From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
it withers quicker than the rose.
A.E. Houseman from The Poetry Foundation https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/46452
Awe...does this poem bring back memories to any of you? I remember sitting in my university English Lit class, all scrunched down in my seat in an attempt to make myself invisible, as the prof went from student to student, asking questions about the poem. (Though I always had a secret love for poetry, I never analysed the poems the way I should have. Well... I didn't analyze at all...I had other things on my agenda back then besides homework).
I remember thinking to myself, "Oh My God! Don't ask me a question about the third stanza. I don't know what a laurel is. What is a freaking laurel?" And of course I would get asked the question:" And what do you think Houseman meant by And early though the laurel grows it withers quicker than the rose." That would be followed by a purple face and a lovely " Duhhhhh" response from me.
I have since learned to give poetry the effort it deserves lol. I now like to know what the poet and his/her words actually mean. I have become somewhat of a reformed student of poetic verse, I guess. This is not one of my favorite poems, though, nor is Houseman one of my favorite poets but...there is a lot in this poem that applies to my recent writing experience on this blog and the subject of the article I am writing out of here. So I begin.
I had a fleeting moment of glory...just like our poor old chap in the above poem. I had a moment of recognition as I stormed through the white tape and heard the gushing of the crowd all around me (301 readers...Yeah!!!!). I was at the top of my game. I was pumped. I was hailed. I was "special" and then... the glory died . Just as quickly as it came...fame left me lol for more worthy fields.
Unfortunately my name died before I did ...the thing Houseman was suggesting we not do! Die before the glory does, was Houseman's literal message in the above poem. Fleeting glory, praise, external validation, recognition...is more important than life. Though the laurel peeks early in youth, it will never last a lifetime. Few of us will die renown and famous even if we were celebrated when we were younger because glory does not stay in the fields for very long. To die while we are still honored is quite a worthy thing.
To me...dead is dead. I am not sure how long the athlete was celebrated before his untimely demise. His glory apparently will last forever now but him...deader than a nit. (Whoever came up with that saying? Nits are just asleep, not dead. How can lice infested hair be dead when it is crawling with life/lice...yuck!)
Less than 24 hours, I wore the laurel wreath. I should have put some magic grow on it because it wilted very fast.
I am joking, of course, about my fame and my remorse that it is gone. Sure it was nice to see that many readers hitting this site but it is just as nice seeing the low number of familiar clicks. I am definitely okay living longer than my honoured status. I am okay being a celebrator of the rose.
Now what does this have to do with the article I am writing? I am writing about celebrating life now while we are alive, about living each day like it is your last. I am writing about the awareness of impending death being the thing that drives us to live better. In it, I discuss the value of detaching from the unimportant...from things like external praise and validation and just living. In a sense it sides with Houseman's literal theme and at the same time it doesn't. I have to think more on that.
For now I put away my decaying laurels lol and get about the business of living, something the young athlete can no longer do.
Definition of a laurel (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laurel)...just in case you need it. :)
All is well in my world.
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