Abstract

In a flash, at a trumpet crash, I am all at once what Christ is, since he was what I am, and This Jack, joke, poor potsherd, patch, matchwood, immortal diamond Is immortal diamond. There are several types of experience common to most people that are worth drawing attention to as a build-up to the consideration of ‘play’ in the life of man. The noise of car wheels turning on gravel, the cooing of a pigeon in a forest on a bright, calm May evening, the lonely cry of the curlew going to feed on the nearby marshlands, the whine of the swans’ wings as the birds move to a new place of feeding, the deep echo of a jumbo jet as it ascends along a steep gradient into the sky, the melody of a piece of music coming from nowhere, the staccato and rhythmic chirping of the birds in tune with the early morning expectancy of another day – these are moments reminiscent of other places and other times. ‘Time present and time past.’ There is a ‘nostalgia’ about them. The feeling is repeated each time similar events re-occur.