ART
In placid hours well-pleased we dream
Of many a brave unbodied scheme.
But form to lend, pulsed life create,
What unlike things must meet and mate:
A flame to melt--a wind to freeze;
Sad patience--joyous energies;
Humility--yet pride and scorn;
Instinct and study; love and hate;
Audacity--reverence. These must mate,
And fuse with Jacob's mystic heart,
To wrestle with the angel--Art.
--Herman Melville
I've always liked this poem, perhaps because conflict and engagement are crucial in my vision of how makers work in this world. I'll forget this poem, forget about this poem, and then be reminded, be pleased to remember--as I am today.
I never forget the sentence Melville had glued inside his writing desk: "Keep true to the dreams of thy youth."
