The Waterfall

My mind throws away both the cold and the snow,
I walk through the alpines that have started to grow,
And, as I walk, the birds gather and sing,
My nose finds the smells aroused by the Spring.

All of a sudden, in the distance, a new sound.
The river runs faster, what is it I've found?
At the edge of a clearing, with trees standing tall,
I look down plunging waters of a high waterfall.

Slowly I climb down and remove all my clothes,
I enter the pool to which water flows,
There at the edge of the water's wild roar,
I lean back into thunder until I hear it no more.

With face tilted skyward, in the warmth of the sun,
I dream of the Springtime and what nature's begun
Around me the mountains, above me they tower,
I turn off the water, and step out of the shower.


-- GWB, Jan. 6th, 2010

-- Gordon William Bain

No Greater Gift

Warm breezes blow today,
The chill has gone;
The morning is filled with
the robin's song.
Give me your hand my love,
Come walk with me,
In the sun, with the birds,
and a tranquil sea.
A shawl full of diamonds,
Around us the mist,
For me there could be
No greater gift.

-- Gordon William Bain, Oct. 20th, 2009.

Connect

Reach out, let’s cocoon
In the warmth of another
Spin truth back and forth
As we talk to each other

Escape all our troubles
Shed weakness, discover
Tear protection aside
Emerge and uncover

Touch our new comfort
Restrictions, suspend
Nurture the process
Transform and ascend

Embrace each new stage
Spread the wings of connection
Let the wind pick us up
As we share that affection.

-- NF, Aug. 21st, 2008

A Matter of Time

She walked in the forest all alone with her thoughts,

There rang out with small echos a series of shots,

And she fell. Like a spirited doe, she rose, and moved deep

Through snow laden branches, seeking cover and sleep.

My beautiful lady, her smile still sublime,

Grazed by a bullet, the hunter was time.



The sun wakes the morning, the skies warm and bright,

Hand in hand with my lady, we walk from the night.

Snowbirds above us fly shimmering waves,

A fox searches fields for the breakfast it craves.

Our world is still turning, His Hand has reached down,

The hunter still lurking, but we're nowhere around.


-- Gordon William Bain, February 8th, 2009

'The Big Bang'

This is the anniversary
Of my world,
The big bang
When everything began.

The stars looked new
And wonderful,
My universe spun around you.

What began so simply,
Grew,
And so did I,
Like life itself.

How weak I was,
And you so strong to see,
Deep within my soul
And in your wisdom,
Set me free.

Of this our day,
We pause our climb,
And look around;
So high,
Yet still your feet
Stand anchored
There upon the ground.

I think my thoughts,
And go my way,
And dream of what might be.

You smile and soothe
My worried brow.

I look around, and see you,
Everywhere
In flowers that bloom,
And birds that sing,
In air I breathe,
In everything.

When I look back,
I see you there;
When I look forward,
You're also there.

My pal,
My friend,
My love,

My wife.

-- Gordon William Bain

A Tribute To My Father's Present-Day Romantic Poetry

This section is primarily a tribute to my father's Canadian poetry. I will in one or more other sections, pay tribute to the history of the romantic movment from Spinoza to Rousseau to 18th and 19th century German Romanticism starting with Kant and moving through Herder, Goethe, Schelling, and others.

Following in this tradition, my father's poetry pays special attention to nature, positive memories of days gone past -- call it 'nostalgia' if you wish -- but with an appreciation of today's natural and human wonders just as much as yesterday's.

There is a special attention to detail relative to the 'wonders of nature' -- as well as 'the wonders of human creativity and invention' that have passed away into history largely forgotten, and not sufficiently recognized and/or appreciated.

How many of us could write a poem about a simple 'blade of grass', an 'old birch tree', 'forgotten railroad tracks and steam engine trains', a 'cast iron stove', 'a dog that climbed a tree' and other objects and events of this type? We've all heard the expression: Sometimes it is important to stop our running around, working seemingly endless hours to simply keep our heads above water and pay our bills, caught in the narcissistic urban rat race -- and stop to 'smell the roses'.

Well, my dad's romantic Canadian poetry gives us all a chance to take a few minutes to smell the roses vicariously in all its intended and extended romantic, natural meaning -- to appreciate the wonders of a blade of grass, an aging, old birch tree and tree swallows mating and raising their young to fly away free and repeat the cycle, the lure of the spider, a dog chasing a squirrel up a tree, important memories from days gone past like steam engine trains, outdated train tracks, cast iron stoves, and the like...

All of these ideas and these types of poems in my mind are reminicent of at least two different times in history: firstly, the philosophical movement of German and English Romanticism in the late 1700s and early 1800s; and secondly, the birth of Canadian Romanticism through the wildlife paintings of the famous 'Group of Seven'.

18th and 19th century romantic philosophy I will address in a different section. Other elements of Canadian romanticism -- past and present -- I may address here at a later time. But for now, I will simply focus on my dad's present day Canadian romantic poetry.

Last but certainly not least in the spectrum of 'Romantic Philosophy' is the phenomenon of love. This subject is nicely captured with a very personal touch in two of the poems found below, written to my mom: 'Anniversary Song' and 'My Valentine'. I hope you will enjoy these and all the other romantic poems my dad has shared with us here as much as I have -- and still continue to.

Take a little time to vicariously -- smell the roses.

dgb, nov. 30th, 2007, updated Dec. 27th, 2007, May 2nd, 2008.

Spinoza: An Early Proponent Of Spiritual-Romantic (Pantheist) Philosophy

An important early precursor to the German and English Romantic movement in the late 1700s was Baruch Spinoza.

