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"William Wordsworth was turned on by daffodils; I'm turned on by women."

- Irving Layton

Not plagiarism, nor inspiration.
But a simple acceptance of mankind on his own treadmill, unable to see beyond the confines of the cage he has built around himself.

Interestingly on the plagiarism point, Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy, kept a journal and in the entry for April 15th 1802 she writes,
"But as we went along there were more and yet more and at last under the boughs of the trees, we saw that there was a long belt of them along the shore (They were out having a walk), about the breadth of a country turnpike road. I never saw daffodils so beautiful they grew among the mossy stones about and about them, some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay ever glancing ever changing."

He wrote 'Daffodils' in 1804. Two years after Dorothy's description of their walk together.

So as in 'Summer Night,' we have recollections, reflections and memories of the nature of Man and of the nature of Nature.

Best regards.......

Thank you, Annaedith and Elizabeth. And as for me, I really liked your comments - and Nathan’s ones, too.

Elizabeth, I even printed out your comments in order to read them more carefully . All of that was great, and especially I liked these two extracts:

"What could we do? We ran naked into the river,
but our flesh insulted the thick slow water." ~ so often, people feel they must do something; act. Rather than just be; just rest and take in their surroundings.

You sound here like a true meditator .

"One squeezed a little human music from his box:
mostly it was lost in the grass" ~ Nature continues to 'swallow' them up, and I feel "a little human music" makes the clear distinction that "human" music [coming from out of a box] is "little" in comparison to the music of Nature; "mostly it was lost in the grass" seems to have no implication of regret that it was, but rather more that it was 'fitting' that Nature swallowed it up, even the 'smaller' aspect of nature [the grass], being fully capable of doing so.

This image of music lost in the grass is just unique (as well as one of the bull-frogs, though). And it was so important to emphasize it, and to highlight the fact that all the “glory” of our artifacts fades sometimes even beside the smallest things charged with natural harmony.

Annaedith, yes, I agree, that’s, for the most part, our, human, way – to aspire to belong to something, to be guided by someone else…
I recall now lines of one of our singers/songwriters, Alexander Dolsky – the lines are very beautiful, and I wish I were able to express their beauty in English… But as I’m not, here’s just their approximate meaning:

There’s one melody in everyone’s life.
We take it from those who is reach with music,
And we’ve been learning it for many years without rest and sleeping,
But it’s much harder to compose our own melody.

But, at the same time, that’s our nature, too – this “longing for belonging”… And anyway, in a certain sense we always belong to someone/something else… And aspiration to the opposite state sometimes turns out to be nothing else than a kind of escape from ourselves, too. That’s something like the reverse of the inclination to “hide into the crowd”… That’s great when everything works …

Yours,
TH.

P.S. I haven't read the following comments yet, I'm going to do that now.

Thank you very much, Helven .

Annaedith ~ I wanted to clarify that, although I directed my attention to talking about those who do reside with/within Nature very well; I wasn't meaning to disagree with you regarding people wanting to 'belong.' I feel that, basically, our Nature is to 'couple' [verb form] and beyond, and that our wonderfully-diverse cultures are a result of that coming together.

~ Elizabeth

i see what you mean, Elizabeth. me being a veterinarean i heard a lot about different societies of beings: the wolves working togehter in hunting, birds living in couples all their lives, cats being completely happy alone, herds of horses or deer with a very clear structure of hierarchies and one animal meaning nothing, but the heard acting as one being. from this i believe you're right, man is a "herd animal", all the culture, civilization and luxury coming from their cooperation. but being able to reflect about themselves, some humans take over other forms of living. it is not on me to judge this, but i do believe some very great personalities never really fitted into the commen forms of society. but without the "group work" man would be at some very different point now, certainly living a more difficult life.
by the way, by saying "dangerous". i mainly thought of german youth culture where a lot of teenagers looking for guidelines take over nazi opinions, violent attitudes and extremist opinions. bearing in mind our terrible history, i think this being dangerous. how much better would it be if they rather listened to music like LC's one, not provoking violence, but thinking, and not making jokes about dead and suffering, but reflecting about it.
many greetings!

I really enjoyed your expansion on all these thoughts, Annaedith. The lifelong coupling in animals has always been, for me, particularly both inspirational and saddening [when one is shot or killed by other means ~ generally man-inflicted, in some kind of way, it seems]. It's very interesting how the various-type animals have their own ways in this regard. Homosexuality for pleasure has also been documented amongst them, as well. Very interesting to me.

