Defying Despair: The Web of Inspiration
When I was 10 years old, growing up in Kolkata, we had a poem in our english curriculum called King Bruce and The Spider, by Eliza Cook. For reasons that don't understand, many of the poems lines have stuck in my head. It starts with
King Bruce of Scotland flung himself down
In a lonely mood to think
Tis true he was a monarch and wore a crown
But his heart was beginning to sink.
The poem goes on to tell the story of how the king watches a spider try repeatedly climb up to a great height on a strand of his web, or as the poem says, on his 'silken filmy clue'. Despite repeated failures the spider perseveres, and ultimately gets back to the top where he fell from. The king who had himself gotten despondent through his repeated failures was inspired by the spider to try again, and this time he succeeded.
"Bravo! Bravo! The king cried out
领英推荐
All honour to those who try
The spider up there defined despair
He conquered, why should not I?"
This basic message of try, try, and try again is one of the most fundamental mantras we try to hold onto, in our lives - in our work, in our play, and in our personal lives. We fail at dozens of things - as parents, as spouses, and as humans, and through our lives, we are like the spider, trying to clamber up to the peak of what we can be. Along the way we are given the same advice by all the wise men in our lives. even the mind over matter of Yoda: "Do, or don't do, there is no try", carries the underlying message that failure can't be a real option.
The poem doesn't actually describe what King Bruce was trying to do. All we knew then was then that he also had to scale a wall to win a battle. And the spider inspired him to try a vertical climb from the cliff side. It was to be a quarter of a century later, that I visited Edinburgh and connected the loosely remembered strands of the fable in my head with the imposting castle that stands at the nose shaped hill. I was then able to fill in the details of Robert the Bruce, his struggle against the auld enemy, and his retaking of the castle. Sadly history seems to have forgotten his arachnid inspiration.
Nonetheless, I've always had a fascination for the castle. It simultaneously spans my childhood and my present. It connects the parts of the brain that remember the poem fragments, to the parts that appreciate the war and struggle that make up large chunks of history, and the bit that is always struck by the rugged beauty of this castle. Once again today, as I was blessed with an unobstructed view of the castle, for a work meeting, as always, I remembered the poem. I remembered the things I fail at, and resolved to defy despair.?
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2 年LOVE Edinburgh, super inspiring place
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2 年Love the positivity woven into poetry - so few words to evoke so many emotions and aspirations. OUr tag line: ASSURANCE - Whether and when to worry(tm) catches the attention and conveys our pre-investment Medtech focus.
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2 年Indeed, it is quite special to actually see or experience things that we had visualized in our childhood while reading books or listening to songs! While not quite as lofty as this experience, it was an "uh oh" moment to see the microwave oven after having sung along with Dire straits and a more pensive one driving on the NJ turnpike, "counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike" or boarding a Greyhound bus :)
Vice President, Principal at Colin Gordon Associates
2 年By the way, is that the castle of Robert the Bruce?
Vice President, Principal at Colin Gordon Associates
2 年Inspiring story. Being an American, I didn't initially make the connection with Robert the Bruce, and had to go back and reread it when you explained. That pattern of repeating until success is achieved apparently is hardwired into toddlers learning to walk. They seem to be fearless about falling, and just get up and try again. Given how fundamental that process is to something we take for granted, I am surprised that many of us unlearn that intrinsic ability. A number of years ago, I had a spinal cord injury and had to relearn how to walk, using my peripheral vision to keep track of where my legs were. It was a massive level of effort, one of the hardest things I ever tried, but that lesson from King Bruce was definitely applicable. I have a very fuzzy memory of hearing a story about the King and spider, but I never made the connection to this poem. March on.