Away, away, from men and towns,
To the wild wood and the downs—
To the silent wilderness
Where the soul need not repress
Its music lest it should not find
An echo in another's mind
-- Percy Bysshe Shelley
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 8:28 pm
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Reading
Clarissa by Richardson. It is all of four volumes of which I have just finished two. It will add to the list of my favourite books, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, that is, anyone who reads a book for its story.
What I love most about Clarissa is its beauty of expression. Even the most simplest of words strung together with this author's pen must sound like a sweet melody. And another thing, the medium of expression. The entire book is comprised of letters, letters written to and from the various characters. The drama unfolds before us through these letters.
The theme of the book is essentially, the triumph of virtue (a rather archaic definition of virtue, but one must make allowances for the period to which the author belongs).
I would have liked to share some beautiful passages from it here, but without a general understanding of the context, they would not hold the same merit. Let me then share a line and a poem that I found interesting, and which do not need any particular reference.
The line (couldn't find it again, so quoting from memory) --
"A man is a woman's sun and a woman is a man's earth."
I won't give my own comments on it here, but would love to hear the readers' interpretations!
And the poem --
It is Resistance that inflames desire
Sharpens the darts of love, and blows its fire.
Love is disarm'd that meets with too much ease
He languishes, and does not care to please.
(The archives on my blog had for some time disappeared (where to, I can't say, not being a geek or even close to one :( ) and try as I might, couldn't get them back. Praise be to Codelust, they're back again! Many many thanks to him! :) )
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 10:06 pm
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