Excerpts from Auguries of Innocence,
by William Blake:

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

A Robin Red-breast in a Cage
Puts all Heaven in a Rage.
...
...

It is right it should be so:
Man was made for Joy & Woe;
And when this we rightly know
Thro' the World we safely go.

If the Sun & Moon should doubt
They'd immediately Go out.
A Riddle or the Cricket's Cry
Is to Doubt a fit Reply.

Every Night & every Morn
Some to Misery are Born.
Every Morn & every Night
Some are Born to sweet Delight.
Some are Born to sweet Delight,
Some are born to Endless Night.

God Appears & God is Light
To those poor Souls who dwell in the Night,
But does a Human Form Display
To those who Dwell in Realms of day."

-


Yes indeed.

I saw many of the things I like to think about in this poem

In Blake's philosophizing about all of nature being within the tiniest part of nature, I saw some elements of the hermetic maxim that says, "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing" and also the one that goes, "While All are in The All, it is equally true that The All is in All."

Basically, It's my idea of, "The little circle and the big circle." "The inside matching the outside." I like that.

I saw some talk of reconciling opposites and making them one (as in, "joy and woe"); And how the dualities of life are actually two sides of the same coin. That's conjunction. Harmony, balance and love. I like that.

There's some stuff in there about not doubting yourself, acting out of Human impulse (which, if you're a good person, results in good things). I like that, too.

I saw some talk about how the notion of a personal God is limited/unenlightened. I also like that.

It's all good stuff.

Blake was into mysticism, he invented his own mythology (invented myths are called mythopoeia, I learned recently). He was a poet and painter and he was considered prophetic. He was a great man.

There's all that philosophical, abstract intellectual rigmarole...

Then there's the quote, "A robin redbreast in a cage puts all heaven in a rage"
I love that line.

Now, technically speaking, it just means that disrespecting a small creature means disrespecting the universe... sure.

But also, right now I feel like a robin in a cage.

...

That's loneliness.

...

Now, I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining... but HECK, I'm a Crosswinds kid, for crying out loud. That means that ever since I was eleven years old, I have only once spent any longer than a month away from school/some other activity with friends.

And ever since my early high school years, even that one month period was always waaaay too long to go without substantial personal contact. At Perpich, I could get cabin fever from a single evening alone in my dormroom. I am not not not not not not not an introverted person.

So yeah... "normal school" 3-month summer breaks = hard.
"Normal school" 3-month summer breaks with the knowledge that I'm not going back to PCAE afterward = harder.

It doesn't help that my house is essentially a dark cave, where four incredibly neurotic people (myself included) go to hide from their woes and responsibilities. Hardly any life ever enters or exits my dwelling. And if it did, its only place to go would be the sprawling, sick suburbs that require everybody to drive ten minutes to get to any destination... and when they get there it usually isn't any good.

I'd kill (well, not really "kill," but definitely incite anarchy and rebellion) for a good coffee place/music store/book shop that isn't a Starbucks, or located inside a Mall, or both. Someplace where I could meet with friends and chill out (or better, do great works for the good of humanity!)...

And my friends shouldn't have to drive several miles just to meet me/vice-versa. Whatever happened to places one could walk to?


*sigh*

I'm going to be happy in New York.