Date: Sun, 04 Aug 2002 11:13:27 +0100
Subject: sublime solitude in forgotten air


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 Allen recently:
> But then I thought of the philosopher who in his solitude ( and love of
> same) yearns not for community, but for "home" in the sense of Heimat.

Is this the Heimat of the "house-friend" whom Heidegger quotes? NO, sorry,
Allen, been thinking of Hebel all along :-) Heidegger says of Hebel with
respect to Hebel's almanac and 'Treasure Chest':

"Ennobling transformation here happens through intensified or elevated
language   ["Elevation, don't go to my head", Television, 'Elevation' from
'Marquee Moon']   ; but elevation points toward simplicity. To elevate
language into simplicity means: to transform everything into the mild
splendour of the calmly resounding word. This ennobled wording marks Hebel's
poetry." [Heidegger "Hebel -- the House-Friend"]

The friendliness of the Hebelian house-friend is caringly turned "toward the
whole and far-flung dwelling of humans" [ibid]

A wonderful example of Hebel from his 'Treasure Chest' concerns the moon's
place in the sky:

"So much is certain: with its gentle light -- which is a reflex of the
sunlight -- the moon illumines our nights, and watches as boys and girls
embrace. The moon is thus the genuine house-friend ... the supreme night
watchman while others are asleep."

Heidegger comments:

"lovers are granted that gentle lunar light which is neither merely earthly
nor heavenly but both in intimate entwinement."

The entwinement of earth and sky (that reflects the lovers' embrace) is
guaranteed by the silvery blue beams of the lunar vault, presumably also by
the lunatic dark side...

>The  homesickness from which the philosopher suffers is not a wish to be taken
> out of his solitude, but rather to be alone and at home, " everywhere at the
> same time" as Heidegger puts it.

To be a house-friend, perhaps...

Talking of the sublime and elevation, I'll leave this with another lyric
from the work of the group 'Extreme Middle' who wrote a song in response to
the US's air attack on Libya during the 80s

AIR RAID

Submerge the mirrors of my dreams
I look out of my window
as the souls crash by
as the souls crash bye

whispering to me
as I feel so sublime
watching time destroy
everything so extreme
everything so extreme

mystery envelopes my lips
covered with the dust of innocence

Submerge the mirrors of my dreams
I look out of my window
as the souls crash by
as the souls crash bye

whispering to me
as I feel so sublime

watching time destroy
everything so extreme
everything so extreme

mystery envelopes my lips
covered with the dust of innocence

Opening wounds with words
that I caress with fear
how can this be felt within
to deny our right to exist

regards

michaelP



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