Comments on Sonnet 330

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Anton"" and Enigmatic - I've copied s/thing on death written by my idol

Written By Percy Bysshe Shelley!

I dare not guess; but in this life

Of error, ignorance, and strife,
Where nothing is, but all things seem,
And we the shadows of the dream,
300 It is a modest creed, and yet
Pleasant if one considers it,
To own that death itself must be,
Like all the rest, a mockery.
That garden sweet, that lady fair,
305 And all sweet shapes and odours there,
In truth have never passed away:
'Tis we, 'tis ours, are changed; not they.
For love, and beauty, and delight,
There is no death nor change: their might
310 Exceeds our organs, which endure
No light, being themselves obscure.

posted by SpencerStreetStation on August 1, 2007 at 6:13 PM | link to this | reply

Antonio
If there is an afterlife, and a Hell (I'm open to different possibilities), I think I'd be very upset, if I thought I could have avoided it. How about a 3rd choice - fearing natural death, which I do, and not heeding your words. lol!

posted by Enigmatic68 on August 1, 2007 at 5:48 PM | link to this | reply

Awesome!
Keep your good work! I love reading more of your expression. Very beautiful!

posted by danieljulie on August 1, 2007 at 5:27 PM | link to this | reply

Hi Dave - was thinking about Phil Oakey this morning.
More specifically Empire State Human, which was crap, as far as I remember, but I'd like to hear it again to see if it's as crap as I thought at the time.

posted by Antonionioni on August 1, 2007 at 8:23 AM | link to this | reply

Erm, yes, Mneme, and I can imagine it's not a pleasant form of recycling.
You'll have to excuse my poor memory, though. Oh wait, I was getting mixed up with 1984. No, I've not seen it, tho I did read the book many years ago. All I can remember is they took 'soma'. Or was that 1984? Doh...

posted by Antonionioni on August 1, 2007 at 8:21 AM | link to this | reply

Philosophiloakey!

posted by _dave_says_ack_ on August 1, 2007 at 8:07 AM | link to this | reply

antonionio
Very profound...  Ever seen Brave New World? - the ultimate in recycling.  

posted by mneme on August 1, 2007 at 7:57 AM | link to this | reply

Hi Mariaki - exactly. there was and is a group called NERD, which stands 4:
No-one Ever Really Dies.

posted by Antonionioni on August 1, 2007 at 6:22 AM | link to this | reply

Hi Notapoet - thanks for your comments, much appreciated.
I agree - if we do die - momentarily - it's good to reuse ourselves - or, if you want to look at it another way, to be reused by ourselves, i.e. by the universe.

posted by Antonionioni on August 1, 2007 at 6:20 AM | link to this | reply

Amusing musings I hope - well maybe not this time! Thanks Kabu!

posted by Antonionioni on August 1, 2007 at 6:18 AM | link to this | reply

That's very nice of you, Pelagus -

posted by Antonionioni on August 1, 2007 at 6:17 AM | link to this | reply

Hi Angel - many thanks!!

posted by Antonionioni on August 1, 2007 at 6:15 AM | link to this | reply

Hi Sue!

posted by Antonionioni on August 1, 2007 at 6:14 AM | link to this | reply

Like it or not everything is recycled
and so it has to be as nothing ever really dies............. nice one Antonio

posted by mariaki on August 1, 2007 at 4:36 AM | link to this | reply

Parallels and multiple meanings.
I like.  To me recycling while we live, and being recycled when we are gone, is comforting and sensible.  Until they isolate an immortality gene we need to make the best use of the time, and the resources, we have.

posted by notapoet on August 1, 2007 at 2:26 AM | link to this | reply

Antoniphilosophiconi great musings friend1

posted by Kabu on August 1, 2007 at 2:07 AM | link to this | reply

deeply moving!
i love it!!

posted by pelagus on August 1, 2007 at 1:58 AM | link to this | reply

Excellent antonionioni

posted by dark_mistress_again on July 31, 2007 at 11:59 PM | link to this | reply

Hi Durbs - many thanks! I told you to look at the camera, child!

posted by Antonionioni on July 31, 2007 at 11:58 PM | link to this | reply

Hi Bhaskar - thanks very much for that - glad you thought so!

posted by Antonionioni on July 31, 2007 at 11:56 PM | link to this | reply

Hi Najwa - the answer to those questions is I don't know - but all will be
revealed - - we just need a bit of patience. Thanks again!!

posted by Antonionioni on July 31, 2007 at 11:52 PM | link to this | reply

posted by star4sky5 on July 31, 2007 at 10:49 PM | link to this | reply

GREAT klessons from how biology & Nature recycles within&without.We must

learn from ...not dominate Nature. shalomandgodluck

http://www.rtspecialties.com/tobar/indiab.jpg

posted by ILLUMINATI8 on July 31, 2007 at 8:43 PM | link to this | reply

A first-class philosophical sonnet. Congrats Tony
The arrangement of the words were a beauty.

