Total Eclipse

I really enjoyed reading Annie Dillard's Total Eclipse. It is so interesting because some of her sentences are almost like repetition and addition. For example, the first two sentences of paragraphs 1 and 2.

"It was like slipping into fever, or falling down that hole in sleep from which you wake yourself whimpering"- I immediately thought of a nightmare when I read this passage and it is so odd to think that a dream/ nightmare can arouse in you such emotions when you are not conscious of what is going on around you. It has happened to me before too, when you have a horrible dream that seems so real and you awake with tears in your eyes and a feeling of emptiness, actually it just happened the other day which is why this passage really hit me.

I love that Annie Dillard begins with random remembrances from her trip as opposed to the full story of the eclipse itself. She captivates you enough in the first paragraph to be able to go on with the description of the clown. And why is it that she is unable to forget this trivial clown painting? It is so interesting the things that we notice like "a painting of the sort which you do not intend to look at, and which, alas, you never forget. Some tasteless fate presses it upon you."

When reading total eclipse I noticed too that she uses a lot of language connected with descent like "sliding", "slipping", "falling down", "slope", "descended", "lost altitude"...very interesting!

The way that Dillard describes the eclipse is an epiphany in itself! On page 87 she talks about the drive out to find a hilltop and discusses how familiar it is. After reading this, I thought is the familiar something that goes unnoticed or is forgotten to the point of it being meaningless?

Distance obscurs vision (p.88)

"It began with no ado." (p.89) The eclipse in a sense is like an epiphany...you don't know when it will happen, how it will feel...like something else that comes to mind....if ya know what I mean.

I very much enjoy dillard's metaphors too EX.- eclipse--kissing to marrying--fying to falling

I have to babysit so I will add to this later....

Passages from Tintern Abbey

I rather liked these passages and wanted to at least
post them because they really stuck out in
the poem as I was reading and at times I would find myself re-reading them, over, and over, and over...

"Though absent long, these forms of beauty have not been to me, as is a landscape to a blind man's eye"

"Feelings too of unremembered pleasure..."

"his little nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love"

"That serene and blessed mood, in which affections gently lead us on"

"When these wild ecstasies shall be matured,
Into a sober pleasure, when thy mind
Shall be a mansion for all lovely forms,
Thy memory be as a dwelling-place
For all sweet sounds and harmonies;"


I would have to say that this is one of the more beautiful poems Wadsworth wrote (at least in comparison to intimations of immortality, though who am I to judge?)

Seeing Tintern Abbey differently

First of all, how ironic that I had to read Wordsworth's intimations of immortality today for critical theory...

The first time that I read Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey was probably about a month ago when I was at Sola...I thought maybe it was the atmosphere or my mood, but I could not understand him (maybe didn't want to for some reason). I was lost and almost bored, though I hate to use that word. The classical style caused me not to SEE it, only READ it. Dr. Sexson is right though, now that we have been in Capstone, we will read it differently.

Wordsworth's epiphany or recollection of this place, as with much of his poetry has a lot of images of nature. I feel like perhaps my blog will go off in many directions because I am making a lot of random connections and have some ideas that do not necessarily connect. I enjoyed the image of the crab (lines 22-23) and the idea of solitude or being alone. They often go unnoticed and similar to humans keep to themselves in their own "cave".

"Almost suspended, we are laid asleep In body, and became a living soul, While with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things"
- I think of entering into the dream world which, yes, is mostly a world of beauty and joy, things forgotten are awakened. But the dream world, as we all know, can also be a world of deeper power filled with hurt and sadness. I like that Wordsworth focuses on the joy it seems and the image of dreaming-- an eye made quiet puts an image in my mind of entering into a sleep or perhaps it has nothing to do with sleep and dreams but simply seeing your thoughts with your eyes open. By this I mean, you are looking in, not out even while your eyes appear to be looking out.

"Sylvan Wye"-- here there is a connection between spirit and the river through language. I posted a picture above of the River Wye, a river along the border of Wales and England.

