tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post614603851916859387..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: The Passing BellStephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-3369499450325822802014-06-18T23:06:32.399-07:002014-06-18T23:06:32.399-07:00Susan: it's very nice to hear from you again.
...Susan: it's very nice to hear from you again.<br /><br />You are fortunate to have the sound of bells. We forget how different the world used to sound. I remember reading a passage in a book once (I forget the source now) in which the author tried to show how different early Europe was from the modern world by focusing on how different the sound environment was -- in particular, the greater spaces of silence, punctuated by church bells. I think it is a great loss.<br /><br />Thank you very much for visiting again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-34101644236644955682014-06-18T22:55:21.823-07:002014-06-18T22:55:21.823-07:00Peter: I greatly appreciate your bringing in the a...Peter: I greatly appreciate your bringing in the anecdote of the veteran of Normandy -- those who have been in that position have no need of passing bells (or poems) as a reminder, do they?<br /><br />I agree about "ill-busied": those sorts of wonderful phrases are what I love about that period of English poetry.<br /><br />I'm pleased you liked the combination of poems.<br /><br />As ever, thank you for stopping by.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-76524984240985717332014-06-18T18:10:27.166-07:002014-06-18T18:10:27.166-07:00I'm glad to report that a church bell is most ...I'm glad to report that a church bell is most pleasantly audible in our apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The recording (which does sound like real bells) tells the hours & half-hours from 8am to 8pm. I love hearing it.<br />Susan<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-59783107753023604312014-06-18T10:33:52.297-07:002014-06-18T10:33:52.297-07:00Stephen: “When thou art (yet) well.” This thought ...Stephen: “When thou art (yet) well.” This thought is often on my mind, and – if the dissociation is not too great – I was reminded of such contingencies when listening to a Normandy Campaign survivor giving an account of his wartime experiences: “As I stood, unhurt, two of my friends were killed either side of me.”<br /><br />Ah, yes, “Ill–busied man!” Wilfully accumulating ‘against that day’, as might be said. But truly, we bring nothing into the world, and we take nothing out (and if we did, would we gaze at it for all eternity? Ah, the boredom after the first million years!)<br /><br />Thank you for putting together three perfectly matched poems.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07119180758113013415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-12286993527255719882014-06-18T07:56:52.951-07:002014-06-18T07:56:52.951-07:00Anonymous: thank you very much for your thoughts. ...Anonymous: thank you very much for your thoughts. Your mentioning of modern devices reminded me of the times that I have visited the UK and Europe: upon returning home, I have always missed the sounds of the church bells.<br /><br />Thanks again.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-9396550533040702972014-06-18T07:54:52.339-07:002014-06-18T07:54:52.339-07:00Fred: lovely paintings, aren't they? And, ye...Fred: lovely paintings, aren't they? And, yes, not a 21st century sensibility. For which we can be grateful!<br /><br />As always, It's good to hear from you.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-25854780698200070252014-06-17T09:33:10.304-07:002014-06-17T09:33:10.304-07:00If we extend Larkin's telephone ringing in his...If we extend Larkin's telephone ringing in his "Aubade" to the plethora of "communication devices" in use today, we see our feckless and vacuous culture measuring out its mediocre days with inane words, a surfeit of the superficial and the absurd--the mindless murder of sensibility. <br /><br />The days are measured no matter the way they are measured. Listen carefully and you can hear through the blaring and beeping and blooping of today's instruments the attenuated but unmistakable and dark plaintive message Donne's bell tolled.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-50318983585913820062014-06-17T07:42:03.253-07:002014-06-17T07:42:03.253-07:00Stephen,
Oppenheimer really liked that view, didn...Stephen,<br /><br />Oppenheimer really liked that view, didn't he?<br /><br />This is definitely not a 21st century sensibility--quite the opposite I think. <br /><br />Fredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10233846613173866140noreply@blogger.com