Sunday, July 29, 2018

Et in Arcadia Ego part IV - Arcadia in Poetry



Continuing on Arcadia and its influence on arts and culture, in this post I put parts from classic poets and writters that their work centered around this Hellenic region. Despite the fact that where born in different times, the Roman poet VIRGIL ( 70-19 bc) and the German poet FRIEDRICH  SCHILLER belong to the most bright minds and among the pantheon of European arts. As natural it was, the art of both was bewitched by Arcadian landscapes.

 "A lasting monument to Daphnis raise
With this inscription to record his praise;
'Daphnis, the fields' delight, the shepherds' love,
Renown'd on earth and deifi'd above;
Whose flocks excelled the fairest on the plains,
But less than he himself surpassed the swains."

VIRGIL -  Ecloques/Bucolics

 


"Yes! even I was in Arcadia born,
And, in mine infant ears,
A vow of rapture was by Nature sworn;--
Yes! even I was in Arcadia born,
And yet my short spring gave me only--tears!

Once blooms, and only once, life's youthful May;
For me its bloom hath gone.
The silent God--O brethren, weep to-day--
The silent God hath quenched my torch's ray,
And the vain dream hath flown.

Upon thy darksome bridge, Eternity,
I stand e'en now, dread thought!
Take, then, these joy-credentials back from me!
Unopened I return them now to thee,
Of happiness, alas, know naught!"

 FRIEDRICH SCHILLER - Resignation


PREVIOUS RELATED POSTS:
 

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Come My Rats....




 DER FLUCH 
 "Rattengift"

Taken from Die Nacht des Jägers Compilation album 
(Teenage Rebels Records)



Come my rats
I'll give you what you need
I give you rat poison and Zyklon B is also available
That feels good
That creates fresh blood
We need rat poison
We need rat poison
Rat poison does not destroy me

Time for the hunt
Victims are enough
Before rat poison
That creates strength and courage
I need rat poison
It does not destroy me
We need rat poison
I need rat poison
Rat poison does not destroy me

Come my rats
I'll give you what you need
I give you rat poison and Zyklon B is also available
That feels good
That creates fresh blood
We need rat poison
We need rat poison
Rat poison does not destroy me

Time for the hunt
Victims are enough
Before rat poison
That creates strength and courage
I need rat poison
It does not destroy me
We need rat poison
Rats need rat poison
Rats need rat poison

Come my rats
I'll give you what you need
I give you rat poison and Zyklon B is also available
That feels good
That creates fresh blood
We need rat poison
Rats need rat poison
Rats need rat poison

Time for the hunt
Victims are enough
Before rat poison
That creates strength and courage
I need rat poison
It does not destroy me
We need rat poison
Rats need rats
Rats need rat poison


Come my rats
I'll give you what you need
I give you rat poison and Zyklon B is also available
That feels good
That creates fresh blood
We need rat poison
rat poison
rat poison
rat poison
We need rat poison
Rat poison does not destroy me

Time for the hunt
Victims are enough
Before rat poison
That creates strength and courage
I need rat poison
It does not destroy me
We need rat poison
rat poison
rat poison
rat poison
Rats need rat poison
Rats need rat poison

Come my rats
Come my rats
Come my rats
Come my rats
Come my rats
Come my rats
I'll give you what you need
I'll give you what you need
I give you rat poison and Zyklon B is also available


Time for the hunt
Victims are enough
Before rat poison
That creates strength and courage
I need rat poison
It does not destroy me
We need rat poison
Rats need rat poison
Rats need rat poison

Come my rats
I'll give you what you need
I give you rat poison and Zyklon B is also available
That feels good
That creates fresh blood
We need rat poison
rat poison
rat poison
rat poison
We need rat poison
Rat poison does not destroy me

Time for the hunt
Victims are enough
Before rat poison
That creates strength and courage
I need rat poison
It does not destroy me
We need rat poison
rat poison
rat poison
rat poison
Rats need rat poison
Rats need rat poison


