Remember the film? Alfie was such a rogue, breaking hearts and walking away as if a broken heart was of no account. The film, as I recall, was about the meaning of life - not the Monty Python version.
My husband, born and raised in Wales, was fond of quoting a poem written by William Henry Davies, a Welsh poet. The words speak to me of life and living and as a writer I sometimes forget to remember the richness of life.
"What is this life, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows;
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass;
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance;
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
Do you have a poem or a piece of writing that speaks to you in a particular way? I am going to walk along the path by the sea this afternoon to view the scene, smell the sea and sit on a bench in the sun and reflect on my life.
anita
www.anitabirt.com
1 comment:
I've always loved Alexander Pope. My dad introduced me to him with 'The Rape of the Lock' and pointed out what a sly piece of comedy can really do, to literature, to your brain, to everyone who takes themselves too seriously. My favourite Pope poem though is 'From Eloisa to Abelard' because her lament about Abelard and God are so inextricably linked to be the same thing to her, so very powerful! Recently, after reading The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham, I've been mulling over 'An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog' by Oliver Goldsmith, that Maugham quotes towards the end of the novel... when I figure it out, I shall post again :)
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