I've been mostly'

[Me]

This is an example of what I read everyday. I take one section and read it over and over till I think, I understand it. Just becuase I read it doesn't change my agnostic feelings, I am just another curious mind.

Dante Alighieri (1265?1321). The Divine Comedy.
The Harvard Classics. 1909?14.

Paradise

Canto I


ARGUMENT.?The Poet ascends with Beatrice toward the first heaven; and is, by her, resolved of certain doubts which arise in his mind.


HIS glory, by whose might all things are moved,
Pierces the universe, and in one part
Sheds more resplendence, elsewhere less. In
That largeliest of His light partakes, was I, [Heaven
Witness of things, which, to relate again, 5
Surpasseth power of him who comes from thence;
For that, so near approaching its desire,
Out intellect is to such depth absorb?d,
That memory cannot follow. Nathless all,
That in my thoughts I of that sacred realm 10
Could store, shall now be matter of my song.
Benign Apollo! this last labour aid;
And make me such a vessel of thy worth,
As thy own laurel claims, of me beloved.
Thus far 1 hath one of steep Parnassus? brows 15
Sufficed me; henceforth, there is need of both
For my remaining enterprise. Do thou 2
Enter into my bosom, and there breathe
So, as when Marsyas by thy hand was dragg?d
Forth from his limbs, unsheathed. O power divine! 20
If thou to me of thine impart so much,
That of that happy realm the shadow?d form
Traced in my thoughts I may set forth to view;
Thou shalt behold me of thy favour?d tree
Come to the foot, and crown myself with leaves: 25
For to that honour thou, and my high theme
Will fit me. If but seldom, mighty Sire!
To grace his triumph, gathers thence a wreath
C?sar, or bard, (more shame for human wills
Depraved), joy to the Delphic god must spring 30
From the Peneian foliage, when one breast
Is with such thirst inspired. From a small spark
Great flame hath risen: after me, perchance,
Others with better voice may pray, and gain,
From the Cyrrh?an city, answer kind. 35
Through divers passages, the world?s bright lamp
Rises to mortals; but through that 3 which joins
Four circles with the threefold cross, in best
Course, and in happiest constellation 4 set,
He comes; and, to the worldly wax, best gives 40
Its temper and impression. Morning there, 5
Here eve was well-nigh by such passage made;
And whiteness had o?erspread that hemisphere,
Blackness the other part; when to the left 6
I saw Beatrice turn?d, and on the sun 45
Gazing, as never eagle fix?d his ken.
As from the first a second beam is wont
To issue, and reflected upward rise,
Even as a pilgrim bent on his return;
So of her act, that through the eyesight pass?d 50
Into my fancy, mine was form?d: and straight,
Beyond our mortal wont, I fix?d mine eyes
Upon the sun. Much is allow?d us there,
That here exceeds our power; thanks to the place
Made for the dwelling of the human kind. 55
I suffer?d it not long; and yet so long,
That I beheld it bickering sparks around,
As iron that comes boiling from the fire.
And suddenly upon the day appear?d
A day new-risen; as he, who hath the power, 60
Had with another sun bedeck?d the sky.
Her eyes fast fix?d on the eternal wheels,
Beatrice stood unmoved; and I with ken
Fix?d upon her, from upward gaze removed,
At her aspect, such inwardly became 65
As Glaucus, when he tasted of the herb
That made him peer among the ocean gods:
Words may not tell of that trans-human change;
And therefore let the example serve, though weak,
For those whom grace hath better proof in store. 70
If I were only what thou didst create,
Then newly, Love! by whom the Heaven is ruled;
Thou know?st, who by Thy light didst bear me up.
Whenas the wheel which Thou dost ever guide,
Desired Spirit! with its harmony, 75
Temper?d of Thee and measured, charm?d mine ear,
Then seem?d to me so much of Heaven to blaze
With the sun?s flame, that rain or flood ne?er made
A lake so broad. The newness of the sound,
And that great light, inflamed me with desire, 80
Keener than e?er was felt, to know their cause.
Whence she, who saw me, clearly as myself,
To calm my troubled mind, before I ask?d,
Open?d her lips, and gracious thus began:
?With false imagination thou thyself 85
Makest dull; so that thou seest not the thing,
Which thou hadst seen, had that been shaken off.
Thou art not on the earth as thou believest;
For lightning, scaped from its own proper place,
Ne?er ran, as thou has hither now return?d.? 90
Although divested of my first-raised doubt
By those brief words accompanied with smiles,
Yet in new doubt was I entangled more,
And said: ?Already satisfied, I rest
From admiration deep; but now admire 95
How I above those lighter bodies rise.?
Whence, after utterance of a piteous sigh,
She toward me bent her eyes, with such a look,
As on her frenzied child a mother casts;
Then thus began: ?Among themselves all things 100
Have order; and from hence the form, 7 which makes
The universe resemble God. In this
The higher creatures see the printed steps
Of that eternal worth, which is the end
Whither the line is drawn. 8 All natures lean, 105
In this their order, diversely; some more,
Some less approaching to their primal source.
Thus they to different havens are moved on
Through the vast sea of being, and each one
With instinct given, that bears it in its course: 110
This to the lunar sphere directs the fire;
This moves the hearts of mortal animals;
This the brute earth together knits, and binds.
Nor only creatures, void of intellect,
Are aim?d at by this bow; but even those, 115
That have intelligence and love, are pierced.
That Providence, who so well orders all,
With her own light makes ever calm the Heaven, 9
In which the substance, that hath greatest speed, 10
Is turn?d: and thither now, as to our seat 120
Predestined, we are carried by the force
Of that strong cord, that never looses dart
But at fair aim and glad. Yet is it true,
That as, oft-times, but ill accords the form
To the design of art, through sluggishness 125
Or unreplying matter; so this course
Is sometimes quitted by the creature, who
Hath power, directed thus, to bend elsewhere;
As from a cloud the fire is seen to fall,
From its original impulse warp?d, to earth, 130
By vitious fondness. Thou no more admire
Thy soaring (if I rightly deem) that lapse
Of torrent downward from a mountain?s height.
There would in thee for wonder be more cause,
If, free of hindrance, thou hadst stay?d below, 135
As living fire unmoved upon the earth.?
So said, she turn?d toward the Heaven her face.

