literature study guides

Lindsay Braman On Seeing the Elgin Marbles A simple, common english paraphrase/translation that's easy to understand My spirit is too weak--mortality My inner self is not strong enough – the reality of my own death Weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep, Burdens me like when I am falling asleep even though I want to stay awake And each imagin'd pinnacle and steep And each of the high points and sharp desents Of godlike hardship, tells me I must die Of wonderful/glorious troubles, reminds me that I have no choice but to die Like a sick Eagle looking at the sky. Like a strong bird who cannot fly gazing to where he should be flying Yet 'tis a gentle luxury to weep But crying over what we are not able to do is an action available only those who are not busy doing what they can do That I have not the cloudy winds to keep, I do not have time to lament and worry over what day I will die Fresh for the opening of the morning's eye. For each time I open my eyes to a new morning, the world is fresh. Such dim-conceived glories of the brain These obscurely created pinnacles of the mind Bring round the heart an undescribable feud; Cause a difficult to explain fight between the heart and the mind So do these wonders a most dizzy pain, As does this art bring a overwhelming aching That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude That combines the magnificence of the Greeks with the humble Wasting of old Time--with a billowy main— Squandering of time passing – with a blowing attraction A sun--a shadow of a magnitude. A bright glowing object – shadowing something greater.   © Lindsay A. Braman 2003-2012 This file for reference use only.   Copyright © 2004-2011 Lindsay A. Braman    . This file is provided for research and educational purposes.