Went to see the movie "Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind" today. However, rather than waxing rhapsodic on the idea that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, or launching into an eloquent dissertation on how choosing to forget because remembering love is too painful, I'd rather relate the quote upon which the movie's title is based. It is not, as I originally thought, from "An Essay on Man," by Alexander Pope. Rather, it is from one of his other works, a much shorter poem by the name of "Eloisa to Abelard."

"How happy is the blessed vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;"

Alexander Pope is a curious blend of contradictions. He's a hopeless romantic with a cynical streak a mile wide. He's a long-winded, pretentious bastard who can, nevertheless, pack a whole lot of information into a couple lines of meaningful poetry. The lines above are reminiscent of Rousseau's idea of the "noble savage," whom in his ignorance and crudeness is perfect and happy. I am reminded, similarly, of Edgar Allen Poe's lines from "The Raven":

"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee- by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite- respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"

Whereas Pope, though, offers us hope in that he promises ignorance to be bliss, Poe is swift to deny us this hope: "Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore!'"

Nobody wants to be saddled, afterall, with their demons the way Poe saddles his poor character in The Raven:

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted- nevermore!

Here's wishing you a world of Pope, where Poe is just poetry.

Then again, Pope and Poe have names that are pretty close together. Perhaps, then, it's no surprise that Pope isn't quite as happy as we might think:

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast
Man never is, but always to be bless'd"

Oh well. Damned either way. At least Poe's easier to read.