Riches or Pleasure
I was reading Yeats’ Celtic Twilight the other day and came across a story of Queen Maeve where she offered a mortal his choice saying, “Would you have riches or pleasure?” and he chose pleasure, and so she stayed with him a while and gave him pleasure, but later left him, and he spent the rest of his days unhappy. I can’t for the life of me find that story in that book now (I was looking for it, of course), or I would quote it here. Anyway, the thought occurred to me that I’m not sure I’d choose either thing. They are, after all, both fleeting, temporary things, bound to leave you unhappy at the end when they are gone. On the other hand, riches might be shared with others or used to help others, whereas that kind of pleasure is more solitary and selfish. I think I’d ask Maeve for that which is both and neither.
Of course, being who I am, I know what that means.
I look at old photographs of Yeats and wonder if, in another reality, we might have become friends. Even in his old age, he had a certain kind of attractiveness that I can see in his photos. That whole “Golden Dawn thing” wouldn’t have appealed to me, especially after Crowley signed on. Yeats should have stuck to more scholarly pursuits of the ancient Irish ways as he eventually did without wasting so much time.
Yeats was also into psychotropics, and that might have led to some interesting conversations and poetry. I would have loved to have collaborated with Yeats, although my skills aren’t yet up to his and may never be. I really should be writing more poems and posting them into my “book” online. But the mood doesn’t always strike me when I want it to. Damned muse.
I think I was born in the wrong era, and yet, what I’m doing right now would not have been possible then. The weave of a lifetime, interwoven with all possible opportunities and outcomes, briefly touching the lines of others’ lives, sometimes crossing over or under their weaves based on choices we make. We must never forget that because of the moebius nature of time, our lifetimes touch, even across millenia.
June 28th, 2004 at 3:27 pm
Yeats was also into psychotropics, and that might have led to some interesting conversations and poetry.
To say nothing of the effect it may have had upon an da shelladh- the Second Sight.
June 28th, 2004 at 11:26 pm
Ah, vanya, you’re still around! Good to see you here.