TheRhythofLife
艾丽斯·梅内尔/AliceMeynell
Iflifeisnotaloetical，itisatleasttrical.Periodicityrulesoverthentalexperienceofan，atothepathoftheorbitofhisthoughts.Distancesarenotgauged，ellipsesnotasured，velocitiesnotascertaed，tisnotknowheless，therecurrenceissure.Whatthedsufferedstweekorstyear，itdoesnotsuffernow；butitwillsufferagaweekoryear.Happessisnotaatterofevents；itdependsupoidesofthed.Diseaseistrical，closgatshorterandshorterperiodstowardsdeath，sweepgabroadatlongerandloervalstowardsrevery.Sorrowforonecaewastolerableyesterday，andwillbetolerabletoorrow；todayitiseasytobear，butthecaehasnotpassed.Eventheburdenofaspiritualdistressunsolvedisboundtoleavethehearttoateporarypeace；andreorseitselfdoesnotrea—itreturns.Gaietytakesbyadearsurprise.Ifwehadadeaurseofnotesofitsvisits，weighthavebeenoch，andwouldhavehadanexpectationsteadofadisvery.Nooneakessuchobservations；allthediariesofstudentsoftheteriorworld，therehaveneveretolightthererdsoftheKeplerofsuchcycles.ButThoasàKepisknewoftherecurrences，ifhedidnotasurethe.Inhiscellalohtheelents—“Whatwouldstthouorethantheseforoutofthesewereallthgsade”—helearntthestaytobefoundthedepthofthehourofbitterness，andtherebrahatrestrasthesoulatthegoftheontofdelight，givgitaorensciowele，butpresaggforitanexorablef？light.And“rarely，rarelyestthou，”sighedShelley，nottoDelightrely，buttotheSpiritofDelight.Delightbepelledbeforehand，called，andnstraedtoourservice—Arielbeboundtoadailytask；butsuchartif？icialviolehrowslifeoutoftre，anditisnotthespiritthatisthpelled.THATf？litsuponanorbitellipticallyorparabolicallyorhyperbolicallycurved，keepgnoanknowswhattrystswithTi.
Itseesf？itthatShelleyandtheauthoroftheIMITATIONshouldbothhavebeenkeenandsipleenoughtoperceivethesef？lights，andtoguessattheorderofthisperiodicity.Bothsoulswereclosetouchwiththespiritsoftheirseveralworlds，andnodeliberatehuanrules，nofrae；theykhatwhatisjtuponitsf？lightoffarewellisalreadyonitslongpathofreturn.Theykhatwhatisapproachgtotheverytouchishastengtowardsdeparture.“Od，”criedShelley，autun，
“Od，
Ifteres，sprgbefarbehd？”
Theykhatthef？xisequaltotheref？x；thattoterruptwithunwfulrecurrences，outofti，istoweakentheipulseofoareat；thesweepandipetofovent.Tolivenstanteffortsafteranequallife，whethertheequalitybesoughtntalprodu，orspiritualsweetness，orthejoyofthesenses，istolivewithouteitherrestorfullactivity.Thesoulsofcertaofthesats，begsgurlysipleandsgle，havebeentheostpletesubjetothewofperiodicity.Ecstasyaionvisitedthebyseasons.Theyendured，durgspacesofvatti，theteriorlossofallforwhichtheyhadsacrif？icedtheworld.Theyrejoicedtheuedbeatitudeofsweetnessalightgtheirhearts.Likethearethepoetswho，threetisortentistheurseofalonglife，theMehasapproached，touched，andforsaken.Ahardlylikethe；notalwayssodocile，norsowhollypreparedforthedeparture，thebrevity，ofthegoldenandirrevocablehour.FewpoetshavefullyreghetricalabsenceoftheirMe.Forfullregnitionisexpressedoneonlyway—silence.