Yes, the ability to reflect and analyze does set us apart, amongst other things. An aside, with your being a veterinarian, and being in Germany [the original source of homeopathy, as I'm recalling ~ or, was it Switzerland?], I'm wondering if you use either homeopathic or naturopathic, or both, remedies/treatment with your animals. Some of the accounts are amazing! It's an emerging approach in this area, and very exciting. I used homeopathy with a very injured and nearly dead chicken, with incredible results!

Yes, now I see the clear distinction you're making with regard to "dangerous"! The Nazi-youth 'movement' is very scarey. I've spoken with someone, who has come to this site in the past, who's from England, but has lived in Germany and witnessed its very frightening aspects first-hand. Not pleasant [to use British understatement]. You're right. I feel that Leonard's music could also address the angst that compels those youth in that direction to begin with.

Many greetings back to you, Annaedith !

~ Elizabeth

The things Annaedith mentioned really are more than sad… Actually, now we have a “chance” to see all of that here, too. We have our “young communists”, of course… I’ve always had compassion towards old people who have lived their entire lives in USSR, took communist ideas in all good faith and aren’t able now to give up with their beliefs – that’s so understandable from psychological point of view – but when young ones are carried away by those games… I can hardly understand and accept this…
And we have our local nazis, as well – even different kinds of them. Some are rather nationalists, some mix nazism and bolshevism in their views, and some are “pure” nazis, connected with some groups in Germany… Once I even – pardon! – drank with one of them. There was a “theoretical” interest for my part as in no way could I understand for what reason Russians suddenly turned out to be highest race (or how is it called?). I found out nothing then except the “fact” that it’d be better to shoot me since I have a shred of Polish blood... Well, that case still was quite funny, but, in fact, these “games” are very dangerous, indeed. Guys from one of the groups of such a kind did kill some people already…

…But I was intrigued by Elizabeth’s words about those who consider LC’s music to be dangerous .
Elizabeth, I didn’t ask you about it then… but could you tell me now what kind of danger those people found in it? I simply tried to “invent” something but wasn’t able to do that… That’s interesting…

****
Byron, it was delicious to read the poems one after another as you suggested. Really. But it still seemed to me they reflected rather “opposite” states of mind – as if they were about “finding” and “non-finding” harmony… although harmony which seems to be found in Daffodils is, probably, quite illusive one… But, okay, in fact, it’s nothing more than my perception .

Yours,
TH.

firstly, homeopathy: it is used very frequently here, and herbs even more, but we didn't learn too much about it. it already takes years to learn the complicated ways a normal body works, and how to mend it with the common ways of medicine. it is not simple to screw a bone together, and you have to know a lot to chose the right antibiotic for each infection! so we didn't learn a lot about other forms of treatment. herbs and other natural remedies are certainly a very good thing and work very well. the problem is to know when one has to leave it and do other things. there was a woman in our city dying from cancer very fast because her "Heilpraktiker" (=practicioner of healing, s.o. who did a school of about three years and may treat people with natural remedies) didn't allow her any medical treatment to stop the tumor from growing. but for les dangerous illnesses, herbs and traditional medicine certainly are a very good idea. with homeopathy, i'm not sure wheter it works always. some of it certainly is based on immune stimulation, then there are the self-healing forces of every body, and finally a lot of psychology. even with animals. if the owner has the hope his animal will get better, he'll talk to it in another way. that can make the difference! so we learnt that classical and natural medicine should not work against each other, but work together for appropriate treatment and the well-being of the patients!

youth culture: it definitely is a large problem in all societies. helven, i've been to Russia and admired its great culture, the greatnesss of the steppe landscape and the friendliness of thepeople. but i spoke to some of them. their life is so hard that our "poor peole" are wealthy compared to normal workers there! they earn money a teenager here wouldn't accept as pocket money and have to survive from this. i can understand why the young people easily turn to radicalist opinions. but even though the people were far more friendly and open-hearted than here! but that was in the country, i suppose in the cities it's different. and the quality of life is different: i don't believe you get good humans from a childhood full of luxury and easy-going.

Annaedith, thank you so much for the kind words about Russia and my countrymen! And although I’m sure that everywhere there are many kind, warm people… but… of course, I agree with you – and how could I disagree !
And as for the standard of life here – yes, that’s true, it’s not too high, to put it mildly – and especially in the country. The situation really is rather different in the cities, but not for everyone, too. And that does form “favourable” conditions for radical tendencies of various kinds to arise. And, yet, as for the carrying away just with communist ideology, it still isn’t easy to accept this kind of “passion”. The point is that the days when it dominated here still are so close in the past, and it was so evident that this system didn’t work and, moreover, yielded so many bad results… That’s sad and almost unbelievable that new stage of propagation of those views could begin so soon…

Yours,
TH.

