Paradise Lost

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

— 1 Corinthians 13:13, New Revised Standard Version

Bravo. The bible, like other holy books, contains some beautiful writings.

Thank you for the RL. Honored.

I was surprised to find that Wikipedia has a separate page just for 1 Corinthians 13.  

Ecclesiastes is my favorite book. Attributed to King Solomon but contested by many a biblical scholar.

Right. I'll check that out. I'm not much of a chapter and verse guy but "and the greatest of these" popped into my head right after the last line of your poem, so obviously that has some popular cultural clout above and beyond the church.  

As you have most likely ascertained, I am not much for any spiritualism, but that Wiki article on 1 Corinthians 13 has a link to the Babylonian Talmud, which is indeed a significant multi volume corpus, and the wiki article has a photo depicting a full set of the Babylonian Talmud; no surprise there as per standard wiki article presentation.  

But all this the morning after I had a dream about the acquisition of a Jewish encyclopedia is a bit outside the purview of my customary somniferous reverie.  

What? Am I supposed to become a Rabbi now?  

That Manischewitz I had last week was just supposed to be a novelty:)

There are generations within us, J. Who knows what we really know until we remember, somehow.

Ecclesiastes is the Book of Wisdom, although Proverbs is often referred to as such. This is why there is a debate over the former's author - energetically, it reads MUCH differently than Proverbs, which is undisputedly written by King David.

I believe the majority of Christianity, history, and observances, resemble many pagan rites and rituals. Either its root is in the past or there's a repetitive influence weaving itself through generations in time.

There's certainly a concepts in conflation mingling of minds thing going on at any given time, and measuring that accurately has always been an uncertain thing, but I like the mixing chamber analogy to that, or rather the "mull it over" mentation in the collectively conscious and unconscious arena. I like to think that our greatest thoughts lie ahead as the metaphysical by-product of our species, assuming that we fail to extinguish ourselves.

No idea must be dismissed prior to its fair consideration, at least in principle, and of course we must regularly commune with our deceased ancestors via their surviving scrolls:)

Have you ever read THE WHITE GODDESS by Robert Graves?

No, I have not. Sounds like I need to put it on my reading purchase list.

I’m going to be studying Paradise Lost for my Masters. This is a good poetic explication of the theme presented in the epigraph.

Oh, excellent! Make sure you post your thesis somewhere to be read!

Dear A,

I’m afraid I haven’t yet read Paradise Lost. It wasn’t required reading I guess in high school but I’m sparked now to get it. What I found captivating in this write was the opening stanza. “No prison is darker
as that of one’s mind
when jailer's thoughts
become torturous binds.”
For me, I kept hearing how well and truly harsh I can be towards myself and how I’m able to twist things around in my head. I’m curious to read the book to see how this poem was inspired. Truly enjoyed this write. H🌷

You'll have to let me know what you think about it, Honoria. And, yes, we can be hardest on ourselves, which is typically revealed through our actions toward others.

Thought provoking...

Thank you, Cipher!

Sadly, I know what it feels like to be a slave to your own mind. It's hard work, tearing yourself from the chains of unbridled thought. Well said, wise poem.

Mundus

Thank you, Mundus. Your sharing and observations are appreciated.

Loved the wisdom and honesty in this. It’s so true and relatable.

Best of luck in the comp

Thank you, Wally. Much appreciated.