When we stride or stroll across the frozen lake, We place our feet where they have never been. We walk upon the unwalked. But we are uneasy. Who is down there but our old teachers? Water that once could take no human weight- We were students then-holds up our feet, And goes on ahead of us for a mile. Beneath us the teachers, and around us the stillness.
10 Feb 2019: "Gratitude to Old Teachers" by Robert Bly
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This is a great metaphor. The ending gives the reader a few options to interpret. Why are these old teachers beneath? Did they fall? Have they passed?
ReplyDeleteThis is the relationship. Students are always surpassing their teachers. That is how collective knowledge works especially with technologies like writing and now the internet, and in the future whatever is in the future.