A Form
John Leonard in the June 10, 2004, New York Review of Books, on E. L. Doctorow:
"… he's got urgent things to say and seeks some form to say them in, or a form that will tease and torture secret meanings out of what he thinks he already knows, or a form, like a wishing well, down which to dream, scream, or drown."
48. The Well
The Judgment
The Well. The town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
It neither decreases nor increases.
They come and go and draw from the well.
If one gets down almost to the water
And the rope does not go all the way,
Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.From the Book of Ecclesiastes 12:6—
or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern
From Chuck Polisher's I Ching Lexicon:
See also the following form, discussed in
Balanchine's Birthday
(1/9/03) and in
Art Theory
for Yom Kippur
(10/5/03)
Hi – I’m trying to subscribe to your site but whenever I try it, it says I have to sign in and then it doesn’t let me!! Any advice? (Margita)
Comment by Margita — Monday, May 24, 2004 @ 3:28 pm
OK I finally figured it out (after bothering to ask them) by my computer-illiterate self. 🙂 For some reason it took going to your site from another computer to do it.
Comment by Margita — Tuesday, May 25, 2004 @ 5:14 pm
Glad you succeeded. You are resourceful as well as polite.
Comment by m759 — Tuesday, May 25, 2004 @ 5:42 pm