Samuel Taylor Coleridge viewed the sublime as categorical, without degree, that which suspends comparison. The Grand Canyon is sublime, Victoria Falls is sublime, and it is impossible to distinguish a difference in their sublimeness. Awe inspiring is awe inspiring, and that’s all there is to it. But for some experiences, there is degree, a sublimest of the sublime, for which we turn to Buzz Aldrin:
I slowly allowed my eyes to drink in the unusual majesty of the moon. . . . I managed to direct my view homeward, and there in the black, starless sky I could see our marble-sized planet, no bigger than my thumb. . . . In a strange way there was an indescribable feeling of proximity and connection between us and everyone back on Earth. Yet we were physically separated and farther away from home than any two human beings had ever been. The irony was paradoxical, even overwhelming, but I dared not dwell on it for long.
(Quoted from page 34 of Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon, by Buzz Aldrin and K. Abraham. Crown Books, 2009.)
For a brief biography of Buzz Aldrin, click here. For images of or relating to Buzz Aldrin, click here.
For a brief biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, click here. For images of or relating to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, click here.
I slowly allowed my eyes to drink in the unusual majesty of the moon. . . . I managed to direct my view homeward, and there in the black, starless sky I could see our marble-sized planet, no bigger than my thumb. . . . In a strange way there was an indescribable feeling of proximity and connection between us and everyone back on Earth. Yet we were physically separated and farther away from home than any two human beings had ever been. The irony was paradoxical, even overwhelming, but I dared not dwell on it for long.
(Quoted from page 34 of Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon, by Buzz Aldrin and K. Abraham. Crown Books, 2009.)
For a brief biography of Buzz Aldrin, click here. For images of or relating to Buzz Aldrin, click here.
For a brief biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, click here. For images of or relating to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, click here.
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