T.S. Eliot: Burnt Norton brief selections


Time present and time past

Are both perhaps present in time future, 

And time future contained in time past.

If all time is eternally present

All time is unredeemable.

...

      At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor 

          fleshless;

Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance

          is,

But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call lit fixity,

Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement

          from nor towards,

Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still

           point,

There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.

...

                                                          Time past and time future

Allow but a little consciousness.

To be conscious is not to be in time

But only in time can the moment in the rose-garden,

The moment in the arbour where the rain beat,

The moment in the draughty church at smokefall

Be remembered; involved with past and future.

Only through time time is conquered.


Comments

  1. Ms. CarterMay 8, 2021 at 6:19 AM

    Thanks for the memories. I studied the Four Quartets in Summer Classics years ago, and one of the students had memorized it in its entirety. And, he could start from whatever stanza you wanted him to. The "still point of the turning world" is one of the most beautiful phrases ever written.

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