At the Mid Hour of Night

At the mid hour of night, when stars are weeping, I fly
To the lone valley we loved, when life shone warm in thine eye;
And I think oft, if spirits can steal from the regions of air
To revisit past scenes of delight, thou wilt come to me there
And tell me our love is remember'd even in the sky!
Then I sing the wild song 'twas once such pleasure to hear
When our voices, commingly, breathed like one on the ear;
And as Echo far off through the vale my said orison rolls,
I think, O my Love! 'tis thy voice, from the Kingdom of Souls
Faintly answering still the notes that once were so dear.

Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852)

Beers & Books LXXXIV – Louis Ferdinand Céline

Journey to the End of the Night
*
"The poetry of heroism
appeals irresistibly to those
who don't go to a war,
and even more to those
whom the war is making
enormously wealthy.
It's always so."

Louis Ferdinand Céline (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961)

Beers & Books LXXXIII – Raymond Carver

Woke up this morning with a terrific urge
to lie in bed all day and read.

Raymond Carver (25 May 1938 – 2 August 1988)

Beers & Books LXXXII – William Trevor

I read hungrily and delightedly,
and have realized since
that you can’t write unless you read.

William Trevor (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016)

Beers & Books LXXXI – Wolfgang Borchert

I've got a deep dark suspicion
that pretty soon we should start looking around
for another planet for ourselves.

Wolfgang Borchert (20 May 1921 – 20 November 1947)
 

Beers & Books LXXX – Honoré de Balzac

Equality may perhaps be a right,
but no power on earth
can ever turn it into a fact.

Honoré de Balzac (20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850)
 

Beers & Books LXXIX – Mikhail Bulgakov

"In order to be in control,
you have to have a definite plan
for at least a reasonable period of time.
So how, may I ask, can man be in control
if he can't even draw up a plan
for a ridiculously short period of time,
say, a thousand years, and is, moreover,
unable to ensure his own safety
for even the next day?"

Mikhail Bulgakov (15 May 1891 – 10 März 1940)
 

Beers & Books LXXVIII – Joris Karl Huysmans

A rebours.
*
“There's no doubt about it -
gardeners are the only true artists
these days.”*

Joris Karl Huysmans (5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907)

* Alright, two more:

"Art and prayer are the only decent ejaculations of the soul."

"Only the chaste are truly obscene."

Beers & Books LXXVII – Camilo José Cela

The Hive
*
Ideas?
My head is full of them, one after the other,
but they serve no purpose there.
They must be put down on paper,
one after the other.

Camilo José Cela (11 May 1916 – 17 January 2002)

New Quests on Route 66

And good luck
for your quests
on Route 66

Vamos!

Beers & Books LXXVI – José Ortega y Gasset

The Revolt of the Masses
*
"Better beware of
notions like genius and inspiration;
they are a sort of magic wand
and should be used sparingly by anybody
who wants to see things clearly."

José Ortega y Gasset (9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955)

Saturday Night Music – Adriana Varela

Adriana Varela * 9 May 1952

Beers & Books LXXV – Thomas Pynchon

V.,
The Crying of Lot 49,
Against the Day*,
*
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions,
they don't have to worry about the answers.

* List of Episodes in Against the Day

* Pynchon Wiki: Against the Day

 Thomas Pynchon *8 May 1937