“Shape your heart to front the hour, but dream not that the hours will last.”
In this quote, Alfred Lord Tennyson is emphasizing the importance of living in the present moment and facing whatever challenges or opportunities come our way. The phrase "Shape your heart to front the hour" encourages us to be prepared and proactive in dealing with the present circumstances. However, the following phrase "but dream not that the hours will last" serves as a reminder that time is fleeting and that we should not take the present for granted. Tennyson is urging us to make the most of the time we have and to embrace the ever-changing nature of life.
Alfred Lord Tennyson's words remind us of the impermanence of time and the importance of living in the present moment. In today's fast-paced world, where everything is constantly changing, it is essential to adapt and embrace change rather than resist it. By shaping our hearts to face the challenges of the present hour, we can fully experience each moment and appreciate the beauty of life. Tennyson's message encourages us to make the most of the time we have and not take it for granted.
"“Shape your heart to front the hour, but dream not that the hours will last.” - Alfred Lord Tennyson"
As you ponder upon the profound words of Alfred Lord Tennyson, consider the following questions to dig deeper into your thoughts and feelings:
“Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?”
“Once in a golden hour I cast to earth a seed. Up there came a flower, The people said, a weed.”
“But thy strong Hours indignant work’d their wills,And beat me down and marr’d and wasted me,And tho’ they could not end me, left me maim’dTo dwell in presence of immortal youth,Immortal age beside immortal youth,And all I was, in ashes. - Tithonus”
“Tell thou the King and all his liars, that IHave founded my Round Table in the North,And whatsoever his own knights have swornMy knights have sworn the counter to it -- and sayMy tower is full of harlots, like his court,But mine are worthier, seeing thy professTo be none other than themselves -- and sayMy knights are all adulterers like his own,But mine are truer, seeing they professTo be none other; and say his hour is come,The heathen are upon him, his long lanceBroken, and his Excalibur a straw.”
“I am part of all that I have met;Yet all experience is an arch wherethroughGleams that untravelled world, whose margin fadesFor ever and for ever when I move.How dull it is to pause, to make an end,To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!As though to breath were life. Life piled on lifeWere all too little, and of one to meLittle remains: but every hour is savedFrom that eternal silence, something more,A bringer of new things; and vile it wereFor some three suns to store and hoard myself,And this grey spirit yearning in desireTo follow knowledge like a sinking star,Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.”
“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.”