"The picture of the mind revives again"- for Wordsworth this simply shows that he has opened his eyes and sees nature (previous lines) , looking back to his thoughts deep in his mind.

"Present Pleasure" (around line 65) followed by: "...in this moment there is life and food For future years". I find this very interesting because he sees the positive to the future whereas Eliot sees descent and "Wistful regret for those who are not yet here to regret" (dry salvages, pt3, line 127).

Wordsworth is "more like a man flying from soemthing that he dreads, than one who sought the thing he loved" (line71) and I think why dowe run when we are given so few moments (eliot) or so few pulses (pater).

I loved Wordsworth's mention of passion as well! He says around line 78 "...haunted me like a passion" while he is speaking of a waterfall, I think of passion in general. And while some may think that nothing good comes of Desperate Housewives, the show...I disagree...I was a bit into this over winter break and remember a quote from one episode... "Passion, it's a force so potent we remember it long after it's gone". I absolutely love this quote and really it's true. Passion is one feeling that can arouse so many emotions at once it is simply enthralling...except passion itself is not so simple. Wordsworth states it brilliantly, passion is "haunting" to the level that it can over take us in a way nothing else does...There are so many things I feel that I could go on with this one word "passion" but it's a lot to take on at this hour...

We have also been discussing poets and their ability to steal from their successors (which we have also been doing in Critical Theory) and I am beginning to think that while Wordsworth did not STEAL from Eliot (though it could be interesting to accuse such a thing) he did borrow (although I am unsure which came first so maybe it's the other way around). Wordsworth writes "That time is past" but unlike Eliot he does not make the connection between past, present and future. Eliot would say, sure that time is past but it is also present, yes it is the end but it is also the beginning and vice versa...Love it!

Wordsworth brings up the sublime towards the end of the poem and I am hoping that perhaps Kari could go through the sublime briefly again as she did in Literary Criticism. I attempted to find a blog from her on it from 300, but couldn't. I will leave it at that and see what comes...

There are so many connections to Eliot that I think for most people are minor but considering I have an obession ( I can't help but laugh) I notice them!!! Wordsworth describes the music of humanity as still and sad, but that music won't last as Eliot tells us...and WE are the music- so in turn, we will not last, but should we be still and sad in our few moments? maybe it would be more fun to be the music of the "thoughtless youth" (wordsworth), is that possible?

What I take from Wordsworth's poem especially near the end is that humanity is closer to nature than we realize, it is "the guardian of my heart, and soul of all my moral being". He himself is with his spirits when he is upon the banks of that river.

When Wordsworth talks about his "former heart" and "former pleasures" is he talking about his past or pointing to the idea of reincarnation? It seems that while both could be possible the first is more appropriate as he seems to be discsussing something that he has put his whole heart and pleasures into but may have lost, therefore speaking of a former life, not in the literal sense.

He too speaks of the mundane life that should not bring us down or "disturb our chearful faith that all which we behold is full of blessings". Circling back to the idea that every moment, even the ordinary is a moment given to us that we should take advantage of.

"Nor wilt thou then forget,
That after many wanderings, many years
Of absence, these steep woods and lofty cliffs,
And this green pastoral landscape, were to me
More dear, both for themselves and for thy sake."
-This passage is so beautiful to me and I can't really describe what I feel everytime I read it. I am taken aback and breathless. Wordsworth, in this passage, captures not only the physical beauty of the landscape but the beauty of his memory and all that still remains there even though it is physically absent. He is reminded of something he once had, but lost...it is something that he may never again have but will always remember. This place has become dear to him for what it offers him in both the present and in memory as if it still existed.

To the Lighthouse

Reading Nick's blog, I agreed with much of what he said...many would I think. First the question of importance comes up. How are these mundane events of the Ramsey's lives and their guests important? This is similar to The Dead because there too we have mundane events which are supposed to be the things that stick out...they are important too!!

