did he now, save to his secret wound.
Out of his eyes I saw the last light glide.
Here among the light of the lording sky
An old man is with me where I go
Walking in the meadows of his son's eye
On whom a world of ills came down like snow.
He cried as he died, fearing at last the spheres'
Last sound, the world going out without a breath:
Too proud to cry, too frail to check the tears,
And caught between two nights, blindness and death.
O deepest wound of all that he should die
On that darkest day. oh, he could hide
The tears out of his eyes, too proud to cry.
Until I die he will not leave my side.
Showing posts with label Smart stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smart stuff. Show all posts
3/05/2010
5/30/2009
Marxist Nationalism
"Capitalism played a crucial role in 'assembling' print-languages, within definite grammatical and syntactical limits, from the immense variety of related local vernaculars or idiolects." (Smith, 135)
WOW this just totally blew my mind. Way to go, Anderson. So does being a Grammar Nazi make me a propagator of capitalism? Does seeking the demise of the English vernacular mean strengthening the monopolization of production by capitalism?
Just a part of my research paper on the Marxist view of nationalism. I like this thought; even though it makes my brain hurt! =]
3/19/2009
Fascism?
so what if im a fascist? honestly, democracy makes me sick sometimes; all the lethargy, ineptitude, coddling. wonder why our democratic participation as a country - heck, as democracies in general - is at paltry levels? ill tell you why: because in their heart of hearts, people crave leadership. people are sheep. they want decisions. they want to be told what to do. and there are people ready to lead them! i think we should give everyone what they want - nay, what they deserve!
not that ull likely ever see me leading that way. =P thats just my honest opinion. of course, it has its glaring flaws - no denying.
neway, on to the real reason for this post. one of my profs yesterday was talking about human rights. he critiqued the group of students that had just presented on the subject by saying that wanting to "universalize" or "enforce" human rights is an extremely imperialist thing to desire. he claimed that perhaps the focus should be on formulating a procedure through which people/societies can generate their own conception of rights. where's the harm in letting people have a voice? in allowing them to decide things for themselves? in the West, he criticized [and he may well be right], we're afraid to let the ignorant, the barbarians, the children decide things for themselves.
although i agree with his cynicism [i love cynicism], i think there may be a flaw in this argument if we want to continue to talk about HUMAN rights. if every society is given free reign to develop their personal interpretation of what rights they will grant their members, then can we really claim to call these human rights? as in, rights that apply to all simply by virtue of their humanity? he asked whether we can actually claim that they will come up with the wrong things unless we're willing to make unfair assumptions about them, but i say that we already know that this will be the case by virtue of the fact that not everyone in the world was willing to jump on them at their moment of codification. this may simply be splitting hairs over terminology, we simply can't call human rights what isn't true for all humans everywhere. now, he may say that perhaps these societies will come up with the same right definition of rights when freed from oppressive governments, but i doubt that will be the case because otherwise they wouldn't be a different culture from the West. you may then protest by saying that they're not all that different from us; they're still human. which is my point exactly. if we want to call them human rights, they have to be something that all humans everywhere would naturally create or envision. so while i agree that enforcing them may not be the right way to go about it, human rights, whatever they may be, need to be defended regardless of the legality of the intervention, political opinion, or international consent. simply because of the role they play in defining our very humanity.
----------
'Cause ever since I tried
Trying not to find
Every little meaning in my life
It's been fine
I've been cool
With my new golden rule
Numb is the new deep
Done with the old me
And talk is the same cheap it's been
I'm over the analyzing tonight
Stop trying to figure it out
It will only bring you down
You know, I used to be the back
porch poet with my book of rhymes
Always open knowing all the time I'm problably
Never gonna find the perfect rhyme
For 'heavier things'
not that ull likely ever see me leading that way. =P thats just my honest opinion. of course, it has its glaring flaws - no denying.
neway, on to the real reason for this post. one of my profs yesterday was talking about human rights. he critiqued the group of students that had just presented on the subject by saying that wanting to "universalize" or "enforce" human rights is an extremely imperialist thing to desire. he claimed that perhaps the focus should be on formulating a procedure through which people/societies can generate their own conception of rights. where's the harm in letting people have a voice? in allowing them to decide things for themselves? in the West, he criticized [and he may well be right], we're afraid to let the ignorant, the barbarians, the children decide things for themselves.
