{"id":6788,"date":"2020-05-15T07:10:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T14:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6788"},"modified":"2020-05-15T07:22:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T14:22:11","slug":"william-wordsworth-dust-as-we-are-the-immortal-spirit-grows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/15\/william-wordsworth-dust-as-we-are-the-immortal-spirit-grows\/","title":{"rendered":"William Wordsworth – Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows (from The Prelude, Book 1)
\nby William Wordsworth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows
\nLike harmony in music; there is a dark
\nInscrutable workmanship that reconciles
\nDiscordant elements, makes them cling together
\nIn one society. How strange, that all
\nThe terrors, pains, and early miseries,
\nRegrets, vexations, lassitudes interfused
\nWithin my mind, should e\u2019er have borne a part,
\nAnd that a needful part, in making up
\nThe calm existence that is mine when I
\nAm worthy of myself! Praise to the end!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty<\/a>, Edited by Alan Jacobs<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Viewminder<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

It has been a while since I have turned to Wordsworth, but reading these lines I have to wonder why I have stayed away so long.<\/p>\n

Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows
\nLike harmony in music<\/i><\/p>\n

Even that beginning line is worth rereading a few times. Here Wordsworth distills everything into this one elegant image of the transitory human being that is somehow, miraculously home to the immortal spirit. And that immortal spirit emerges within us, or, rather, we slowly become more aware of it throughout life as if it is an underlying harmony within music. When focused on the individual notes, as we focus on the details and specific events of life when we are younger, it can seem chaotic and fugue-like, but when we relax and allow our awareness to take it all in, we begin to recognize the underlying musical beauty:<\/p>\n

there is a dark
\nInscrutable workmanship that reconciles
\nDiscordant elements, makes them cling together
\nIn one society.<\/i><\/p>\n

Then the poet shares the revelation that comes to him:<\/p>\n

How strange, that all
\nThe terrors, pains, and early miseries,
\nRegrets, vexations, lassitudes interfused
\nWithin my mind, should e\u2019er have borne a part,
\nAnd that a needful part, in making up
\nThe calm existence that is mine when I
\nAm worthy of myself! <\/i><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s unpack that statement because it is so rich, we don\u2019t want to miss its beauty. He has that wonderful phrase, \u201cwhen I am worthy of myself.\u201d That is, when our identity rests in the vastness of the immortal spirit we all are, that is when the whole symphony, the entire tapestry of life reveals itself to us. The amazing thing is that is not just the lovely, delightful experiences that have a place in that blissful wholeness; the terrors and struggles have played a part too, and an essential part. How can such beauty and fulfillment emerge from such a complex patchwork of life experiences that includes suffering? Somehow it does. The bliss of that grand vision, when witnessed from the fullness of the full Self \u2014 it embraces it all, integrating everything, recognizing an all-encompassing harmony. The ego-mind that desires only pleasant, self-aggrandizing experiences rebels at this possibility, but the true self witnesses it all with a smile that heals even the cruelest wounds as it rests amidst unassailable calm. To some this may sound like one more spiritual platitude amidst life\u2019s difficulties, but this is the actual experience when we settle into the Self we all inherently are.<\/p>\n

Religious belief has nothing to do with this holistic vision of life. Even the impious find themselves stammering\u2013<\/p>\n

\u201cPraise to the end!\u201d<\/p>\n

Be well, look out for one another, and discover the hidden wonders of the day.<\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

PS- During the recent Covid stay at home period, we have been doing some gardening. This morning my wife said something that I thought was worth sharing: The good thing about gardening is that there is no social distancing with plants.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: William Wordsworth<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nPoetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nComplete Poetical Works<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nWilliam Wordsworth: Selected Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"William<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nWilliam Wordsworth<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

England (1770 \u2013 1850) Timeline<\/a>
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

William Wordsworth was one of the fathers of the Romantic poetry movement. His poetry often discovers meditative insights and transcendence amidst the natural world.<\/p>\n

Wordsworth was born in the scenic Lake District of northwest England. His father acted as a legal representative to the Earl of Lonsdale, a position which provided his family with a prosperous living and a mansion. His mother died while William was still a child, and he was sent away to grammar school. He went on to study at Cambridge, receiving his B.A. degree at the age of 21. Prior to graduation, Wordsworth took a walking tour of Europe, particularly reveling in the beauty of the Alps.<\/p>\n

After graduation, in the early 1790s, Wordsworth spent time in Revolutionary France, imbibing the country\u2019s Republican idealism.<\/p>\n

He briefly moved to Germany with his sister, Dorothy, and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, eventually returning to England and settling once more in the Lake District.<\/p>\n

William married and had five children.<\/p>\n

Wordsworth began to publish poetry in the mid 1790s. Among his most loved poems are \u201cTintern Abbey,\u201d \u201cOde: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood,\u201d and \u201cThe Prelude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wordsworth received honorary doctorates from Durham and Oxford Universities. In 1843 he was named England\u2019s Poet Laureate.<\/p>\n

He died of lung disease in 1850. His widow, Mary, published his long autobiographical poem The Prelude posthumously.<\/p>\n

More poetry by William Wordsworth<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows (from The Prelude, Book 1) by William Wordsworth Dust as we are, the immortal spirit grows Like harmony in music; there is a dark Inscrutable workmanship that reconciles Discordant elements, makes them cling together In one society. How strange, that all The terrors, pains, and early miseries, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2361,5,658,148,2360,567,608],"class_list":["post-6788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-harmony","tag-music","tag-self","tag-suffering","tag-symphony","tag-vision","tag-william-wordsworth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6788"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6790,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions\/6790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}