Ash-Wednesday

[dfwtinman]

As the 13th approaches, I thought to share just a bit of this poem:

Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the aged eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?

...

And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

T.S. Eliot, Ash-Wednesday

http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/748/

 

[dfwtinman]

This poem was written 2-3 years after Eliot's conversion to the Church of England. While it captures, for me, an individual's move toward faith and personal redemption, there's an uneasiness in that movement that I find intriguing and relate to on a personal level. The speaker seems to struggle to surrender to faith, and cannot say but that he might not "turn again."