Scents and memory.
In the middle of July, I spent my last day in Singapore at the botanical gardens. Not surprisingly, it was a humid day. Combine that with a plethora of plants, and my nose was inundated with scents from Singaporean plants and beyond. As I took in all the different smells, numerous joyful memories cascaded through my thoughts. It was really wonderful.
Memory without scents.
Meanwhile, today's grey sky got me thinking about the past, and I gained a general malaise. Not terribly wonderful. Not evoked by scent, either, just the grey sky. So I wonder, are memories evoked by scent better memories than memories evoked otherwise?
2 comments:
My favourite poem:
"I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud"
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
William Wordsworth
Beautiful!! Thank you.
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