And a poet said, "Speak to us of Beauty."
Where shall you seek beauty, and how shall you find her unless she herself be your way and your guide?
And how shall you speak of her except she be the weaver of your speech?
The aggrieved and the injured say, "Beauty is kind and gentle.
Like a young mother half-shy of her own glory she walks among us."
And the passionate say, "Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread.
Like the tempest she shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us."
The tired and the weary say, "beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit.
Her voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow."
But the restless say, "We have heard her shouting among the mountains,
And with her cries came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions."
At night the watchmen of the city say, "Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east."
And at noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, "we have seen her leaning over the earth from the windows of the sunset."
In winter say the snow-bound, "She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hills."
And in the summer heat the reapers say, "We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves, and we saw a drift of snow in her hair."
All these things have you said of beauty.
Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs unsatisfied,
And beauty is not a need but an ecstasy.
It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,
But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted.
It is not the image you would see nor the song you would hear,
But rather an image you see though you close your eyes and a song you hear though you shut your ears.
It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a wing attached to a claw,
But rather a garden forever in bloom and a flock of angels for ever in flight.
People of Orphalese, beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
But you are life and you are the veil.
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror.
Leave a guest comment (subject to review)
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
-
This everlasting piece of beauty is from Gibran's "The Prophet"
Every thought by this poet is poetic whether it is poetry by definition or by the beauty of the thought...
-
This definately is an interesting approach to the subject of "beauty" of "love" and of all the things acquainted with these two subjects. It is an often approached subject, indeed, beauty, and one that can feel cliched, and over-played. And yet, his approach to the subject has a deeper feeling. It isn't as simple as "Beauty is in the Eye of the beholder" .. he explains it in more detail then that. It is, of course, generally the same idea, but more then that. He says
"It is not an image you would see, nor a song you would hear ..
But rather an image you see though you close your eyes, and a song you hear though you close your ears." -
This was very touching to the soul. I really liked this moving piece.
Yvonne
-
tis simply stated Beauty "lives" within the eys of the beholder thats what I get, but he goes so far above and beyond to speak of the specific things we all see and feel an well amazing does not even touch this man's words, I hate him being one of my favs because I never discovered him myself, but you read his words and I think it matters nil, his words are truely that of beauty, and the beauty lay in there so accurately and eloquently stated truth,
tis some beautiful stuff, me just read a bit of this not so long ago, now me is sad, but I guess, if everyone thought as this great minded poet wellll o and on and on LOL, I can't even compare, I feel as humble as a grain of sand and as sweet as a grain of salt in comparison to words like these,
simply humbling,
-
It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand stretched forth,
But rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted....
It causes the poet especially to pause...for without the one, can we know the other?...
Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
But you are eternity and you are the mirror....
Does anyone think that is we he indicates here? -
This is one of my favorites. Kahilil Gibran has inspired me in so many ways.
-
Eternal Joy
I know these words so well. These words found me before Time. Beauty is to hear beyond feelings and beyond images. Beauty is the Soul's remembrance of Its joys and Its sorrows, like the skeleton's memories of the ecstasy of its dancing and the pain of its fractures.
Beauty is to go cripple in this world, but to soar in the realm of the Unseen.
I thank you, Dearest One, for the recollection of our Core - embracing the Holy Beauty, rejoicing in Its Truth.
Myra
Adding your comment:
1 - 7 of 7
