20 September 2011

Notes - hunkering down on Merlyn & Arthur / Saturday Service for Bob / better now

        Mid-morning. Light breakfast and the paper. Brunch at Bob Evans at eleven with Mason retired teachers. Carol has a luncheon with Blue Ash teachers at The Works in Loveland at eleven-thirty. You are still researching material on Merlyn and Arthur that might be applicable – you found Arthur does listen to Merlyn when he presents himself as an old man even though he (Merlyn) is much younger. Some say he has been here as long as nature has (the green man of the forest), a kind of male counterbalance to Mother Nature. Same say he is from the Beyond, others that he knows the ‘Gate’ to the Beyond and can pass from one side to the other with no difficulty. Others say he is all wise except for a weakness for particularly unique ‘bewitchy-like’ women. Lots of mystery with Merlyn.

         Lots of fiction too. And, the same with King Arthur who I will have a focus on setting up a world ‘Camelot’ after the Rebellion.

         Not on my watch, boy. Arthur wants to know how things work and more so, why. He thinks G---D is responsible not humans. He is angry at G---D for not confronting the Devil as he Arthur would have done in life had he been given the chance. He plagues Merlyn with questions that are of no practical use but Merlyn finds his honest optimism charming in its own bumbling way and in the process he gleans something about how ordinary humans think about the mystery of G---D, something that he, Merlyn, has no need to do. – Amorella.

         I have absolutely no idea where that came from.

         That’s because it came from me, boy. You can read yourself as a book after I am done with it, but you cannot read me, ever. – Amorella

         You just had the uncommon for you thought: “I don’t think G---D is all that powerful,” slip in and now you don’t know what to do with it. – Amorella.

         You would post such a thought. Shame on me for thinking it and shame on you for posting it.

         It wasn’t a conscious thought; that is the trouble, shaming yourself for which you had no conscious free will. It rose as a bubble from a once conscious thought however. The old question: “If G---D is all powerful, why is evil allowed in the world?”  That’s Arthur’s character, you see. Arthur is not alone in his bumbling questions. He is a short-order fool with too much arrogance and not enough common sense. Merlyn has too much arrogance too, and far too much common sense for his own good, no matter if he was elected to return to the Living a couple of years ago.

         Arthur is a kind of philosophical Don Quixote.

         If you wish to see him in that light. Post. – Amorella.



        You had a good lunch as did Carol. Errands to do this afternoon. Mary, Bob’s daughter, called and asked if you and Carol would be attending the “Service of Life” for Bob this Saturday at two-thirty at the Hill Funeral Home in Westerville. You said you would be there. When you talked to Patti she said it would be open and if you wanted to read the poem dedication you wrote for Bob you would be welcome to do so, and if not, would it be fine if someone else read it at the service. You told her you think you can but the sorrow refilled itself hearing Patti’s voice and you are unsure you could make it through the reading without stumbling with the emotion you are feeling at the moment. Mary said she thought it was a very touching poem and you thanked her as it brought a sense of relief that it might have not been a proper poem for the setting in which it was delivered.

         Again, I thank you, Amorella for the internal help in writing the piece, the dedication to book four. I am heart bound to be at the service and whether I read or someone else, my expressions (and yours too) towards my friend will be publicly shared and so noted.

         Make a copy as you used to do when giving a speech at school. Listen to the Medieval English and give it your best shot. Post. – Amorella


         Between your errands you have been practicing diligently on reading the Dedication aloud and also in reading Chaucer’s Prologue ‘Clerk’ aloud in Middle English. While you might read the Middle English aloud in fair enough pronunciation I suggest you give up the Middle English for a modern translation in deference to your audience. After all, it is for the meaning and the timeless context I chose the piece and it was for Bob to read and savor no one else. In the book each line will have a modern translation beneath for the communication of the thought, my friend. – Amorella.

         My sense in reading the Chaucer in Middle English was for its authenticity but indeed we are not in a classroom and it is not my stage for such a recitation. I agree. I will read the modern translation for ease of meaning to the audience at hand.

         Dusk. You wrote to Sandy (H.) about Saturday and she agreed – the modern version will do. You love her still and told her so. You are not afraid to tell your friends how you feel. Better now, while you are alive to do so. Post. – Amorella.


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