The final two quatrains of W.H. Auden’s Fall of Rome have been circling in my mind during this extraordinary time in lockdown. Especially as I think of my friends elsewhere in New York. I had to search hard to find this photo I took from the top of the Empire State in the summer of 2005. But it feels eerily perfect.
Enjoy the hard-cut of the last quatrain. One of the most perfect and beautiful he wrote. Whatever is going on where we are, there is always a somewhere, altogether elsewhere.
Unendowed with wealth or pity,
Little birds with scarlet legs,
Sitting on their speckled eggs,
Eye each flu-infected city.
Altogether elsewhere, vast
Herds of reindeer move across
Miles and miles of golden moss,
Silently and very fast. I'd love to know your thoughts about your 2020 experience. Drop me a message with any thoughts, comments, questions, queries or insights that pop up while reading the blog. I'd love to hear from you. Click here to sign up for Alistair’s newsletter. Find out more about The Mindsprings School, a series of courses created by Alistair to help you live a happier life.