Nostalgia

Much have I struggled, I thought I would be able to conquer... And both Fate and Nature repressed my zeal and my strength. Even to have come forth is something, since I see that being able to conquer is placed in the hands of Fate. However, there was in me whatever I was able to do, which no future century will deny to be mine, that which a victor could have for his own: not to have feared to die, not to have yielded to any equal in firmness of Nature, and to have preferred a courageous death to a non-combatant life.

The others feel the ill-proportioned outfit rough against them: iron, wool, and leather. True, some are flattered by a cap feather, yet how alone and unloved they all are; but he, as if it were a woman he bears it - this banner in her ceremonial clothes - just behind him her heavy silk blows, and often draping over his hands she lies. He sees just a smile when he shuts his eyes - he will not ever give her over. And when they come in blazing armor and grasp and struggle and try to capture his banner, from its staff he must hack it, as if he were tearing her very maidenhead, to hide it under his jacket. And for the others this is courage and glory. - Rilke

There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad. But for a long while they sang only each alone, or but few together, while the rest hearkened; for each comprehended only that part of me mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony. And it came to pass that Ilúvatar called together all the Ainur and declared to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed; and the glory of its beginning and the splendour of its end amazed the Ainur, so that they bowed before Ilúvatar and were silent. Then Ilúvatar said to them: 'Of the theme that ...

   "I stood there quietly contemplating the clock tower, the low balcony and the tiny square. No one else was there, and it seemed as though time had stopped. Then a cat appeared and walked slowly and deliberately towards the balcony; it then stopped and lay down beneath it. A few moments later, I heard the sound of footsteps, and a man emerged from one of the narrow streets and came into the square; his presence there seemed to increase the stasis of the scene and he stood out  alone against his surroundings, seemingly isolated from them. As I stood there, I remembered another sight in the ancient city of Patan, near Kathmandu in Nepal, where there is also a square. The pagodas and palaces which enclose it have curved roofs which stand out against the blue sky and the snows of the Himalayas in the distance. The square is decorated with golden statues, and the buildings are covered with wood carvings representing scenes of love. When I was there, the courtyards an...

The watery grave of tears. O you, field of wheat  Turn away no more.                                      The only representative of God on earth Why dost thou turn away? The starry floor,                                                        is the soul. - Meister Eckhart The watery shore Is Thine til the break of day. INTRODUCTION    This work has all of the defects that are needed to defeat time. Truly, I was forced to write it in this way. In accordance with prescribed limitations, but I have been permitted to reveal the Martial Initiation of A-Mor.    The whole of my creative work falls outside the boundaries of any literary theme; it is neither a poem, nor a novel, nor an essay of philosophy, rather ...

"What was her name? Do you remember it?" asked Papan. "I don't remember well, and in fact I know nothing, absolutely nothing at all, about the women I have loved." "That simply means you have never loved," answered Papan. "You simply have no idea of love as an absolute concept. Loving is knowing. It is also like a crime since it involves death, burial, and resurrection. For how otherwise can one possess the body of a woman? One cannot penetrate the walled city without first subduing its inhabitants. Thus, love is something that is very serious. Today it is completely forgotten, but once, in the city of Nandur it was known and understood. It involves Three-Eyed One and the Green God, and also the year of Orur. The tiger lilies grow in silence on the white mountain peaks. Love in fact is a strange and secret chemistry, in which the androgynous is born. This is true and complete love; everything else is different. Have you ever noticed how imposs...

1 You said 'The world is going back to Paganism'. Oh bright Vision! I saw our dynasty in the bar of the House Spill from their tumblers a libation to the Erinyes,  And Leavis with Lord Russell wreathed in flowers, heralded with flutes, Leading white bulls to the cathedral of the solemn Muses To pay where due the glory of their latest theorem. Hestia's fire in every flat, rekindled, burned before The Lardergods. Unmarried daughters with obedient hands Tended it By the hearth the white-armd venerable mother Domum servabat, lanam faciebat. at the hour Of sacrifice their brothers came, silent, corrected, grave Before their elders; on their downy cheeks easily the blush Arose (it is the mark of freemen's children) as they trooped, Gleaming with oil, demurely home from the palaestra or the dance. Walk carefully, do not wake the envy of the happy gods, Shun Hubris. The middle of the road, the middle sort of men, Are best. Aidos surpasses gold. Reverence fo...