Everyone knows that things change. Nothing much seems to stay the same. Nevertheless, the mountains in whose shadow
you were born, or the ocean in which you swam, remain much as they were. People may build up towns in the mountains
and resorts by the beach, but compared to comings and goings of humans and
their creations, the sea and the mountains are forever.
Metaphors of forever abound in our common
language. Especially where love is
concerned, the songs sing of it outlasting the sea and the mountains. When the lover pledges love that will last
until the mountains run into the sea, we are to think that they never
will. We have the idea of
forevermore. Also, when we hear of the
eternal renown of great poets, artists, philosophers, or political or military
leaders, we think they will be remembered forever. And when people speak of
their children as a gift to the future, there is an idea of forevermore in the
back of their minds.
These are fictions, but endearing ones and
enduring ones. There is no such thing as
forevermore. The mountains will
erode. The sea will dry up or freeze,
the river change its course. The
artists and the generals will be forgotten.
It is only because our lives are so short that we imagine that there are
some things that never change. When you
start listening for the phrases of forevermore, you will hear them in many
places, but if they are just fictions, then why do we need them so much?
No comments:
Post a Comment