Words move, music moves Only in time; but that which is only living Can only die. Words, after speech, reach Into the silence. Only by the form, the pattern, Can words or music reach The stillness, as a Chinese jar still Moves perpetually in its stillness. Not the stillness of the violin, while the note lasts, Not that only, but the co-existence, Or say that the end precedes the beginning, […]
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“Four Quartets: III. Freedom” by T. S. Eliot
The Dry Salvages Eliot weaves together almost seamlessly the teachings of Eastern and Western religions and philosophies in “The Dry Salvages”. First, there is a lesson from the Hindu scripture The Bhagavad Gita, “Do not think of the fruit of action. Fare forward”, which seems very similar to the deontological ethics of Kant and the ancient Stoics. We’re not to think of the fruit of action, for it is not […]
Read more“Four Quartets: II. Fear and Humility” by T. S. Eliot
East Coker A periphrastic study in a worn-out poetical fashion, Leaving one still with the intolerable wrestle With words and meanings. The poetry does not matter. It was not (to start again) what one had expected. What was to be the value of the long looked forward to, Long hoped for calm, the autumnal serenity And the wisdom of age? Had they deceived us Or deceived themselves, the quiet-voiced elders, […]
Read more“Four Quartets” by T. S. Eliot
I chose to read Four Quartets because of this fascinating blurb at Wikipedia,”Four Quartets are four interlinked meditations with the common theme being man’s relationship with time, the universe, and the divine… Eliot blends his Anglo-Catholicism with mystical, philosophical and poetic works from both Eastern and Western religious and cultural traditions, with references to the Bhagavad-Gita and the Pre-Socratics as well as St. John of the Cross and Julian of […]
Read moreAn Aria of Grace
La Mamma Morta They have killed my mother at the door of my room She died and saved me. Later, at dead of night, I was with Bersi, when suddenly a bright glow flickers and lights were ahead of me the dark street! I looked – My childhood home was on fire! I was alone! surrounded by nothingness! Hunger and misery deprivation, danger! I fell ill, and Bersi, so good […]
Read moreThe Dark Night, Starry Night
Oftentimes when life is a long night, when everywhere I look, there is darkness and sorrow, I’m tempted to resign with Vincent van Gogh, “The sadness will last forever.” Only if I search attentively and persistently, can I find glimmers of light and joy in the seemingly endless darkness. Why is there so little light? Why can’t life be like the shining Sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect […]
Read moreCounterpoint
Plotinus’ idea of “unity-in-diversity” is perhaps best reflected in music in the art of the Fugue, which invariably brings me to J.S.Bach and Glenn Gould, my favorite interpreter of Bach on the piano. There is philosophy in music, and prayer too, if I may say so. I recently came across a WP post on Glenn Gould, with a link to a very interesting film titled “Thirty Two Short Films About […]
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