although i agree with his cynicism [i love cynicism], i think there may be a flaw in this argument if we want to continue to talk about HUMAN rights. if every society is given free reign to develop their personal interpretation of what rights they will grant their members, then can we really claim to call these human rights? as in, rights that apply to all simply by virtue of their humanity? he asked whether we can actually claim that they will come up with the wrong things unless we're willing to make unfair assumptions about them, but i say that we already know that this will be the case by virtue of the fact that not everyone in the world was willing to jump on them at their moment of codification. this may simply be splitting hairs over terminology, we simply can't call human rights what isn't true for all humans everywhere. now, he may say that perhaps these societies will come up with the same right definition of rights when freed from oppressive governments, but i doubt that will be the case because otherwise they wouldn't be a different culture from the West. you may then protest by saying that they're not all that different from us; they're still human. which is my point exactly. if we want to call them human rights, they have to be something that all humans everywhere would naturally create or envision. so while i agree that enforcing them may not be the right way to go about it, human rights, whatever they may be, need to be defended regardless of the legality of the intervention, political opinion, or international consent. simply because of the role they play in defining our very humanity.
----------
'Cause ever since I tried
Trying not to find
Every little meaning in my life
It's been fine
I've been cool
With my new golden rule
Numb is the new deep
Done with the old me
And talk is the same cheap it's been
I'm over the analyzing tonight
Stop trying to figure it out
It will only bring you down
You know, I used to be the back
porch poet with my book of rhymes
Always open knowing all the time I'm problably
Never gonna find the perfect rhyme
For 'heavier things'
6/15/2006
The End (of High School)!!!
so0O0o.. i havent been here in a while.. been doing dumb stuff on myspace & hi5 instead lol. and as a side note, TIFFANY BLAIR! blast from the past, she found me on hi5 and now we chat on msn =P wierd, eh?
ONE MORE EXAM!!! world issues - i almost feel bad for taking it, its so bird-like lol. but i shall do some studying.. after i post this
my exams have gone quite well, considering the relatively little amount of studying time that went into preparing for them. english (wrote 2 essays), law (flipping long! wrote another essay), chem! (yeah it was pretty easy. made some stuff up for the qs on unit 4 lol), calc (did so badly it was actually funny. ill be lucky to pass), french (why did i even BOTHER to study?!?! wow, other than translating 4 more paragraphs than was necessary, questions went like this: this Bible passage is about the Kingdom of God. What is this passage about? what a waste of my life..), history (actually finished. wrote 2 more essays.. worth only HALF of the total exam. lol karen, "cuz of urbanization he couldnt see stars, so he painted some.." HA that makes my day ^^!), and tmw is world issues (ill be writing yet another essay. surprise, surprise). AND THEN IM FREEEE!!! ^__________^ thank the LORD! and ill never have to wear this uniform again =P haha.
so back to the reason for this post. on the way home today, my mom wanted to go into scarborough town centre n get some stuff she saw there earlier this week, so i went with (cuz the car was hot). and i bought a dress =D w00t! its black with turquoise and white rhinestone flowers along the bottom where the black part ends. the dress actually comes to about mid-thigh, but then theres this cool sparkly mesh part that continues from there to the floor. yeah its coolness. i might wear it under my grad gown =D. ill probly wear it tmw for my youth group's year end banquet. gonna wear it with my light up shoes ^^ i know u all rmb them!! and it was $50!!!!! DUDE!! i mean, come on!! seriously, i had to have it. the store's going out of business or smth, and the dress had my name written all over it. and it fits perfectly too =D. it was MADE for me. newayyy.. so i guess ill go do some studying now.. *sigh* not like there arent a million things id rather do instead, but heyy, this is the last high school exam ill ever have to study for, so i might as well DO some studying =P. ill be SO GLAD when this week is over.
oh and im working on a way for u to be able to comment again.. be patient, and in the meantime u can use my cbox =P lol.
