It scares the hell out of me if I allow myself to think about it.
Its odd to think I HAVE to die, I cant avoid it,one day its gona happen!!
There is some very nice Death Poetry in the Poetry section.
Tennyson romanticized death, I believe he called it "crossing the bar".... What did he mean?
Has anyone read any of Tennyson's references to death? Got any of his quotes in that regard?
Is death a friend as Tennyson implied? Where do we get our collective impressions of death as a culture?
RexRed wrote:Tennyson romanticized death, I believe he called it "crossing the bar".... What did he mean?
Has anyone read any of Tennyson's references to death? Got any of his quotes in that regard?
Is death a friend as Tennyson implied? Where do we get our collective impressions of death as a culture?
From what I read on the web is supposed to be the death of a man who sails the seas, a mariner. I used to have a very old friend when I was a child who was a merchant marine. He thought he would die at sea, but he did not.
I found the poem. I will post it in the Death Poetry thread for you.
You ask whether Death is a friend or an enemy, Rex. That depends entirely on your own attitude toward it. For me, it is neither. It's kind of like the pizza delivery man -- neither friend nor enemy, just one who provides a service. And, yes, it is a service that Death provides. It ends your pain, suffering and misery.
Speaking of Tennyson, here's another of his works that speaks romantically of death.
SONNET
She took the dappled partridge flecked with blood,
And in her hand the drooping pheasant bare,
And by his feet she held the wooly hare,
And like a master painting where she stood,
Looked some new godess of an English wood.
Nor could I find an imperfection there,
Nor blame the wanton act that showed so fair --
To me whatever freak she plays is good.
Hers is the fairest Life that breathes with breath,
And their still plumes and azure eyelids closed
Make quiet Death so beautiful to see
That Death lent grace to Life and Life to Death
And in one image Life and Death reposed,
To make my love an Immortality.
(Those italics are Tennyson's. not mine.)
Tennyson was far from the only one of his generation to be preoccupied with death and to romanticize it, in a sense. This was quite typical of a lot of Victorian poetry. It was an age of romanticizing damn' near everything.
1Corinthians 15:26
The last ENEMY that shall be destroyed is death.
RexRed wrote:1Corinthians 15:26
The last ENEMY that shall be destroyed is death.
Yes, but that speaks of the Second Coming, not the world as we know it. Throughout the New Testament, when statements such as
and death shall have no dominion are made, the reference is to the other world that lies ahead. No value judgements are made about the presence of death in our world. In other words, all those quotations are just promises of "life eternal"
after we have died here on earth.
Merry Andrew wrote:RexRed wrote:1Corinthians 15:26
The last ENEMY that shall be destroyed is death.
Yes, but that speaks of the Second Coming, not the world as we know it. Throughout the New Testament, when statements such as
and death shall have no dominion are made, the reference is to the other world that lies ahead. No value judgements are made about the presence of death in our world. In other words, all those quotations are just promises of "life eternal"
after we have died here on earth.
So are you saying death is a friend now but becomes an enemy after we are already dead?
Not at all. See my post above. Death is neither a friend nor an enemy, merely a fact of life, like the guy who parks your car or checks your coat. Those are people who provide services. They are neither friends nor enemies. Same with death. It provides the service of ushering you out of this world at the appropriate time.
Merry Andrew wrote:Not at all. See my post above. Death is neither a friend nor an enemy, merely a fact of life, like the guy who parks your car or checks your coat. Those are people who provide services. They are neither friends nor enemies. Same with death. It provides the service of ushering you out of this world at the appropriate time.
Death in not always a welcomed service...
I am too proud to go into some of my own experiences...
Why would anyone want to "get morbid" and talk about death? I don't see death as morbid, it is just death. Afterwards, there'll be an instruction sheet, a map, or a helper or two?
Merry Andrew wrote:Not at all. See my post above. Death is neither a friend nor an enemy, merely a fact of life, like the guy who parks your car or checks your coat. Those are people who provide services. They are neither friends nor enemies. Same with death. It provides the service of ushering you out of this world at the appropriate time.
