Those damnable hounds have awoken me again! I made no plans to walk this night, but here I am again. What is it that can frighten those beasts in the darkness? Can it be that they marvel at the same as I do, at starlight and whispering? More likely a blowing leaf. The Abbey is full of sound tonight as the priests sing their hymns. It really is quite beautiful in a way. Not like the song of the harper, but still …. And what is it that can make these men frightened, these men who share their lives with the night? Perhaps the Bishop gave me a clue once when he remarked during a most mundane circumstance that the bane of man was timidity. Timidity. I will grant that these men of learning may know of many things I shall never know, but this seems like a danger without teeth. Under this bright moon, I am with the hounds: the greater fright is in starlight and whispering.
– Sorren
Sorren is being very cryptic in this leaf, as he has forthwith described his meandering thoughts. Something in the night disturbs this man. Starlight and whispering he says, and then he mentions timidity as if a connection existed in some way in his thoughts of which he makes no further mention. I am in accord with these sentiments. indeed, the Lord best be feared for it is wise. Sorren sees this fear as beautiful however, and this is where we disagree. Perhaps my learning has made me weak.
- M
Sorren mentions timidity. He says that the Bishop considered it to be the bane of man. M, in his comments also refers to the very same thing, albeit in a different way, but the Bishop and M in this instance are at opposite ends of the issue. Strength and weakness are connected through fear, the fear of the unknown. Or, perhaps M is implying that the fear he experiences is indeed, fear of the known . . . fear of the great unknown we call fate. The Bishop would have us embrace this fear. M would have us hide from it, and Sorren merely wants to think about it on long walks and cold nights. I find Sorren’s fear to be very personal, and very lyrical.