cool words to add to ur vocabulary:
defenestrate (v): to throw out the window
quixotic (adj): absurdly chivalric, like Don Quixote (pronounced "qwik-zawtik" lol)
somnambulate (v): to sleepwalk, walk around in a dreamlike state
formication (n): the sensation of ants crawling on your skin
toria, im pretty sure theres one more, but i cant rmb what it is =P
LIC =D see y'all at grad!!!! ^_________^
ONE MORE EXAM!!! world issues - i almost feel bad for taking it, its so bird-like lol. but i shall do some studying.. after i post this
my exams have gone quite well, considering the relatively little amount of studying time that went into preparing for them. english (wrote 2 essays), law (flipping long! wrote another essay), chem! (yeah it was pretty easy. made some stuff up for the qs on unit 4 lol), calc (did so badly it was actually funny. ill be lucky to pass), french (why did i even BOTHER to study?!?! wow, other than translating 4 more paragraphs than was necessary, questions went like this: this Bible passage is about the Kingdom of God. What is this passage about? what a waste of my life..), history (actually finished. wrote 2 more essays.. worth only HALF of the total exam. lol karen, "cuz of urbanization he couldnt see stars, so he painted some.." HA that makes my day ^^!), and tmw is world issues (ill be writing yet another essay. surprise, surprise). AND THEN IM FREEEE!!! ^__________^ thank the LORD! and ill never have to wear this uniform again =P haha.
so back to the reason for this post. on the way home today, my mom wanted to go into scarborough town centre n get some stuff she saw there earlier this week, so i went with (cuz the car was hot). and i bought a dress =D w00t! its black with turquoise and white rhinestone flowers along the bottom where the black part ends. the dress actually comes to about mid-thigh, but then theres this cool sparkly mesh part that continues from there to the floor. yeah its coolness. i might wear it under my grad gown =D. ill probly wear it tmw for my youth group's year end banquet. gonna wear it with my light up shoes ^^ i know u all rmb them!! and it was $50!!!!! DUDE!! i mean, come on!! seriously, i had to have it. the store's going out of business or smth, and the dress had my name written all over it. and it fits perfectly too =D. it was MADE for me. newayyy.. so i guess ill go do some studying now.. *sigh* not like there arent a million things id rather do instead, but heyy, this is the last high school exam ill ever have to study for, so i might as well DO some studying =P. ill be SO GLAD when this week is over.
oh and im working on a way for u to be able to comment again.. be patient, and in the meantime u can use my cbox =P lol.
cool words to add to ur vocabulary:
defenestrate (v): to throw out the window
quixotic (adj): absurdly chivalric, like Don Quixote (pronounced "qwik-zawtik" lol)
somnambulate (v): to sleepwalk, walk around in a dreamlike state
formication (n): the sensation of ants crawling on your skin
toria, im pretty sure theres one more, but i cant rmb what it is =P
LIC =D see y'all at grad!!!! ^_________^
4/24/2006
Can You Read This?
Can you read this?
Olny srmat poelpe can.
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig eh? Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
w00t ^^ this is for all the spelling inept lol! i smiled all the way through reading that.. but typing it out was MURDER, believe me! try it for urself..
LIC =D
Olny srmat poelpe can.
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig eh? Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
w00t ^^ this is for all the spelling inept lol! i smiled all the way through reading that.. but typing it out was MURDER, believe me! try it for urself..
LIC =D
3/15/2006
Thank You, Clive Staples
The Great Divorce is such a great book - one of those cant-put-it-down-ers. I just remembered today as I was reading how much I love reading CS Lewis. His allegories ROCK MY WORLD! For those who dont know how this one goes, there are a bunch of people who get on a bus and drive out of a grey town [Hell] and ascend up to a grassy plane [Heaven], but reality is somehow different there. Everything is much more "solid". The narrator and his companions appear to be like mere ghosts whereas the people of that land are bright, glowing, and even sparkling. When a ghost tries to pick a flower, he cant. He cant even bend it. When he tries to lift a leaf, its so heavy that he cant lift it more than a centimetre off the ground. If the ghosts walk around, they do so in agony atop fields of pointy and unbending grass. The narrator sees many scenes, but at the point where I am he is asking questions about this strange "Heaven" and "Hell" of a Scottish "Solid Person". I need to find out how this one ends. Now. Heres one of those awesome clips that I really like:
'But what of the poor Ghosts who never get into the omnibus at all?'
