Whose Story No One Knows

If you have heard me speak lately about Sidonia’s Thread, you know that these days I make reference to Thomas Hardy’s poem, “The To-Be-Forgotten.” No piece of literature has captured my unconscious reason for writing Sidonia’s Thread more than this ode, written at the turn of the twentieth century. The part that remains in my heart and now my conscience the most is as follows:

“…They count as quite forgot;

They are as men who have existed not;

Theirs is a loss beyond loss of fitful breath;

It is the second death.

We here, as yet, each day

Are blest with dear recall; as yet, can say

We hold in some soul loved continuance

Of shape and voice and glance.

But what has been will be-

First memory, then oblivion’s swallowing sea;

Like men forgone, shall we merge into those

Whose story no one knows…”

 

Did you have someone in your life in the past whose story no one knows except perhaps you? I hope you will put his or her story in the written or oral record.

To the fans of Sidonia’s Thread… yes, I have started writing the next book!