life is a lifetime lifespan days invested in life
duration allotted span years working usefulness
human period of work functioning effectiveness
recreation laughing beauty energy fill life vitality...
vitality vigour energy an artist infuses in life
with paint sketch word scratch energy efforts
life eats sleeps hunts runs labours reproduces
life has birth joy sorrow death lifespan journeys...
experiential moments infuse life with passions
happiness joy fear pain awe wonder life curiosity
capacity growth reproduction functional activity...
life is lived in physical effort plus mental pursuits
life is growth age changing interests social bonds
continual experiential change preceding termination death...
Copyright © Terence George Craddock
Terry, there is something about that last stanza that reminds of John Donne. I wonder how many people suspect that there may be more purpose to life than merely accumulating experiences? And even if we do come to that realization, will a pursuit of anything or something else be nothing more than futility, vanity, emptiness....A tremendous work here, Terry.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Yes I read a lot of John Donne in one of the poetry and prose papers I did at Uni. Donne deserves deep reading, reading several times and then contemplated deeply, his paintings I find even more amazing, Donne was an absolute geniuse, partly hidden behind changes in diction and partly through the intensity in which he encoded some of his work; if completed the entire poem will address the big question 'What is the meaning of life? ' starting with a scientific theological update with DNA, the genome, taking up where some of the first philosophers and great classical minds had to leave due to the absence of the most recent scientific discoveries.