John McCain and Sarah Palin are running a campaign of lies, half truths and distortions and destroying America as a Republic. There’s even a website now to keep track of the lies. As of September 17, 2008 they are at 56 lies, up from 54 lies as of yesterday. Also,…
Why isn't Senator Barack Obama way ahead of John McCain in the polls? Why is this race so tight? Bob Cesca has an idea: Hmm. I can't imagine why that is. It's not like Senator Obama's patriotism and character is being assassinated for three hours every morning on cable news…
The following is a quote lifted from Charlie Stross's blog and is pretty much In Full. We. Are. Not. Going. To. Die. On. Wednesday. The maximum energy the particles generated by the LHC (7TeV) get up to is many orders of magnitude below the maximum energy of cosmic rays that…
At DI, we have an extremely conservative fellow visiting the blog these days. He's trying to convert all of us to his reactionary world view. He clings to his Bible as a book of literal truths and he seems to love everything that Sarah Palin ostensibly stands for. I'd like…
Over the years, I’ve often thought of the following quote: “The child is father of the man.” These words often haunt me deeply. They capture the absurd but true notion that each of us is nurtured and tutored (and sometimes damaged or destroyed) by younger versions of ourselves.
At one time, I thought the meaning of this quote was obvious, but now I see that it isn’t obvious at all. By the way, my interpretation has nothing to do with the fact that the quote is written in a masculine version. The quote could and should be translated to cover both male and female. Something like, “The Child is the parent of the Adult.”
The quote appears as part of a poem by Wordsworth:
“MY HEART LEAPS UP WHEN I BEHOLD”
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
What, then, is the meaning of “”The child is father of the man”? Here is my interpretation. Think of the person you are today. Think of the life that you are currently living. Consider both the predicaments you are now in and the joys you are now experiencing. Much of that (or all of that) has been made …
