What though the radiance
which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass,
of glory in the flower,
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.
-- William Wordsworth
I have no idea how old I was when I first viewed this movie, but I must have been in my late teens because I thought this was the most profound (our favorite word in the sixties) poem I had ever heard. Natalie Wood read a portion of it in the movie as she tried to hold back tears of pain resulting from betrayal by an unfaithful boyfriend. I wept uncontrollably for her (even though the only boy I had ever loved was Juan Hernandez from my kindergarten class). Of course, back then they words of Mr. Wordsworth were lost someone between puppy-love and hormones. As I turn sixty-one years this month, the words are truly "profound". Read them slowly. Read them over and over again. Savor the words as if you tasted them for the first time on you tongue. For truly the years do bring the philosophic mind.
