Aubade

Beckoned anew to a World
where wishes alter nothing,
expelled from the padded cell
of Sleep and re-admitted
to involved Humanity,
again, as wrote Augustine,
I know that I am and will,
I am willing and knowing,
I will to be and to know,
facing in four directions,
outwards and inwards in Space,
observing and reflecting,
backwards and forwards through Time,
recalling and forecasting.

(W.H. Auden)

Comments

Aleo said…
You've probably read Philip Larkin's rather different take on the 'Aubade' theme. He was another British poet, a near-contemporary of Auden's, but he is generally seen as being far less optimistic about these matters!
November 14, 2009 at 6:52 PM
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