I am on fire within._x000D_ There comes no murmur of reply._x000D_ What is it that will take away my sin,_x000D_ And save me lest I die?
Interpretation
The quote expresses an inner turmoil and yearning for redemption from guilt and mortality.
In this quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson, the speaker conveys a deep existential struggle characterized by an intense internal conflict symbolized by the phrase 'on fire within.' This fire represents feelings of guilt and a desperate desire for salvation from sins, hinting at the universal quest for meaning and forgiveness amidst the inevitability of death. The lack of a response underscores the isolating nature of this spiritual and emotional battle.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about personal growth during a workshop on overcoming guilt.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.
O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine!
Earth is dry to the centre,_x000D_ But spring, a new comer,_x000D_ A spring rich and strange,_x000D_ Shall make the winds blow_x000D_ Round and round,_x000D_ Thro' and thro',_x000D_ Here and there,_x000D_ Till the air_x000D_ And the ground_x000D_ Shall be fill'd with life anew.
O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
But thy strong Hours indignant work’d their wills, And beat me down and marr’d and wasted me, And tho’ they could not end me, left me maim’d To dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth, And all I was, in ashes. - Tithonus
Every offense is avenged on earth.
Truth is not something you can appropriate easily and quickly. You certainly cannot sleep or dream yourself to the truth. No, you must be tried, do battle, and suffer if you are to acquire the truth for yourself. It is a sheer illusion to think that in relation to the truth there is an abridgement, a short cut that dispenses with the necessity for struggling for it.
An attack upon our ability to tell stories is not just censorship - it is a crime against our nature as human beings.
Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human.
Men shut their doors against a setting sun.
Stereotypes should never influence policy or public opinion.
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