God's finger touched him, and he slept.
Interpretation
The quote suggests a divine or peaceful end to life, implying comfort in death.
In this quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson, the phrase 'God's finger touched him' metaphorically portrays death as a gentle act of divine grace, suggesting that the transition from life to death is not to be feared, but rather embraced as a peaceful sleep. It reflects the idea that there is a higher power involved in the end of life, offering solace and comfort to those who grieve, reaffirming the notion of eternal rest and the cycle of existence.
In practice
In a eulogy, you might say: 'As Tennyson beautifully put it, 'God's finger touched him, and he slept,' reminding us of the peace in passing.
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
Raw hatred took its time making an outpost of its rage and prepared for me a savage crown with rusty, bloodstained spikes. It wasn't pride that made me keep my heart at a distance from such terror, nor did I waste on revenge or the pursuit of power the forces that came from my selfish griefs or my accumulated joys. It was something else-my helplessness.
We are the mirror as well as the face in it. _x000D_ We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity. _x000D_ We are pain and what cures pain both. _x000D_ We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.
Ask him why there are hypocrites in the world.' 'Because it is hard to bear the happiness of others.' 'When are we happy?' 'When we desire nothing and realize that possession is only momentary, and so are forever playing.' 'What is regret?' 'To realize that one has spent one's life worrying about the future.' 'What is sorrow?' 'To long for the past.' 'What is the highest pleasure?' 'To hear a good story.
He only deserves to be remembered by posterity who treasures up and preserves the history of his ancestors.
Land is a very broad as well as a complex issue, and it has to be handled very delicately because around land, there is quite a lot of emotion.
The Christian "doctrines" are translations into our concepts and ideas of that which God has already expressed in language more adequate, namely the actual incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection
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