"What we fear of death"
Just got back from a wonderful 2-night vacation in Ashland, Oregon, where Plosswood and I saw three plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ate yummy food at a downtown restaurant situated near a babbling brook, and fell blissfully asleep on a wooden bench at a Japanese bath garden (the place is said to "create deep relaxation and rejuvenation" -- well, that's true).
So why am I thinking about Death and Loss? Maybe because autumn is arriving here. Maybe because my mom, who loves Ashland and used to attend the festival with us (we were such a happy little threesome!) just can't go anymore -- she's too feeble and she's too confused. Maybe it's because one of her long-time friends just died in Austin. Maybe because, at my age (I'm 57) so many of my peers' parents are dying, and own dad died in January. A childhood pal just lost her father-in-law, after having buried her mother about a year ago. "Isn't this a sad time of life?" she asked me. Yes, it is.
In Measure for Measure, Claudio, facing execution, is very afraid of dying. He says:
Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
As always Shakespeare brings things into focus -- I hadn't even realized till I heard Claudio's speech that Death had been hovering in my thoughts. It's always there; sometimes near, sometimes far, but always there.
So why am I thinking about Death and Loss? Maybe because autumn is arriving here. Maybe because my mom, who loves Ashland and used to attend the festival with us (we were such a happy little threesome!) just can't go anymore -- she's too feeble and she's too confused. Maybe it's because one of her long-time friends just died in Austin. Maybe because, at my age (I'm 57) so many of my peers' parents are dying, and own dad died in January. A childhood pal just lost her father-in-law, after having buried her mother about a year ago. "Isn't this a sad time of life?" she asked me. Yes, it is.In Measure for Measure, Claudio, facing execution, is very afraid of dying. He says:
Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
To be imprisoned in the viewless winds
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendant world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thoughtImagine howling --- 'tis too horrible!
The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age, ache, penury, and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death.
As always Shakespeare brings things into focus -- I hadn't even realized till I heard Claudio's speech that Death had been hovering in my thoughts. It's always there; sometimes near, sometimes far, but always there.
Labels:
Ashland,
Chozu,
Death of parents,
Measure for Measure
