I have reread part of TS Eliot's 'Little Gidding' this afternoon, and was struck again my the resonance between the poem and the ethos of Ice and Fire. Time caught between melting and freezing - suspended - chilling the heart - the glare like pentecostal fire off a watery mirror. I am very much looking forward to working with 'The Fire Poet' Philip Wells to see how words interact with the work.
"Midwinter spring is its own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.
When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire,
The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches,
In windless cold that is the heart's heat,
Reflecting in a watery mirror
A glare that is blindness in the early afternoon.
And glow more intense than blaze of branch, or brazier,
Stirs the dumb spirit: no wind, but pentecostal fire
In the dark time of the year. Between melting and freezing
The soul's sap quivers...."
Back to the workshop tomorrow for another kind of fiery encounter.
That's a lovely poem and really helps to bring alive the fire/ice transformation process. As spring is in the air and I start to see the first buds of new life and longer days, it feels like a time for new energy.
ReplyDeleteThe Ice and Fire event sounds like it will come at just the right time as spring gets into full swing. Am looking forward to hearing more.