Sunday, February 12, 2012

Distracted from Distraction by Distraction


Neither plenitude nor vacancy. Only a flicker
Over the strained time-ridden faces
Distracted from distraction by distraction
Filled with fancies and empty of meaning
Tumid apathy with no concentration
Men and bits of paper, whirled by the cold wind
That blows before and after time,
Wind in and out of unwholesome lungs
Time before time and after.

The first of T. S. Eliot’s "Four Quartets,” Burnt Norton.

2 comments:

kenneth schafer said...

Fellow Curmudgeons,

I read Four Quartets while cleaning up a meatpacking plant in Iowa, along with cutting hams up.

The despair and ache for something else facinated me. The poem brought more puzzaling than enlightenment. A great post!

I had an idea about the calminian debate. Couldn't a God's eye view of our future earthly and heavenly co-concide with an open view of a humanly apprehension of either heaven or hell? Any feedback would be appreciated.

kenneth schafer said...

Doug a great post! I read Four Quartets whil working in a meatpacking plant 30 years ago. Didn' make much sense.. Sure does now.
I have and idea about calminianism, it might be that
god has an God's eye view of our destiny but we humans only an open theology view. We, then might have a apprehension of heaven or hell that is yet to be decided.