"Little Gidding" by TS Eliot (poetry reading)

This is the latter half of this poem. "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." is a quotation from Dame Julian of Norwich. http://revpatrickcomerford.blogspot.com/2008/09/all-shall-be-well-and-all-man...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich

This is the same tenet of religious faith is sometimes expressed as "It's all good" - that whatever happens is all part of God's masterplan - and ultimately for the best.
A similar idea was expressed by Leibniz, who really meant that God did the best he could given the limitations of the laws of physics and the nature of people. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 killed more than 10,000 people apparently by sheer chance which brought the idea and Leibniz into disrepute. Voltaire was largely to blame for Leibnitz' s unpopularity because he parodied this idea in Candide, in a character called Pangloss who repeatedly declared "All's for the best in this best of all possible worlds". To be fair to Leibniz, that's not what he meant. Nevertheless many people still believe that God can change the Laws of Nature in response to prayer and that fate isn't just a roll of the dice.

Little Gidding is a real place - so are Burnt Norton and East Coker. The picture is of St John's Church in Little Gidding.
Here's a reading of the last lines by T S Eliot himself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXauWFHqIJ4

And here's a reading by Willem Dafoe. It's moody and impressive but I'm not enthusiastic about the background music or the voice-processing. Still, you might like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktb8EiLc2WI

What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from. And every phrase
And sentence that is right (where every word is at home,
Taking its place to support the others,
The word neither diffident nor ostentatious,
An easy commerce of the old and the new,
The common word exact without vulgarity,
The formal word precise but not pedantic,
The complete consort dancing together)
Every phrase and every sentence is an end and a beginning,
Every poem an epitaph. And any action
Is a step to the block, to the fire, down the sea's throat
Or to an illegible stone: and that is where we start.
We die with the dying:
See, they depart, and we go with them.
We are born with the dead:
See, they return, and bring us with them.
The moment of the rose and the moment of the yew-tree
Are of equal duration. A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments. So, while the light fails
On a winter's afternoon, in a secluded chapel
History is now and England.

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half-heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always--
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Little
• Gidding
• Eliot
• Four
• Quartets

[MAGICKMINSTREL718]

A truly classic poem that really needed the inspiration of The English country garden that was prevalent during this time in our history!!

[Idlinfarm]

Thank you for reading this. The 'Four Quartets' are as perfect as poems can be.

I love that----"A condition of complete simplicity, costing not less than everything".

[ThePilum]

Although it is about Burnt Norton, I recommend Henry Reed's wonderful parody Chard Whitlow, which TSE praised. I tried to post a link but got an error message, so Goggling "chard whitlow solearabiantree" will get those interested to not only the text, but an mp3 of Dylan Thomas reading it.

[hswatnik]

fine rendition -

[wortlover]

Thanks for the prose, it brings me to the depth of my thinking, gives me a different attitude to lifes struggle and ignorance.

[paulpellicci]

To me, T. S. Eliot is not the easiest poet to understand but having it read to me makes it easier to understand since you take the burden of verbalizing it. Does that make any sense?

[suuzzee5]

Beautiful reading of a truly great classic poem. Thank you.

[justdi123]

Excellent :-)

[scifiwritir]

I remember reading Julian's writings. I think specifically the "all shall be well" quote was referring to the afterlife. Not to how things happen in this life. I think she was talking about those folks who were supposedly going to hell and the vision answered her that everyone would be well even if there is a talk of hell...and she wondered why. He basically said, "Don't worry. I can make my Word true and yet make all well." Not sure if the quote had much to do with this earthly realm per se.

[BabyHominid]

Wow, I really liked that one. Thank you.