Some thoughts...
Poetry has been around for thousands of years, but it was not until 1999 that UNESCO declared 21 March to be “World Poetry Day” to promote the reading, writing, publishing, and teaching poetry throughout the world. I enjoy reading poetry myself from time to time (perhaps you do too?), and as I was younger, I even tried to scribble down a few lines myself. However, as William Sieghart writes in the introduction to his book "The Poetry Pharmacy", you don't need to be a poet to find solace in poetry. True.
The American poet, novelist, activist and farmer, Wendell Berry has written the powerful poem "The Peace of Wild Things”, which Charlotte Ager and Katy Wang have made into this animated version. The narrator is Berry himself.
THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Here’s to you, a Handful of History - 5 exciting things on history I thought were worth sharing. Enjoy!
The power of narratives. As we know, a story is always told from a certain perspective - whether it's fiction or non-fiction. However, what about the stories we tell ourselves - about ourselves? From what p.o.v. are they narrated? - and do they need some editing? Is it time to rewrite the story of your life? - the American psychotherapist, Lori Gottlieb, asks in her TED-talk “How Changing Your Story Can Change Your Life”. Also, she hands out some ideas of books to read on the subject.
And speaking of p.o.v. In his book "24 Hours in Ancient Rome", the author and historian, Philip Matyszak, tells about ancient Rome seen through the eyes of the ordinary people who lived there. In each hour of the day, we meet a new character - a slave girl, a gladiator, an astrologer, a water-clock maker, a medicine woman - and we are told the details of their lives. Like how togas were kept white, the kind of foods that were served at dinners (you also get some delicious recipies), how crimes were punished and much more. Whether you're into ancient history or not, this book is most exciting and - not least - told with lightness and humour.
“There was the bell that was used to sound the alarm; hundreds of gas-mask canisters; rails for transporting munitions; two machine-guns; a rifle; bayonets and the remains of two bodies. "It was like Pompeii. Nothing had moved.”” A tunnel from WWI has been found near Reims in France, holding the bodies of 270 German soldiers. Now efforts are underway to track the soldiers' descendants.
"While I was theoretically looking for pythons, in the evenings I would record different types of music…” David Attenborough, the British broadcaster and natural historian, is not only into wildlife nature - apparently he is also a collector of folk music from all over the world.
One of the oldest stories of Japanese folklore, “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (aka “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”), is made into this beautiful cartoon. (Available on Netflix). “Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her – but ultimately she must confront her fate.”
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Majken xx
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Daily life in the historic Gràcia neighbourhood, Barcelona. By Gabriella Marsh.
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