Brian’s Reflection: Friday, May 23, 2008


A Lake And A Fairy Boat

A lake and a fairy boat
To sail in the moonlight clear, -
And merrily we would float
From the dragons that watch us here!
Thy gown should be snow-white silk
And strings of oriental pearls,
Like gossamers dipped in milk,
Should twine with thy raven curls!
Red rubies should deck thy hands,
And diamonds should be thy dower -
But fairies have broke their wands,
And wishing has lost its power!

- Thomas Hood, English poet,
born on this day, 1799


OK, ok. Of course I chose this poem so I could ride one of my hobbyhorses. Can you imagine the utter dullness, the utter boringness, of those religious people who rail against Harry Potter and other things as being “of the devil” because they speak of wizards and magic. Please, give me a break. And it would be funny, if I had not heard of a real-life carry-on about witches in Kenya or somewhere, on NPR today, being killed. Have I somehow fallen through a time-warp, or been asleep under a Rip Van Winkle tree? Has the World regressed while I have been in a magic sleep?? (Alas, I’ve been awake and watched it happening.)

“Fairies have broke their wands, and wishing has lost it’s power”. Mores the damn pity! A searing, dehumanizing spirit has taken over the lands, diminishing the human mind and spirit and imagination to the level of a kind of shocking lobotomizing of humanity. Creating a kind of World like “Animal Farm”. Ugh.

I believe in dragons, in beautiful pearl-draped fairies, in wizards and witches and warlocks, in magic wands. Pay attention - without them, we become mere shells of persons. And without the imagination, the Bible is nothing but a shocking tale of human pettiness and violence.

If you are offered a ride on a lake in a “fairy boat “to sail in the moonlight clear", go for it! Better yet, build them yourselves! Live the metaphor!

Brian+