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Brot und Wein
*NIGHT. BY THE SEA. PELION. JULY 2011.
Seliges Griechenland! du Haus der Himmlischen alle, Also ist wahr, was einst wir in der Jugend gehört? Festlicher Saal! der Boden ist Meer! und Tische die Berge, Wahrlich zu einzigem Brauche vor alters gebaut! Aber die Thronen, wo? die Tempel, und wo die Gefäße, Wo mit Nektar gefüllt, Göttern zu Lust der Gesang? Wo, wo leuchten sie denn, die fernhintreffenden Sprüche? Friedrich Hölderlin, Brot und Wein
Greece, blessed land, the house of all the immortals! See, what we heard in our young days is true. Hall for a feast, whose floor is the ocean and tables the mountains Truly for unique use built aeons ago! But where are the thrones and the temples, where are the vessels Brimming with nectar, the songs delighting the gods? Where are the words now that lighten, travel and strike? Friedrich Hรถlderlin, Bread and Wine: Translated by David Constantine
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ΚΥΚΛΩΠΕΣ
CYCLOPS
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οὔτε φυτεύουσιν χερσὶν φυτὸν οὔτ᾽ ἀρόωσιν, ἀλλὰ τά γ᾽ ἄσπαρτα καὶ ἀνήροτα πάντα φύονται, πυροὶ καὶ κριθαὶ ἠδ᾽ ἄμπελοι, αἵ τε φέρουσιν οἶνον ἐριστάφυλον, καί σφιν Διὸς ὄμβρος ἀέξει. Homer Odyssey 9.108-111
who plant nothing with their hands nor plough; but all these things spring up for them without sowing or ploughing, wheat, and barley, and vines, which bear the rich clusters of wine, and the rain of Zeus gives them increase. Homer Odyssey 9.108-111: Translated by A.T. Murray
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An den langen Tischen der Zeit zechen die Krüge Gottes. Sie trinken die Augen der Sehenden leer und die Augen der Blinden, die Herzen der waltenden Schatten, die hohle Wange des Abends. Sie sind die gewaltigsten Zecher: sie führen das Leere zum Munde wie das Volle und schäumen nicht über wie du oder ich. Paul Celan, Die Krüge
At the long tables of time God’s jars are boozing. They guzzle the eyes of the seeing and the eyes of the blind, the hearts of the ruling shadows, the hollow cheek of evening. They are the mightiest boozers: they raise to their lips the empty as well as the full and don’t spill over like you or I. Paul Celan, The Jars: Translated by Pierre Joris
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“We are usually not conscious that the planet is always on our plate.”
οὐ γὰρ θεμιτόν οἱ ἔφασκε πίνειν οἶνον ἐρυθρόν “Everything is food. Everything is something else’s food.”
ἄνωγε δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἄλφι καὶ ὕδωρ And in the food that comes to our plate are, in space and in time
δοῦναι μίξασαν πιέμεν γλήχωνι τερείνῃ. Homeric Hymn to Demeter (207-209)
all the relationships that ever were, that made it. Vandana Shiva, Planet on a Plate: Dr Vandana Shiva with Joel Salatin, Eating and Farming for our Future, 20-2-2015
but she refused it, for she said it was not lawful for her to drink red wine
but bade them mix bread and water
with soft mint and give her to drink. Homeric Hymn to Demeter (207-210): Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White
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ἣ δὲ κυκεῶ τεύξασα θεᾷ πόρεν, ὡς ἐκέλευε Homeric Hymn to Demeter (210)
Maybe the sound of many pestles, along with chatting and singing, testified to the companionship of the householders, to the communality of food preparation. Sultana Maria Valamoti, The Ark. Old Seeds for New Metropolitan Practices, 2010
Îąnd she mixed the draught and gave it to the goddess as she bade. Homeric Hymn to Demeter (207-210): Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White
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Brot ist der Erde Frucht, doch ist’s vom Lichte gesegnet, Und vom donnernden Gott kommet die Freude des Weins. Darum denken wir auch dabei der Himmlischen, die sonst Da gewesen und die kehren in richtiger Zeit. Friedrich HÜlderlin, Brot und Wein
Bread is the fruit of the earth but is blessed by the light And from the thundering god comes the joy of wine. Thus, having them, we think of the gods who were once Here and will be again when the time is right. Friedrich Hรถlderlin, Bread and Wine: Translated by David Constantine
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Bread and Wine
*NIGHT. BY THE SEA. PELION. JULY 2011.