New Year Sonnet

A poem for the new year from Edmund Spenser (from Amoretti and Epithalamion). He only wrote it in 1595 (or a bit before) so I am sure that it is still as applicable now as it was then (source: http://uoregon.edu/%7Erbear/amoretti.html)


SONNET. IIII.

NEW yeare forth looking out of Ianus gate,
Doth seeme to promise hope of new delight:
and bidding th' old Adieu, his passed date
bids all old thoughts to die in dumpish spright.
And calling forth out of sad Winters night,
fresh loue, that long hath slept in cheerlesse bower:
wils him awake, and soone about him dight
his wanton wings and darts of deadly power.
For lusty spring now in his timely howre,
is ready to come forth him to receiue:
and warnes the Earth with diuers colord flowre,
to decke hir selfe, and her faire mantle weaue.
Then you faire flowre, in whom fresh youth doth raine,
prepare your selfe new loue to entertaine.

Hope

You know, one of the most amazing things about human beings is HOPE.  The fact that almost anything can be endured, that almost anything becomes bearable, if there is some sort of hope around – either associated with some enterprise, or somewhere someplace in one’s life.  The beauty of hope is that it does not need to be reasonable – it can be hope from the most unlikely source, it can be the most irrational hope imaginable – yet it will still do the job – set the light to life so that life is now that to be loved, rather than that to be exhausted, even extinguished.  Hope diverts the eyes, to that which is good in one’s mind, away from the totality of horror that constitutes our lives here on earth.

 

I was reading an article in The New Yorker recently about mega-churches, seeker churches, in the USA, and one of the main points they made was that these churches are all about giving hope, here on earth, to those whose lives are in transition.  A new message, different from the established churches, in many ways, and one of the reasons for the phenomenal growth of these new churches.

 

I was reading a play recently written (not yet published), and it said:

“Exactly!  People have to go on living.  There is a new world now.  A new way of living.  I fear that Reshel knows that better than we do.”

“Who is Reshel?”

“You know him.  He’s gaining influence.  He’s been through other places, working his way around … he knows, Alor.”

“Know what?  What is there to know, now?”

“He knows that people need hope.”

“What hope could he bring?”

“False hope, then.  Perhaps he thinks he can control people.”

 

Old Creek

Old Creek

Since before anyone remembers
It has been clear shining like silver
Though the moonlight penetrates it
And the wind ruffles it
No trace of either remains
Today I would not dare
To expound the secret
Of the stream bed
But I can tell you that the blue dragon
Is coiled there.


-- Muso Soseki (1275-1351)

A Pellucid Ocean

In a pellucid ocean,
Bubbles arise and dissolve again.
Just so, thoughts are no
Different from ultimate reality,
So don’t find fault; remain at ease.
Whatever arises, whatever occurs,
Don’t grasp—release it on the spot.
Appearances, sounds, and objects
Are all one’s own mind;
There’s nothing except mind.

  -- Buddha

Python

This guy is correct - Python is a seriously great language and environment for developing systems!!!!

Source: http://xkcd.com/353/

BTW: this is a fantastic webcomic - for the inner geek in us all!!!!

Moonlit Dewdrops

Careful! Even moonlit dewdrops,
If you’re lured to watch,
Are a wall before the Truth.


-- Sogyo (1667–1731)