Give Sorrow Words
Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak,
Whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.
(Shakespeare, Macbeth, 5.1.50-1)
Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak,
Whispers the o’er-fraught heart and bids it break.
(Shakespeare, Macbeth, 5.1.50-1)
Lucretius (c. 99 – c. 55 BCE) from the philosophical epic De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of the Universe) as translated by Anthony M. Esolen There’s more: Nature dissolves all things into Their atoms; things can’t die back down to nothing. …Never can things revert to nothingness!
The world offers itself to your imagination. Offers to you. You offer back. You offer up. The world opens up to you. You open in return, to the world. The world is a gift if only you are there, present and open, waiting and willing, vulnerable and strong to catch and harvest what is offered….
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” —The Buddha (historically, Hindu Prince Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism, 563-483 B.C.)
photo by www.moonraker.com A poet is someone who stands outside in the rain hoping to be struck by lightning. —James Dickey From the length of the bibligraphy of his poetic works, we can surmise that Mr. Dickey was frequently struck by metaphoric lightning. Mark Twain gives us this advice: “It is best to read the…
We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. ~Bertha Calloway, Founder of the Great Plains Black Museum
Persimmon, sasafrass, and ash Reclaim the land that once was theirs. “Submarginal”, the experts say. Once, hillside plows were used to turn The fertile ground. It nurtured, and produced the crops, Sustained, with money crops, and food The pioneers. They didn’t have a guarantee of annual wage. Their maps, drawn out with pointed sticks In…
I loved the quote you use for this thought. My current book is about unwitnessed grief. I said that grief has many siblings — guilt, anger, separation among others but of course, Shakespeare says it best.
Your course sounds wonderful. I’ve suggested the “I remember” exercise and also the “I don’t remember” exercise that Natalie Goldberg uses in her Writing the Bones workshop. But your expansion of it to include differing points of view and to make it a way for people to express ranges of sorrow is truly inspired. Thank you for telling us about it on the Women writing the West website and for having this site and blog. You are appreciated! Warmly, Jane
I have articls about grief and a journal called A Year and a Day which I kept after losing my wife. Idaho State Unvieristy is the publisher.
Michael Corrigan