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
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the struggle against time and the experience of aging in the presence of youth.
In this quote from Tithonus, Tennyson explores the conflict between the relentless passage of time and the eternal nature of youth. The speaker laments being worn down by the 'strong Hours' that shape and mar existence, leaving them to dwell in a state of perpetual longing as they grapple with the contrast between their mortal decline and the vibrant youth that surrounds them. It conveys a deep sense of loss and the introspective pain of recognizing one's own frailty in the face of immortality.
In practice
During a speech about life's fleeting nature at a graduation ceremony.
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.
Gone - flitted away, Taken the stars from the night and the sun From the day! Gone, and a cloud in my heart.
Baby, we have no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we're here.
In real life, coincidences happen all the time. In novels, they are leapt upon with fury.
The more stupid one is, the closer one is to reality. The more stupid one is, the clearer one is. Stupidity is brief and artless, while intelligence squirms and hides itself. Intelligence is unprincipled, but stupidity is honest and straightforward.
A great safeguard is the entire faith, the true faith, in which neither anything whatever can be added by anyone nor anything taken away; for, unless faith be one, it is not the faith.
Admiration is a very short-lived passion, that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object.
Its language is a language which the soul alone understands, but which the soul can never translate.
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