Tag Archives: Reflection

John Donne: A Valediction Forbidding Mourning.

Posted by David Emeron on
Italiano: Immagine del poeta John Donne Donne,...

Italiano: Immagine del poeta John Donne Donne, John (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was recently reminded of this poem by a commenter.  It made me think, as I have also recently been reminded of Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gently…”   That Donne might also be a champion of life extension scientists, due to the subject of death being so often present in his poetry.  I realise that he was speaking of God and Heaven when writing of the triumph over death, but even so, these works can be read in this other way as well.

AS virtuous men pass mildly away,
And whisper to their souls to go,
Whilst some of their sad friends do say,
“Now his breath goes,” and some say, “No.”

So let us melt, and make no noise,
No tear-floods, nor sigh-tempests move ;
‘Twere profanation of our joys
To tell the laity our love.

Moving of th’ earth brings harms and fears;
Men reckon what it did, and meant;
But trepidation of the spheres,
Though greater far, is innocent.

Dull sublunary lovers’ love
—Whose soul is sense—cannot admit
Of absence, ’cause it doth remove
The thing which elemented it.

But we by a love so much refined,
That ourselves know not what it is,
Inter-assurèd of the mind,
Care less, eyes, lips and hands to miss.

Our two souls therefore, which are one,
Though I must go, endure not yet
A breach, but an expansion,
Like gold to aery thinness beat.

If they be two, they are two so
As stiff twin compasses are two ;
Thy soul, the fix’d foot, makes no show
To move, but doth, if th’ other do.

And though it in the centre sit,
Yet, when the other far doth roam,
It leans, and hearkens after it,
And grows erect, as that comes home.

Such wilt thou be to me, who must,
Like th’ other foot, obliquely run ;
Thy firmness makes my circle just,
And makes me end where I begun.

via John Donne: A Valediction Forbidding Mourning.

Sierra Sciences, LLC – Cure Aging or Die Trying

Posted by David Emeron on

I was pleased to see that Sierra Sciences’ Website has entered the 21st century along with their technology.

Sierra Sciences, LLC – Cure Aging or Die Trying.

I came upon the site of Russell Boyle and was reminded of this company by reading this classic by Dylan Thomas which he posted:

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

  • Dylan Thomas

WordPress.org??

Posted by David Emeron on

I have explored wordpress.org in my tiny sandbox, and while there are most certainly many possibilities…

There is a song called “Freedom isn’t free,” but just as true might have been written one called “Free isn’t free!” or even “Free is Endless Slavery!”

Still there are instances wherein I might recommend to a client to self host with open source software. For example, in the instance wherein they have quite a lot of “time on their hands,” so to speak, perhaps unemployed, and have found an adequate free or low cost host. But even this, I would suggest only in the even that their content is somehow in violation of wordpress.com’s terms. Because, for a free host wordpress.com is very good–although there are ‘buggy’ aspects of it as well.

I have recently hit my six month mark (180+ sonnets!!) and I have not yet decided how I shall reward myself for my diligence. Currently, I pay for very little. I have a domain (registered elsewhere) hosted at wordpress.com, and three blogs. It seems to me little point in paying additional fees for sub-domains so I only pay for davidemeron.com to point to my main blog. I may have purchased one other things, but oddly, it escapes me now.

I have been considering CSS access, for example, or one of the extra services to be opened up, but as of yet, I have not decided. If I ever felt I needed complete access, I would as the gentleman above mentioned, pay the $130 per year, and as is said “let the good times roll!” however at this time, I see no need for this. I do not anticipate my content being too mature, or some such thing.

And, as my work entails some quite technical matters, this, being a rather “worky” form of recreation is best kept simple. Even at that, it is difficult enough, and I have learned not to try to extend the ability of the site in non-standard ways, as such things require far too much tinkering.

Even my more mature subjects require no small effort to read. One would have to be rather determined to brand them mature. If my goal had been fame,, I certainly would not have chosen sonnets as my vehicle!!

Still, I do enjoy that some do happen upon them, and that they find them pleasing to any degree.

Related articles

Sonnet I | RL King:A Written World

Posted by David Emeron on

Does your world spin wild through black of night?
Do you crave my hold, my kiss, my embrace?
Do you ache in desire, my lips to trace?
Do you look and see, my flicker of light?
Do I touch your soul, does it burn, ignite?
Could you have loved this splinter of my grace?
Would you hold me…if tears streamed on my face?
Tell me you would not, else, what a sad plight.

For, I would love thee, ever and a day,
What fool threw away this one that I see?
Did they not see the strength of your fierce heart?
To feel your breath as it moves upon me,
Caress your soul with mine, ever there stay…
You are my passion…you, dear love, my art.

via Sonnet I | RL King:A Written World.

Related articles

Long answer to RLK….

Posted by David Emeron on

My!  All that from a short note (for me) on haiku!

Oddly striking in all of this: most of my poetry is freeverse, just not what I choose to publish.  Early on though, my sonnet writing began.  And, because I was emulating/idolizing great writers I most admired, and because my dearest loves it so, I began using (however imperfectly) Elizabethan and Early Modern English.  Even then, I found my way to more modern English.  You will see it here and there represented.  Older forms of English can be more difficult because of the syllabic changes in verb conjugations.  As such, modern English is rather more flexible which, of course, is why I use the more difficult form.  Besides the obvious, it’s the greater challenge.
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