#55
Not
marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of
princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme?
But you
shall shine more bright in these contents
Than
unswept stone, besmear’d with sluttish time.
When
wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils
root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars
his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living
record of your memory.
‘Gainst
death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you
pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in
the eyes of all posterity
That wear
this world out to the ending doom.
So, till the judgment that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers’
eyes.
This is
actually one of my favorite poems of all time, and I was very appreciative to
go over it during our class. Shakespeare’s sonnet #55 is one of many he wrote
to a “secret lover” of his, but this is one that has been one of his more
popular ones. I’ve always loved this one, especially because it addressed that
the written word can last longer than any monument. This is one reason I wanted
to be a writer for the majority of my life.
Reading
this poem on September 11 was something new, though, I must say. The words of
“gilded monuments”, “unswept stone”, “statues overturn”, and “war’s quick fire”
immediately stand out to me, as clear as if they were bolded. Reading over this
I revisit many memories.
Everyone
remembers where they were when they found out about the attacks, just as those
in the generations before ours will always remember where they were when
Kennedy was shot. I was at school, I had been passing by a teacher’s classroom
when her class was at “Specials rotation,” and she had CNN on on the television
in the corner of her room. I could see all the smoke, but as I was just passing
by, I didn’t find out until I got home what had really happened. Watching the
towers fall on television, I was just a kid, and really didn’t understand what
was going on or why.
My aunt
worked in Pentagon, so naturally, my family was panicking when we couldn’t get
a hold of her. She was safe, we found out soon, but many, many others were not.
My mom cried a lot that night, and I remember everyone being scared for weeks.
I don’t
have many other memories from that day, but I do remember going to New York
just a few short months later. We visited ground zero, and although I was
young, I remember it very vividly. It was almost 11pm, and the crews were still
moving rubble, all these months later. Dust was hovering in the air, and the
lights of the crews bounced off of it, creating a heavy, grey haze. I remember
it being hard to breathe. I couldn’t imagine how badly those people had
suffered.
I
remember the September 11 of the next year pretty vividly too. I didn’t go to
school that day, and I spoke to almost every one of my family members. It was a
day for mourning, even if we had not lost anyone very close, but we wanted to
support those that had. My mom and I prayed many times that day, wishing that
everyone was doing well on a day with such terrible memories.
In the
years since, I’ve grown and gained a deeper understanding of what happened then
and what has happened since. Looking back, it was a lot of ignorance and hate
that led up to the attack. It was something I had hoped might dissipate by now,
but as it seems, hate only seems to breed more hate, as I have witnessed
firsthand towards my Muslim friends. I hope this is something that will be
resolved within my lifetime. Every year on the eleventh of September, I am
reminded the importance of tolerance and acceptance of other people.
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