Sonnet

Ella Hansen offers a poet and dancer’s perspective.

Further up and further in! —C. S. Lewis.

Though for a time matter enthralls the soul,
The soul itself is such a thing apart
That, when the body breaks, it remains whole;
That life thrives ages past the beating heart.
For this, it goes unflinching through all pain,
Unmindful of its flesh, except as clay
To mould around what hindrances remain
Unyielding; the rest silent melt away.
For this, it fuses passion and the mind
To lose itself in rhythm, to be led
Forever inward, glancing not behind,
Slipped out of time, to stretch upward, ahead.
          For this, when all its mortal strength is gone,
          For this, in spite of this, the dance goes on.

Posted at 12:05 am EST on the 23rd of November 2009 by E. M. Hansen.

Under Poetry as , , ,

There are 7 replies.
 
  1. Scott J. Antónito says on November 23rd, 2009 at 1:42 am

    A beautiful poem, whole-hearted and true.

    It treats, it would seem, not matter and spirit, but physicality an spirit. Be careful of the difference – Matter is used to mean an independent substance, whereas physicality is simply an acknowledgement of the created and temporal. Just a thought.

  2. V. K. Blake says on November 23rd, 2009 at 10:45 am

    It’s a very nice sonnet–lately I’ve come to appreciate sonnet form more and more.

    I don’t agree with the content, however. Look at these two lines, for example:
    The soul itself is such a thing apart
    That, when the body breaks, it remains whole;
    As far as I can tell, this is simply not true. When people’s souls remain intact despite a physical problem or illness, it’s not because of some detachment between the two, it’s because they discipline their soul. I have never seen anyone whose soul was simply uninterested in the problems of the body, or as you say, goes unflinching through pain. The body and the soul are connected; think of something like post-partum depression.
    Also, as you pointed out, the soul does live on after the body dies. But that isn’t the end goal. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul doesn’t encourage them by saying “your souls are immortal, guys!” he encourages them with the hope of the resurrection of the body, when body and soul will be rejoined, but body will be perfected and glorified.

  3. E. M. Hansen says on November 23rd, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    Thank you both. Please forgive my misleading introduction (which I have deleted because I can’t figure out how to explain it). The poem is not meant to be valid philosophy, and it’s not even really about the true relation of body and soul or the afterlife thereof. This might explain a bit better:

    I walked into my dorm from the overcast twilight, exhausted and limping with a twisted ankle, dreading the three flights of stairs to my room. Between the glass walls of the vestibule, a girl sat playing worship music on her guitar; and the vibrations of the sound filled the tiny space. Then I knew that I had to dance. I dropped my coat and backpack and suddenly forgot my throbbing ankle. Students walked in and out, but I hardly saw them; the walls confined us, but I moulded the dance around them; and the music went on unbroken.

    I don’t know how long we stayed there. At last, I felt that some inner longing had been satisfied; and I picked up my coat and backpack and went up the stairs, listing to the music still behind me.

  4. Nathan says on November 23rd, 2009 at 6:25 pm

    Very nice, very nice indeed. It makes me want to try my hand at a sonnet.

    And I was going to say what Vicki said, but she beat me to it.

  5. V. K. Blake says on November 24th, 2009 at 9:02 am

    That’s quite strange, then. It seems like something happened to the (your) soul, and the automatic response was in the body. And then you go and write a poem about the disconnect between the two?

  6. E. M. Hansen says on November 24th, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    My point was, I think, that the soul can disconnect itself from the pain of the body; but I’m afraid that I’ve worded it too obscurely. Apologies.

  7. Lauren says on November 24th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

    It’s beautiful! I love the connection between the C. S. Lewis quotation and your last few lines. The paragraphs you quoted in your comment are lovely — it is very true that when your soul is delighted, it is easier to forget bodily ills.