Death is most assuredly an enemy, not a neutral entity. Death was not part of God's design and it will be destroyed. Death appeared on earth due to sin. It is not just some benign worker. Death is a destroyer of God's gift of life.
Death is natural.... fearing it isn't. Death means you have reached the end of your life span... if you are lucky you'll become old, then perhaps lose your fear of it. Everything we know of that starts it's life by seed, will eventually ends up back in the earth. We are all ( plants and animals) perpetual fertilizers.... there aint no heaven and there aint no hell.
real life said:
>>Death is most assuredly an enemy, not a neutral entity. Death was not part of God's design and it will be destroyed. Death appeared on earth due to sin. It is not just some benign worker. Death is a destroyer of God's gift of life.<<
That is an unpleasant thought to me. It places certain vital aspects of human life as we know it (the whole deal about getting old and dying); in a position of antagonism. It seems to me to be a denial of life.
Would life be what we call life if it did not involve death?
My short answer would be: No. It would be something completely different. It would be something which humans have never known: immortality.
The fact remains that each being will encounter death.
Don't believe me? Well, allow me to demonstrate with this gun. (jk)
I simply do not understand the appeal of 'life everlasting'. It seems ghoulish and horrifying to me.
Perhaps RealLife; you could explain to me how this idea is appealing to you? To believe that you are being punished by God with the tool of Death; but will receive the reward of everlasting life? I want to understand why you would choose this position.
Because frankly, when it comes to the dominion of that outside our ken (god, totality, whatever we call it): all of us are just trying to know the best we can.
thanks
flushd, I totally agree with you. The idea of 'life everlasting' is, indeed, horrifying. Have you noticed that in virtually every myth or folk-tale where immortality is conferred on a mortal human, it is as a curse, not a blessing? Viz. the Flying Dutchman, Ahasuerus (the Wandering Jew), any number of characters in folk tales (which are, after all, no more than corrupted myths). The 'immortal' mortal in these tales must expiate his/her sin in order to earn the longed-for reward of death. Longevity (up to a point), yes; immortality, no.
real life wrote:Death is most assuredly an enemy, not a neutral entity. Death was not part of God's design and it will be destroyed. Death appeared on earth due to sin. It is not just some benign worker. Death is a destroyer of God's gift of life.
Interesting guess.
But if it is based on the Bible...it seems contrived.
The god of the Bible seems to love death...and I doubt there ever was a time death was not part of its plan.
Rex, "Crossing the Bar" is just Tennyson's metaphor for how he sees dying, and his admonition to those who would "moan" at his departure not to do so.
This poem is a positive reflection:
John Donne
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
Biblically:
"Death where is thy sting: Grave where is thy victory."
It is not death that we fear. It is dying, I think.
then there's those who fear uncertainty, like Hamlet:
To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, (75)
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, (80)
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life, (85)
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
flushd wrote:real life said:
>>Death is most assuredly an enemy, not a neutral entity. Death was not part of God's design and it will be destroyed. Death appeared on earth due to sin. It is not just some benign worker. Death is a destroyer of God's gift of life.<<
That is an unpleasant thought to me. It places certain vital aspects of human life as we know it (the whole deal about getting old and dying); in a position of antagonism. It seems to me to be a denial of life.
Would life be what we call life if it did not involve death?
My short answer would be: No. It would be something completely different. It would be something which humans have never known: immortality.
The fact remains that each being will encounter death.
Don't believe me? Well, allow me to demonstrate with this gun. (jk)
I simply do not understand the appeal of 'life everlasting'. It seems ghoulish and horrifying to me.
Perhaps RealLife; you could explain to me how this idea is appealing to you? To believe that you are being punished by God with the tool of Death; but will receive the reward of everlasting life? I want to understand why you would choose this position.
Because frankly, when it comes to the dominion of that outside our ken (god, totality, whatever we call it): all of us are just trying to know the best we can.
thanks
That's an oddly worded question, Flushd. Why would you choose the position that you think is correct? Well , obviously because you think it is correct.
LOL RealLife.
Ok, if you don't want to go into it, I'm cool with that. I was just wondering how you came to believe it is the correct position. Perhaps you are right to pleasantly tell me to buzz off
