The big question: what to I want to do with the time remaining to me in this lifetime?
Monday, March 5, 2018
Friday, February 2, 2018
Ulyssess
I
cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life
to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd
Greatly,
have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That
loved me, and alone ...
I am become a name; ...
For
always roaming with a hungry heart
Much
have I seen and known; cities of men
And
manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself
not least, but honour'd of them all;
And
drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far
on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I
am a part of all that I have met;
Yet
all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams
that untravell'd world whose margin fades
For
ever and forever when I move.
How
dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To
rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As
tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were
all too little, and of one to me
Little
remains: but every hour is saved
From
that eternal silence, something more,
A
bringer of new things; and vile it were
For
some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And
this gray spirit yearning in desire
To
follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond
the utmost bound of human thought.
Old
age hath yet his honour and his toil;
And something ere the end,
Some
work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not
unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
I'm old. Why can't I sit back in my rocking chair and watch the world go by?
The answer, my friends, lies within Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem.
(https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses)
Ulyssess
I cannot rest from travel: I will
drink
Life to the lees: All times I have
enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both
with those
That loved me, and alone ...
I am become a name; ...
For always roaming with a hungry
heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of
men
And manners, climates, councils,
governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them
all;
And drunk delight of battle with my
peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy
Troy.
I am a part of all that I have
met;
Yet all experience is an arch
wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world whose
margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an
end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in
use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life
piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to
me
Little remains: but every hour is
saved
From that eternal silence, something
more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it
were
For some three suns to store and hoard
myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in
desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking
star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human
thought.
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
And something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
Ulyssess
I cannot rest from travel: I will
drink
Life to the lees: All times I have
enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both
with those
That loved me, and alone ...
I am become a name; ...
For always roaming with a hungry
heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of
men
And manners, climates, councils,
governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them
all;
And drunk delight of battle with my
peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy
Troy.
I am a part of all that I have
met;
Yet all experience is an arch
wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world whose
margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an
end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in
use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life
piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to
me
Little remains: but every hour is
saved
From that eternal silence, something
more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it
were
For some three suns to store and hoard
myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in
desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking
star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human
thought.
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
And something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
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