The Harrowing of Hell, 12th Century, Venice.
triduum the harrowing of hell
nomopoetry: friday was good
the bottom of the well the top of the water
the sky the sky as signified
the looking in the flowing through
the bucket down the welling up
the drawing up the dry—
and should the child plunging in
pull apart the parents’ cry
from every bond of lung—
the townsmen’s hands the tiny flailing limbs
the short commands the sputter
the stone from stone from stone below the wailing forth
the shovels and picks and grandad’s voice the wet echo whimper
the dusk mounting to see the grime-slick slip
the rope gone slack the water sleep
the night spent at an open grave
the moon giving no comfort
the screams of father down empty earth
the mute upgaze of mother
the filling in and sealing up
the few words of a bridled priest
the moving to another town
the adoption of nothing new with breath
the rye instead of water
the little spirit in packed dirt-down
and all this goddamn silence.
poetry
good friday
Triduum
“Martin Luther famously distinguished between a “theology of glory” and a “theology of the cross.” In the former you find yourself substituting a crown of thorns and a body of nailed flesh for a more palatable scene. But with a “theologia crucis,” you can call a spade a spade. You can look grief and loss in the face and identify them for what they are. There’s room — maybe even a literal room that you set aside in a basement — for rage and sobbing and protest and fear and horror. The great English-American poet W. H. Auden once heard a lecture in which, as Edward Mendelson recounts the scene, the speaker said that, “Jesus and Buddha were the same in effect: they were both attacked by spears, but in the Buddha’s case, the spears turned into flowers.” Auden bristled at this, shouting from the back of the lecture hall, “ON GOOD FRIDAY THE SPEARS WERE REAL.” If those spears were real, we can admit the spears we’ve felt are real, too. There’s no need to pretend we’re smelling roses when all we feel is metal piercing skin. Good Friday enables us to name the pain and face it.”
—
Duke Divinity Call & Response Blog | Faith & Leadership | Wesley Hill: Anger room (via invisibleforeigner)
The great English-American poet W. H. Auden once heard a lecture in which, as Edward Mendelson recounts the scene, the speaker said that, “Jesus and Buddha were the same in effect: they were both attacked by spears, but in the Buddha’s case, the spears turned into flowers.” Auden bristled at this, shouting from the back of the lecture hall, “ON GOOD FRIDAY THE SPEARS WERE REAL.”
And the best part is that the speaker was Joseph Campbell! lolol
(via mushfromnewsies)
(via mushfromnewsies)
“[…]To hear you tell it, you’re doing something grand for the sake of other people. In fact, you’re putting yourself before others. Has it not occurred to you that you leave quite a number of people unhappy?”
“One can’t consider himself when one is working on behalf of society.”
“Stupid fool!” He struck Jōtarō soundly on the cheek with his fist. “One’s self is the basis of everything. Every action is a manifestation of the self. A person who doesn’t know himself can do nothing for others.”
“What I meant — I wasn’t acting to satisfy my own desires.”
“Shut up! Don’t you see you’re barely grown? There’s nothing more frightening than a half-baked do-gooder who knows nothing of the world but takes it upon himself to tell the world what’s good for it. You needn’t say any more about what you and Daizō are doing; I have a very good idea already…. What are you crying about? Blow your nose.”
— Eiji Yoshikawa, Musashi, tr. Charles S. Terry, (New York: Kodansha International, 1995), pg. 813.
Eiji Yoshikawa Musashi quote literature japan 20th Centurylizowl asked: I've decided to buy myself a copy of the Anabasis. Your quote's been the second reminder that I probably should read Xenophon for fun one of these days. (The first was an essay by Calvino.) I thought you'd like to know, maybe. If you didn't, feel free to ignore me being weird. :)
I would highly recommend Rex Warner’s translation. Xenophon in Greek is much like Caesar in Latin - straightforward, clear, with little use of grammatical tricks, and Warner keeps that clarity of language in his rendering.
“When people are not trusted, their words, I notice, merely drift about without force in themselves and without inspiring confidence in others. But when people are known to have a respect for the truth, their words are just as powerful as other people’s force in securing any object at which they aim.”
— Xenophon, The Persian Expedition (Anabasis), tr. Rex Warner, (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1949), pgs. 291-292.
Xenophon Anabasis quote history Greek greece
And he said to them: The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that have power over them are called beneficent.
But you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger: and he that is the leader, as he that serveth.
For which is greater, he that sitteth at table or he that serveth? Is not he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he that serveth.
And you are they who have continued with me in my temptations:
And I dispose to you, as my Father hath disposed to me, a kingdom;
That you may eat and drink at my table, in my kingdom: and may sit upon thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
— The Gospel According to Luke, 22:25-30
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Promotional Artwork by Katsuya Terada
Terada is such a fine artist.
(via mendelpalace)
Katsuya Terada art fantasy The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Johannes Bosboom art painting 19th Centurya monk descending a staircase, Johannes Bosboom. Dutch (1817 - 1891)
