Mar 2, 2003 07:12
21 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
Sons and daughter of life's longing for itself
Non-PRO
English
Art/Literary
“Your children are not your children,” he said. “They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I lit another Doral
“It’s from the Prophet. Kahlil Gibran”
----- what does it mean by “They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I lit another Doral
“It’s from the Prophet. Kahlil Gibran”
----- what does it mean by “They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself”
Responses
+2
3 hrs
Selected
It is not we that beget our children, but the life force acting through us.
Thus we do not own them. They belong to the universe. Life longs to reproduce itself, and we are its servants who carry out that master plan. Children do not turn back to us, from whence they came, but forward to the future, into which we will follow them.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you very much indeed everyone"
+1
6 mins
The chapter on children reads thus:
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
End of quote.
Perhaps this adds some clarity.
Fuad
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
End of quote.
Perhaps this adds some clarity.
Fuad
+1
37 mins
Susana Galilea
United States
United States
United States
Customized Translation Services ENG>SPA
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Latin American, Standard-Spain, US) 
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish
Related KudoZ points
:
110
An interesting link
You can find some useful info about Kahlil Gibran
http://www.biblion.com/litweb/biogs/gibran_kahlil.html
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Note added at 2003-03-02 07:52:41 (GMT)
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As for the quote, it is highly poetic, so it would be impossible to come up with an clear cut translation. We could provide you with a bunch of interpretations, but you may come up with your own from the chapter my colleague pasted for you above
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Note added at 2003-03-02 07:53:30 (GMT)
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SORRY \"with A clear cut translation\"
http://www.biblion.com/litweb/biogs/gibran_kahlil.html
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Note added at 2003-03-02 07:52:41 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
As for the quote, it is highly poetic, so it would be impossible to come up with an clear cut translation. We could provide you with a bunch of interpretations, but you may come up with your own from the chapter my colleague pasted for you above
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-03-02 07:53:30 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
SORRY \"with A clear cut translation\"
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Marion Burns
: Right, open to interpretation. The narrator herself doesn't understand the passage, so the reader doesn't need to either.the reader
1 day 7 hrs
|
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