Tuesday 2 September 2008

it is in vain that...





Wir nennen das eine Krankheit zum Tode, wodurch die Natur so angegriffen wird, daß teils ihre Kräfte verzehrt, teils so außer Wirkung gesetzt werden, daß sie sich nicht wieder aufzuhelfen, durch keine glückliche Revolution den gewöhnlichen Umlauf des Lebens wieder herzustellen fähig ist.

Nun, mein Lieber, laß uns das auf den Geist anwenden. Sieh den Menschen an in seiner Eingeschränktheit, wie Eindrücke auf ihn wirken, Ideen sich bei ihm festsetzen, bis endlich eine wachsende Leidenschaft ihn aller ruhigen Sinneskraft beraubt und ihn zugrunde richtet.


Vergebens, daß der gelassene, vernünftige Mensch den Zustand Unglücklichen übersieht, vergebens, daß er ihm zuredet! Ebenso wie ein Gesunder, der am Bette des Kranken steht, ihm von seinen Kräften nicht das geringste einflößen kann.

Goethe (Die Leiden des jungen Werther)





You allow that we designate a disease as mortal when nature is so severely attacked, and her strength so far exhausted, that she cannot possibly recover her former condition under any change that may take place.

Now, my good friend, apply this to the mind; observe a man in his natural, isolated condition; consider how ideas work, and how
impressions fasten on him, till at length a violent passion seizes him, destroying all his powers of calm reflection, and utterly ruining him.

It is in vain that a man of sound mind and cool temper understands the condition of such a wretched being, in vain he counsels him. He can no more communicate his own wisdom to him than a healthy man can instil his strength into the invalid, by whose bedside he is seated.

(The Sorrows of Werther)



21 comments:

  1. very true... and when, much later, that mad wild passion slowly leaves him, he is bemused and horrified by all the things he did in its influence, and the things he said, and is anguished that he will never be able to undo them. and what agonises him most (And why none of the excuses others make for him soothe him) is this: that it goes so much against his sense of self he is filed with scorn for himself... he thought unlike weaker men he was impervious, that he thought he could stare down at the abyss and yet walk away...
    and he remembers an old chinese saying tha goes something like this: "something said in a momentary fit of passion can lead to a lifetime of regrets"...
    yes...
    i like the grainy effect in this photo... like a freeze from poignant moment in an arty european B&W film

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  2. This photo evokes such a history of iconography... A longing for the cross that one has turned from, that isn't even possible anymore (but desire for one's own crucifixion or for comfort, I don't know). It reminds me of one of those moments of despair in a Bergman film when the promise of transcendence just eludes us. A very moving post.

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  3. hmm...
    there is a word spoken into the atmosphere of time, that disrupts All of it.

    ripples... what are they reaching for? The photo stills itself

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  4. my goodness, what an intense and gripping quote. and your photo is so lovely, as usual!

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  5. i gasped upon seeing that photo .... our "natural, isolated condition" captured ...

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  6. Now that I'm back in town after my vacation I can catch up with other blogs. I'm shocked and stunned by some of your pictures. Raw, moving, intriguing... You have a very special eye indeed.
    And as for this post, I can't agree more... A great work.
    :)

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  7. zuma: very true. about her also, not only about him :-)

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  8. james, I've missed your words. so much.

    yes, iconography - I didn't know how to name my feeling in front of this picture, but you opened my eyes.

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  9. mansuetude: yes, somehow it was very difficult to match a text to this picture...

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  10. thank you katrina! I thought I would make a fool of myself quoting the old Werther :-) I had a friend once who hated that book. but I still find a certain charm to it, even now.

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  11. ffflaneur, I would have liked to see that 'gasping' in real life! :-P

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  12. esti, thank you so much for visiting, and for your appreciation! I hope we will speak again :-)

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  13. ahh... I was just continuing from the quoted text itself...
    in America these days, all examples in legal texts invariably use 'she', but I very much doubt if it were thus in Goethe's time ;-)
    where you been this long? traveling?

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  14. of course you were, zuma :-) I was just playing a bit :-P

    no, just very busy and couldn't concentrate on writing. I am preparing an exhibition - about Japan :-)

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  15. exhibition? hmmm... hope you are sending invitations ;-)

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  16. zuma: would you come? :-P but right now it is just so much stress and work that it seems to be more trouble than joy...

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  17. no.
    i don't believe words must match a picture. :)

    i love that text too; you made me want to go visit it again.

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  18. Shamefully I haven't read any Goethe at all... But this passage made me feel like giving his work a try. I hope I find a good translation.

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  19. lovely shot. i think you have such a lovely hand in shaping, or un-shaping, reality.

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  20. mansuetude, mary-laure: I find it terribly intriguing that this text can still have such a big impact on people. I was shocked when one student told me during a seminar in which we discussed the novel that she had tried to commit suicide after reading it, when she was in high school. I hadn't thought this possible anymore. what a terrible fate this book has had!

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  21. oh lotus :-)
    I am happy now :-)

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