Hi Helven ~

I couldn't find this question of yours to get back to for answering. The kinds of reactions suggesting Leonard's words are 'dangerous' have to do with his 'explicitness' regarding sex ~ "give me crack and anal sex;" the inferences in Light As The Breeze;" the suggestion of killing being somehow 'okay', such as in "Song of Isaac" ~ "I'll kill you if I can;" and the perception of anti-government stances ~ "while the killers in high places say their prayers out loud;" etc. Those statements that are outside of the 'safe, middle ground.' Things that the more conservative types get concerned about as in, "What are you suggesting here?" It's the kind of thing where people hear what they 'want' to hear, picking out phrases that 'alarm' and not listening to them in the context of the whole. There are more examples, but I think this gives the idea of what I was getting at.

Love,
Elizabeth

Hi Annaedith ~

Thanks for your explanation of how homeopathy is integrated in your practice and learning. I know that it's used a lot in Europe, much moreso than here. Yes, I agree that there are times when standard, medical intervention is the desired protocol. I like it that "alternative" medicine here is starting to be called "complementary" medicine. It acknowledges its validity and how the two can work effectively together, and many doctors are learning more about 'alternative' ways and using them in their practice.

My fear is that the world of herbs and supplements will come entirely under the control of the Federal Drug Administration, and then available only through prescription from a doctor, and the accompanying high costs. The insistence is that only through testing in all kinds of double-blind, etc. studies can we be assured of their efficacy. However, much of the evidence is empirical and anecdotal, and no less convincing. Some things have simply been known to work for centuries and all over the world. Yet, when people start using these things [vs. pharmaceuticals] and finding improvement, the special-interest groups get alarmed and start demanding testing and control.

~ Elizabeth

dear elizabeth, thank you for your comment! i really have the feeling that in europe we still use more natural treatment which we don't learn from books, but from our family. there is a lot of "anedoctal", as you said, knowledge about it, and it is used widely for things like flu or small wounds. and it is interesting that it should get under control! here, you can buy herbs in every pharmacy without prescription, but you get a leaflet with it saying when to use it and how much. other things canmainly be bought in specialised pharmacies, but you find them very often. but what i like even more is collecting herbs myself. don't they grow where you live? we don't have many, but you can find things like st john's wort very often, and other herbs are often also grown in gardens. so - no chance for prescriptions there!
dear helven, i'm glad you didn't disagree with my view. don't want to write anything wrong here! i hope so much that Russia will find its way! the country is so rich in resources, in peolpe willing to work, in nature,... that i think it can overcome its difficulties one day. there are few other countries having so much possibilities!

Yes, Annaedith, we have and grow herbs here, too. There are some in my area, as well....and there are workshops from time to time regarding the recognition, collection, and use of them. Far better when they come from the wild, or organically from the domestically grown. Their usage is 'catching on' much moreso now than in the past. However, the FDA is trying to figure a way into the market. So often, it's the synergistic effect of an herb's components that make it so effective, that isolating them compromises their efficacy.

One needs to be careful in the buying of them, as their strengths widely vary, and how much of what's really needed is really in them varies as well. The problem that's arising with seeds is that they are becoming the genetically-engineered ones, and who knows what that may bring. To get a 'pure' seed, one has to order from certain catalogues.....and then, hopefully, gather the seeds from one's own garden for future use, in case these places are somehow put out of business. One never knows how all that can end up.

Yes, I believe Germany, and Europe in general, makes much more use of natural means. You have many more years of historical usage to draw upon. We have some knowledge that, no doubt, came over with the first settlers here and the Spanish when they 'invaded' [whatever ]. We have also had the good fortune of being able to learn from the American Indian [once we stopped killing them for being here ]. They have made wide use of herbs and natural remedies, and there has been a growing recognition and appreciation of their many, Nature-oriented ways, and their inherent respect for Nature.

~ Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth,

Thank you for answering. Yes, I understand now what you - or rather they - meant. And, you know, it made me reflect upon the theme of my… hmm… morals: in fact, such things, probably, still must shock somehow – at least slightly, at least at first blush… And I’m thinking now: “what goes on in my mind”, if all of that always seemed to me quite normal – even without any interpretation – so that I even wasn’t able to see what could be wrong with the songs… Pa-pa-pa-pam … (Beethoven, Symph. #5)

Love,
TH.

~ You're funny, Helven . I've felt the same way myself.....like "What seems to be the problem!?!"

Love,
Elizabeth