“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen, who will be 79 on Sept 21. And he’s still cracking – err – cranking it out!!!
Here is the first part of the poem- Anthem –
The birds they sang
At the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don’t dwell on what
Has passed away
Or what is yet to be.
Ah the wars they will
Be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
Bought and sold
And bought again
The dove is never free.
He may be a 20th century Gerard Manley Hopkins. The images are similar, but the language is present day.
I went on a site to read a discussion of the meaning of the poem. The discussion was of the age old theme of destruction and re-birth. I particularly liked one comment that quoted Spike Milligan – another favourite –
“Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light.”
I think that this is closer to my way of understanding the quotation – In that, the more you have been used and broken, the more you are able to understand and empathize with everything. Or the more you are removed from the conventions of society, the more you speak the truth.
