… all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death
To sum up the outline of a human life from birth to death in
eleven words is surely nothing less than genius. And I’m quite sure that his
use of the verb ‘lighted’ was far more informed than the simple nod to metrical
expediency might suggest. And I wonder what he meant by ‘fools.’ Was he merely
expressing a pejorative attitude towards the human creature generally, or was
he referring to the ignorance of that creature with regard to its true nature
and purpose? I’ve long felt it likely that whoever wrote the words attributed to
Shakespeare had access to arcane knowledge.
I was thinking about that line while having my lunch in the
car the other day, and ever since then I’ve been obsessing a little over all my
tomorrows.
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