“Because it is occasionally possible, just for brief moments, to find the words that will unlock the doors of all those many mansions inside the head and express something – perhaps not much, just something – of the crush of information that presses in on us from the way a crow flies over and the way a man walks and the look of a street and from what we did one day a dozen years ago.
Words that will express something of the deep complexity that makes us precisely the way we are, from the momentary effect of the barometer to the force that created men distinct from trees. Something of the inaudible music that moves us along in our bodies from moment to moment like water in a river.
Something of the spirit of the snowflake in the water of the river. Something of the duplicity and the relativity and the merely fleeting quality of all this.
Something of the almighty importance of it and something of the utter meaninglessness.
And when words can manage something of this, and manage it in a moment, of time, and in that same moment, make out of it all the vital signature of a human being – not of an atom, or of a geometrical diagram, or of a heap of lenses – but a human being, we call it poetry".
Ted Hughes
Thinking about books, I read this and all that is says so beautifully about words and I decided it fitted well enough to be my thought for pondering.
I think Ted Hughes has expressed so beautifully what a magical piece of writing (poetry true, but also prose I think) can do - what it takes account of; what it merges and meshes and what it produces. It's a miracle in this world I think that we are fortunate to have those that produce this kind of alchemy - that gives rise to the fullest expression of emotion and observation and lets us know we are not alone.
I have spent a lot of time with John O'Donohue's words these past few weeks - he was special. A man who could understand the deepest of emotions and express them in such achingly beautiful and meaningful ways. He meets you where you are and lets you simply be there.
"Something of the inaudible music that moves us along in our bodies from moment to moment like water in a river".
As we finish 2015 and begin 2016 - I wish you a year of joy, of peace, of togetherness and of creative and magic moments. See you there!
Words that will express something of the deep complexity that makes us precisely the way we are, from the momentary effect of the barometer to the force that created men distinct from trees. Something of the inaudible music that moves us along in our bodies from moment to moment like water in a river.
Something of the spirit of the snowflake in the water of the river. Something of the duplicity and the relativity and the merely fleeting quality of all this.
Something of the almighty importance of it and something of the utter meaninglessness.
And when words can manage something of this, and manage it in a moment, of time, and in that same moment, make out of it all the vital signature of a human being – not of an atom, or of a geometrical diagram, or of a heap of lenses – but a human being, we call it poetry".
Ted Hughes
Thinking about books, I read this and all that is says so beautifully about words and I decided it fitted well enough to be my thought for pondering.
I think Ted Hughes has expressed so beautifully what a magical piece of writing (poetry true, but also prose I think) can do - what it takes account of; what it merges and meshes and what it produces. It's a miracle in this world I think that we are fortunate to have those that produce this kind of alchemy - that gives rise to the fullest expression of emotion and observation and lets us know we are not alone.
I have spent a lot of time with John O'Donohue's words these past few weeks - he was special. A man who could understand the deepest of emotions and express them in such achingly beautiful and meaningful ways. He meets you where you are and lets you simply be there.
"Something of the inaudible music that moves us along in our bodies from moment to moment like water in a river".
As we finish 2015 and begin 2016 - I wish you a year of joy, of peace, of togetherness and of creative and magic moments. See you there!
(((Fiona))) "Grief is the thing with feathers" by Max Porter is one of the most deeply beautiful books I have read in a long time (Ted Hughes "Crow" is a key player)
ReplyDeleteThank you Mo - it is on my list for investigation; have also enjoyed (interesting choice of word) Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking. Go well.
DeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you Penny.
DeleteBeautiful, deep words, Fiona - thanks for sharing them here. Whether poetry, prose, or a string of spontaneous words, the ones that speak to us - as you say, that let us know we are not alone - are everything...
ReplyDeleteHappy 2016 to you & Barrie; I wish you both a joyful & creative year!
Thanks Lisa - sometimes words need to be long and deep for us to truly appreciate the message, and being reminded we are not alone - how very very special. Go well.
DeleteI do so love your Thursday Thoughts and look forward to them in the New Year ahead. With thanks for your creative inspiration, I bid you peace.
ReplyDeleteThank you Liz - I have felt able to keep doing my Th Th posts but nothing more these past few weeks. Somehow they hold me and still me and give me strength - words have always been touchstones for me like that. Go well.
DeleteThank you Fiona, for these beautiful quotes and for your fascinating work and welcome blog posts. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dana - I'm always happy to hear that the Thursday Thoughts have found their way to another person..and it's lovely that you enjoy the blog and my work. Go well.
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