It has come to my attention that I am due to leave the country shortly. I may or may not post anything between now and Monday when I leave for Europe, so if this is the last post of this season... toodles. I may or may not be able/wanting to post over the summer--it rather depends on how easily I can access the necessary technology and if it is worth the cash money to pay for the time at an internet cafe.

So friends, have a wonderful. And, if not sooner, I shall see (or be-read-by may be a better way to put that) you all in 3 months.

-me-

Friends, I have a confession: I am an addict. Caffeine.

And just in case anyone had the idea to try and break an addiction during finals week: let me inform you that this should be generally frowned upon as unwise timing. So next week my goal is become caffeine free.

Oh, and if anyone is looking for a yummy drink: try a double shot of esspresso blended in a frappe with a shot or two of chocolate. :) who says happiness can't be bought? I just got 16oz of it for $2.25 (on a gift card, no less... so it was for free)

Prose can teach us great truth; Aquinas is an invaluable source of insight into the doctrinal truths of God; and the narrative accounts of the life of Christ are, without a doubt, essential to our Christian wellbeing; but, it is also true that the Psalms are linked with our natural state of worship: this is due to the fact that our soul ascends with song—with poetry—and this is the role of poetry in theology: to bring our hearts to God—there are truths that the heart can know that reason cannot understand; because this is true the heart must be moved, just as the rational capacity is moved, toward God; this is done best by the aesthetic composition of truth for the heart—also identified as the passions or the emotive faculty—is drawn naturally, even violently, toward Beauty: look for example at Plato, who by no means wrote poetry and is even at times (miss) interpreted to be against the practice of poetry, and yet when one reads his work the beauty of his truth moves us as though it were a song: this is similar to the movement that poetry is to have on the soul—a movement that is irrational and pure; however, there is a difference: as seen in Bonaventure, poetry can speak to the heart in the wings of angels: a song for the nations—sung to a soul on a quiet afternoon; there is a deeper meaning in the words of a good poem than can be dictated and parsed in common speech, and the man who tries is setting himself for failure; so let us not try, but rather indicate to you—my reader—that this piece of prose, sung in praise of poetry, is an ill offering to the mode of communication that speaks louder than language can sound; but, let this suffice: poetry is needed for out theology so that it might become a thing of the soul, balanced and beautiful.

writer's block is hereby disallowed from manifesting itself on evenings where writing is necessary for the wellbeing of one's GPA.

Now: writer's block, be gone... or getoutta here... or I banish the henceforth to the utter darkness... or go climb a tree... or... i donno, whatever you do to get rid of writer's block.

The problem with King Lear as a play is that, well... I don't understand it.

I suppose one comforting thing is that Dr Gier and a group of a dozen others (including another PhD and a prof who is working on a PhD in Shakespeare studies) spent the weekend together discussing the text and could not come to any understanding.

But this consolation prise does not, however, relieve the fact that I am now in the need of some inspiration on the subject of Lear's apparent vision of breath playing on the lips of his dead daughter Cordelia. Is this vision a redemptive analogy? Does it indicate the hereafter? I'd like to think so.

And I pray tell: What does the request "Pray you undo this button." mean? It seems most important of a line, for it is thereafter that he excitedly urges those about him to "Look, her lips!" and asks them if they see "this". What is "this"? We know not... But tis reasonable to assume that the button is either one on his garb, or hers. And "this", certainly breath is quite plausible. And sertainly it is among the few things that could excite a father so after the death of his beloved daughter and at the point of his own death.

But is this redemptive? or is it simply indicative of his own insanity. An insanity that could either be the residual affects of his early state of madness, or the onset of a new delirium paralleled with the soon passage of his own personage into death.

When he first enters stage in the seen in question, he is carrying Cordelia's body, and searching for signs of breath. For, if breath, he reasons, then life (V.3.259ff). He gives up hope for her(ln268), admits to his failing sight(ln277), gets distracted by the return of an exiled Lord and the death of a servant(ln265-303), and then finally returns to his daughter just in time to die(ln304-309 and stage direction).

At first glance I thought this to be sure signs that he was simply sinking back into insanity due to the pressures of his entire family dying within four pages of each other. But on closer examination it seems that it is not insanity, but rather the affect of his--albeit rapid--sanctification. In the beginning of the play he does something ill-advised and goes about dividing his kingdom betwixt his three daughters. He thus sinks into insanity and there ensues quite some familial feud that endangers the entire state. He regains his sanity, sees his three daughters dead just as he recognises Cordelia's love and virtue toward him, and then he starts taking care of business. He welcomes home a wrongfully exiled lord, morns the death of the son of another lord, and then recognises the tragedy of the death manifested in his arms.

Though this is but a slight twinkle of light after such a dark play, I think it warrant the conclusion that indeed the image of breath upon the lips of his daughter is indeed valid and indicative of a greater movement of his soul towards a blessed afterlife.

mataikhan,

you say that your Historical Theology final exam was Beautiful. Ontologically, what was Beautiful about it. And how did you know it was Beautiful. Also, how did you respond to the Beauty perceived?

Thank you for participating in this field research, your responses are of utmost importance to the success of this study.

I think I am awake now not out of necessity, but habit. I could afford to sleep now. But it is too early. So instead I will try and think:

My current thoughts? Art. How do you best partake in the Beautiful? And once a thing has the aspect of the Beautiful, what is it that moves the soul towards it? And why is that so neurishing?

The orbs of the soul move because of the sight of the Beauty, how is this movement played out?

I must write a short little paper (only 3 pages) on my project this semester. My project: being Costume Director for the Torrey Theatre's production of Taming of the Shrew. The paper can be on anything related to theatre, Shakespeare, the Shrew, a theme therein, something I learned during the project, etc..., etc..., etc...

I think I want to investigate the movement of the soul in regards to the Beautiful, and the need to invest in this aspect of human development.

Thoughts?

blogger is much more difficult to navigate than xanga...