Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Army of Davids (cont'd) ...

Maxine escaped from King's Cross yesterday to attend a Social media forum.

She only got as far as the Edgware Road, though, which immediately brought to mind this passage from Eliot's "The Dry Salvages":

To communicate with Mars, converse with spirits,
To report the behaviour of the sea monster,
Describe the horoscope, haruspicate or scry,
Observe disease in signatures, evoke
Biography from the wrinkles of the palm
And tragedy from fingers; release omens
By sortilege, or tea leaves, riddle the inevitable
With playing cards, fiddle with pentagrams
Or barbituric acids, or dissect
The recurrent image into pre-conscious terrors—
To explore the womb, or tomb, or dreams; all these are usual
Pastimes and drugs, and features of the press:
And always will be, some of them especially
When there is distress of nations and perplexity
Whether on the shores of Asia, or in the Edgware Road.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks, Frank -- great poem. I shall think of it next time I find myself under that ugly flyover!

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