Every old man is a King Lear, said Goethe once. But I would rather say, Every old man must be a King Lear.
It is in fact painful to see if an old man is a King Lear half a way and very much an ordinary man , rest his life. I don't know if it was good to read literature. Literature, out a way, did nothing good to me. I keep on meeting Symbols on my way, finding parallels hopelessly and remembering experiences from revered poet's and writer's works. Every day looking at my granddad the lines echo in my ears - 'where palsy shakes a few sad last gray hairs.' or 'when you are old and gray and full of sleep.' What good it is to be alive and be dependent. But I think of King Lear often. It is good to be alive if you are going to have some realizations.
But 'an ordinary old man' is one who : Like King Lear, has lots of Ego, has Dreams for old age, has few good friends, misunderstands one of his child, experiences Ingratitude on other's part and is doomed to a dark fate. And Unlike King Lear , he is thoughtless, repeating mistakes, doesn't realize his mistakes till ends.
Only if 'an ordinary old man' was a King Lear , he would be , in spite of his Ordinariness , 'every inch a King'. Sometimes it is irritating to be with an old man and more because you have read poets and writers about old age , that they disliked being old and they still have immortal yearnings and poetical thirst of knowledge. It is irritating when you are full of Lofty thoughts about old age and what all you get at the end is 'an ordinary old man' dying 'an ordinary death.' You realize you lived in a different world of poetry and imaginations. Because the old age reflected in poetry is still some graceful than the old age seen in reality, let alone experiencing it.
It seems King Lear doesn't exist these days. The towering figure, every inch a king, with capacity to bear the Ingratitude and Storm and a courage to Die... when the reason to live has died.
It is, good to know when to quit Gracefully.
It is in fact painful to see if an old man is a King Lear half a way and very much an ordinary man , rest his life. I don't know if it was good to read literature. Literature, out a way, did nothing good to me. I keep on meeting Symbols on my way, finding parallels hopelessly and remembering experiences from revered poet's and writer's works. Every day looking at my granddad the lines echo in my ears - 'where palsy shakes a few sad last gray hairs.' or 'when you are old and gray and full of sleep.' What good it is to be alive and be dependent. But I think of King Lear often. It is good to be alive if you are going to have some realizations.
But 'an ordinary old man' is one who : Like King Lear, has lots of Ego, has Dreams for old age, has few good friends, misunderstands one of his child, experiences Ingratitude on other's part and is doomed to a dark fate. And Unlike King Lear , he is thoughtless, repeating mistakes, doesn't realize his mistakes till ends.
Only if 'an ordinary old man' was a King Lear , he would be , in spite of his Ordinariness , 'every inch a King'. Sometimes it is irritating to be with an old man and more because you have read poets and writers about old age , that they disliked being old and they still have immortal yearnings and poetical thirst of knowledge. It is irritating when you are full of Lofty thoughts about old age and what all you get at the end is 'an ordinary old man' dying 'an ordinary death.' You realize you lived in a different world of poetry and imaginations. Because the old age reflected in poetry is still some graceful than the old age seen in reality, let alone experiencing it.
It seems King Lear doesn't exist these days. The towering figure, every inch a king, with capacity to bear the Ingratitude and Storm and a courage to Die... when the reason to live has died.
It is, good to know when to quit Gracefully.
No comments:
Post a Comment