I most definitely feel for anyone reading Virgina Wolff and attempting to focus with her very complex stream of consciousness style. I find that when I read To the Lighthouse I do not breathe until she truly ends her sentence with a period (maybe I get lightheaded which is why I find myself fading in and out of concentration when I read her). This creates slight confusion at times. This book is fairly easy to read but then when I stop I can't necessarily answer as to what I have just read. I read without reading which becomes a problem!

Basically, I see this as a deep reflection through the minds of her characters as to what their simple wants, needs, and desires are even if they are mundane.

I find it interesting that Nick brings up the Freudian oedipus complex because that is very important to me and the characters of James and Mrs. Ramsay throughout the novel.

Once I dig deeper into this I will blog about the epiphanies I am having...

oohh La La...

Haha..ok Ihad to post a picture of Keats (Left)and Eliot (right). No...I am not physically attracted to either but their words and intelligence on the other hand arouse me. Lightbulbs don't go on and off, they simply go on and stay on when I delve into their writings. I am posting a link to Keats' Vale of soulmaking (as I have done in every blog I have ever created for Dr. Sexson) in case anyone wants to see what it is that hit me and caused me to involve myself so deeply in Keats!

http://www.stjohns-chs.org/english/Romantic/Rm-Ks.html

It really is great! Enjoy!!! (I guess even Keats rules over hunger!) I really do need therapy! But I am going to say that Jon Orsi needs therapy asap because he can't even eat lunch or sit down and have a meal without surrounding the table with Samuel Beckett!! Although, I am finding I don't quite mind his obsession anymore...

I must agree with Kari that today was certainly a day of "wowser" blogs. I too am thoroughly impressed with some of the blogs that people have created and hope that those who have not yet jumped on the Pater bandwagon soon do!! (As does Dr. Sexson)

I have yet to look at all the blogs Dr. Sexson told us to...I am a bit overwhelmed to say the least! Where did all this marvelous blogging come from?! Epiphanies? I think so!! I admit the one I wanted to see first was Tai's...perhaps he has some word of wisdom on my addiiction to Keats...or perhaps Jon Orsi's addiction to Samuel Beckett which we have also discussed in class.

I realize that "the twelve step programs are based in forgiveness" but who or what do I have to forgive? I am simply in love with two eaxtraordinary men...or perhaps not THEM but their WRITING! Anyways...I am quite content with my obsession at the moment even if some people think I am dysfunctional.

Taylor's presentation was great because I began to think later that even though I am in a class in which we focus on epiphanies I still have not sat down and fully thought about what an epiphany is! So, my next activity...to procrastinate on french a little more (because getting yelled at in french once for not doing my work was just not enough "C'est incroyable classe! Moi, JE TRAVAILLE mais vous?). Ok- it really wasn't funny BUT... I decided I am going to sit down with a blank piece of paper and draw or write anything that comes to my mind when I think of epiphany! I am so excited! And then i will scan in my thoughts page of epiphanies :) Thanks Taylor for motivating the artsy creative side of me if there even is one!

I also read Pat's blog on sensations in regards to Pater. Honestly, when I read this passage I never thought about the mundane or the sensations connected. Instead I thought about the line that separates the real and imagined. "Between two worlds become much like each other" (eliot 54). I connected this to Paters worlds and then of course because I am OBSESSSED i connect it to Keats and how he talks about moving from place to place and moving beyond the vales...to the world of soul making. It all circles back to Keats. The "perpetual weaving and unweaving of ourselves" is like who we transform into through all these moments and experiences. But when we change what do we feel? I don't even know if this is making sense because I am confusing myself now and my mind is focused on the sharp hunger pains because I have not eaten yet today!

Once I feed my body I will connect back to the blogs and catch up!

Eliot, oh Eliot...

I am enrolled in some wonderful courses this last and final semester at MSU, but all I ever want to do is read T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets over and over again! I always have it with me or at least in my car. I should be reading To the Lighthouse, Le Gone du Chaaba, Harold Bloom, Histoire de France, or D'accord...but no- all I want to do is read Eliot, I want to take the time to memorize the entire four Quartets...even though I have not even memorized my section! This is hard for me to say about a man, but I think I may be falling in love. I really enjoy Eliot and all he has wrapped up in the quartets. How do I let him go, at least long enough to get my other reading done?!

