Wednesday, March 25, 2009

from "Four Quartets" by TS Eliot

In order to arrive there -

to arrive where you are, to get from where you are not,
you must go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.

In order to arrive at what you do not know
you must go by a way which is the way of ignorance.

In order to possess what you do not possess
you must go by the way of dispossession.

In order to arrive at what you are not
you must go through the way in which you are not.

...

now the Word had fallen silent
and the water had run dry

the bread had all been broken
and the light had left the sky

the flock had lost its shepherd
and the seed was sadly sown

the courtiers had betrayed their king
and nailed him to his throne

o sabbath rest of Calvary
o calm of tomb below

where the grave-clothes and the spices
cradle him we did not know

rest you well, beloved Jesus
caesar's lord and israel's king

in the brooding of the spirit
in the darkness of the spring

2 comments:

  1. Four Quartets rules! Did you ever see our Postconscious show at the Art show at Trinity? Eliot had his place.

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