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Western Philosophy
17th century philosophy

Benedictus de Spinoza
Name
de Spinoza

Birth
November 24, 1632 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Death
February 21, 1677 (The Hague, Netherlands)

School/tradition
Rationalism, founder of Spinozism

Main interests
Ethics, Epistemology, Metaphysics

Notable ideas
Pantheism, Deism, neutral monism, intellectual and religious freedom / separation of church and state, Criticism of Mosaic authorship of certain books of the Hebrew Bible, Political society derived from power, not contract

Influences
Hobbes, Descartes, Stoics, Avicenna, Maimonides, Nicholas of Cusa, Aristotle, Bacon, Plato

Influenced
Kant, Hegel, Davidson, Schopenhauer, Deleuze, Einstein, Leibniz, Goethe, Nietzsche, Althusser, Hardt, Negri, Fromm, Santayana, Schelling

Baruch de Spinoza (Hebrew: ברוך שפינוזה‎, Portuguese: Bento de Espinosa, Basque: Benedict de Spinoza, Latin: Benedictus de Spinoza) (November 24, 1632 – February 21, 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza's work was not fully realized until years after his death. Today, he is considered one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy, laying the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism. By virtue of his magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, Spinoza is also considered one of Western philosophy's definitive ethicists.

Spinoza lived quietly as a lens grinder, turning down rewards and honours throughout his life, including prestigious teaching positions, and gave his family inheritance to his sister. Spinoza's moral character and philosophical accomplishments prompted twentieth-century philosopher Gilles Deleuze to name him "The absolute philosopher" (Deleuze, 1990). Spinoza died in February 1677 of a lung illness, perhaps tuberculosis, or silicosis caused by fine glass dust inhaled while tending to his trade.

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One of the paradoxes of Spinoza's philosophy is that while he is generally viewed as one of the great 'rationalists' in Western philosophy -- and often very, very difficult to understand in his more abstract, logical moments -- he is also much more than a rationalist and is generally viewed as one of the most important precursors and influences on the birth of German and English Romanticism in the middle 1700s. What he did was try to -- successfully for some, not for others -- integrate God, Nature, and Man all into one wholistic, integrative package. God is in everything and everyone -- was his principle. God is in every element of Nature and in each and every man, woman, and child. Indeed, God is in everything -- which is a significantly different perspective and viewpoint than the normal religious belief that 'God is above everything and created everything.'

In Spinoza's spiritual and pantheistic philosophy -- God, Nature, and Man are all wholistically connected in the same package. God is 'All of Creation' rather than the Creator. This idea became very attractive to later day romantic philosophers who very much liked the idea of integrating God, Man, and Nature together. Man needed to embrace Nature and become an integral part of it; not try to conquer and overpower it which was more of the preceding 'Enlightenment' perspective.

This 'pantheistic-wholistic-God-is-all-of-Creation' idea became the starting point of German and English Romanticism.

Much of what is summarized below can be found in greater detail in the book, 'Introducing Romanticism' by Duncan Heath and Judy Boreham (published in 2000 in The United States by Totem Books).

Heath pinpoints the start of German Romantic Idealism with Kant's 'Critique of Judgement' (1790). This was Kant's follow up to his philosophical masterpiece, 'The Critique of Pure Reason' (1781,1787) which along with Hegel's 'The Phenomenology of Spirit-Mind' (1807) can be regarded as two of the most important works in the history of Western Philosophy.

In 'The Critique of Judgement', Kant writes about the 'dynamic sublime' (the overwhelming force of natural powers) and this, in combination with Spinoza's earlier idea of 'pantheistic divine wholism between Man, God, and Nature' can be viewed as the two main driving engines behnind German Romantic Idealism.

From these 'romantic' ideas about nature, came the charge of the German Romantic Movement and the separate but integrative creative German forces of Herder (1744-1803), Goethe (1749-1832), and Klinger (1752-1831).

Herder advocated the idea of 'organic history' which was a different perspective than the Enlightenment concept of 'linear history'. The idea of linear history advocates the idea of history evolving in a nice, neat, orderly, reasonable fashion towards greater and greater perfection.

In contrast, the idea of 'organic history' advocates the idea of history proceeding in a more organic format of 'birth', 'growth', 'decay', and 'death'. This was one of the areas of conceptual departure between Enlightenment philosophy and Romantic Philosophy -- the former emphasizing science and reason, the latter stepping outside the realm of science and reason and into the realm of the 'natural sublime and uncontrollable forces of nature'.

With science and reason, everything is predictable -- or at least ideally so; whereas with 'the natural sublime' nothing is predictable, unpredictable natural forces often reign supreme over man's science and reason, and even more than this, science and reason does not offer the 'be all and end all' of living -- and particularly living with a type of romantic and natural passion that steps beyond the boundaries of all that is offered by science and reason.

In romantic philosophy, 'cold, hard, scientific logic and reason' is not viewed as the full embodiment of what it means to live a passionate, vibrant, creative, intuitive and inspirational life.

In the view of Romantic Idealism, there is much, much more to ideal human living than all that Enlightenment Philosophy has to say to us with its emphasis on science, reason, logic -- and even human rights.

Romantic, natural, human emotion, passion, excitement, and an integration with both God and Nature, as well as mind, spirit, and body all play an important -- indeed, imperative -- part of what it means to be human, and to live life 'humanisticly', meaning both 'reasonably' and 'romanticly'.

-- dgb, April 12th, 2008, modified May 2nd, 2008.