Thursday, 16 July 2020

To Follow Knowledge

"Iron."

"'To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
"'Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.'"
-7, p. 61.

This verse, also quoted on the title page of Genesis, is from Ulysses by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, which concludes:

'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I approve of the attitude Lord Tennyson expresses here! It's my belief that many who long to get off Earth do so from a desire to explore, learn, and know what is out there, both in the Solar System and at other stars.

Lord Tennyson's IDYLLS OF THE KING is one of those works I want to read sometime.

Ad astra! Sean