God's finger touched him, and he slept.
Interpretation
The quote suggests a divine or peaceful end to life, implying comfort in death.
In this quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson, the phrase 'God's finger touched him' metaphorically portrays death as a gentle act of divine grace, suggesting that the transition from life to death is not to be feared, but rather embraced as a peaceful sleep. It reflects the idea that there is a higher power involved in the end of life, offering solace and comfort to those who grieve, reaffirming the notion of eternal rest and the cycle of existence.
In practice
In a eulogy, you might say: 'As Tennyson beautifully put it, 'God's finger touched him, and he slept,' reminding us of the peace in passing.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.
O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine!
Earth is dry to the centre,_x000D_ But spring, a new comer,_x000D_ A spring rich and strange,_x000D_ Shall make the winds blow_x000D_ Round and round,_x000D_ Thro' and thro',_x000D_ Here and there,_x000D_ Till the air_x000D_ And the ground_x000D_ Shall be fill'd with life anew.
O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
But thy strong Hours indignant work’d their wills, And beat me down and marr’d and wasted me, And tho’ they could not end me, left me maim’d To dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth, And all I was, in ashes. - Tithonus
A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience.
American cities are like badger holes, ringed with trash--all of them--surrounded by piles of wrecked and rusting automobiles, and almost smothered in rubbish. Everything we use comes in boxes, cartons, bins, the so-called packaging we love so much. The mountain of things we throw away are much greater than the things we use.
Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame.
I regret profoundly that I was not an American and not born in Greenwich Village. It might be dying, and there might be a lot of dirt in the air you breathe, but this is where it's happening.
I don't think exactly like a professional economist. I think about economics and economic ideas, but somewhat like an outsider.
At one point, I thought life was about acquiring things. But as a I get older, life is totally about losing everything.
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