July 2011
12 posts
“All advertising ages into sinister indictments of our culture.”
-Guy Davenport (“Civilization and its Opposite in the 1940s,” from The Hunter Gracchus: And Other Papers on Literature and Art)
Penelope loves philsophy. Our favorite is Plotinus.
Weather Report - “Tears” (from...
The Kiss of Death
Chekhov told me once, “You know, I recently visited Tolstoy in Gaspra. He was bedridden due to illness. Among other things, he spoke about me and my works. Finally, when I was about to say goodbye he took my hand and said, ‘Kiss me goodbye.’ While I bent over him and he was kissing me, he whispered in my ear in a still energetic, old man’s voice, ‘You know, I hate your plays. Shakespeare...
An Ancient Arrowhead
Lacquer flakes, bone-dust and water made this vermilion color; And fearful, ancient stains bloomed on this bronze arrowhead. Its white feathers and gold rings have now gone with the rain, Leaving only this angular wolf's tooth. Riding the plain with a pair of horses, I found it, east of the courier station, among the weeds. The long wind shortened the day, while a few stars shivered, And...
George Steiner: Beauty & Consolation
Previously: Ligeti (A Portrait)
The Surface of Past Time
(M.C. Escher: "Three Worlds," 1955) As one who hangs down-bending from the side Of a slow-moving boat, upon the breast Of a still water, solacing himself With such discoveries as his eye can make Beneath him in the bottom of the deep, 260 Sees many beauteous sights--weeds, fishes, flowers, Grots, pebbles, roots of trees, and fancies more, Yet often is...
