“They saw their injured country's woe;
The flaming town, the wasted field;
Then rushed to meet the insulting foe;
They took the spear, - but left the shield.”
―Philip Freneau
.
And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again?
Archilochus
Interesting, I'm sure, but so far bey]n;d the boundaries of my knowledge, experience and lifelong areas of major interest I can only say I am struck dumb by this display of scientific knowledge and theory.
POSTED EARLIER AT ALWAYS ON WATCH: THOUGHTS I HOPE MAY BE WORTH SHARING, EVEN IF THEY ARE OFF-TOPIC. I HOPE YOU AGREE.
The Lerghetto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony has been a great favorite of mine for many years. I've heard several complain after I've enthusiatically recommended it, "Oh, but it's so SAD! How could you want to listen to anythng like THAT? It might tempt me to want to commit SUICIDE."
There's no good answer to people with such limited tastes, shallow understanding and narrow perceptions that they cannot hear –– and feel –– that this movement is possibly the greatest expression of EMPATHY for the HUMAN CONDITION ever written –– certainly one of them anyway.
I find in it a world of solace whenever I feel disturbed, dejected, anxious, or grief-stricken.
When you're feeling downhearted, even close to despair –– as all of us must from time to time if we are fully human –– I've found it's a great help to learn that others have experienced the same emotion before you, –– that you are not alone –– and therefore others must UNDERSTAND what you are going through.
Mahler and many of the other great composers have done that for me, which is why I love them so, and did my best from an early age to devote my life to studying and promoting the profound Wisdom and intense Beauty these great works have managed to capture, distill, and convey with poignant eloquence.
Going out to the local bar to hoist a few while listening to endless versions of The Beer Barrel Polka, or whatever, may be fun for a while, because it DISTRACTS from the pain of present Reality, but it doesn't CURE so the effect doesn't last, and the inevitable letdown –– along with the hangover that follows these futile attempts at escape –– leave syou feeling even worse the next day than you did before.
Mahler –– or Brahms –– or Beethoven –– or Schubert –– or Wagner –– or Richard Strauss, et al. never leave you feeling worse, because the work those guys produced, almost invariably has a TRANSFORMATIVE effect on the psyche –– at least for me.
Great music always makes me feel GRATEFUL to be a human being no matter how challenging the mundane or material aspects to life may get.
I know I am lucky in that regard, but I wish EVERYONE could experience the uplifting, healing, satisfying tonic effect that has made life a more-than-pleasant experience for me.
The thought arises once again: That our brave men have died in vain If in our now-degraded state We see no more why they were great,–– And rattle on belligerently –– Rejecting Thought that made us free –– Embracing now with loud insistence –– Malice threatening our existence –– Tearing at each other's throats –– While a leering Satan gloats –– A sorry spectacle that wrenches My heart thinking of the trenches Filled with anguish, fear and dread As bullets whizzed above each head, And buried in the mud the mines Lurked to shatter limbs and spines, While in the distance cannons boomed Inspiring fear that all were doomed. Then to see a body shattered –– One a buddy –– now parts scattered –– In the mud with corpses strewn –– Gruesome lit by sun or moon –– More pitiful the wounded lie In agony praying to die. And all around the smell of blood Vomit, –– urine, –– faces, –– crud Defined the hellish atmosphere But few if any shed a tear. They knew they had a job to do –– Protecting our land –– and you –– From Tyranny, –– Brutality –– Poverty –– and Slavery –– Their Sacrifice –– Our Legacy – Now relegated to the Fire –– Ever the Enemy’s Desire –– Because their precious Victory Was neutralized by Sophistry That promised Peace eternally By ceding our Sovereignty As a dumb ovine assembly Always led too easily To the abattoir where brutally They end up slaughtered ruthlessly. And so the Enemy has won –– Not by bayonet, bomb, or gun –– But by an ideology Seductive, to those lazily Imagining there’s an Easy Way To stop becoming Satan’s Prey. Thus lulled into a stupor we Now feel a false Security. Forgetting that we owe a debt To those brave men who fought to get Continued Opportunity To cherish their fine legacy. Because the Left runs Education We’ve lost our great Emancipation –– Betrayed great men through dissipation Made worse by bitter argumentation.
6 comments:
Interesting, I'm sure, but so far bey]n;d the boundaries of my knowledge, experience and lifelong areas of major interest I can only say I am struck dumb by this display of scientific knowledge and theory.
