Tidying up the house this morning, I came across a framed copy of William Butler Yeats' poem "The Two Trees". A few years ago, while going through a massive reorganization of my life, this poem, and Loreena McKennitt's musical tribute to it, made a profound impact on me. It was bittersweet to reflect on it.The poem speaks of a "holy tree", growing within the reader's heart, glorious and strong-rooted - full of life. It also speaks of a tree that is viewed "in the bitter glass" - which more or less would be the opposite of "rose tinted glasses" (crap-tinted glasses?). The reader is presented with the choice of where to spend their focus.
This became somehow entwined, this morning, with the Robert Frost lines-
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
It's absolutely true. Although one should aim to focus on the present moment, not defining one's self in terms of "my story so far", it still strikes me that the lesson I learned back then, which has resulted in my (more often than not, anyhow) choosing to walk the brighter road... has made all the difference.
Beloved, gaze in thine own heart.
"The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom. The figure is the same as for love. No one can really hold that the ecstasy should be static and stand still in one place. It begins in delight, it inclines to the impulse, it assumes direction with the first line laid down, it runs a course of lucky events, and ends in a clarification of life – not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion. It has denouement. It has an outcome that though unforeseen was predestined from the first image of the original mood – and indeed from the very mood."
ReplyDelete— Robert Frost
My favorite poem. Somehow, not surprised to find it here.
ReplyDelete