Appena scovata questa "perla" nella Weekly Newsletter che non so quanti di voi leggano
Merita di essere postata qui interamente. Autore è Tpe
The Dozy Embrace: Love, Contentment, and the Power of Memory
Later, that dozy embrace solidified in his memory as the single moment of artless, charmed happiness in their separate and difficult lives. Nothing marred it, even the knowledge that Ennis would not then embrace him face to face because he did not want to see or feel that it was Jack he held. And maybe, he thought, they’d never got much farther than that. Let be, let be.Annie Proulx - "Brokeback Mountain"I have contemplated many times this passage that serves as a quiet yet magical coda to the life of Jack Twist and his love for Ennis del Mar. I had discussed this passage in some depth with Mark and Rick during a quiet afternoon during the Montreal visit. I have even dreamed about it.
It is difficult to describe my love for this valediction.
For me, this passage is a true meditation on love and contentment. From the very start, we realize that the love shared between Ennis and Jack was never perfect, never unclouded. Indeed, throughout the story, the contrary is very much apparent. Even at the very heart of this meditation, we are aware of a sense of physical alienation in the guise of Ennis not wanting to see who he is embracing. And yet... And yet...
The magic word here is artless. It is a love that knows no guile. The love shared between the two of them in this one brief instance is a love that does not hanker for perfection. For how can one appreciate the power of love unless we see it flower in a proverbial field of thorns?
The love enhrined in the Dozy Embrace is not one of sublime ecstasy and delirium. Far from it. It is a love marked by quietness and contentment. Even if there would be more to have and more to give, it hardly mattered. It is only at the moment of death when most of us attain this level of tranquility in the face of the unrelenting demands of this world.
One is almost tempted to characterize that love as one of resignation. But it is much deeper than just a passive acquiescence to fate.
For at the heart of the Embrace is not just a fleeting emotion, a transient passion. At the core of the Embrace is eternal remembrance.
For some of us, it is remembrance that defies death itself. And when I say this, I mean that we, as human beings, are part of that collective memory that lives on, even if individuals die and others take their place.
The love that Ennis and Jack shared went beyond both of them. It went beyond their emotional needs, their physical hungers, their transient joys and sorrows.
For at that brief moment, Jack understood that he and Ennis loved each other in spite of themselves. In the face of their own shortcomings and individual failings, Jack had understood at last that their love was fated. That charmed moment would pass, but the memory of that realization sustained him, even when he had reached the point of relinquishing a life of Ennis for the sake of that love.
Throughout his troubled life, Jack continued to long for such a moment. But the memory of that single Embrace consoled him. By its very insistence that their love did not go further than an acknowledgement of its transcendent power over their individual faults and imperfections, Jack knew at long last that the Embrace had set them free.
Let be, let be.
I would live in your love as the sea-grasses live in the sea,
Borne up by each wave as it passes, drawn down by each wave that recedes;
I would empty my soul of the dreams that have gathered in me,
I would beat with your heart as it beats, I would follow your soul as it leads.
(Sara Teasdale)
