Novemberstag (A Day in November)

Nebel hängt wie Rauch ums Haus ,
drängt die Welt nach innen ;
ohne Not geht niemand aus ,
alles fällt ins Sinnen .

Leiser wird die Hand , der Mund ,
stiller die Gebärde .
Heimlich , wie auf Meeresgrund ,
träumen Mensch und Erde .

(Fog hangs like smoke around the house,

Pulling the world within;

No one goes out unless under duress,

All falls to contemplation.

Softer are the hands, the mouth

Quieter are the gestures.

Secretly, as the seafloor,

Dream men and earth.)

Christian Morgenstern

Comments

Bill Cobabe said…

My German has become a little rusty over the years. But it's interesting what you remember, what comes back to you... This is a poem I learned when I was in high school. I (sometimes) miss the cold of the November's days when the world is dark and quiet, and when all you want to do is stay inside and be with your thoughts. Lovely little poem.

November 23, 2010 at 1:13 PM

Ephesus

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I'm not sure we appreciate photography as much as we do other art forms. Part of this comes from the reality that surrounds and permeates a photograph - it's very, very real, and the photographer strives for clarity and crispness in the representations. Perhaps this is why black and white images continue to be relevant - they strip away extraneous information (color) and leave us with something that is at once familiar and also non-existent - for nothing exists in black and white. Nothing. I also think that pictures are becoming too common-place... Everyone has a camera in their pocket, and while that's a very democratic thing (everyone can express themselves in a picture easily and readily, and can find an audience for these images, which are casually taken and casually viewed, and perhaps just as casually forgotten) I think that we embrace that casual attitude, and it spills over to all aspects of the media, making it impotent. So I read this article this morning: h...

The Sublime Roundabout

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