Monday, April 18, 2011

"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments?"















Wear of a father's wallet
Photo rights reserved



12 comments:

  1. It's a big assumption, I know, to assume that he was at war, but photographs taken a generation ago when the people were as young then as their grandchildren are now, are really quite moving.

    ReplyDelete
  2. They are, such pictures. Thank you for the observation, and for bringing your eye to the page this day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The photograph in mention conjures up all feelings of a different nature! Nostalgia, happiness, separation and the like.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The figure in the photograph never saw the picture, which was discovered in his father's effects. Your guess is as good as one's own about what it conjured for him. Thank you for coming!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Laurent, cher Laurent,

    You have revealed a stilled figure before a world in motion. And, in so doing you have quieted my background noise this morning.

    We cherish the memories of those who live, the memory of holding our dying comrade in our arms, of embracing his tired and broken body, of closing his eyes as the last tears streak his tender cheeks, because, because it is our duty.

    This is the way one moment deserts another,and this is the way the all-powerful sun suddenly deserts the world.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for considering the photograph and for offering this view; and of course, thank you for visiting today.

    The quotation, as you'd possibly know, is from Isaiah 63, which is the Epistle for the Monday before Easter in the Book of Common Prayer.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cher Laurent,

    Your gratitude and kindness are surpassed only by your patience. It is you you sail the sea of knowledge; this One is but an anchor.

    In Hebrew One reads your passage as, "Who is this coming from Edom with sullied (dyed works too) garments, from Bozrah?" The punctuation and capitals are humbly offered. As you know, Hebrew has no capitals and only the slightest hint of punctuation.

    The Midrash refers to Isaiah's subject as the angel Samael. Flesh and blood have not angels, thus One connects this passage to the slaying of man. We hear what we hear. Rashi to Makkos 12a agrees. Man's desire to create anthropomorphistique gods and angels is ceaseless; perhaps the ultimate narcissism.

    Allow One on this first day of Passover to share with you: "Arise and shine for the Light of the Lord is upon thy face." Isa. 60:1.

    To you dear Laurent One lifts up his eyes for it is you who lifts his soul.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As it is translated in the King James text, it develops that these dyes are from a wine press, with the allegorical reference you suggest following. But here, the dye is imposed by experience of an effigy, of years in the father's wallet, and so alludes to shadings of memory, too. By no means are any less modest associations intended in citing this figure in this week. This figure is of and part of the page's context.

    I have to decline expectations for one's rapport with souls. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. From "Our walk and the phenolic chain."

    "An affectation of rapport with wine is one of the sadder traits of the acquisitive culture. It's a commonplace in that dull land, to hear the demand for the biggest red ya got. Who would be a bottle for that consciousness; it has no proportion, no complexity, no elegance, no structure, no shelf life. These virtues are natural traits, only their betrayal is unnatural."

    Forgive me cher Laurent. One meant to write, "To you dear Laurent, whose words lift up..."

    Cheval-Blanc leaves no stain beyond the intoxication of its fermentation.

    ReplyDelete
  10. No, one is just quite awkward with compliments of high emphasis, rude as it is to impugn someone else's pleasure.

    As to the C-B, one knows it moderately but the Ch Ausone, much better. For readers who are not familiar with these wines (I commend everyone to Le style et la matière, for the Loire Valley alter ego growing region, to compare with these children of St Emilion), they are predominantly based on the grape, Cabernet Franc. They are esteemed exemplars of this wine grape's most elusive dimensions, and have the power to break hearts simply by being opened. At this page, we renounce price and scarcity as an element of anything's attraction, but the wines excel quite notably in those categories, also. Beneath it all, nevertheless, the wondrous thing is the grape, and this one is fundamentally endearing. That cannot be said of any wine grape which is its equal in power, poise, complexity, or eloquence at great length; but it can and is and ought to be said of Cabernet Franc.

    In short, one endures yet another compliment out of proportion to the case, but not without being seduced, and hopefully chastised.

    ReplyDelete
  11. what a thought on collecting these remembrances in book form, of course. we all have our own books to right and wrong. the effects of a photograph in a wallet-does it reflect, mirror the relationship? beautifully thoughtful of you L.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Extremely affecting of you to draw attention to this suggestion; by all means the relic of accidental usage would be a treasure to anyone curious about the relationship of the principals - and yet for no verifiable or authenticating reason, but wear and tear.

    ReplyDelete