QUESTIONS ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH

ODE: IMITATIONS OF IMMORTALITY

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

The poem "Ode: Imitations of immortality is written by a Romantic poet, William Wordsworth. One of the ideas in the poem is how due to our imaginative creativity, the shapes and colours of humanity can be found in nature. Our surroundings can produce thoughts too deep for tears because they can embody the different aspects of human life. For example, a butterfly can induce philosophical thoughts about the fleeting human life and how it needs to be lived to the fullest. Wordsworth believes this is because of human imagination and creativity. Another perspective on his would be that we are so selfish and self-centered that we can make anything and everything about us. We philosophize but it is still all about human life, if not about our personal lives. However, it is also true that our philosophical mind enables us to understand and relate to nature in a deeper way, even if it on more human terms. We have to appreciate human imagination and creativity and its endless possibilities. 

Another idea in the poem is that human life on earth is just a shadow of an earlier, purer existence - the abode of the soul. Our life is just a process of forgetting that existence, its just a dream. This is an idea which is also seen in a kannada song "Kaanada kadalige" sung by C.Ashwath. Both of these poems describe a yearning for an unattainable or forgotten destination. This destination is unattainable only in the physical realm and forgotten by the body, but remembered by the soul. These songs were written years apart and come from two different cultures, but the yearning is the same. Are not we all searching for something indescribable, something that we ourselves don't know that we need? Do we fill our lives with material things, relationships and goals to fill a void we don't know we have? I am reminded of a quote by Shakespeare "All the world's a stage, all the men and women merely players". Maybe we are acting out a play, to pass the time until we reach this unattainable, forgotten destination.

MUSING OF A TEENAGER

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL

ANNE FRANK

I recently read the diary of a young girl and it was so engrossing, I was in denial over the death of Anne Frank. As I read the book, I felt as if I was living with Anne Frank and her family in the Annex, sharing their hope and fear. Their deaths, though I knew were inevitable came as an unbelievable shock. I had become Anne's confidante, sharing her life for 2 years and then suddenly, she is gone. What happened to her in those concentration camps is a story I will never know.

Even assuming that she might have been biased, frequently we observe the maturity and wisdom of an old soul shining through in her writing. Her writing resonates within me and I identify some features of mine in her. She shows tremendous self awareness at her age which gives us a reality check o how her circumstances have forced her into early maturation.

I am fortunate to have not witnessed a war. I did not expect to relate to Anne who is brave and courageous to have withstood all that she did. She did not let the negatives in her life break her. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger is a line that fits Anne perfectly.Until the very end, she is longing for love, care and somebody who understands her. Isn't this what we all crave, no matter the circumstances. At this stage of my life, I wonder will I ever meet that one person with whom my soul resonates, the one person who will understand the depths of my character?

The war is an ugly time but to experience its ugliness firsthand, its unthinkable. We sit in our homes obsessing over her material problems. When I read this book, the illusion of all that struck me. Our possessions, as we call it are temporary. We never know our future, let alone that all of these might be taken away from us in an instant. We are in a state of constant denial of death, always living as if we are sure of the future. In psychology, I have read that it is unhealthy to frequently use defense mechanisms such as denial. So are we helping ourselves by denying death or are we drifting further away from truth as we live this illusion of life?

"We live in a fantasy world, a word of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality"

-Iris Murdoch