TEARS ARE ROUND, THE SEA IS DEEP. Yesterday, when I posted on Auden, I remembered that I quoted Auden earlier when he said, “No man ever said with satisfaction, ‘I almost married the girl I love’ or a nation, ‘We almost won the war’†(THE DYER’S HAND, page 431). I should balance that quote with this one: “Tears are round, the sea is deep: Roll them overboard and sleep.†The lines should be taken in context. They are part of THE SEA AND THE MIRROR, Auden’s poetic commentary on THE TEMPEST, and they are part of a song by the Master and Boatswain, so the characters saying the poem are part of the poem. Nevertheless, there was a period in my life of great heartache, about forty years ago, when those lines gave me great comfort. Auden was to me, and is now, a man of great wisdom.
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I remember your saying “Tears are round, the sea is deep” to me back when I was in middle school, or even elementary school, and I was so worked up over a problem that I couldn’t sleep. It really helped. It’s a practical and soothing way of coping with life, with the added bonus of being expressed very lyrically. From that alone I conclude that Auden was a man of great wisdom. And you are a wise man for sharing his wisdom with me.
I remember using Auden for a poetry collection I had to make my senior year of high school. The topic I chose was loss. I think I used him, Tolkien, Wordsworth, and a couple others. I should go back and look.
Annalisa, I should confess that the lines preceding “Tears are round….” are: “And hearts that we broke long ago/ Have long been breaking others.” It does come down to whether something is truly important to you or not.