a vestige of thought...

My blog is called "a vestige of thought..." Although I posted a bit about this waaay back in my early days of posting, I have gotten a number of questions about the title. What is a 'vestige,' exactly? Well, according to my handy computer dictionary, a vestige is "a trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists." Apparently it comes from the Latin vestigium, meaning 'footprint.' I love it when I can throw a bit of Latin trivia in there. :)

The phrase 'a vestige of thought' is meant to indicate that the things I write here are not my best work. They are wisps of ideas that hit me throughout the day (or week, or month) that I feel the desire to write about and post for whatever 'audience' stumbles across this site to read. The title is sort of my excuse if what I write doesn't make perfect sense. In other words, my thought in these posts is 'disappearing' or 'no longer exists.'

I can't claim credit for the phrase either. It's actually from a poem by Christina Rossetti, one of my favorite poets:

Remember

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray.
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

So there you have it. That is why my blog is called "a vestige of thought..." The end.

Labels: a vestige of thought, blog, christina rossetti, remember