The London Lounge

“There was something in the wild strength of this landscape, once a battlefield, that seemed to be shouting at him, a presence born of that strength whose cry his whole being recognized as familiar, caught and threw back into the wind, some youthful password of courage and pride-the passionate, yet so nearly always hypocritical affirmation of one’s soul perhaps, he thought, of the desire to be, to do, good, what was right. It was as though he were gazing out beyond this expanse of plains and beyond the volcanoes out to the wide rolling blue ocean itself, feeling it in his heart still, the boundless impatience, the immeasurable longing.”

Malcolm Lowry, “Under the Volcano”

This is a wonderful passage; not least because it says so evocatively something that I am sure many feel. Moreover, there is the mention of the sea. Having lived near, or by, it for many years, it always seems that staring out into it raises questions for us; probably more than the night sky, because the ocean is in easily perceived constant motion and so reminds us of our temporary status. However, one other thing that I have come to appreciate (more and more) is the constant sound of the sea; which, unlike the sight of it, calms and soothes.
NJS