'The Quest' - Lord Dunsany

These days, more than any other, I want to be excited about what I read. I'm not going to lie, I'm reading to escape a lot at the moment (from job hunting mostly) and that's why I want excitement. I want to be excited about the prospect of battle between mighty armies, I want to be excited about heading into the dark and unexplored alleyways of a city. 'Unexplored' is the word I think; I want to see that metaphorical horizon (between the covers of a book) and think, 'wow, I need to go there and explore'.

I was flicking through 'Beyond the Fields We Know' and found one of Lord Dunsany's poems that sums up how I feel (and a lot better than I just put it). For someone who tends to steer clear of poetry in genre fiction... Well, that's starting to change. Have a read,

What are those hills so strange that stand

Where I knew none before?

Are they the slopes of Fairyland

Above the fields of yore?

How long, how long, we thought of it

As fabulous and far;

And is it now before me, lit

By light of no known star?

It may be so, I shall not ask

Of any man the way;

Those hills are far beyond our task

And, sought for, fade away.

It is enough that in the change

Of light from sun to moon

I have one moment seen that range

That will float homewards soon.

Homewards to where those towers stand,

And where those mountains rise,

That do not rest in any land,

And know none of our skies.

That is the home I travel t'wards,

Though well this truth is conned,

That if I ever find its swards

My quest will lie beyond.

Lord Dunsay is talking about the horizons that I'm looking towards right now. Unlike him though, it's not enough for me to merely have seen them; I want more than that and that's why I'm always looking for that next horizon (or mountain range) to head for next. If you're anything like me then I reckon you are too. If you stop by, every now and then, to tell me about your travels then I'll keep talking about mine :o)