Monday, April 9, 2012

Colley Cibber: The Blind Boy









O say what is that thing call’d Light,

Which I must ne’er enjoy;

What are the blessings of the sight,

O tell your poor blind boy!



You talk of wondrous things you see,

You say the sun shines bright;

I feel him warm but how can he,

Or make it day and night?




My day and night myself I make

Whene’er I sleep or play;

And could I ever keep awake

With me tw’ere always day.




With heavy sigh I often hear,

You mourn my hapless woe;

But sure with patience I can bear

A loss I ne’er can know.



Then let not what I cannot have

My cheer of mind destroy:

Whilst thus I sing I am a king,

Although a poor blind boy.











Sonny Boy Williamson: Eyesight To The Blind (Link)

4 comments:

  1. Imram: Thanks very much for writing and please visit again. One of my dearest friends now lives in India and it's nice to be in touch with you at the beginning of what I hope is a good week for both of us. Curtis

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  2. There are so many kinds of blindness. Mine are closer to what Wittgenstein calls, in his famous discussion of Jastrow's duck-rabbit, "aspect-blindness".

    "Could there be human beings lacking the ability to see something as something—and
    what would that be like? What sort of consequences would it have?—Would this
    defect be comparable to colour-blindness, or to not having absolute pitch?—We will
    call it ‘aspect-blindness’."

    "The ‘aspect-blind’ will have an altogether different relationship to pictures from ours."

    Hope Caroline is restored to health and you are safely back home!

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  3. We'll discuss. Meanwhile, I emailed you re Caroline. Curtis

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