Men can do nothing, without the make-believe of a beginning... Even science....is obliged to start with a make-believe unit... And must fix on a point in the stars’ unceasing journey.... And pretend that time is Nought. ... Since science...reckons backwards as well as forward... Divides his unit into billions... and with his finger set at Nought really sets off in medias res.
The Other Side of Silence
Song Cycle by Libby Larsen (b. 1950)
1. In Medias Res
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Mary Ann Evans (1819 - 1880), as George Eliot, no title, appears in Daniel Deronda [novel]
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]2. Harvest and Springtime
Language: English
In the human experience, the humans are all mingled together; In the same moment the sickle is reaping And the seed is sprinkled:... Harvest and springtime, In each of our lives, Harvest and springtime Are continually one. Harvest and springtime... Gathers and sows us anew... Springtime and harvest and springtime.
Text Authorship:
- by Mary Ann Evans (1819 - 1880), as George Eliot, appears in Daniel Deronda [novel]
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. Vanished
Language: English
So much of our early gladness Vanishes utterly from our memory We can never recall the joy With which we laid our heads on our mother’s bosom Or road on our father’s back in childhood. Doubtless that joy ...is wrought up into our nature... But it is gone forever From our imagination, And we can only BELIEVE In the joy of childhood.
Text Authorship:
- by Mary Ann Evans (1819 - 1880), as George Eliot, appears in Adam Bede [novel]
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]4. Commonplace
Language: English
We all must die... Commonplace... ”We all must die” Suddenly, acute, transformed into consciousness. “ I must die – and soon.” Then death grapples us, And his fingers are cruel; Afterwards, death may come to fold us in his arms As our mother did, And our last moment of dim, earthly discerning May be like the first.
Text Authorship:
- by Mary Ann Evans (1819 - 1880), as George Eliot, no title, appears in Middlemarch [novel]
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. True Seeing
Language: English
After all, the true seeing is within. If we had a keen vision and feeling of ordinary human life. It would be like hearing the grass grow And the squirrel’s heart beat, And we should die of that roar Which lies on the other side Of silence.
Text Authorship:
- by Mary Ann Evans (1819 - 1880), as George Eliot, no title, appears in Middlemarch [novel]
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]Total word count: 277