No regular blog post today, I'm too upset after the sad news from Sue on Indigo Dream that her fantastic greyhound, Lynx, has died unexpectedly. Some of you will know him as well as we did from his occasional hijacking of Sue's blog with his diary.
At these times, it always seems to me that that old reprobate Rudyard Kipling put it best:
The Power of the Dog
THERE is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find - it's your own affair, -
But ... you've given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!),
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone - wherever it goes - for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear!
We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent,
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we've kept 'em, the more do we grieve;
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long -
So why in - Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Ave et vale, Leaway Lynx
3 comments:
Thanks Bruce
--
Richard
So sad...
But Lynx is in heaven now...
romping around & having fun
doesn't stop the tears though does it
Thanks for the post..
off for a tissue !!
The irony of this poem by Kipling is that he wrote it in 1909 before the death of his only son John in 1915. John had been deemed medically unfit because of very poor eyesight but his father's intervention ensured that he was able to go to the front. Kipling never really recovered from his death. He was unable to find where John's body was buried. This led to his concern that the dead be properly commemorated. We therefore have Kipling to thank for the words "Known unto God" on the gravestones of thousands who died in that terrible conflict.
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