Dolce far niente
Zeelandschap in de morgen, Simon de Vlieger, 1640-45
De Noordzee
De Noordzee doet zijn gore golven dreunen
En laat ze op ’t strand in lange lijnen breken.
Zijn voorjaarswater marmren groene streken
En schuim en zwart waaronder schelpen kreunen
Zie van ’t balkon mij naar den einder leunen
Met ogen die sinds lang zo wijd niet keken:
Een droom in ’t hart is me eer ik ’t wist ontweken
En ’t oog wil buiten me op iets komends steunen.
Hoe ben ik altijd weer vervuld, verlaten:
Vervuld van liefde en hoop en schoon geloven;
Verlaten als mijn dromen mij begeven.
Maar dan komt, o Natuur, langs alle straten,
Uw kracht, uw groei, uw dreiging, uw beloven –
Hoe klopt mijn hart van nieuw, van eeuwig leven.
Albert Verwey (15 mei 1865 – 8 maart 1937)
Zicht op de Montelbaanstoren te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf de Sint Antoniesluis
door Cornelis Vreedenburgh, 1920. Verwey werd geboren in Amsterdam
De Amerikaanse schrijver James Baldwin werd op 2 augustus 1924 in Harlem, New York, geboren. Zie ook mijn blog van 2 augustus 2010 en eveneens alle tags voor James Baldwin op dit blog.
Uit: Go Tell It on the Mountain
“The morning of that day, as Gabriel rose and started out to work, the sky was low and nearly black and the air too thick to breath. Late in the afternoon the wind rose, the skies opened, and the rain came. The rain came down as though once more in Heaven the Lord had been persuaded of the good uses of a flood. It drove before it the bowed wanderer, clapped children into houses, licked with fearful anger against the high, strong wall, and the wall of the lean-to, and the wall of the cabin, beat against the bark and the leaves of trees, trampled the broad grass, and broke the neck of the flower. The world turned dark, forever, everywhere, and windows ran as though their glass panes bore all the tears of eternity, threatening at every instant to shatter inward against this force, uncontrollable, so abruptly visited on the earth.”
(…)
“Yes, he had heard it all his life, but it was only now that his ears were opened to this sound that came from darkness, that could only come from darkness, that yet bore such sure witness to the glory of the light. And now in his moaning, and so far from any help, he heard it in himself–it rose from his bleeding, his cracked-open heart. It was a sound of rage and weeping which filled the grave, rage and weeping from time set free, but bound now in eternity; rage that had no language, weeping with no voice–which yet spoke now, to John’s startled soul, of boundless melancholy, of the bitterest patience, and the longest night; of the deepest water, the strongest chains, the most cruel lash; of humility most wretched, the dungeon most absolute, of love’s bed defiled, and birth dishonored, and most bloody, unspeakable, sudden death. Yes, the darkness hummed with murder: the body in the water, the body in the fire, the body on the tree. John looked down the line of these armies of darkness, army upon army, and his soul whispered: Who are these? Who are they? And wondered: Where shall I go?”
James Baldwin (2 augustus 1924 – 1 december 1987)
Fotoportret door Carl Van Vechten, 1955
De Chileense schrijfster Isabel Allende werd geboren in Lima op 2 augustus 1942. Zie ook alle tags voor Isabel Allende op dit blog en ook mijn blog van 2 augustus 2010.
Uit: Paula
“Nothing had prepared my mother for motherhood. In those days, such matters were discussed in whispers before unwed girls, and Memé had given no thought to advising her about the libidinous preoccupations of the birds and the flowers because her soul floated on different planes, more intrigued with the translucence of apparitions than the gross realities of this world. Nevertheless, as soon as my mother sensed she was pregnant, she knew it would be a girl. She named her Isabel and established a dialogue that continues to the present day. Clinging to the creature developing in her womb, she tried to compensate for the loneliness of a woman who has chosen badly in love. She talked to me aloud, startling everyone who saw her carrying on as if hallucinating, and I suppose that I heard her and answered, although I have no memory of the intrauterine phase of my life.
My father had a taste for splendor. Ostentation had always been looked upon as a vice in Chile, where sobriety is a sign of refinement. In contrast, in Lima, the city of viceroys, swagger, and swash is considered stylish. Tomás installed himself in a house incommensurate with his position as second secretary in the embassy, surrounded himself with Indian servants, ordered a luxurious automobile from Detroit, and squandered money on parties, gaming, and yacht clubs, without anyone’s being able to explain how he could afford such extravagances. In a short time he had managed to establish relations with the most illustrious members of Lima’s political and social circles, had discovered the weaknesses of each, and, through his contracts, heard a number of indiscreet confidences, even a few state secrets. He became the indispensable element in Lima’s revels. At the height of the war, he obtained the best whiskey, the purest cocaine, and the most obliging party girls; all doors opened to him.“
Isabel Allende (Lima, 2 augustus 1942)
De Franse dichter en schrijver Philippe Soupault werd geboren op 2 augustus 1897 in Chaville bij Parijs. Zie ook alle tags voor Philippe Soupault op dit blog en ook mijn blog van 2 augustus 2010.
Aux Assassins les mains pleines
Suis-je un assassin
Je n’ai qu’à fermer les yeux
pour m’emparer d’un revolver
ou d’une mitraillette
et je tire sur vous
vous tous qui passez près de moi
Je ferme les yeux
et je tire
à perdre haleine
de toute mes forces
et je vous atteins tous
connus et inconnus
tous sans exception
Je ne sais même pas si vous mourrez
je ne vous entends pas
je tire en fermant les yeux
et vous tombez sans un cri
et vous tombez nombreux comme des souris
comme des poux
je vous abats
car je tire dans le tas
vous n’avez même pas le temps de rire
je tue tous ceux qui se présentent
sans même savoir leurs noms
ni apercevoir leurs visages
je tue tout le monde sans distinction
La nuit m’appelle à l’affût
je n’ai même pas besoin de bouger
et toute la compagnie dégringole
je tue aussi un à un
ou deux par deux
selon les nuits
ou lorsqu’il fait très noir
mais je ne me tue jamais
j’écoute les coups de revolver
et je continue
je ne rate jamais personne
et je ne perds pas mon temps
je ne vois pas le sang couler
ni les gestes des moribonds
je n’ai pas de temps à perdre
je tire et vous mourez
Philippe Soupault (2 augustus 1897 – 12 maart 1990)
Portret door Robert Delaunay, 1922
Zie voor nog meer schrijvers van de 2e augustus ook mijn blog van 2 augustus 2014 en ook mijn blog van 2 augustus 2012 en eveneens mijn blog van 2 augustus 2011 deel 2.