Encounter
We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.
And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.
That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.
O my love, where are they, where are they going
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.
I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.Wilno, 1936
-Czeslaw Milosz from "The Collected Poems 1931-1987", 1988
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Milosz #1
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9 comments:
Okay, no one will comment on a poem, I'm sure. But I like it. Reminds me very much of that William Carlos Williams poem in every schoolbook about how much (well, "so much") depends on a red wheel barrow in the rain with white chickens (um, roughly). So what exactly does depend on the wheelbarrow? I would say the ephemerality of the scene, which makes it seem so commonplace, is also what gives it meaning and simultaneously a sense of loss. As nasty Wallace Stevens says, "death is the mother of beauty".
Is it bad blog etiquette to post comments to yourself?
No. Why would that be? It's an extension of the original post.
Besides, based on some belief systems, posting/acting, thinking and saying of the same thing are valued equally in achieving the goal.
This poem reminds me of people whom I haven't seen in a long while. I too wonder where they are. Thanks for sharing.
My "favorite" Milosz (favorite in quotes because it's so painful and I try to avoid painful as a general rule):
So Little
I said so little.
Days were short.
Short days.
Short nights.
Short years.
I said so little.
I couldn't keep up.
My heart grew weary
From joy,
Despair,
Ardor,
Hope.
The jaws of Leviathan
Were closing upon me.
Naked, I lay on the shores
Of desert islands.
The white whale of the world
Hauled me down to its pit.
And now I don't know
What in all that was real.
Thanks Mrs C and C-belle for your posts. There is something to be said for the many small moments that we feel but don't often discuss. As Robert Frost said, Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length.
You are welcome.
I can relate this verse to a number of things in my life.
HAR HAR HAR HAR!!!!!
Oh wait, Mrs. C, did you mean that how I took it, or did I just reveal how hopelessly in the gutter my mind is?
hehehe
No, you took it out of context : )
I am so lost.
"Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length."
I thought the verse that Mrs. C was referring to was the above.
And... er... well... do I need to explain further?
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