What We Have Loved, Others Will Love

I decided that I should take the time to explain the purpose of this blog. Aside from the academic criterion that has been set by my Literary Critical Theory class, I am excited to know that this can be a chance to fall in love with literature all over again.

It was Wordsworth who wrote, "What we have loved, Others will love, and we will teach them how." After reading several passages from David H. Richter's compilation, Falling into Theory, I gathered sometimes the best way to learn from literature is to let "the text work on us, not we on it."

Let the "working" begin!

Twilight Arch

I love Central Park. If you've ever been there right before dusk during the summer months, you'll soon discover that watching the twilight arch in New York is enough to make you fall in love with the city all over again. When I say "city" I -- like most New Yorkers do, am referring to Manhattan. When I see a band of red and blue leading night across the city sky, I often think of Mark Twain when he said,

"Happiness is a sunset; it is there for all, but most of us look the other way and lose it."

Come to think of it, I can't remember when I last took the time to watch the a sunset. Its amazing that when I take the time to stop and think about it-- I realize that beauty finds its way into my life. Sometimes, I need to look beyond the chalky-asphlat streets or above the concrete walls that tower past my head. Looking in places where I least expect beauty and finding it there always makes me smile. And so, I echo the words of Twain. There is always a reason, a choice and a need to find happiness. But most of the time, it finds us.

I wrote a poem several years ago that I found to be fitting for this beginning post. It is entitled "Meet Me" This stanza in particular stood out to me...

Meet me when the sun has set

Where time has fallen still--

Beneath the arms, of tributes kept

An ensign to this will.

I find that most of my writing ideas, or just my ideas in general, "meet me" when the near darkness of dusk has kissed the sky. Theres just something about the nighttime's untroubled air that gets me thinking. And yes, that stillness, that peaceful lull; "it is there for all."