Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Tennis, Anyone? No. Tennyson!


What moves you? 

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
     We are not now that strength which in old days
     Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
     One equal temper of heroic hearts,
     Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
     To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. - Tennyson, Ulysses

No season is easy. Opponents work, too. 

The concluding lines from Tennyson's epic Ulysses acknowledge that he and his force are not the same as those who "moved heaven and earth." 

“Temper” evokes both “disposition” and the process of tempering steel — strength refined by fire and time.

Tennyson's final line is epic. "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield," defines the spirit of the competitor. 

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