I actually shuddered when this next thought crossed my mind because I never thought I'd feel this way, but I may just have to place Eliot ( doing so with grace and a smile) on the shelf in my mind next to Keats whom I truly do look to and think about often.

So perhaps, I will get onto some other work so I can read Eliot as I am relaxing with some wine tonight...

Conclusion to the Renaissance

Working through Walter Pater's conclusion, I began with wanting to highlight the passages I found to be most important and ones I simply loved...this was difficult because I was basically highlighting the whole thing! So, here are my thoughts on some passages:

"Let us begin with that which is without- -our physical life"

"This at least of flame-like our life has, that it is but concurrence, renewed from moment to moment, of forces parting sooner or later on their ways." This passage as well as many of Pater's other passages deals with time and memory. I remembered Eliot's lines discussing the two lovers uniting and also his mention of taking one road as opposed to the other. This is what I think of when I read this passage. I have the image of two people walking hand in hand slowly drifting apart and parting ways on goes left, one goes right...and his lines before that allow the image to become blurred and simply show two obscured outlines as they drift further apart. Perhaps I will attempt to draw out this image...though I am a horrible artist.


Pater also talks of thoughts and feelings as a whirlpool. This to me is so precise because often my thoughts are spiraling around in my head or emotions cooped up in this whirlpool, swirling until they emerge with a force greater than one knows.

Thoughts as impressions rather than what language invests in them...constantly changing, coming and going...


Our impressions are limited by time and time passes as we are trying to understand it. Therefore, we are missing out in these limited pulsations and impressions because we are too focused on time.


"What is real in our life fines itself down"
-There is a thin line between what is real and what is fiction. Is this because what is real thins itself out to obscure the real?

"The continual vanishing away, that strange, perpetual, weaving and unweaving of ourselves"
- Like T. S. Eliot Pater focuses on the wasting away of experience and age rather than what we gain. We continuously change in a way that is unknown to us and slowly vanish from this life as time vanishes before our eyes.


Rouse and startle the human spirit to life through philosophy of specualtive culture-constant and eager observation...by constantly engaging in every moment (because each one is new and different) we are able to constantly see something new. Even in the same place we can look through a different lens and find something we had not seen previously. These experiences of seeing something new are intoxicating to the soul and human spirit.



"Not the fruit of experience, but the experience itself, is the end"...But what is experience anyway? If it is the end would experience be death- is that the outcome. Eliot does not believe we learn anything from experience, whereas it seems Pater believes it is not what we learn but the action of what we do!



"every moment some form grows perfect in hand or face; some tone on the hills or the sea is choicer than the rest; some mood of passion or insight or intellectual excitement is irresistibly real and attractive to us,---for that moment only"
-I think this is one of the most beautiful passages I have read. I read this over and over focusing on each word in the passage. It was just a lightbulb moment in which I felt intrigued to be reading these words. In one moment we are able to experience such intense feelings, but it is in that moment only. A moment of passion, excitement that arouses us in a way that we will experience exactly like that...once.


We pass point to point, but are always present at the time when forces unite in their purest energy. That is what the present is- a force of the purest energy that we are always in. That energy moves us from time to time.

Maintaining ecstasy is success in life- agreed. Ecstasy...burning as a gem-like flame would, but eventually the flame goes out...

We have limited pulses which is to say eventually the time of death will come when we are meant to leave this world and travel to another perhaps. We must use those pulses as wisely as possible...

comte/ hegel/ rousseau....I will touch on this later...I have to run to class soon!

"great passions may give us a quickened sense of life, ecstasy and sorrow of love, the various forms of enthusiastic activity..." Love this!

One last note...this class has made me despise time!!

19 Fevrier 2010: Time-Ulysses- thoughts

I had to laugh in class on Friday when Dr. Sexson asked Helena, "What have we done with all this time?" and Helena responded quietly and hesitantly, "nothing???" It was amazing- her voice fit with the confusion and wonderment so well!

