~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Hi, y'all! I wasn't sure I would post this week because I have been so distracted by current events. Time to revisit ‘Ulysses’ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. I hear it in Judi Dench's voice ever since I saw "Skyfall":
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
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I almost forgot to include my other favorite courage-builder -- "Once More Unto the Breach" from Henry V.
The Miss Rumphius Effect has the Poetry Friday roundup. Thanks, Tricia!
Thank you, Tabatha - it has been almost too much to try to comprehend this week, and I can't imagine having to live through it, with no option of looking away. Such a helpless feeling as others suffer.
ReplyDeletePoetry can do so much for us - be a refuge, an inspiration, a mirror. Thanks for sharing your courage-building poems with us today.
ReplyDeleteThanks -- really needed this bit of courage and hope this week. It's definitely difficult to concentrate on anything when world events are so worrying.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tabatha. I always learn something and come away from reading your blog with more awareness of the world and how poetry and art can help us cope.
ReplyDeleteOh, THIS. What a lovely clarion call -- to seek, to find, and not to yield.
ReplyDeleteAmen!
ReplyDeleteYes, events have me upset and ears perked, listening for how things unfold. I am tired of being so attuned to the news. But, every crisis grabs me these days. Dame Judy...she makes it all sound good. But, this poem hits me right.
ReplyDeleteWhat if nasty Pootin ends up having done democracy and unity a service, reforging "one equal temper of heroic hearts"? Once more into the breach, with poetry in hand...
ReplyDeleteTabatha, thank you for posting this. I'm trying to limit my time watching the news. My heart aches for all that is happening today!
ReplyDeleteStirring words, and a reminder that, as they say, "twas ever thus". We have faced hard times before, as a human race, time and time again, and somehow, even in the darkest hours, we carried on. And carry on we shall, somehow.
ReplyDeletea prayer if ever there was one... It's poems like this that remind me how much we share with others the world over... their strife, our strife; their burdens, our burdens. It gives me pause, and perhaps that is the best thing any of us can do in the moment: pause, listen, with hearts in hand. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, Tabatha. Hope and courage, hope and courage. xo
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