'Everyone who wishes it does. Never fear. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened."
Wow. If having a strange name gives one that sort of literary power, then I'm officially changing my name to Pinky Chucklenose [LOL!! sorry, had to be there xD].
LIC =D
Song of the Moment: Alive In This Moment - Starfield
It's been so long since I have met You here
Since I have said these words or cried these tears
And like a child would come I run into our secret place
And as the music fades, the tears are rolling down my face
I am alive in this moment
In this moment I am found
I am alive in this moment
In this moment I belong
It's been so long since I have met You here
Since I have heard You speak or let You near
And like a wayward son I've come with nothing left to hide
Here in this moment I have come to offer up my life
Here only one fire burns, it burns
Here only one melody is heard
Once again for the very first time
My eyes are opening
'But what of the poor Ghosts who never get into the omnibus at all?'
'Everyone who wishes it does. Never fear. There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened."
Wow. If having a strange name gives one that sort of literary power, then I'm officially changing my name to Pinky Chucklenose [LOL!! sorry, had to be there xD].
LIC =D
Song of the Moment: Alive In This Moment - Starfield
It's been so long since I have met You here
Since I have said these words or cried these tears
And like a child would come I run into our secret place
And as the music fades, the tears are rolling down my face
I am alive in this moment
In this moment I am found
I am alive in this moment
In this moment I belong
It's been so long since I have met You here
Since I have heard You speak or let You near
And like a wayward son I've come with nothing left to hide
Here in this moment I have come to offer up my life
Here only one fire burns, it burns
Here only one melody is heard
Once again for the very first time
My eyes are opening
1/22/2006
The Heart
yesderday, a friend of mine jokingly commented to me, "oh Melody, so like you to question the heart." he went on to say "i suppose this is where we differ: i never question the heart. i think it much wiser than the mind." well let me tell you: i question everything, especially the heart. hearts cant be trusted.. especially my own. i believe knowing the mind is most important because it is a true reflection of the heart.
so we see these two, the heart and the mind. fully getting to know a person involves getting to know both, but the majority of friendships anyone has only involve the meeting of two minds. the heart, being the centre of the person, the place where all the thoughts, passions, and dreams are held, can obviously never be entirely understood by another human. it is difficult to even know at all because the human heart is fickle and inconstant in its emotions and is hidden under layers of bandages, holding it together after years of hurt and wear. how can one be expected to discover it quickly? it is not meant to be so. now, the mind is much more capable of discovery. we speak from our minds largely; our hearts desires being far too complex for most tongues to communicate. the mind, not the one we sometimes present to disguise ourselves, the true mind is the mirror image of the heart, but simply easier for us to communicate and express to other people. this all being said, yes, i will agree with my friend and say that the heart is far wiser than the mind but much harder to know and discern. also, since real relationships involve the exchange between two people, getting a "piece of someones mind", so to speak, involves giving a piece of your own and, moreover, seeing another's heart means them seeing yours too. i continue to hold, therefore, that the true mind is what is most to be trusted. if you first try to know the persons mind, you can judge more capably who and what they are without being hurt. knowing the mind is secure, edifying, and can tell you if this is someone you deem worthy to know you fully. if this is someone who, upon giving and receiving a part of their heart, will be like a part of you that never really left - just got better.
well, i hope ull all forgive me for my "soliloquizing" [a word i just made up =P], and id like to leave you with passages from the Bible and from Hamlet that i hold deeply and are definitely a part of my own heart.
Jeremiah 17:9-10
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind..."
LAERTES (Act I, Scene III)
For... the trifling of his favour,
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,
A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more....
Think it no more....
Perhaps he loves you now,
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
The virtue of his will: but you must fear,
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own;
For he himself is subject to his birth:
He may not, as unvalued persons do,
Carve for himself....
Then if he says he loves you,
It fits your wisdom so far to believe it
As he in his particular act and place
May give his saying deed....
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,
If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart....
Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister,
And keep you in the rear of your affection,
Out of the shot and danger of desire.
The chariest maid is prodigal enough,
If she unmask her beauty to the moon:
Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes....
