Four quartets by T.S.Eliot

Ας περιμένουν λίγο ακόμη οι έλληνες ποιητές και ας αρχίσει η εβδομάδα με ένα διαμάντι. Με έναν από τους πιο αγαπημένους μου ποιητές και ένα από τα πιο αγαπημένα βιβλία μου. Ένα απόσπασμα από την αρχή.

I

Time present and time past
Are both perhaps contained in time future,
And time future contained in time past.
If all time is eternally present
All time is unredeemable.
What might have been is an abstraction
Remaining a perpetual possibility
Only in a world of speculation.
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.

But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.
Other echoes
inhabit the garden, Shall we follow?
Quick, said the bird, find them, find them,
Round the corner. Through the first gate,
Into our first world, shall we follow
The deception of the thrush? Into our first world.
There they were, dignified, invisible,
Moving without pressure, over the dead leaves,
In the autumn heat, through the vibrant air,
And the bird called, in response to
The unheard music hidden in the shrubbery,
…………………………………………………….

Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird : human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.