Note 1. ?Thus far.? He appears to mean nothing more than that this part of his poem will require a greater exertion of his powers than the former. [back]
Note 2. ?Do thou.? Make me thine instrument; and, through me, utter such sound as when thou didst contend with Marsyas. [back]
Note 3. ?Where the four circles, the horizon, the zodiac, the equator, and the equinoctial colure join; the last three intersecting each other so as to form three crosses, as may be seen in the armillary sphere.? [back]
Note 4. Aries. Some understand the planet Venus by the ?migliore stella.? [back]
Note 5. ?Morning there.? It was morning where he then was, and about eventide on the earth. [back]
Note 6. ?To the left.? Being in the opposite hemisphere to ours, Beatrice, that she may behold the rising sun, turns herself to the left. [back]
Note 7. This order it is, that gives to the universe the form of unity, and therefore resemblance to God. [back]
Note 8. All things, as they have their beginning from the Supreme Being, so are they referred to Him gain. [back]
Note 9. ?The Heaven.? The empyrean, which is always motionless. [back]
Note 10. ?The substance, etc.? The primum mobile. [back]

[awip2062]

1. Listening to silence with the kids outside right now and nothing on the stereo.
2. Reading books to prepare lessons for the kids on grammar and Lewis and Clark and also I'm currently almost finished with Leviticus.
3. Watching Hoodwinked tomorrow night with the family and a friend
4. Eating tater tots with tartar sauce and cream of tuna.
5. Drinking water right now, but I had my morning mocha!
6. Working at getting a workable schedule that includes all I need to do and want to study.
7. Thinking about teaching Sunday School
8. Smoking -- quit that before becoming pregnant with Bear
9. Downloading -- not unless Ogg shows up and has a fun song!
10. Lamenting not seeing my mom today due to a sore throat.

[awip2062]

Thinking...Always! Nevertheless about peoples perception of me and some of my writing, whether they really understand me or not
And I came to the conclusion...why should I really care, I am me and that's, that! I would rather have people like me of course but if they don't it's not my problem. I try and show what it is to be human, not a mad man dancing in the rain.

