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Way back in 1990, while listening to old classical music on vinyl records in a library, I made an inadvertent discovery that became my road map to life. It was an excerpt from Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, used in Vaughan Williams' Symphony #7. The symphony, also called Sinfonia Antarctica, contains passages that pertain to Scott's failed 1912 expedition towards the South Pole, but nevertheless I related to it personally. I also knew that I would carry it with me forever. I had yet to experience the wisdom it contained, but now that I look back, I have arrived at the final destination of the poem. The destination is not the South Pole, but rather, maturity.
The passage suggests that you don't truly live life until you experience everything in the first four lines. Here's the excerpt, along with my interpretation below. Be sure that you absorb the words, as this might be just as inspiring to you as it was to me:
To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite;
To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;
To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;
To love, and bear; to Hope till Hope creates
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent;
This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory.
-from Prometheus Unbound, Act III,
Percy Bysshe Shelley
It is now the year 2005, and I have arrived. In the first line, like most of may gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, I have certainly suffered woes.
The second point is very difficult to digest, and most of us die without truly learning how to forgive. Well, here it is: I hereby forgive everyone for even the most cruel acts committed upon me.
Then, just like the third line suggests, I have defied the crush of corrupt government, adversity, employment discrimination, and two recessions. I endured this without ever submitting to defeat.
And most importantly of all, as the fourth line suggests, I have learned to love myself, to love those around me, to never lose hope, and to help everyone walk the rocky path of life.
I hope that everyone remembers in the worst hour that life embodies all of the above. We must suffer in order to grow, and we must wholeheartedly forgive jealous and evil actions, however difficult that may be. Don't worry, I'm not an idealist, I'm not at all religious, nor do I subscribe to any goofy cults. I simply believe in the power of the human mind. Life is just overwhelming, in surprisingly good ways!
Tonight, I will be attending a concert at Davies Symphony Hall in our fair city of San Francisco. The SF Symphony Orchestra will be performing Vaughan Williams' Symphony #6 instead of Sinfonia Antarctica, in which these lines above are recited. I would have loved to hear this spoken passage at the beginning of the symphony, but maybe there is no need, since I have already lived up to Shelley's message.
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Checking out the blog
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by Jon H. |
posted October 28th, 2005 around 11:50 PM
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Hitting a lull in the job, and thought I'd check out your blog. It looks sleek. I heard about you being laid off from Friendster... sorry to hear that. I heard today that Sulu from Star Trek came out. He's had a partner for 18 years and nobody knew. Good luck in all you do.
--J
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Your blogs
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by NJCHouse |
posted October 25th, 2005 around 12:43 AM
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Insert Comment Here -- I found your writings to be exubirating!! love those excerpts- keep up those great comments & incouragements.Good luck in health, relatiolnships,work and life in general-happiness always YKW!
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