Thursday, November 10, 2011
The Garden of Cyrus
But the Quincunx of Heaven runs low, and 'tis time to close the five ports of knowledge. We are unwilling to spin out our awaking thoughts into the phantasms of sleep, which often continueth precogitations; making Cables of Cobwebs and Wildernesses of handsome Groves. Besides Hippocrates hath spoke so little and the Oneirocriticall Masters, have left such frigid Interpretations from plants that there is little encouragement to dream of Paradise itself. Nor will the sweetest delight of Gardens afford much comfort in sleep; wherein the dullness of that sense shakes hands with delectable odours; and though in the Bed of Cleopatra, can hardly with any delight raise up the Ghost of a Rose. -- The Garden of Cyrus, Sir Thomas Browne.
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Hello :)
- Elena
- This blog is part of my uni coursework in which I have to link a specific subject of interest to the general shift to digital that has affected our society in recent years. Here I am going to discuss in depth various ways in which this shift has radically changed our youth in particular, and shaped them as what is often defined as a 'digital generation'. I hope to do a decent job! Cheers
Would be good to read WHY you like this text and selected it ? It's a text decribed as one of the greatest pieces of English poetic prose ever .
ReplyDeleteCopy and paste comes out highlighted white ! Paste it offline as text then copy to remove white highlight. I like Waterhouse's 'Lady of Shalott' too, it's very romantic and was one of my very first posts on my blog which is here
http://aquariumofvulcan.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html#56709159313668822
Chiao !
Thanks for the tip, I was going crazy trying to copy it without highlighting the text (and clearly not succeeding).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think the reason why I like The Garden of Cytrus so much is its ambiguity and mysteriousness, you know?
It feels like Thomas Browne here just took a pen and a piece of paper and started writing, not stopping to wonder if anyone would understand what he was saying.
It's an example of "stream of consciousness", I'd say.
It sounds beautiful with his early purple prose and yet you can't entirely catch its meaning.
I'm glad you like Lady of Shalott. I definitely love John William Waterhouse's paintings. Two other works by him that I like are Ophelia and La Belle Dame Sans Merci.
And soooorry for the late reply!