http://mindofwinter.org/2004/01/22/44/ A forum for discussing poems and poetry Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:22:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 http://mindofwinter.org/2004/01/22/44/#comment-27 Michael Sat, 24 Jan 2004 22:11:47 +0000 http://mindofwinter.org/2004/01/22/44/#comment-27 I agree that it is incoherent to link meaning to everlasting life (though I daresay, some Christians might vehemently disagree). The idea, though, is lurking in Achilles' plaint, since it would require living forever <em>not</em> to share the fate of the dying. Can we read that passage as anything <em>other</em> than a lamentation? It is his perspective that I do not understand; it seems to me a strange approach to life to look always to a place beyond our own horizons. The sunset is beautiful <em>here</em>, it blankets us in a cool fire, even while it heralds the day's end. The day is not yet over; there is much that we can treasure before the night. I agree that it is incoherent to link meaning to everlasting life (though I daresay, some Christians might vehemently disagree). The idea, though, is lurking in Achilles’ plaint, since it would require living forever not to share the fate of the dying. Can we read that passage as anything other than a lamentation? It is his perspective that I do not understand; it seems to me a strange approach to life to look always to a place beyond our own horizons. The sunset is beautiful here, it blankets us in a cool fire, even while it heralds the day’s end. The day is not yet over; there is much that we can treasure before the night.

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