Be wary then; best safety lies in fear:
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.
May we all the effect of this good lesson keep,
As watchman to our hearts.
LIC =D
so we see these two, the heart and the mind. fully getting to know a person involves getting to know both, but the majority of friendships anyone has only involve the meeting of two minds. the heart, being the centre of the person, the place where all the thoughts, passions, and dreams are held, can obviously never be entirely understood by another human. it is difficult to even know at all because the human heart is fickle and inconstant in its emotions and is hidden under layers of bandages, holding it together after years of hurt and wear. how can one be expected to discover it quickly? it is not meant to be so. now, the mind is much more capable of discovery. we speak from our minds largely; our hearts desires being far too complex for most tongues to communicate. the mind, not the one we sometimes present to disguise ourselves, the true mind is the mirror image of the heart, but simply easier for us to communicate and express to other people. this all being said, yes, i will agree with my friend and say that the heart is far wiser than the mind but much harder to know and discern. also, since real relationships involve the exchange between two people, getting a "piece of someones mind", so to speak, involves giving a piece of your own and, moreover, seeing another's heart means them seeing yours too. i continue to hold, therefore, that the true mind is what is most to be trusted. if you first try to know the persons mind, you can judge more capably who and what they are without being hurt. knowing the mind is secure, edifying, and can tell you if this is someone you deem worthy to know you fully. if this is someone who, upon giving and receiving a part of their heart, will be like a part of you that never really left - just got better.
well, i hope ull all forgive me for my "soliloquizing" [a word i just made up =P], and id like to leave you with passages from the Bible and from Hamlet that i hold deeply and are definitely a part of my own heart.
Jeremiah 17:9-10
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind..."
LAERTES (Act I, Scene III)
For... the trifling of his favour,
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,
A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more....
Think it no more....
Perhaps he loves you now,
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
The virtue of his will: but you must fear,
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own;
For he himself is subject to his birth:
He may not, as unvalued persons do,
Carve for himself....
Then if he says he loves you,
It fits your wisdom so far to believe it
As he in his particular act and place
May give his saying deed....
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,
If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart....
Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister,
And keep you in the rear of your affection,
Out of the shot and danger of desire.
The chariest maid is prodigal enough,
If she unmask her beauty to the moon:
Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes....
Be wary then; best safety lies in fear:
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.
May we all the effect of this good lesson keep,
As watchman to our hearts.
LIC =D
4/19/2005
What I Learned
or should i say learning: PEOPLE CAN SURPRISE YOU.
the other day one person i thought i was pretty close with dissed me and i felt permantly ostrasized from them. after school, another person took some time to talk with me about a common interest - and from this person it totally surprised me. it was like a breath of fresh air. and i went home happy.
ive been reading this really great book "Blue Like Jazz" by Don Miller. last night i read a chapter about love and Miller definitely waxed eloquent. he was talking about common metaphors we use with friendships: we value people, we invest in people, a relationship could be bankrupt, and people can be priceless - all economic terms. We think of love as a commodity. we use it like money. it is something to be earned or repayed.
ive been startled how much this applies to my relationships. love doesnt [or shouldnt] work like money. "when we barter with it, we all lose." instead of conditional love, we should pour it on lavishly and let it work like a magnet, drawing people closer. God never withholds love to teach us lessons about earning his love. his love is perfect, devine, magnetic.
LIC =D
the other day one person i thought i was pretty close with dissed me and i felt permantly ostrasized from them. after school, another person took some time to talk with me about a common interest - and from this person it totally surprised me. it was like a breath of fresh air. and i went home happy.
ive been reading this really great book "Blue Like Jazz" by Don Miller. last night i read a chapter about love and Miller definitely waxed eloquent. he was talking about common metaphors we use with friendships: we value people, we invest in people, a relationship could be bankrupt, and people can be priceless - all economic terms. We think of love as a commodity. we use it like money. it is something to be earned or repayed.
ive been startled how much this applies to my relationships. love doesnt [or shouldnt] work like money. "when we barter with it, we all lose." instead of conditional love, we should pour it on lavishly and let it work like a magnet, drawing people closer. God never withholds love to teach us lessons about earning his love. his love is perfect, devine, magnetic.
LIC =D
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