The Prejudice Against the Past
Day is the children's friend.
It is Marianna's Swedish cart.
It is that and a very big hat.
Confined by what they see,
Aquiline pedants treat the cart,
As one of the relics of the heart.
They treat the philosopher's hat,
Left thoughtlessly behind,
As one of the relics of the mind...
Of day, then, children make
What aquiline pedants take
For souvenirs of time, lost time,
Adieux, shapes, images--
No, not of day, but of themselves,
Not of perpetual time.
And therefore, aquiline pedants find
The philosopher's hat to be part of the mind,
The Swedish cart to be part of the heart.
Wallace Stevens
Turning 72 in 2018: I Dwell in Possibility
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*Returning to my reposts of birthday essays, which will eventually form an
almost continuous series of observations, expectations etc. spanning nearly
20 y...
1 day ago
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