Tip of the tricorno to Laudator temporis acti – o{]:¬)

Posted on 15 January 2006 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

One of my compaisani has a marvelous blog called Laudator temporis acti ("One who praises times gone by"). He has a stupendous post on "happiness" and "macarism" which, though dense, is worth the effort. Good work! o{]:¬) Excerpt:

Recipes for Happiness I recently posted two translations of Martial’s recipe for happiness (10.47), by Mildmay Fane and Henry Howard. Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Recipe For Happiness Khaborovsk Or Anyplace also has much to recommend it: One grand boulevard with trees with one grand cafe in sun with strong black coffee in very small cups. One not necessarily very beautiful man or woman who loves you. One fine day.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in SESSIUNCULA. Bookmark the permalink.

One Comment

  1. Tim Ferguson says:
    16 January 2006 at 3:25 AM

    Ferlinghetti is a fine poet – poet laureate of San Francisco! He paints
    beautiful word-pictures.
    Though I differ politically, I have a great fondness for the beat poets of
    San Francisco – their thirst for life has a palpable quality. Last year,
    of course, we celebrated the centenary of the birth of that Godfather of the
    Beats, Kenneth Rexroth
    (confession: I’m privileged to count his daughter among my friends, so I’m
    somewhat prejudiced)

    From his “Venice, May Day”

    But
    This music, and the incense,
    And the solemn columned thought,
    And the poem of a virgin,
    And you and me, and Venice
    In the May Day evening on the
    Fiery waters, we have our own
    Eternity, so fleeting that they
    Can never touch it, or even
    Know that it has passed them by.

    Having “our own eternity”: he speaks in the poem of sharing the moment – vespers
    in San Giorgio – with someone he loves. To me, that’s happiness; that’s beatitude.
    Sharing a beautiful moment with a special person. A foretaste of paradise.

Comments are closed.