Quotes From Cry, the Beloved Country- Blue
Quotes From Outside Sources- Red
Quotes From Outside Sources- Red
The Importance of Land
"There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist; you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying of the Titihoya, one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand." Alan Paton Cry, the Beloved Country.
The green hills were the wonder of the Titihoya its savior and life. It was here that the bird lived and grew up in the luscious grass of the fields. Not too many humans and not too many animals, the life of a king. but that all started to change. The change was gradual and took many years to become what it is now. There is a quote that states "Greatness is difficult to appreciate from close up. The great mountain on the horizon is only the ground when you are standing on it" -Unknown. The Titihoya took this place of peace and wonder for granted. It didn't know how good it had it till it was gone. People moved in sharing the wonder and beauty of the land, but the land could not support such a movement and began to die. The humans became careless and the land became barren and wasteful. The Titihoya left the place that was once a wonderland. The Titihoya found refuge in the place where the food is more readily available, Johannesburg, the place where all roads lead and the place of filth and hardship. The once proud Titihoya is now torn and beat, dirty and destroyed and left with the thought of the beautiful valley it had once shared with the humans. It’s left to run though streets and build its home in eves of the towering buildings of the city.This is the story of the bird that has been neglected because of human disregard to take care of the land.
The green hills were the wonder of the Titihoya its savior and life. It was here that the bird lived and grew up in the luscious grass of the fields. Not too many humans and not too many animals, the life of a king. but that all started to change. The change was gradual and took many years to become what it is now. There is a quote that states "Greatness is difficult to appreciate from close up. The great mountain on the horizon is only the ground when you are standing on it" -Unknown. The Titihoya took this place of peace and wonder for granted. It didn't know how good it had it till it was gone. People moved in sharing the wonder and beauty of the land, but the land could not support such a movement and began to die. The humans became careless and the land became barren and wasteful. The Titihoya left the place that was once a wonderland. The Titihoya found refuge in the place where the food is more readily available, Johannesburg, the place where all roads lead and the place of filth and hardship. The once proud Titihoya is now torn and beat, dirty and destroyed and left with the thought of the beautiful valley it had once shared with the humans. It’s left to run though streets and build its home in eves of the towering buildings of the city.This is the story of the bird that has been neglected because of human disregard to take care of the land.
"The river with its mask of trees cut a twisting path down through the valley. Two miles away he could see, beside a gigantic lonely oak, the white speck of his tent pitched and left while he went to record his homestead. A long time he sat there. As he looked into the valley, Joseph felt his body flushing with a hot fluid of love. "This is mine," he said simply, and his eyes sparkled with tears and his brain was filled with wonder that this should be his. There was pity in him for the grass and the flowers; he felt that the trees were his children and the land his child. For a moment he seemed to float high in the air and to look down upon it. "It's mine," he said again, " and I must take care of it."
- John Steinbeck from "To a God Unknown" | "What is such a resource worth? Anything it costs. If we never hike it or step into its shade, if we only drive by occasionally and see the textures of green mountainside change under wind and sun, or the fog move soft feathers down the gulches, or the last sunset on the continent redden the sky beyond the ridge, we have our money's worth. We have been too efficient at destruction; we have left our souls too little space to breathe in. Every green natural place we save saves a fragment of our sanity and gives us a little more hope that we have a future."
- Wallace Stegner 1991 |
To us the land is always there, its always underneath us. The land is something we experience from the first day we are born. At first the land is fun, it's made for the children, we can make mountains out of rocks and build a towering sand castle in a sand box. But as we grow older we see the land more yet the less we notice its true beauty. A small robin on a window sill used to make us so happy when we were little, now its just a part of everyday live, monotonous. You leave your house and go on hours long trips to see places like rolling green hills. Meadows with the flowers in bloom, but we never notice the flowers at our house, or the grass that grows greener every year around our house. We have lost the ability to notice the things around us, yet we go somewhere else and it is a wonder to behold. Life is not about going from wonder to wonder, its about finding the wonder in our everyday lives.
Why do men throw away the land? Let it go to waste like a school book that will never be read. Why did Absalom throw away his life to live in the city. He deserted his father, his mother, and his family. To live a life full of riches and plenty. He found the city of Johannesburg, with its mines and skyscrapers and shacks of metal. Absalom did not realize that everything he wanted he had. He had control of his life back in Ndotsheni. He ran away from the life of the land. For some reason people seem to want less of the land and more of people. Why? Why would anyone feel that people are wiser than something that has protected and cared for us for thousands of years. People are often forgetful of the things that mean the most to them. I leave you with these last words of hope that the Titihyoa will join the valley once more.
"Yes, it is the dawn that has come. The titihoya wakes from sleep, and goes about its work of forlorn crying. the sun tips with light the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand. The great valley of the Unzimkulu is still in darkness, but the light will come there. Ndotsheni is still in darkness, but the light will come there. For it is the dawn that has come, as it has come for a thousand centuries, never failing. But when that dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret. Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton.
And now I will leave you with the thoughts of the country in your hands. Imagine the wonders you could behold just planting a seed. Find the understanding and gratitude to the land that supports you for it may not always be so generous.
Tommy Webb Smith
"Yes, it is the dawn that has come. The titihoya wakes from sleep, and goes about its work of forlorn crying. the sun tips with light the mountains of Ingeli and East Griqualand. The great valley of the Unzimkulu is still in darkness, but the light will come there. Ndotsheni is still in darkness, but the light will come there. For it is the dawn that has come, as it has come for a thousand centuries, never failing. But when that dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret. Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton.
And now I will leave you with the thoughts of the country in your hands. Imagine the wonders you could behold just planting a seed. Find the understanding and gratitude to the land that supports you for it may not always be so generous.
Tommy Webb Smith