eddie's movies

In London lies a knight a pope interred ________________________________________________________________

"How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd."

--"Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope

for all those wondering what exactly does this poem mean, i looked up its meaning and this is what i found..

Eloise is a Vestal. In ancient Greece, vestals were responsible for keeping the sacred fire in the temple always lit. They were young virgin women. They were honored as half-goddesses but if they happened to let the fire die, they were sentenced to death. They lived retreated in the temple, cast away from the world. This is, I believe[the author, not me], what "The world forgetting, by the world forgot" means: a blameless vestal lives happily secluded in the temple, away from the petty realities of this world. She forgets what it is like, and no one comes to remind her. Her soul is therefore so pure and innocent that she is blessed from the gods ("each prayer accepted") and forsakes any human desire ("each wish resigned").Vestals could know no earthly love, much to Eloise's dismay, for she has fallen in love with Abelard, who was sentenced to exile (from what I understood) as a consequence. This peom is Eloise's plea to the Gods and to Abelard. On one hand, she wish she could forget about him and be devoted to God, yet on the other hand she admits that she is not sorry for what happened, and is in dispair, much more so because of her lost love than because of her guiltiness. She envies both the happily coupled woman and the "blameless vestal", but she is in between, not living her passion nor accomplishing her duty, and she is torn in two.

[extract below was taken from http://people.stu.ca/~gvqlh/engl3336/miracle.htm]
The poem itself is a very historical one; Eloisa and Abelard are historical characters from the 12th century and their story was well known. Pope took the story[look above] that he knew and wrote a poem with his take on it; he seems largely concerned with the issue of love between people coming into conflict with the love of a person for God. The issues Pope highlights are indicative of perhaps the religious transformations that took place in the 18th century as well as possibly some emotional issues that Pope himself (and a lot of other people) may have had.

quiz: which movie did this poem appear in? *hint: look at the poem

posted by edna at 5/25/2006 10:32:00 AM >0 comments

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A blog dedictated to movies :) as long as i work, i will blog! plus i would appreciate it very much if you readers leave a tag so i'd know who has dropped by. merci !