a nice scene from a movie

________________________________________
(late 1940's)

German woman :
Have you ever read Ovid?
Metamorphoses in the original Latin?
It's quite beautiful.

(Yale-educated, American man)

"I grabbed a pile of dust and, holding it up,"

"foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust."

"I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."

German woman : Bravo.

On Thursday, August 17, 2023 at 1:37:46 AM UTC-7, henh...@gmail.com wrote:
> a nice scene from a movie
>
> ________________________________________
> (late 1940's)
>
> German woman :
> Have you ever read Ovid?
> Metamorphoses in the original Latin?
> It's quite beautiful.
>
>
> (Yale-educated, American man)
>
> "I grabbed a pile of dust and, holding it up,"
>
> "foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust."
>
> "I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
>
>
> German woman : Bravo.

This could be my Number-One favorite Spy movie.

the scene (the Ovid passage) reminds me of T.S.Eliot's -- i 'll show you fear in a handful of dust.

What are the earliest desc. of [a handful of dust] ? --- Homer ???

henh...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> On Thursday, August 17, 2023 at 1:37:46 AM UTC-7, henh...@gmail.com wrote:
>> a nice scene from a movie
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> (late 1940's)
>>
>> German woman :
>> Have you ever read Ovid?
>> Metamorphoses in the original Latin?
>> It's quite beautiful.
>>
>>
>> (Yale-educated, American man)
>>
>> "I grabbed a pile of dust and, holding it up,"
>>
>> "foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust."
>>
>> "I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
>>
>>
>> German woman : Bravo.
>
>
>
> This could be my Number-One favorite Spy movie.
>
>
> the scene (the Ovid passage) reminds me of T.S.Eliot's -- i 'll show you fear in a handful of dust.
>
>
> What are the earliest desc. of [a handful of dust] ? --- Homer ???
This is a very well known simile.
I recall from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" that Keanu Reeves
said it to Socrates, and emptied a bowl of dust in front of him.
But I don't recall it in Homer or Hesiod. However in the Iliad there's a
famous simile about the generations of men being like leaves in a
forest, that pour down in autumn and spring anew next year.
Ed

On Friday, August 18, 2023 at 8:56:56 AM UTC-7, Ed Cryer wrote:
> henh...@gmail.com wrote:
> >
> > On Thursday, August 17, 2023 at 1:37:46 AM UTC-7, henh...@gmail..com wrote:
> >> a nice scene from a movie
> >>
> >> ________________________________________
> >> (late 1940's)
> >>
> >> German woman :
> >> Have you ever read Ovid?
> >> Metamorphoses in the original Latin?
> >> It's quite beautiful.
> >>
> >>
> >> (Yale-educated, American man)
> >>
> >> "I grabbed a pile of dust and, holding it up,"
> >> "foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust."
> >> "I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
> >>
> >>
> >> German woman : Bravo.
> >
> >
> >
> > This could be my Number-One favorite Spy movie.
> >
> >
> > the scene (the Ovid passage) reminds me of T.S.Eliot's -- i 'll show you fear in a handful of dust.
> >
> >
> > What are the earliest desc. of [a handful of dust] ? --- Homer ???

> This is a very well known simile.
> I recall from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" that Keanu Reeves
> said it to Socrates, and emptied a bowl of dust in front of him.
> But I don't recall it in Homer or Hesiod. However in the Iliad there's a
> famous simile about the generations of men being like leaves in a
> forest, that pour down in autumn and spring anew next year.
>
> Ed

thank you!

>>> German woman : Bravo.

since she said [Bravo.] , the Yale-educated, American man must have recited the lines in Latin.

the following is another lit. reference from the same movie.

______________________________________________

>>> ............... Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is studying literature at Yale university under Dr. Fredericks (Michael Gambon). After a poetry reading, Wilson is kept behind for a brief conversation with Dr. Fredericks. After what appears to be a sexual advance from Fredericks, Wilson goes to leave, but pauses momentarily before doing so after being asked to listen to a poem Fredericks claims to have begun writing. He recites the first stanza of the following poem:

A bud has burst on the upper bough
(The linnet sang in my heart today);
I know where the pale green grasses show
By a tiny runnel, off the way,
And the earth is wet.
(A cuckoo said in my brain: “Not yet.”)

I nabbed the fly in a briar rose
(The linnet to-day in my heart did sing);
Last night, my head tucked under my wing,
I dreamed of a green moon-moth that glows
Thro’ ferns of June.
(A cuckoo said in my brain: “So soon?”)

Good-bye, for the pretty leaves are down
(The linnet sang in my heart today);
The last gold bit of upland’s mown,
And most of summer has blown away
Thro’ the garden gate.
(A cuckoo said in my brain: “Too late.”)

-------------------- the structure reminds me of Dylan Thomas's [Lament], whch was written maybe 50 years later