[ElfDude]

Thinking...Always! Nevertheless about peoples perception of me and some of my writing, whether they really understand me or not
And I came to the conclusion...why should I really care, I am me and that's, that! I would rather have people like me of course but if they don't it's not my problem. I try and show what it is to be human, not a mad man dancing in the rain.

You two got a problem with dancing in the rain?

[awip2062]

I don't dance.

[zepboy]

I danced once

[awip2062]

Well, I do a bit at Pows.

[Walkinghairball]

This week I've been mostly'

1. Listening to..... RUSH!!!
2. Reading..... Invoices
3. Watching..... The PC Monitor
4. Eating..... Whatever is near me.
5. Drinking..... Whatever is near me.
6. Working..... Like a Warehouse Manager at a HVAC wholesaler.
7. Thinking..... What is the average air speed, velocity of an African Swallow?
8. Smoking..... Whatever will burn.
9. Downloading..... Nothing.
10. Lamenting..... "Where's that confounded fridge????"

[awip2062]

I think Fridge is out on the rig again.

[Walkinghairball]

I thought it was on the bridge?

[Me]

Thinking...Always! Nevertheless about peoples perception of me and some of my writing, whether they really understand me or not
And I came to the conclusion...why should I really care, I am me and that's, that! I would rather have people like me of course but if they don't it's not my problem. I try and show what it is to be human, not a mad man dancing in the rain.

You two got a problem with dancing in the rain?

Actually no just a figment speech then you knew that anyway didn't you? I have a problem thinking I hurt someone with words and not meaning to do so. I worry about someone as I liked her as a friend then she started acting all wierd
and said some stuff that kind of scared me her name is yestermorrow I don't like to see people hurting or messed up and hate it when they say things that I don't have a clue what the heck it is about and worry that lies have been spread about me too. I don't think I ever did anything to hurt anyone on any Rush board but it seems that there is rumors and lies
about me why else would someone want to meet me...in a dark alley? I did nothing wrong and they need to talk to me before it gets out of hand and some stranger does something stupid. I just don't know

[awip2062]

Someone wants to meet you in a dark alley?

Not cool. I think many people are too quick to take offense and end up taking offense when none was intended. Misunderstand people to easily because they are looking to find something to be offended at. I don't know if that is what happened in your case, but I think that those of us here who have known you any length of time know you would never intentionally be unkind.

Yeah, I agree, if someone is upset with you they should talk to you about it.

[Me]

Your a good person T perhaps I am looking at it too deeply.
Thanks

[awip2062]

When someone is upset at me, especially when I meant no harm, it messes with me too, Kev.

[Me]

I suppose the best mode of action as of now is to let Me disappear from the radar screen. I never intentionally meant to be another, that's for sure! Being a fool and lonely I meant a person that seemed intelligent enough and we had some good converstaion over a couple of years as friends (at least that is what I thought) I explained to this person several times I was happly married with children. Around the time Amy died, I was really down and needing someone to talk to, as I was alone in Fl working hurricane Ivan. (I went there thinking it would get my mind off that tragic event.) I buried myself in work to lessen the pain. At any rate I was a fool giving this person my cell phone number and addresses stupid, stupid, stupid!!! From their things turned ugly, real ugly she stalked me talking about a neighbors death, anal sex, her boyfriend in jail all sorts of wierd stuff. She sent me a box of candy with a letter and the full set of Da-Vinci's Code cassette's. That's when I realized this isn't just friends talking. She thought I was someone else, blaiming me for her breaking up with someone, acting really bizarre. She has left this and other messages on my cell phone, which I saved (just in case) I also have the letter, pms, emails etc. I have ignored this person for nearly two years now. yet still not a month ago I get phone messeages on my cell phone. She calls and hangs up etc.. I can see the phone number so I know it is her. One time she even told me that she was having a brain operation. Nevertheless I am going to have to go to the police as I have had enough of this bullshit and no longer will use Me as a screen name.
At any rate I apologize if I ever said anything that perhaps was construed in the wrong way and please talk to me so the truth can be told.

BYE