Dr. Sexson also began discussing whether Eliot was attempting to convert the readers to Christianity. False. It reminded me of a deep discussion I had the other night about religion, spirituality and soul, and where the lines between them are drawn. This discussion somehow lead to an argument as to whether science or religion is more credible and la la la...controversy. Surprisingly this led to 3 English majors on one side of the table and 2 "others" on the other side (haha) we began reading from Ulysses and I was in awe by the beauty of it and the complexity- I loved every word of it. It was intimate and breath taking. There was silence until one of the "others" laughed and said "Do you guys even know what that is saying? It doesn't even make sense." I had to laugh back at his reaction...I know this story is completely random but I loved that a discussion of Eliot and Beckett in regards ot religion and spirituality can lead to an argument of science and then to Ulysses...how that happened I do not remember- much led up to it.

Some things that stuck out to me during Friday's class were:

*Deception...what were we talking about in regards to this? I completely forgot...

*Alternate reality: the movie sliding doors is slow beginning and the first time I sat down to watch it, I turned it off before the train scene. It is a movie you have to watch with a light attitude...I don't know how to explain it, you just have to watch it. This alternate reality she is experiencing is so crazy and it almost makes me dizzy thinking about her "lives"

*Memories: There is what we did do and what we didn't do........In class we were discussing memories and how we remember what we did do, but do we remember what we didn't do? What struck me in class was that all of a sudden many things I wish I had done but didn't came back to my mind. So, i thought that of course we remember what we didn't do. Though then again there are also things that we didn't do and can't remember because they never happened, how could we remember something that never existed?


"When you go up, you're actually going down into the darkness"---"The way up is the way down"
- are we always descending?

What does experience teach us?

What does experience teach us? Nothing.

A chill went through my body as Dr. Sexson concluded the class today. Usually, I remember the shuffling of feet and packing of books into bags as class ends and I too am one of those that packs up to get to the next class on time. Today was different...I couldn't allow myself to stan dup and pack my things until Dr. Sexson had finished. I was in awe of this because never had that idea crossed my mind in that way while focusing on T.S. Eliot.

Isn't that what we have been led to believe all our life is that experience leads to knowledge? Experience leads to something, but now I am just not quite sure what that is. Eliot has the startling belief that in fact we learn nothing from experience because every moment is new, everything we experience and learn is new.

We learn nothing as we grow old, we only experience the new. Every day, every moment---is new.

I have been thinking about time a lot...ok- constantly since reading T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets and it amazes me, scares me. The whole essence of time is rather mind boggling. Not only to I constantly think about the idea that all we have is the present, but the idea of how time works and how literally 1 second could change everything. My sister e-mailed a poem called" Time" I think (posted below). It made me realize how absolutely oblivious humans can be to time until something happens that forces them to truly think about it in a completely different way. Then, I found out over the weekend that my brother had been hit by a drunk driver while he was on duty as a police officer in Minneapolis. A few short moments could have changed many lives and luckily he is recovering. I guess even more than writing an intellectual blog I want people to think more about time and how it changes, how it's important and to realize that never ever will we conquer it.
Eliot's emphasis on time is absolutely astounding and I wish we could talk more about this...although to be honest I think T.S. Eliot has made me a bit argumentative because now I feel like I am constantly judging how people spend their time...though I have no room to speak.

To Realize

"To realize the value of ten years: ask a newly divorced couple.

To realize the value of four years: ask a graduate.

To realize the value of one year: ask a student who has failed a final exam.

To realize the value of nine months: ask a mother who has given birth to a stillborn.

To realize the value of one month: ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of one week: ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour: ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute: ask the person who has missed the train, bus, or plane.

To realize the value of one second: ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realize the minute of one millisecond: ask the person who has one a silver medal in the Olympics.

To realize the value of a friend: lose one.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have."

This poem is actually really depressing but...it stuck with me when I received it.

Time....what is it even?

7 deadly sins

Warning: This is completely random but I am attempting to make some ties.

I had another enlightening discussion about the 7 deadly sins which, honestly I rarely think of.