posted by Bhaskar.ing on July 31, 2007 at 7:29 PM | link to this | reply

HI TONY
Did you ever experiences the Death?? NOOOOO but we think it is the blank between here and there,,, did you ever met some one dead and came back to life??? may be you read or heard but you had never met,,, may be the moment of the death in counting of GOD time is one year that is why who dead and came back to the life after few hours still look younger than his true age and has pure child soul??
New study we should consider it for thoughts just thoughtsmay be true,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
your friend the stranger,,,,,,,,,,,,,najwa

posted by NAJWA on July 31, 2007 at 4:09 PM | link to this | reply

Hi Enig - well if there is an afterlife, then I'll be right - death isn't
important coz we'll be alive again. And if there isn't, we won't give a damn. While we're alive, we generally are ruled by life force - we want to stay alive and free, which is why we don't kill ourselves, harm ourselves or harm other people, assuming we are sane. the kind of mad people you are talking about would have to be insane. While alive, our purpose is to stay alive - everything else follows on from that. So I'm not demeaning the value of life. The end of this very sonnet makes the point that we would, if we could, overturn death itself - and who knows, one day that might happen. The point I'm making about death, and I had a natural death in mind, is that people shouldn't fear it. Don't you agree? If you do fear (naturral) death, then heed my words. If you don't, you basically agree with me!!

posted by Antonionioni on July 31, 2007 at 3:53 PM | link to this | reply

Hi Spencer - thanks for those words. I'll pop over ...

posted by Antonionioni on July 31, 2007 at 3:47 PM | link to this | reply

Antonio
If there's some kind of afterlife, maybe we will give a damn - I'd rather see my life (and your life) as profoundly serious, and deeply mourn your loss or vice-versa. When you (not you, personally) start seeing our lives as not important, and death as nothing serious, that's when certain people in bars/pubs start saying things like, "You know, burning those books, last night was really fun - let's burn some people, tonight - then we can take cyanide tablets - AWESOME!

posted by Enigmatic68 on July 31, 2007 at 2:19 PM | link to this | reply

Anton" You are correct. Death is life. We have all travelled down ceasless
endless and timeless corridors of eternity to be here in a brief moment. My next post is dedicated to you. I'll upload in 2 minutes. Oh, for Enig as well!!!!

posted by SpencerStreetStation on July 31, 2007 at 1:26 PM | link to this | reply

Enig - we must stop seeing our lives as important - then we will realise
that death is nothing serious! It's sadder for those who are left behind who know us than for anyone else. We won't give a damn when we're dead - what's the problem? I'm not sounding suicidal, am I?!

posted by Antonionioni on July 31, 2007 at 1:12 PM | link to this | reply

Yes Chris - burial is a strange custom really isn't it - it doesn't make
sense when land is scarce! Thanks!

posted by Antonionioni on July 31, 2007 at 1:08 PM | link to this | reply

Anton"" possibly the best I've read of you? The saddest thing: Some people
are afraid TO LIVE and AFRAID TO DIE. There is nothing sadder than this my friend - what a way to live! Anyways, really profounf sonnet and hats off (to roy harper!! Led Zep) to you man.

posted by SpencerStreetStation on July 31, 2007 at 12:27 PM | link to this | reply

Antonio
I think death is probably eternal - or not eternal.  

posted by Enigmatic68 on July 31, 2007 at 12:24 PM | link to this | reply

That's quite thought provoking Tony-I like it a lot! It makes you wonder-
where 're-cycling' will go next? Maybe they will cease to allow traditional 'burials'-because of the space they use? Great.Chris.

posted by Scramble on July 31, 2007 at 12:22 PM | link to this | reply

Hi OTA, Troosha and Mary - thanks 4 comments. I'm in a rush as u can tell!
Essentially it's about the process of death and what happens after the moment of death - and then at the end, how we would like to overturn the supposed reign of death. The opening line and inspiration of the poem is that when you think about it, the death we fear is only a moment, a second or two, like the act of f alling asleep. What is there to fear. This doesn't mean there aren't horrible ways to die, but I'm not talking about the approach to death, but death itself. It's like the present moment, only brief, transitory ; then other things continue to happen afterwards. So death is not eternal at all. There may be more to write on this topic to fully explain it...

posted by Antonionioni on July 31, 2007 at 11:51 AM | link to this | reply

Antonio-yo-yo - Wow, this is a very deep one delving into things we
simply cannot see.  Or feel for that matter, I guess.  How do you mean death is not eternal?

posted by FoliageGold on July 31, 2007 at 10:59 AM | link to this | reply

Tony
We probably pay more attention to recycling old news papers or plastic cartons than we do to shaking up and reshaping our minds or spirit.  (if I caught you drift....but that's what I gleaned from the sonnet).  Your clever ability to shape words, draw parallels, and get us thinking shines through, as always. 

posted by Troosha on July 31, 2007 at 10:51 AM | link to this | reply

Tony, I like your sonnet so much, I am thinking perhaps that you are a reincarnated w. Shakespeare  himself. ~Peace, OTA

posted by Blue_feathers on July 31, 2007 at 10:49 AM | link to this | reply