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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
To be honest, I am not a big fan of hermetic poetry, I always struggle with this kind of literature when I have to look up the specific, very particular background of each word or sentence; that comes at the expense of the reading pleasure. So when I first read this cycle of poems 15 years ago, I was quickly discouraged. Fortunately, a bilingual text edition was recently published in the Dutch-speaking region, with a translation and extensive notes by [a:Paul Claes|187308|Paul Claes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], one of the most erudite literary connoisseurs still alive. The renewed acquaintance remained a difficult undertaking, but the vistas that Claes opened up really bring the full richness of this cycle in its own. And it is such an intense richness in fact that, even with Claes's excellent guidance, it certainly does not show itself fully on the first reading.
I particularly focused on the aspect of 'time', which is one of the central themes in this cycle among many other elements, even starting with the famous verses:
Claes points out that the word time occurs about 75 times, but the meaning changes constantly. “There is the linear time of the clock and chronometer, the cyclic time of years, seasons and days, the transitory time of rise, bloom and decay, the advancing time of evolution and history, the subjective time of past, present and future, the abolished time of the incarnation and the stagnant time of eternity.” Each of the 4 quartets takes its own approach to time: time as memory in Burnt Norton, time as cyclical pattern in East Coker, time as flow in The Dry Salvages and finally time as history, in Little Gidding.
Four Quartets is often portrayed as Eliot's most religious poem, since it was written after his conversion to anglicanism. It is sometimes seen pre-eminently as a mystical poem, and in that sense it is as much glorified as it is reviled. That mysticism is absolutely present, but I agree with Claes that it does not dominate this collection, that is to say it does not ‘kill’ everything else. For example, I noticed that Eliot sees time both as a concrete, contingent manifestation of history ànd as a revelation of eternity. So, with Eliot, that eternity is not unmoved, as it is often seen by Christian mysticism, but as a constantly moving entity. It is one of the insights in this collection that opens the door to the elusive variation in creation and reality, which Eliot has expressed in an inimitable way, both in terms of content and form. To savour in small portions!
PS. Here's the reference to the bilingual English-Dutch edition of Paul Claes: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61277762-vier-kwartetten.
I particularly focused on the aspect of 'time', which is one of the central themes in this cycle among many other elements, even starting with the famous verses:
"Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable."
Claes points out that the word time occurs about 75 times, but the meaning changes constantly. “There is the linear time of the clock and chronometer, the cyclic time of years, seasons and days, the transitory time of rise, bloom and decay, the advancing time of evolution and history, the subjective time of past, present and future, the abolished time of the incarnation and the stagnant time of eternity.” Each of the 4 quartets takes its own approach to time: time as memory in Burnt Norton, time as cyclical pattern in East Coker, time as flow in The Dry Salvages and finally time as history, in Little Gidding.
Four Quartets is often portrayed as Eliot's most religious poem, since it was written after his conversion to anglicanism. It is sometimes seen pre-eminently as a mystical poem, and in that sense it is as much glorified as it is reviled. That mysticism is absolutely present, but I agree with Claes that it does not dominate this collection, that is to say it does not ‘kill’ everything else. For example, I noticed that Eliot sees time both as a concrete, contingent manifestation of history ànd as a revelation of eternity. So, with Eliot, that eternity is not unmoved, as it is often seen by Christian mysticism, but as a constantly moving entity. It is one of the insights in this collection that opens the door to the elusive variation in creation and reality, which Eliot has expressed in an inimitable way, both in terms of content and form. To savour in small portions!
PS. Here's the reference to the bilingual English-Dutch edition of Paul Claes: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61277762-vier-kwartetten.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This should've been the liturgy they switched to after Vatican II.
I have spent years thinking T.S. Eliot was English, only to find out that his family were Boston Brahmins. Anyway, these lines have lived in the back of my brain since my sophomore year of college.
“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.
And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.”
“At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.
And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.”
medium-paced
It’s difficult to rate poetry like this, where imagery and emotions don’t carry as much importance as do ideas and philosophy. Do you judge it for presentation or for content i.e. the ideas themselves? I’ve decided to rate it for the overall cerebral experience. I loved exploring Eliot’s concepts, amorphous as many of them were; there is something beautiful about a mind mired in its own musings, trying to battle its way forward. But I’m getting ahead of myself! Coming back to presentation: Did Eliot take complex and diverse ideas and make them accessible? No, I really ought to have read [b: The Wasteland|14815112|Wasteland (Wasteland, #1)|Susan Kim|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1341084869s/14815112.jpg|20468584] first to fully gauge his thematic leanings here. Nevertheless, this proved a stimulating challenge, and everything comes together seamlessly. Thanks to my familiarity with the Bible and the Mahabharata, I could gather enough ideas that deserve contemplation on my part as well. If I had not already read both, I doubt I would have survived beyond the first quartet, which can be enjoyed even without catching its allusions. After that, he racked up an overwhelming amount of religious references, including—but not limited to—the book of Genesis, the book of Ecclesiastes, the book of Psalms, the Apostle Paul, the crucifixion of Christ, Gautama Buddha, Moksha, and the battle of Kurukshetra in the Bhagavad Gita... I mean, WOW.
Creo que me he enterado del 10% de todo el poema. Es profundísimo, denso y lleno de referencias (algunas las pillo, la mayoría no). Me lo quiero leer más tranquilamente en un futuro.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
inspiring
slow-paced
I believe Eliot said, "Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood". That is what I think about this book. It is extraordinary and sublime, and it changed me, yet I did not understand 90% of what was written.
I recommend reading one poem a day, in a quiet room, just soaking the images and Eliot's thoughts on time.
"Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,
Every poem an epitaph."
I recommend reading one poem a day, in a quiet room, just soaking the images and Eliot's thoughts on time.
"Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,
Every poem an epitaph."