Here the whole world (stars, water, air, And field, and forest, as they were Reflected in a single mind) Like cast off clothes was left behind In ashes, yet with hopes that she, Re-born from holy poverty, In lenten lands, hereafter may Resume them on her Easter Day."(Epitaph for Joy Davidman) C.s. Lewis
About This Quote

The epitaph for Joy Davidman, who died in 1996 at the age of 91, provides a glowing portrait of her (and it is she alone who is the subject of the poem). She was born in 1902 to Russian Jewish immigrants, and raised in Brooklyn. She won a scholarship to Barnard College when she was fourteen, and graduated in 1922. She wrote her first play in college, and was given an honorary degree when she retired (after thirty years' work) with this poem in 1976.

It's hard not to see the echoes of her life in this poem. The sea that she has left behind is that which contains all the world, but is not itself part of it. The shores are lonely, the sky is cold, the air is empty.

Everything has been cast aside except for one thing: "the one thing that makes you rise." This little stone holds within it everything that joy has experienced so far, everything she will experience for all time to come - hope.

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