The Hollow Men
I watched the movie Apocalypse Now last night, and for the first time (blush) became acquainted with the following poem by T.S. Elliot.

My own poetry has been likened (by those select few who follow it) to that of T.S. Elliot, and that always surprised me. But now that I've read this one, I can see why someone would say that.

Here's a fascinating poem that we should all be acquainted with, and a few comments below it by myself.


The hollow men
by T.S. Elliot

I

We are the hollow men
we are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw.Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rat's feet on broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without color,
Paralyzed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us - if at all - not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

II

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream Kingdom
These do not appear
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream Kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer -
Not that final meeting
In the twilight Kingdom

III

This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star
Is it like this
In death's other Kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.

IV

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In the valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost Kingdoms
In this last of meeting places
We grope together
and avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river
Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight Kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men

V

Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

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To that we can add the beautiful-bloody ending of Francis Ford Coppola (I have no doubt he was the author of the final scene in that movie):

the horror!

the horror...

*************************************************

~ basil

a little humor...

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said
it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because, even
though, it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The
little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the
teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically
impossible.

The little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".

The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?" The little girl replied,

"Then you ask him".

Well, it has been a busy two weeks for me. I've been busy fasting, preparing for the great celebration of Holy Week, and then Pascha. Then I've been busy partying and celebrating the Resurrection of Christ.

There shall be other news to follow.

But here I am, back at my blog.

One of the great tragedies of war is the innocent lives lost.

But one of the heartwarming and inspiring aspects is the bravery of those who go against all odds to help a loved one, even a child.

This is a great story of such bravery about a young child with cancer. You should read it:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/909238.asp?

Regards,
Basil

This just in from BBC news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2901549.stm

Monday, 31 March

2108: Seven Iraqi civilians - all women or children - are killed by US troops firing on their vehicle after it refused to stop at a check point near Najaf.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I think that says about all that can be said.

Come on America, wake up? Why are you supporting this war?


Basilfly...

Another Sad Moment in U.S. History

(and the "End of Western Civilization" part III)

Well, this weekend we were all smacked in the face with further proof that freedom of speech is being denied to honest, patriotic Americans, for doing nothing more than speaking the truth:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/893115.asp?

MSNBC and NBC news have cut relations with one of their finest journalists in the field in Iraq for speaking the truth about what has been happening here. We should all be ashamed now of NBC for shamelessly compromsing themselves by trading away honest journalism for favor with the Bush administration!

"In the interview, Arnett said his Iraqi friends had told him that there was a growing sense of nationalism and resistance to what the United States and Britain were doing."
- and why can't he say that? We all know it is true.

"He said the United States was reappraising the battlefield and delaying the war, maybe for a week, 'and rewriting the war plan. The first war plan has failed because of Iraqi resistance. Now they are trying to write another war plan.' "
- and we all know that is true also. A week ago our military was bragging about how it would be in Bhagdad in just a few days, and now they have been fighting in the defensive, rather than offensive for almost a whole week.

"Arnett said it was clear that there was growing opposition to the war within the United States and a growing challenge to President Bush."
- and again, that's something that is perfectly clear to anyone with an IQ slightly above that of vegetable mold. If Bush doesn't feel challenged at this point, then he's not simply crazy (we know that already) but probably hasn't got more than a couple brain cells to rub together! He is going to go down in infamy in the history of our country as being the one single president, who single-handedly destroyed our country's relations with the rest of the free world, made our own homeland an unsafe place to live (by multiplying our enemies around the world), and cultivated the greatest assault on the free press our country has ever encountered.

It is a sad, sad day to be an American, and it is an even sadder day to be president of this country. So, I'd say, if Bush isn't feeling the pressure from that by now, he's of worse moral character than Hitler, Stalin and the like.

But my personally suspicion is that he is. That he is sweating gumdrops by now, and soiling his underwear several times a day... to think what he has done to our great nation.

But, that's not my main point today. That's not even a big concern at the moment. At the moment, the big thing is that NBC news has canned one of their own for speaking the truth about the war. The strange thing about it is that quite soon after the initial report, NBC backed up their reporter. But several hours later, when the situation had worked its way up through managment, they retracted and canned him.

It is a sad day when our news media becomes a state organ, just like in any old foul fascist country, the kid of place we have always prided ourselves on being so different from. And it is a sad day when our news media hushes up the truth!

What a sad day to be an American.

~ Basil ~

And what is the rest of the world saying?

How can any American that calls himself / herself an intelligent, thinking person, not want to know? Not want to understand?

Here's a good resource:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2080732/

And another thing...

has anybody noticed that now that our troops are not "kicking butt" any more, the news networks have tapered off their reporting on the war?

I wonder how long it would take for us to find if we lost?

Well I can't predict the future, but I'm inclined to think that this war is going to make Vietnam look like it was a picnic.

~ Basilfly

Almost there! Really?

I Have observed many persons rejoicing, and saying one to another, "We have conquered; we have prevailed; the half of the fast is spent." But I exhort such persons not to rejoice on this account, that the half of the fast is gone, but to consider whether the half of their sins be gone; and if so, then to exult. For this is a fit subject of gratification. This is what is to be sought after, and for which all things are done, that we may correct our defects; and that we may not quit the fast the same persons as we entered upon it, but in a cleansed state; and that having laid aside all that belongs to evil habits, we may thus keep the sacred feast, since if the case be otherwise, we shall be so far from obtaining any advantage, that the completion of the fast will be the greatest injury to us.

What can be more feeble-minded than this? I ask; and what is the cause of this? It is, that when the fast is arrived, we do not take pains that the concerns of the soul may be well ordered, but we limit the fast solely to an abstinence from food.

from Homily XVIII.
St. John Chrysostom

~ basilfly ~