ugly chases beauty

Ugly chases Beauty through fields of deepening heather,
Ugly runs up hill, Beauty down.
Snow begins to fall.

Ugly grows tired as Beauty springs into the distance.
Ugly stops, Ugly lies alone.
Darkness closes in.

Melting away, signs of Beauty left behind,
Etched into earth, something to feel.
Ugly smiles and says.

'Farewell my friend, until the dawning of the day
When we shall run again through deepening heather
And I shall chase you through the fields into the distance.'

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On the leeward side of the Rockies we had four centimeters of snow last weekend. Upon waking I saw a jack rabbit bounce through the pristine cover and was reminded of this nonsense from November 1995.

death the leveller

The glories of our blood and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armour against Fate;
Death lays his icy hand on kings:
Sceptre and Crown
Must tumble down,
And in the dust be equal made
With the poor crooked scythe and spade.

Some men with swords may reap the field,
And plant fresh laurels where they kill:
But their strong nerves at last must yield;
They tame but one another still:
Early or late
They stoop to fate,
And must give up their murmuring breath
When they, pale captives, creep to death.

The garlands wither on your brow,
Then boast no more your mighty deeds!
Upon Death's purple altar now
See where the victor-victim bleeds.
Your heads must come
To the cold tomb:
Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in their dust.

James Shirley, 1659 (excerpt from the Contention of Ajax and Ulysses)


It is appropriate to follow Shelly's Ozymandias with Shirley's classic. In many ways it presents a more fully formed thesis and ends with a moral point but in other ways it does not spark the imagination as does Ozymandias. It is a little darker and unlike Shelly's sonnet I won't find this in my son's nursery book.

Still when I see contemporary politicians, royalty or rappers puff the windbag of their pomp and ego, I always think of Shirley's words, 'and in the dust be equal made'.

For more information ...
James Shirley
ozymandias

ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley, December 1817.


I came across this in one of Tomas' nursery rhyme books. Sonnets before the age of two, what a kid!

Is it a Shakespearean sonnet consisting of 3 quartrains and a rhyming couplet, or a classic Italian sonnet comprised of an octave and a sestet? I will let you figure than one out. Irrespective of the structure I like the content and the images it evokes. I can see why it was placed in a children's book.

For more information ...
Percy Bysshe Shelley

recommended reading

Here, in no particular order, are my top five recommendations from my reading in 2005.
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The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness, by Epictetus, translation by Sharon Lebell.
find out more at amazon
"simple old wisdom that redefines what you understand of stoicism"

Seeing Systems: Unlocking the mysteries of organizational life, by Barry Oshry. find out more at amazon
"a research based view of how we operate within organizations"

The Greek for Love, by James Chatto.
read my full review, find out more at random house
"more than travelogue, an invitation to become immersed in island life"

The New Business Road Test: What entrepreneurs and executives should do before writing a business plan, by John Mullins.
find out more at amazon
"a primer on what makes some business ideas good and others bad"

Candide: (Or Optimism), by Voltaire.
read online at literature.org, find out more at amazon
"a fantastic fable for the realist in us all"
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The top 5 list is dominated by non-fiction, Candide was one of only five works of fiction I read last year as compared to 30 non-fiction works.

Eight of the non-fiction were business books giving rise to Seeing Systems and the New Business Road Test making the list. Both books are very much not in the usual boring business book mold.

Five of the 30 non-fiction were travelogues and The Greek for Love stands out as the best mostly because it is more than a travelogue. It does not convey a litany of detail but rather a real and subtle sense of time, place and people.

Fourteen of the non-fiction works were philosophical, psychological or religious in nature and the simplicity of Epictetus stands out as the best. The remaining three works of non-fiction covered the area of language and writing and yielded no recommendations.

So what will be the reading focus for 2006?

Firstly, I would like to write more and read less. Secondly, I hope to read more fiction. Thirdly, I think I have read more than enough work that is philosophical, psychological or religious in nature, I should loosen up and read some more fun stuff!

Three of my top five recommendations came recommended to me by others so hopefully there is something in my list that might interest you to pick up a book and turn that first page.