My brother has had some very nice decking put round the back of his house which abuts suicide bridge as its called ,on Highgate Hill . Now he can look out across the whole of London and he reminded me of the this fragment whilst revelling in the sense of mastery and achievement only new raised decking can bring. Imagine him proclaiming this at me with beer in hand ….
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
( Tennyson)
It’s the optical effect of the wrinkled sea that makes it work isn’t it
Changing the subject there is always something irresistible to the English about carpe diem and the acknowledgement that life is passing .This sweet sadness is captured in 12th night a play intended for the end of a festive period .For all the comedy we know it must end , and this silvered transience permeates the play
What's to come is still unsure;
In delay there lies no plenty;
Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure.
The Beach Boys Numbers I like the best had just a that feeling about them that summer will soon be over as will youth and life itself. This is one of the best which I happenend to hear today
When I Grow Up ( fragment )
……Will my kids be proud or think their old man is really a square?
(eighteen nineteen)
When they're out having fun yeah, will I still wanna have my share?
(twenty twenty-one)
Will I love my wife for the rest of my life
When I grow up to be a man?
What will I be when I grow up to be a man?
(twenty-two twenty-three)
Won't last forever
(twenty-four twenty-five)
It's kind of sad
(twenty-six twenty-seven)
Won't last forever
(twenty-eight twenty-nine)
It's kind of sad
(thirty thirty-one)
Won't last forever
(thirty-two...)
Youths a stuff will not endure . How do you feel about getting older ? Its better than the alternative I suppose and if ones triumph is installing some nice new raised decking ,then at least there are still triumphs to be had. I think i need abigger motorbike ...
6 comments:
I can empathise with your brother standing on on his new decking on the Highgate heights gazing out and down across London. I do the same from my (standing room only) balcony around the corner. It is a common pastime here in North London, I think, and explains the (quite literally) 'haut en bas' attitude so prevalent in these parts. With our backs to our absurdly overpriced and over-mortgaged property, and distracted by the view, we can forget our foolishness and condescend to the hoi-polloi down below. Could this be the psychological key to New Labour, I wonder?!
I can very well imagine youi looking down on the ant like scuttlers belwo and feeling almost a god amongst men David
What the fuck was this about, N ???
(Joke)
Hmmm ok it was a bit out of my sual way but I likwe the bit of Tennyson.,,,,,
No, very good N. Verrry good. I find I'm reading so much now. I read lots of people's blogs too. So many ideas and so much wisdom if you know where to look. I know I say alot here - but say it out loud and it doesn't add up to much, especially as my life is very solitary working shifts and being in a cab on my own. (boo hoo !)
Back to topic:
I've kept one friend from my school days, the rest have drifted away. We email daily and often reflect on our ageing and laugh at the sort of things we like now. We see each other once a year and it is this year-on-year ageing (like a flicker book) where you notice the crags and lines in each other's face and the bodily sagging - though we're both active and relatively well preserved.
I like it.
I like maturing and reclining in confident and quiet admiration of the youth I work with and those I train with in sport. For all the 'faults' in the younger generation there is so much that I'm proud of in them - especially our soldiers.
I worry interminably for my boys.
I don't want to get too old - but just to get there with minimum fuss and embarrasment. This will do me fine and for one night to fade away into the darkness from the bossom of my beloved family would be bliss.
I'd like some more red wine in the meantime.
Roll on death - bring it on. Not just yet though.
(ha ha)
...well at least it's better than saying I think the country is full of tossers and we're all doomed !
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