Saturday 11 October 2008

neither living nor dead






Yet when we came back, late, from the Hyacinth garden, 
Your arms full, and your hair wet, I could not 
Speak, and my eyes failed, I was neither 
Living nor dead, and I knew nothing,                                   
Looking into the heart of light, the silence.

Eliot (The Waste Land)

10 comments:

  1. I think these lines from Eliot are possibly one of the most stunning pieces of poetry ever written.
    Your picture is very unreal, a little scary in fact!

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  2. oh no, i think it's full of wonder. and not unlike the hand pic, reminds of a fifties movie. what's on roxana's viewing list these days!?

    it reminds me of a thing i did years ago, working with an architectural florist, taking pictures of a wee girl as if she was a fairy

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  3. Hyacinth Girl,

    This may be my favorite bit of Eliot. And the photo, this endless moment of gazing at the horizon, the eternity just before apotheosis....

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  4. I know, Sorlil. stunning, and even this is not the right word for it. 'scary'? I don't see it like this myself, but I understand why it could have this effect on other people.

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  5. swiss, I haven't had any time for films lately, for anything actually... but if it is a fifties movie, then it should be good :-)

    and where are those pictures?

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  6. lotus, dear, yes. blinded by the light.

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  7. james, your favourite bit of eliot? :-) and you are touching the very core of the matter: 'just before'.

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  8. The Waste Land is such an amazing masterpiece... My favorite by Eliot for sure.

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  9. Je suis deux ans trop tard, Hyacinthe.

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