The Days of Wine and Roses
Recently, on a cable TV channel that airs old movies, I watched the wonderful Blake Edwards film, "The Days of Wine and Roses," starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick (1962). In one scene, Ms Remick recites a haunting and poignant poem:
"They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream."
It so touched me that I Googled the words to see where they had come from, and discovered that the stanza is part of a poem called Vitae Summa Brevis ("The brief sum of life"), by Ernest Dowson (1867-1900) who, ironically, died of alcoholism at the age of thirty-two.
While the poem might seem sad, almost fatalistic, I see the message as a kind of pep talk, a wake-up call that reminds us to seize the day. One of the personal rules I try to live by is to never put off until tomorrow what I can do today. It was a lesson I learned long ago, before I was a published author. I had a friend who was a lawyer with aspirations to be a novelist. From his legal practice he had gathered much interesting material (along the lines of John Grisham) and I knew that he could produce a successful book. The only problem was, he kept putting it off. A wife and children, a busy law practice, and weekends spent sailing or golfing with friends always came first. I kept saying, "Mike, write your book, it sounds wonderful." And he kept replying, "I'm going to take a year off and devote all my time to it."
That year, sadly, never came. I received the phone call late one night, his wife tearfully informing me that Mike had just died of a heart attack. He was only 49.
An ode by ancient Roman poet Horace contains the phrase Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero ("Seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow.") In the Bible: 1st Corinthians, Paul says, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." This reflects the same sentiments expressed in Dowson's poem. Since the future is unknowable, there is no time like the present to get things done, and that includes writing that novel we have been thinking about, or starting that short story, or collection of poems.
Tomorrow is not guaranteed, but today is here, and it is a good time to pick up a pen and a fresh piece of paper and write down the words, "Once upon a time …."
Image Source: www.poemsandprose.blog.co.uk
Re: The Days of Wine and Roses
But from that, you have written your own interpretation.
This is a good example showing that an author leads the reader to some final crossroad from which the reader is free to go... its own way, no matter the author tried to put a big sign “that’s the way you should continue to think”.
Just as an intellectual exercise, here is my opposite choice at the crossroad. (In verses not to change the pavement... and while I'm not sure this place allows to show formated text in verses. )
They are not long, the days of wine and roses,
I bet I shouldn’t wait until to-morrow.
But early wine is not as good as one supposes
And to mature it is wise one can allow.
As for roses, what is the purpose
To offer them while in bud
To express love not yet close
Just before it falls with a thud.
A good wine and a precious rose
Come from an old grapevine and long crossbreed
Seeded by wise men who said, I suppose:
“Today I do nothing; time is on my side indeed”.
Marvels of life are a chain. We are only a link.
No need to hurry to achieve if seeding is your fate.
Let’s better share with followers I think,
And grab those precious steps when your fate is to wait.
(Sorry, I didn’t try to adjust the foot. But as original verses didn’t...)