POSTED EARLIER AT ALWAYS ON WATCH: THOUGHTS I HOPE MAY BE WORTH SHARING, EVEN IF THEY ARE OFF-TOPIC. I HOPE YOU AGREE.
The Lerghetto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony has been a great favorite of mine for many years. I've heard several complain after I've enthusiatically recommended it, "Oh, but it's so SAD! How could you want to listen to anythng like THAT? It might tempt me to want to commit SUICIDE."
There's no good answer to people with such limited tastes, shallow understanding and narrow perceptions that they cannot hear –– and feel –– that this movement is possibly the greatest expression of EMPATHY for the HUMAN CONDITION ever written –– certainly one of them anyway.
I find in it a world of solace whenever I feel disturbed, dejected, anxious, or grief-stricken.
When you're feeling downhearted, even close to despair –– as all of us must from time to time if we are fully human –– I've found it's a great help to learn that others have experienced the same emotion before you, –– that you are not alone –– and therefore others must UNDERSTAND what you are going through.
Mahler and many of the other great composers have done that for me, which is why I love them so, and did my best from an early age to devote my life to studying and promoting the profound Wisdom and intense Beauty these great works have managed to capture, distill, and convey with poignant eloquence.
Going out to the local bar to hoist a few while listening to endless versions of The Beer Barrel Polka, or whatever, may be fun for a while, because it DISTRACTS from the pain of present Reality, but it doesn't CURE so the effect doesn't last, and the inevitable letdown –– along with the hangover that follows these futile attempts at escape –– leave syou feeling even worse the next day than you did before.
Mahler –– or Brahms –– or Beethoven –– or Schubert –– or Wagner –– or Richard Strauss, et al. never leave you feeling worse, because the work those guys produced, almost invariably has a TRANSFORMATIVE effect on the psyche –– at least for me.
Great music always makes me feel GRATEFUL to be a human being no matter how challenging the mundane or material aspects to life may get.
I know I am lucky in that regard, but I wish EVERYONE could experience the uplifting, healing, satisfying tonic effect that has made life a more-than-pleasant experience for me.
Science: an oasis of Reason, in a cesspit of partisan shit slinging.
You're not vying for any grant money, are you Gert? ;)
I love the classics, Franco. They work subliminally.
I've had mine, thanks!
__ A LATTER DAY LAMENT __
The thought arises once again:
That our brave men have died in vain
If in our now-degraded state
We see no more why they were great,––
And rattle on belligerently ––
Rejecting Thought that made us free ––
Embracing now with loud insistence ––
Malice threatening our existence ––
Tearing at each other's throats ––
While a leering Satan gloats ––
A sorry spectacle that wrenches
My heart thinking of the trenches
Filled with anguish, fear and dread
As bullets whizzed above each head,
And buried in the mud the mines
Lurked to shatter limbs and spines,
While in the distance cannons boomed
Inspiring fear that all were doomed.
Then to see a body shattered ––
One a buddy –– now parts scattered ––
In the mud with corpses strewn ––
Gruesome lit by sun or moon ––
More pitiful the wounded lie
In agony praying to die.
And all around the smell of blood
Vomit, –– urine, –– faces, –– crud
Defined the hellish atmosphere
But few if any shed a tear.
They knew they had a job to do ––
Protecting our land –– and you ––
From Tyranny, –– Brutality ––
Poverty –– and Slavery ––
Their Sacrifice –– Our Legacy –
Now relegated to the Fire ––
Ever the Enemy’s Desire ––
Because their precious Victory
Was neutralized by Sophistry
That promised Peace eternally
By ceding our Sovereignty
As a dumb ovine assembly
Always led too easily
To the abattoir where brutally
They end up slaughtered ruthlessly.
And so the Enemy has won ––
Not by bayonet, bomb, or gun ––
But by an ideology
Seductive, to those lazily
Imagining there’s an Easy Way
To stop becoming Satan’s Prey.
Thus lulled into a stupor we
Now feel a false Security.
Forgetting that we owe a debt
To those brave men who fought to get
Continued Opportunity
To cherish their fine legacy.
Because the Left runs Education
We’ve lost our great Emancipation ––
Betrayed great men through dissipation
Made worse by bitter argumentation.
~ FreeThinke
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