Arthur,

If they are as I imagine them they will remember those moments for the rest
of their lives. But you will not be just a photograph or even a memory. You
have left a legacy of poems to your descendants to add to their recollection
of you.
They may not read them, just as mine may not read mine,
but at least they will be available (I assume) as a resource for those
grandchildren
 when they are fifty and have children of their own, in ways that are
difficult for them to appreciate now.

Incidentally, the grandchildren you mentioned are similar in age to my
children. I'm trying to spend as much time with them as I can, while they
are still young, (before the gun-running and drug-smuggling that so many
have warned me about).

BW

Colin




----- Original Message -----
From: "arthur seeley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2003 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: New Sub: Castle: The villanelle(Arthur and Sue)


> From my not-so-lofty pinnacle of only seventy years the expectations of
the
> younger members of my family appear to be that I will always be there. I
> foster this belief by always being there and never nodding at them sadly
> muttering,"You won't always have me to laugh at."
> I take my 6 year old grand-son for walks on the moors, teach my 2 year old
> grand-daughter to talk and enjoy books and take her for short walks, in a
> papoose on my back sometimes, to see the cows and sheep.. I hope they get
> half as much from their time with me as I get from my time with
them.Regards
> Arthur.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Colin dewar" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, March 16, 2003 9:57 AM
> Subject: Re: New Sub: Castle: The villanelle(Arthur and Sue)
>
>
> > Thanks Sue and Arthur,
> >
> > Those are just the kind of impressions I want to have under my belt. One
> of
> > the
> > things that had put me off originally was the possibility that "old"
> people
> > (? over a hundred years) were expected to go down boxing with twenty
year
> > olds and performing difficult stunts on fast motor cycles. Of course if
> > they/we want to that's fine -(a friend of mine in her eighties has
stated
> > that she wants to go down in the front line and  I admire her for it).
It
> > was just the thought that I might be on my death bed later on this
> century,
> > all full of mellow fruitfulness and my children might be lining me up
for
> > courses on how to escape from flooded submarines in Arctic waters or how
> to
> > surf down Everest on a bread board, under pressure to be the first to do
> it
> > blind-folded and heavily drugged with their hands tied behind their
back.
> > However that was how I reacted to the poem, in a slightly bemused way
> > beforehand, not how I might react to it now, with the benefit of your
> > comments and not intended as a riposte to them.
> >
> > BW
> >
> > Colin
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Sue Scalf" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2003 8:51 PM
> > Subject: Re: New Sub: Castle: The villanelle
> >
> >
> > > The wonder of Dylan Thomas' villanelle is the great pull of opposites.
> He
> > > tell his father "Curse/ bless me now."  He wants his father out of his
> > > misery, but he does not want the old man to be less than he can be.
He
> > does
> > > not want him to go meekly and pitifully into death, but to rage
against
> > it.
> > > Thomas' father was blind by the way, and this adds to the meaning of
the
> > poem.
> > > The form is broken by the spondees coming down hard as they do: Rage,
> > rage,
> > > against the dying of the light.  The poem deals with a powerful
subject
> > and a
> > > sad one, but it does not lapse into the slightest bit of
sentimentality.
> > > Also using the form, Thomas gives examples of how others have died.
> Most
> > > people agree that the "wild men" he refers to are poets.  The poem is
> > richer
> > > than its form, and this is one reason it is held in such high esteem.
> Do
> > go
> > > back and read it again.  Thanks, Sue
> > >
> > >
>