7.11.04 | Flux and Mutability: The Saturnyne Remembers Mr Shelley To Your Affections; And Casts Light On The Praiseworthy Mr Sylvian
...and so we turn away from the dashed hopes of America and the World, the loss of that nice Mr Peel who showed us so much music, Mr Wood, who made being a child in the U.K. that little bit more magical, and Fred Dibnah, Steeplejack of renown, who also popped his clogs this week... and we await with sorrow, the imminent news of Mr Arafats passing and inevitable disrespectful treatment by Israel of his last wishes. (And c'mon Israel, time to give that land back, ye'll have no more excuses once he's gone.)
Death and loss, are part of life. We shoulder our burdens and struggle on. Time heals many wounds as our memories of loved ones grow more distant. And at times the memory of what we have lost returns unbidden like a blow to the chest and we weep. Yet this will happen less frequently as time hurries us on...
And so The Saturnyne today says "Rejoice! For are we not yet still alive? Do we not still breathe? If we can grieve, then we can also laugh with joy at the pure selflessness of being alive! In a world that lives too! See that tree reaching for the sky? Feel that lively breeze caressing your face? Marvel at a spiders web! Or a childs innocent laughter! Or a bird in flight! Breathe in! Grin! For The Saturnyne loves you unconditionally, and is grinning also.
The Sun burns yet brightly, and the moon and stars tread their ancient paths.
And now we have hope. For we have never truly lost it.
And with that in mind I give you two poems by the revered Mr Percy Bysshe Shelley. both called Mutability. Both beautiful. It's the second one that we shall embrace most fully today, though...
Mutability
The flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow dies;
All that we wish to stay
Tempts and then flies.
What is this world's delight?
Lightning that mocks the night,
Brief even as bright.
Virtue, how frail it is!
Friendship how rare!
Love, how it sells poor bliss
For proud despair!
But we, though soon they fall,
Survive their joy, and all
Which ours we call.
Whilst skies are blue and bright,
Whilst flowers are gay,
Whilst eyes that change ere night
Make glad the day;
Whilst yet the calm hours creep,
Dream thou - and from thy sleep
Then wake to weep.
Mutability (no. 2)
We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;
How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver,
Streaking the darkness radiantly! -yet soon
Night closes round, and they are lost for ever:
Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings
Give various response to each varying blast,
To whose frail frame no second motion brings
One mood or modulation like the last.
We rest.—A dream has power to poison sleep;
We rise.—One wandering thought pollutes the day;
We feel, conceive or reason, laugh or weep;
Embrace fond woe, or cast our cares away:
It is the same!—For, be it joy or sorrow,
The path of its departure still is free:
Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow;
Nought may endure but Mutablilty.
And i think i shall dedicate this second one to Darkchild over in The Netherlands, in the hope that she finds something good for herself in it's words. And if any of you feel like dropping by her place, be sure to say "Hi" and tell her what a fabulous person she is.
If at all possible you should also find a copy of Flux And Mutability by the enigmatic ex-lead singer of Japan, David Sylvian to increase your pleasure of that second poem. Side two of this moody instrumental album goes so perfectly with it, that you may find yourself weeping tears of rapture. Sadness and joy all jumbled together in your head in a true moment of profoundness. Or something like that. From talking to some of you and reading others blogs and profiles, i'm convinced that at least half a dozen of you will love it.
The rest of you i will have to prod with pointy sticks until you do. Ha-yeh! Looking forward to that:
*prod prod*
"Get a move on- you there at the back! The World won't wait forever, you know!"
Hugs all round.
Cake too, probably.
S.
I know, i know, Janey. There needs to be more bollocks in this post. But i was feeling all lovey today... so i just had tae post this instead.
S.x
4 comments :.
Yes Lizzy, that was a Sandman quote in there...
=}
Thankyou for posting the poems...they are lovely. I have been involved in a kind of doomed relationship...the kind where you never wonder if it will end, only when. I was trying to figure out how to wrap my head around it so as to not ruin it completely...after all, I have nothing better to do with my time than take part in tragic romances ;) The answer is in these poems...nothing is really of permanance, so I guess it's best to just "make glad the day whilst yet the calm hours creep" and worry about the weeping once I awake.
Happy *Hugs* for making this a brighter and warmer a.m. in New York!!
... and "mutability" - one of my favourite words ever. Sweet bliss.
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