Original German lyric HERE

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Ode to The Night and Dreams


To romanticize the world is to make us aware of the magic, mystery and wonder of the world; it is to educate the senses to see the ordinary as extraordinary, the familiar as strange, the mundane as sacred, the finite as infinite.
NOVALIS



Must the morning always return? Will the despotism of the earthly never cease? Unholy activity consumes the angel-visit of the Night. Will the time never come when Love's hidden sacrifice shall burn eternally? To the Light a season was set; but everlasting and boundless is the dominion of the Night. Endless is the duration of sleep. Holy Sleep, gladden not too seldom in this earthly day-labor, the devoted servant of the Night. Fools alone mistake thee, knowing nought of sleep but the shadow which, in the twilight of the real Night, thou pitifully castest over us.

NOVALIS - Hymns To The Night


SEE ALSO:
Ride To The Nightsky and Back


Monday, July 16, 2018

The Blessing of Dying Young - The Example of Kleobis and Biton


He whom the gods love dies young
Menander

 
 "In the story, Solon tells of how these Argive brothers took their mother named Cydippe, a priestess at the temple of Hera, to a festival for the goddess to be held in town. When their mother's oxen could not be found, the brothers yoked themselves to their mother's cart and drove her the six miles to the temple. Having arrived at the festival, the mother prayed for Hera to bestow a gift upon her sons for their strength and devotion, which Hera listened and rewarded the sons. When the prayers and the sacrifice were over, Kleobis and Biton fell asleep in the temple and never woke up, which was the gift Hera bestowed on the boys: allowing for them to die. To honor the two brothers, the people of Delphi dedicated statues of them to the temple of Apollo, allowing for these statues to be seen as funeral memorials."

Source: wikipedia
 


 

Thursday, July 12, 2018

This Vulgar Herd Known as "The People"





Blog's Comment: The crowd/mod psychology. As it seems few things has changed since Shakespeare's times. The herd will always be the herd. Whomever blindly trust it, found himself at the end of a rope. 
The clip below is taken from the a modern adaptation of "Coriolanus" in the 2011 British film. Note, the truly extraordinary performance of Raplh Fiennes as "Gaius Martius" , the Roman general who doesn`t hide his low opinion of what is widely known today as "the people". William Shakespeare wrote his famous tragedy "Coriolanus" based on his life. Original text is also included below. The underlines are mine.

 MARTIUS:
What’s the matter, you dissentious rogues,
That, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion,
Make yourselves scabs?

FIRST CITIZEN
We have ever your good word.

 MARTIUS:
He that will give good words to thee will flatter
Beneath abhorring.
What would you have, you curs,
That like nor peace nor war? the one affrights you,
The other makes you proud. He that trusts to you,
Where he should find you lions, finds you hares;
Where foxes, geese. 
Who deserves greatness
Deserves your hate;
 
Trust Ye?
With every minute you do change a mind,
And call him noble that was now your hate,
Him vile that was your garland. What's the matter,
That in these several places of the city
You cry against the noble senate, who,
Under the gods, keep you in awe, which else
Would feed on one another? 
 



Sunday, July 8, 2018

JACK LONDON`s Wolf & Death!



Wolf is not Larsen's real given name. His genuine given name is never revealed. Dialogue heavily implies that he is called "Wolf" because of his nature and viciousness, and, for similar reasons, his brother is called "Death".
 
JACK LONDON Sea-Wolf (1904)


SEE ALSO:

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Man of Destiny





28th of August 1939
On the eve of the invasion to Poland

Meeting between Hermann Göring, Henrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler

Göring: ‘Let’s stop trying to break the bank.’

Hitler: ‘It’s the only game I’ve ever played, breaking banks.’


SEE ALSO:


Monday, July 2, 2018

Auf Wiedersehen Gudrun!


GUDRUN HIMMLER
8 August 1929 – 24 May 2018