Take A Friend to Springtime

I was delighted to be asked to contribute to Take a Friend to the Orchestra. As usual, the prospect of writing on a specific topic, for a deadline, terrifies me, and leads me to all sorts of desperate measures.  You can read my piece here, if you are a brave soul.

Spring is here, and deserves this sonnet:

Th’expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murd’rous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust;
Enjoyed no sooner but despised straight;
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had,
Past reason hated as a swallowed bait,
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit, and in possession so,
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows, yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.

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8 Comments

  1. Janet
    Posted April 15, 2008 at 9:07 pm | Permalink

    I was so captivated by the “ill-advised, egregious” entry that I read through the entire Think Denk archives (comments and all); I feel a little like I just ate a whole box of Mallomars while watching the Ring cycle. After awhile I started keeping an extract journal of bits that were so touching, giggle-inducing, profoundly true, or just perfectly phrased that I couldn’t bear to let them go. I emerged with several thoughts:

    1) I seem to have joined the–apparently vast–group of anonymous internet denizens who are madly in love with you (or at least your online persona).

    2) I will never ever dare come up to you after a concert and say anything.

    3) How I wish I could hear music as viscerally as you do. Even after working through several entries with a score and recording, I know I’m hearing only a faint echo of what you describe.

    4) I need to listen to the Quartet for the End of Time as soon as possible–although it’s so far from my comfort zone I can’t believe I’m saying this. (Fortunately there’s a performance at Town Hall on May 4, so I can act before I lose my nerve.) The vision you evoked is so heart-stoppingly splendid–I hope I can hear it.

    5) Someone mentioned the possibility of your blog being made into a book. If any prospective publisher wants to know, even though I just read the whole thing, if it were available as a book, I would run out in a minute and buy copies for me and all my friends.

    I came here to post this, went over to the Take a Friend to the Orchestra page, and came back with two more extracts for my journal–and a lot to think about.

  2. eire
    Posted April 17, 2008 at 3:48 pm | Permalink

    WS is truly the LVB of verse, but Spring, that belongs to eec. Cheers,

    she being Brand

    -new;and you
    know consequently a
    little stiff i was
    careful of her and(having

    thoroughly oiled the universal
    joint tested my gas felt of
    her radiator made sure her springs were O.

    K.)i went right to it flooded-the-carburetor cranked her

    up,slipped the
    clutch(and then somehow got into reverse she
    kicked what
    the hell)next
    minute i was back in neutral tried and

    again slo-wly;bare,ly nudg. ing(my

    lev-er Right-
    oh and her gears being in
    A 1 shape passed
    from low through
    second-in-to-high like
    greasedlightning)just as we turned the corner of Divinity

    avenue i touched the accelerator and give

    her the juice,good

    (it

    was the first ride and believe i we was
    happy to see how nice she acted right up to
    the last minute coming back down by the Public
    Gardens i slammed on

    the
    internalexpanding
    &
    externalcontracting
    brakes Bothatonce and

    brought allofher tremB
    -ling
    to a:dead.

    stand-
    ;Still)

  3. your namesake
    Posted April 18, 2008 at 8:28 pm | Permalink

    Dude, I think Falstaff is lured to the woods in Act IV for a rendezvous with Alice Ford, not with Meg Page… But such details are trivial when reading your thoughtful posting.

  4. Posted April 27, 2008 at 6:06 pm | Permalink

    jeremy – well written. absolutely captivating.

    i hope to see you again in performance sometime soon.

  5. Posted April 27, 2008 at 6:18 pm | Permalink

    excuse me while i leave a comment with my correct contact info

  6. elisa
    Posted May 13, 2008 at 2:51 am | Permalink

    Jeremy, where are you? I miss your posts.

  7. Anna
    Posted May 14, 2008 at 1:27 am | Permalink

    Me too … time for a new post, Jeremy!

  8. Nanneke
    Posted May 15, 2008 at 7:36 am | Permalink

    Yes Jeremy, where are you? I’ve been worrying about you. Hope everything is alright! Miss your posts too!

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