LUST
ENVY
GREED
ANGER
SLOTH
GLUTTONY
PRIDE

What does this have to do with Capstone? Well...I can't give you an extremely magnificent answer quite yet because I have not had time to really think about this. But in Eliot, many of these are present. Or at least we could say they are to some extent. The love, unification of lovers- while that may not be erotic, lovers must feel lust do they not? Do we not all envy Eliot for his use of language and the realizations he brings us to in regards of time? Greed is clearly depicted in the way that we have overcome the river, but it gets the better of us because the sea and ocean defeat us! With death comes anger...need I say more? Also this ties in with the whole idea of death and isolation. The sin of sloth is the same idea- we do or do not do things sometimes because of this. I could not find an eliot connection to Gluttony but immediately the picnic scene from the wind in the willows came to mind. And Lastly pride. Again, I think of Eliot because I feel that he reminds us without saying it straightforwardly that Pride takes over us in a way that is harmful and eventually we are defeated but I also think, what would one be without some pride? Isn't pride a good thing to have a portion of?

Perhaps I will find something amazingly interesting as I ponder all these thoughts

Death and reincarnation

I had a very thought provoking discussion Wednesday night about the idea of death and reincarnation. It made me question- Do we ever really die? I know that some could get into this on an extremely deep religious leel, but really that's not what I am looking for! I guess after reading T.S. Eliot's the four quartets over and over, I can't stop thinking about death. When we die what do we become? If we are reincarnated do we continue our lives as they were or are we on a completely different path? Perhaps we could be caught between these two worlds. I don't necessarily think that we come back as some extraordinary mythical creature or animal per se but are in a way ourselves yet not. It makes so much more sense to me in my head...

While enjoying a delicious bottle of red wine that I could have probably shared more of rather than indulging in most of it myself, T.S. Eliot's line came into my mind:


"Love is most nearly itself
When here and now cease to matter."

This passage confused me at first because I thought well isn't that real love, when all that matters to two people is the present time and they are not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future? (because unfortunately from time to time I find myself doing both and it seems to end more in argument or distressed thoughts). Then I thought to myself...well, maybe what Eliot wants us to think about it is that Love is Love when everything ceases to matter, even time. With love, there is only love. When I am with one I love I realize, time doesn't matter (sadly not even class matters) everything ceases to matter except for that one person and the unity that exists between us.

While I learned so much or at least thought about so much from this conversation I was still left wondering- Eliot can never be sorted out!

The Dry Salvages

These images show first "Our lady of good voyage", "Les trois sauvages", and "The sea serpent of Gloucester". In my section of the dry salvages, all these images were extremely important. As I said in my presentation, "Our lady of good voyage" prays for the men at sea and the women and children they have left behind. She represents the Virgin Mary and connects to Eliot's latin (I think) reference Figlio del tuo figlia- which I translated (not neccessatily correctly) to Daughter of your son- using Mary and Jesus as an example and connecting then to Dante's Paradiso. Eliot also makes religious references to Jonah and the Whale. The image of the sea monster is very interesting because some once believed that a sea serpent really did exist in the bay off the coast of Cape Ann--- Gloucester, New England. Due to my obsession and love of sea creatures, especially mythical ones this became my favorite part of my section (solely for that reason). I am saddened to see though that when I tell people of this, they are not nearly as excited as I am. Or perhaps they just didn't notice and they wish they could have been the one to make the connection to the sea monster. Yup, that's it :)

I have French History class now en Francais but I will continue with more in depth notes from my presentation after!

An absence of the longed for

"I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without
love
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be light, and the stillness the
dancing."



While there are many passages from T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets that I am in love with, this one in particular is simply pure ecstasy. Just to throw it out there, ecstasy to me is a feeling in which you feel chills from the awe- a sort of shock in which every sense is heightened...this is ecstasy.
This passage is so deeply emotional, completely attached yet somehow detached. This passage comes to me as a warning, as if Eliot felt so passionately for something that he felt he could not attain, therefore felt the need to detach from it. Perhaps I am simply putting my own thoughts, feelings and experiences into this passage but that is half the fun is it not? The waiting makes me feel as if he is hoping...isn't that what you do when you wait? So, how can he be without hope? By instilling a sort of emptiness, thoughts become absent, darkness becomes light, and stillness the dancing.

