Burnt Norton

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Recently discovered TS Eliot... Awesome stuff... found it difficult to pick the part I like the best... But couldn't resist giving a glimpse...
Enjoy !!!

Extract from Burnt Norton ~ T S Eliot


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.

Comments

  1. Yuri8 February 2010 at 09:54

    i love T.S. Eliot

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10 February 2010 at 13:43

    This is the most profound poem I've come across. Thank you Bridgette and thank you T.S. Eliot.

    I think he might have been trying to describe the present moment, which is always passing, not definable in terms of time. The stillness that underlies the essence of the universe, "the spaciousness around the content" as Eckhart Tolle said. Much love, be well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dheeraj10 February 2010 at 18:57

    Still, yet forever moving.
    Like beating hearts.

    Thus are the moments that make up time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. spldbch10 February 2010 at 23:21

    Wow, very Buddhist-y!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dwiti R11 February 2010 at 16:44

    True... I haven't seen a better description of time.. and beyond...
    I love TS Eliot...

    @Dheeraj:
    Moments, here now.. and then past..
    Time, standstill, but just for an instant..
    The memory.. steadfast !

    ReplyDelete

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