3.15.2014
to have my immortality now
...Thoreau's Journal: 15-Mar-1852
This afternoon I throw off my outside coat. A mild spring day. I must hie to the Great Meadows. The air is full of bluebirds. The ground almost entirely bare. The villagers are out in the sun, and every man is happy whose work takes him outdoors. I go by Sleepy Hollow toward the Great Fields. I lean over a rail to hear what is in the air, liquid with the bluebirds’ warble. My life partakes of infinity. The air is as deep as our natures. Is the drawing in of this vital air attended with no more glorious results than I witness? The air is a velvet cushion against which I press my ear. I go forth to make new demands on life. I wish to begin this summer well; to do something in it worthy of it and of me; to transcend my daily routine and that of my townsmen; to have my immortality now, that it be in the quality of my daily life; to pay the greatest price, the greatest tax, of any man in Concord, and enjoy the most!! I will give all I am for my nobility. I will pay all my days for my success. I pray that the life of this spring and summer may lie fair in my memory. May I dare as I have never done! May I persevere as I have never done! May I purify myself anew as with fire and water, soul and body! May my melody not be wanting to the season! May I gird myself to be a hunter of the beautiful, that naught escape me! May I attain to a youth never attained! I am eager to report the glory of the universe; may I be worthy to do it; to have got through with regarding human values, so as not to be distracted from regarding divine values. It is reasonable that a man should be something worthier at the end of the year than he was at the beginning.
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5 comments:
Hi, ever since you last changed he blog most of the time I can only download a part of it, and that takes forever if it does it at all. I hope that you can fix it, as I find it's a good read to start my day. Tom.
Hi Tom
I have a hunch it might be the Amazon widget; I just removed it.
Let me know if that works.
Thanks for letting me know about the problem,
Greg
I really liked this post. I actually started tearing up a bit, since his enthusiasm is so catching. I, too, want to be something worthier at the end of each year than I was at the beginning. "May I dare as I have never done!" He wants to LIVE. Also, knowing he'll be dead in ten years, it adds a level of poignancy to his urgency. For, if we do not end the years worthier than they started, then those years are gone. And some spring day may be your last.
I have seen the daffodil today. It's not a sky full of bluebirds, but it'll do. I make no more demands on life. I look at life from a different angle than Mr. Thoreau, I look at it in my seventy second year and feel satisfaction in my journey. As all of my fellows the journey has been swift and enjoyable. Also like them I wish for more time to contemplate what went right and what went wrong.
what is man if only to better himself and continue to do so that is enough,let us only see the good in man, you will not be looked on as weak,find the goodness,improve yourself and outlook each day,each hour,you will find the world a playground full of music and wonderment,smile,greet strangers,call people your friend,this is a new life you can give yourself,make people happy and you will be happy. michael jameson oldantiqueguy@hotmail.com
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