Uphill
Uphill の語——
人生は登り坂。
クリスチャンであろうがなかろうが。
ロセッティの詩を思い出す。
Uphill
Christina Georgina Rossetti
Does the road wind uphill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day's journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
But is there for the night a resting-place?
A roof for when the slow, dark hours begin.
May not the darkness hide it from my face?
You cannot miss that inn.
Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?
Those who have gone before.
Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?
They will not keep you waiting at that door.
Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come.
この詩を読むと、人生を登り坂の旅路に喩えたものとも取れるし、あるいは上に引用した Tweet のように、十字架を担うクリスチャンの旅とも取れる。
どちらにせよ、すべての人に sum と bed とが用意されている。報いと安らぎと。やって来る(come)者に報酬(sum)が。弱い(weak)者でも求め(seek)さえすれば。
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なお、上に引いた 'First Thing' に引用された Tablet 誌の1966年の記事の次のところが気になった。50年前の観察だけど、今もそうかもしれない(port 状態が続いている)。
The ark had certainly been listing to starboard for a few centuries, a situation that called for some balancing action, tempered and cautious; but when this fact was officially admitted we smelt a trend, an intoxicating prospect of change, and we all crowded across to port in high excitement. The ark tilted the other way, and more sharply; many of us climbed and swung on the port railings, each trying to be further out than his neighbour; some gazed longingly overboard, in love with visionary calentures, privately suspecting that we could now walk upon water and needed this shabby old tub no more.