(Untitled)

[ghazalah]

For Stephen, between fate and fate
Indian Ocean, 1804

They were poised high above the surface of the sea... Stephen had asked him a question. 'Had he ever considered the ship thus seen as a figure of the present -- the untouched sea before it as the future -- the bow-wave as the moment of perception, of immediate existence?'

--H.M.S. Surprise

Comments

[jewelweed]

Brilliant poem, and a fine, fine passage. He is such a philosophical man, isn't he?

(I just finished HMS Surprise. Completely floored by what Diana did in the end, and his response. Can't wait to savour the rest of this series.)

[ghazalah]

HMS Surprise just slew me, from crying out loud in the beginning, to crying out loud at the end, with various weeping in between. :-( In a way I was a bit sore at O'Brian for putting Stephen through all that, all at once.

His response to Diana at the end was beautiful: a huge, German angst drama of mythic grandeur. It would be something to see, if they decided to film it for a sequel.

[all_ahoo]

That's so beautiful! It sounds like twilight at sea. I can see Jack and Stephen sharing a nice peaceful momnet together atop some mast or another right after sunset :-)

[ghazalah]

Mmmmm. The sea is magical at twilight.

Of course the paragraph prior to the one I quote has Jack manhandling "Stephen's submissive body". Ahem. ;-)

[all_ahoo]

*giggle*

Except you know Stephen's such a dom ;-)

[ghazalah]

But like you said before, it's nice they switch it up once in a while. *evil*

[ghazalah]

he needs not think about what he has done, what he must do

Because what he has done, what he must do frightens him, I think. Hence the drug problems. So the ship is stasis in motion: whatever seaborne perils they face are none of his doing, and he need only react.

[ladyaubrey]

THAT QUOTE!!! OMG do you know I have been trying to find that??

thank you!!!

[ghazalah]

I had to search the Gunroom archives for it myself. Which of course took about 45 minutes, because even though I got the answer in the first post, I had to keep reading... Sheesh. *grumble* stoopid eloquent Gunroom *grumble*

[ann_septimus]

Time throbbing in my temples repeats
the same unchanging syllable of blood.

The light turns the indifferent wall
into a ghostly theater of reflections.

This is so beautiful... I am in love with the way this poet sees the world. He captures things in diamond. Crystal doesn't begin to cover it.

And your quote from HMS Surprise is uncannily perfect.

*sigh*

[ghazalah]

Yeah. *sigh* I hadn't read any Octavio Paz until this weekend. Now I'm hooked.

Your icon is lovely. :-)