In my beginning is my end and in my end is my beginning.

The infinite versus the finite. Finite being death. Isn't it ironic that the moment we begin to live or the moment we enter the worl and take our fist breath when we are born is also the moment in which we are brough closer to death. I am not looking at this through a negative lens but more a lens of time. When does it begin and end? Or does it? Sam discussed the idea of music and connected it to The Wind in the Willows- we simply can't be too close to hear it. I was astonished by Tai's mentioning of the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. Ok, my shock is simply the fact that I never thought I'd see this book brought up in class...I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, I guess. I am deeply in thought about his idea that the recognition of divinity comes not through nature but through humility. Perhaps if I read T.S. Eliot's four quartets as a whole and in depth, rather than focusing on simply the 3rd quartet i could come to a deeper conclusion as to why divinity is recognized through humility not nature. Does one have to feel humility before recognizing the divine? Taylor's mentioning of landscapes was nothing less than mesmerizing. The image of being stuck between them and having "no secure foothold" produced a sort of fear, yet familiarity within me. A feeling of being trapped was present. How and when do you get released? Would this obstruct our idea of time? Perhaps the time would go slower...sometimes when i feel this trapped feeling wishing it would pass it seems as if time has stopped. This idea, ironically enough circled to Kari's part of the presentation when she told us that the only time we have is NOW. There is no better time for things to happen because all we have is the time now, when else could it happen? This idea for me struck hard and may have produced an all too epiphanic moment. How could I not have acknowledged this idea before...because it was in the NOW. Well, I am beginning to confuse myself with that so back to Taylor's...Enchantment, Fairies, time...it seems all too mysitcal- I agree with her view saying that in this part of Eliot time is linear but but have forgotten how the fairies came into it. I have always thought though that Enchanted places do have a different sort of time from the real world.
Another point in the presentation of group 2 that literally sent a chill through me was when Taylor mentioned the fear of death and isolation. It seems all too familiar again and in the present also. It is difficult to face death or think about death from any perspective and some people really do isolate themselves. How does this isolation come about though and why does it lead to isolation. This whole idea being brought up was chilling to me because I have been thinking about this exact thing for a few months now and every time i think I understand it, I realize I don't. Death is descent and darkness as Eliot shows through the images of sea and Earth.
I was quite inspired by all of what Doug had to say and wish I could intersperse some sort of comment but I really need to read this section before I do! So are we looking at circular movement with T.S. Eliot or linear? Do we circle back light to dark and back to light or flow straight into the vast darkness of the oceans linearly.

The Burnt Norton

Group one delivered an interesting presentation today beginning with the structure of the four quartets and connecting it to the building with 4 quadrants. The movements that Adam went over were interesting and it connected to their presentation as a whole! The classical music was a brilliant accompaniment and I thought it fit the Eliot poem well. Erin's idea of the present and it only being there at that one moment was one of my favorites. The present to be xperienced in a moment and never again. What is a moment even? I am still absolutely enthralled in this idea of time, but when I attempt to wrap my mind around the notion of time I become absolutely overwhelmed. While it is an interesting thing to ponder I feel a sort of fear take over me and I feel almost paralyzed from it! I can't even explain it...this brings me to think about Zuzu's idea of fear in T.S. Eliot through language. There are certain words that send a chill through you and induce such strange emotions- I am trying to pinpoint what i feel when I re-read those words: blood, scars, flesh. What does all this mean and what is the point of using those words? I am not going to lie, I was thoroughly boggled by the religious connection- I will have to look at that again... Lastly, the connection to Pink Floyd was great and as Kevin said, fitting for this class. Echos of the past and future- unseen and unheard. Echos as a reflection. All very interesting but again I will have to go back to the first quartet to truly attempt to understand this.