The other day I came across a picture with a beautiful inscription that made me think about some of what we have read, particularly Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway and James Joyce's The Dead. The inscription was in Spanish, so I googled it in order to know if it was part of a song, a book, or something else. It happened to be a poem, from American author Henry van Dyke, titled "Time Is":
"Time is
too slow for those who wait,
too swift for those who fear,
too long for those who grieve,
too short for those who rejoice,
but for those who love – time is eternity."
From my point of view, these descriptions of time represent some of the characters we have read. For Gabriel, in Joyce's The Dead, the time passed slowly when he was waiting to be alone with Gretta and then, waiting for the perfect moment to call her "Gretta". He was longing to recall to her their most beautiful moments together, "to make her forget the years of their dull existence together and remember only their moments of ecstasy." (Joyce, p. 18) But he waited for so long, he didn't find the perfect moment.
Those who fear see the time pass by very swiftly. We can see this reflected in Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa, Peter, and other characters, become aware and a little bit afraid of the passage of time: They are aging and getting closer to an end. They start wondering about how they have spent their lives and if they have made good use of the time they've had.
The time for those who grieve, as in the case of Gretta, is too long. The men whom she loves/d had been dead for a long time, but she still is grieving for him. But not only one can grieve over the dead, but also over the living. Lucrezia was suffering because of Septimus' state. For her, it could be a torture to spent time with him, because it was like being alone. At some points in the book, she said that she could not stand it any longer, that that grieving was lasting too long.
In the case of those who rejoice, time is too short. The perfect example of this is Clarissa's moment with Sally Seaton. In Clarissa's words, that was "the most exquisite moment of her whole life." It didn't last for long as they were interrupted by Joseph and Peter.
Finally, the time for those who love is eternal. We can see this represented by Gretta and her love towards Michael Furey. Not even the death have stopped that love. He's still alive in her memory, and even after many years, she still thinks of him.The perception of time is different for everyone, and at different moments of our lives. For you, how is time?
PS: Here's the link of the picture I found: https://scontent-b-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1.0-9/10003073_706826806027914_7026978944551595777_n.jpg
I consider that the analogy you drew between this picture's phrase and both books' characters is very good. Personally, there are two lines that called my attention. The first one is the second line "too slow for those who wait." I totally agree with it because it may be very common that people want to do or say something but they sometimes wait too much, I think, for the "perfect moment." This has happened to me a hundred time, and what I think after doing it is "What did I wait for?" as I tend to imagine what is likely to happen in my mind. Moreover, this waiting time is commonly a time of great anxiety because you can draw like a dividing line between your present and your imaginary future.
ResponderBorrarThe other line that called my attention is the fifth line "too short for those who rejoice." From my point of view, rejoicing moments tend to be very short, and that's why they're like they're. It allows us to remember and treasure them for ever. For instance, I can vividly remember some moments of my childhood when my sister was born. That's a clear example of rejoicing.