Category Archives: gascoigne

The Point of No Return

Today I came across this poem by George Gascoigne, For That He Looked Not Upon Her.

Here is the poem:

You must not wonder, though you think it strange,
To see me hold my louring head so low,
And that mine eyes take no delight to range
About the gleams which on your face do grow.
The mouse which once hath broken out of trap
Is seldom ‘ticed with the trustless bait,
But lies aloof for fear of more mishap,
And feedeth still in doubt of deep deceit.
The scorched fly, which once hath ‘scaped the flame,
Will hardly come to play again with fire,
Whereby I learn that grievous is the game
Which follows fancy dazzled by desire:
So that I wink or else hold down my head,
Because your blazing eyes by bale have bred.

It is perfectly sound advice that should be heeded for the sake of self preservation. But I cannot help and recall this Tina Dico song, The Point of No Return. For some time I have wanted to post this song, but it is not online anywhere. I have the album, but I don’t know how to get it from my computer onto my blog. It is beautiful, and has the slight resemblance to the old Bond soundtracks. I wish you could all hear it.

Here are the lyrics:

It’s strange how we always go back
To where we fell
To what we know so well
I’m walking into the flames
To where I got burnt
I’m way past the point of no return

And I know that I’m crazy
To be coming back for more
But I don’t want to learn
‘Cause I hope it’ll break me
And then take me
Somewhere I’ve never been before

If battle is all the heart has seen
It feels at home
In the eye of the battle zone
With bullets like comforting touches
A powerful urge
To go way past the point of no return

And I know that I’m crazy
To be coming back for more
‘Cause I hope it’ll break me
‘Cause maybe that’ll take me
Somewhere I’ve never been before

And I know that I’m crazy
To be coming back for more
But I don’t want to learn
‘Cause I hope it’ll save me
From this lonely
Walk right back to where I was before

They both make sense to a certain extent, even as they contradict in meaning. The first is perhaps the better advice, but like Tina, I don’t want to learn.