INFINITY AND SO ON …

… the freed ship sailed, and the man climbed back
Out of the marvellous as he had known it.

Seamus Heaney, ‘Lightenings’ viii

With winter almost upon us, I decided to record a new version of my poem about the universe and the everyday miraculous:

2 thoughts on “INFINITY AND SO ON …”
  • Timothy Reilly

    Hello Edward Petherbridge,

    This is a beautiful poem. I always enjoy hearing (and/or reading) your verse. You make great use of your intellect and talent. (I believe your soul has some say in your work as well.) I like how you meld and juxtapose physics and the belief in God. Speaking of which: you’re probably aware of the fact that the Big Bang Theory was first conceived by a Belgian Roman Catholic priest (and physicist) named Georges Lemaitre. I recently read that Lemaitre was also a decorated soldier of the First World War (much like the fictional character you so brilliantly portray in the Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries Series).
    You evoke in your poem the creation story of Adam and Eve in the Garden. To me, the story recorded in Genesis is the most profound creation myth in all of Western literature. It concisely presents the constant human condition: the curse and blessing of Free Will; the choice between good and evil, and the knowledge of our own mortality.
    I love that you end your poem with the “Divine” song of a bird. I also love the epigraph you chose from a Seamus Heaney poem. There isn’t a day goes by without me thinking about Seamus Heaney’s last words: Noli Timere.

    Sincerely,
    Timothy Reilly

  • Jo-Anne Cappeluti

    Dear Edward Petherbridge,
    In your poem on infinity, there are no easy answers: just the profundity of your imagination’s earnest intent to explore your feelings on a subject they find awesome.
    Bravo!
    Jo-Anne Cappeluti

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