henh...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Friday, August 18, 2023 at 8:56:56 AM UTC-7, Ed Cryer wrote:
>> henh...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>
>>> On Thursday, August 17, 2023 at 1:37:46 AM UTC-7, henh...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>> a nice scene from a movie
>>>>
>>>> ________________________________________
>>>> (late 1940's)
>>>>
>>>> German woman :
>>>> Have you ever read Ovid?
>>>> Metamorphoses in the original Latin?
>>>> It's quite beautiful.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> (Yale-educated, American man)
>>>>
>>>> "I grabbed a pile of dust and, holding it up,"
>>>> "foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust."
>>>> "I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> German woman : Bravo.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This could be my Number-One favorite Spy movie.
>>>
>>>
>>> the scene (the Ovid passage) reminds me of T.S.Eliot's -- i 'll show you fear in a handful of dust.
>>>
>>>
>>> What are the earliest desc. of [a handful of dust] ? --- Homer ???
>
>
>> This is a very well known simile.
>> I recall from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" that Keanu Reeves
>> said it to Socrates, and emptied a bowl of dust in front of him.
>> But I don't recall it in Homer or Hesiod. However in the Iliad there's a
>> famous simile about the generations of men being like leaves in a
>> forest, that pour down in autumn and spring anew next year.
>>
>> Ed
>
>
> thank you!
>
>
>>>> German woman : Bravo.
>
> since she said [Bravo.] , the Yale-educated, American man must have recited the lines in Latin.
>
>
>
>
> the following is another lit. reference from the same movie.
>
> ______________________________________________
>
>>>> ............... Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is studying literature at Yale university under Dr. Fredericks (Michael Gambon). After a poetry reading, Wilson is kept behind for a brief conversation with Dr. Fredericks. After what appears to be a sexual advance from Fredericks, Wilson goes to leave, but pauses momentarily before doing so after being asked to listen to a poem Fredericks claims to have begun writing. He recites the first stanza of the following poem:
>
>
> A bud has burst on the upper bough
> (The linnet sang in my heart today);
> I know where the pale green grasses show
> By a tiny runnel, off the way,
> And the earth is wet.
> (A cuckoo said in my brain: “Not yet.”)
>
> I nabbed the fly in a briar rose
> (The linnet to-day in my heart did sing);
> Last night, my head tucked under my wing,
> I dreamed of a green moon-moth that glows
> Thro’ ferns of June.
> (A cuckoo said in my brain: “So soon?”)
>
> Good-bye, for the pretty leaves are down
> (The linnet sang in my heart today);
> The last gold bit of upland’s mown,
> And most of summer has blown away
> Thro’ the garden gate.
> (A cuckoo said in my brain: “Too late.”)
>
>
> -------------------- the structure reminds me of Dylan Thomas's [Lament], whch was written maybe 50 years later
Many years ago when I discovered the books of Evelyn Waugh, "A Handful
of Dust" had me in stitches. It's years since I read a Waugh novel, but
just thinking about his dry sense of humour makes me want to read him again.
Ever read "The Loved One"? Brilliant satire on the British/ American
cultural divide.
Ed

Ed Cryer wrote:
> henh...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Friday, August 18, 2023 at 8:56:56 AM UTC-7, Ed Cryer wrote:
>>> henh...@gmail.com wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On Thursday, August 17, 2023 at 1:37:46 AM UTC-7, henh...@gmail.com
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> a nice scene from a movie
>>>>>
>>>>> ________________________________________
>>>>> (late 1940's)
>>>>>
>>>>> German woman :
>>>>> Have you ever read Ovid?
>>>>> Metamorphoses in the original Latin?
>>>>> It's quite beautiful.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> (Yale-educated, American man)
>>>>>
>>>>> "I grabbed a pile of dust and, holding it up,"
>>>>> "foolishly asked for as many birthdays as the grains of dust."
>>>>> "I forgot to ask that they be years of youth."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> German woman : Bravo.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This could be my Number-One favorite Spy movie.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> the scene (the Ovid passage) reminds me of T.S.Eliot's -- i 'll show
>>>> you fear in a handful of dust.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> What are the earliest desc. of [a handful of dust] ? --- Homer ???
>>
>>
>>> This is a very well known simile.
>>> I recall from "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" that Keanu Reeves
>>> said it to Socrates, and emptied a bowl of dust in front of him.
>>> But I don't recall it in Homer or Hesiod. However in the Iliad there's a
>>> famous simile about the generations of men being like leaves in a
>>> forest, that pour down in autumn and spring anew next year.
>>>
>>> Ed
>>
>>
>> thank you!
>>
>>
>>>>>     German woman : Bravo.
>>
>> since  she said  [Bravo.]  ,     the  Yale-educated, American man
>> must have recited the lines in Latin.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> the following is another  lit. reference from the same movie.
>>
>> ______________________________________________
>>
>>>>>     ...............   Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is studying
>>>>> literature at Yale university under Dr. Fredericks (Michael
>>>>> Gambon). After a poetry reading, Wilson is kept behind for a brief
>>>>> conversation with Dr. Fredericks. After what appears to be a sexual
>>>>> advance from Fredericks, Wilson goes to leave, but pauses
>>>>> momentarily before doing so after being asked to listen to a poem
>>>>> Fredericks claims to have begun writing. He recites the first
>>>>> stanza of the following poem:
>>
>>
>> A bud has burst on the upper bough
>> (The linnet sang in my heart today);
>> I know where the pale green grasses show
>> By a tiny runnel, off the way,
>> And the earth is wet.
>> (A cuckoo said in my brain: “Not yet.”)
>>
>> I nabbed the fly in a briar rose
>> (The linnet to-day in my heart did sing);
>> Last night, my head tucked under my wing,
>> I dreamed of a green moon-moth that glows
>> Thro’ ferns of June.
>> (A cuckoo said in my brain: “So soon?”)
>>
>> Good-bye, for the pretty leaves are down
>> (The linnet sang in my heart today);
>> The last gold bit of upland’s mown,
>> And most of summer has blown away
>> Thro’ the garden gate.
>> (A cuckoo said in my brain: “Too late.”)
>>
>>
>> -------------------- the structure reminds me of  Dylan Thomas's
>> [Lament],   whch was written  maybe 50 years later
>
> Many years ago when I discovered the books of Evelyn Waugh, "A Handful
> of Dust" had me in stitches. It's years since I read a Waugh novel, but
> just thinking about his dry sense of humour makes me want to read him
> again.
> Ever read "The Loved One"? Brilliant satire on the British/ American
> cultural divide.
>
> Ed
>
https://tinyurl.com/24dklldu
Dust in the wind.
Ed