We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, unremembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always—
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.
This is part of the piece I memorized for your dad on England Term. Eliot changed the way I viewed poetry - it only took until my senior year as a Lit major to appreciate the genre. I used to think I wanted to get married at the chapel at Little Gidding; I loved it there.
ReplyDeleteInteresting side note - the only picture I still have of our day at Little Gidding is a photo of your brother sitting on a tractor (sporting a full, flowing head of hair...)