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The Librarian: Giuseppe Arcimboldo, c. 1566. oil on canvas, 97 x 71 cm (Skoklosters Slott, Bålsta, Stockholm)
This life, how old it is. Even the golden
forests and the red lips of people.
Time was when people thought they were young,
but others came before them, younger still,
who grew like plants. Every flower
is young because it does not think, but is,
and is nobler than the lovely noble minds
of people who just know, alas, their loveliness:
the loveliness of a dog is of a better kind,
shapelier than the kind a human shows.
Does death disgust us for the reason
that we in fact are much too fond of life?
When a plant dies, does it think of something?
Does a violet have a feeling when it fades?
By the loveliness of a fish how touched we are,
no legs, no hands, the round enormous eyes!
forests and the red lips of people.
Time was when people thought they were young,
but others came before them, younger still,
who grew like plants. Every flower
is young because it does not think, but is,
and is nobler than the lovely noble minds
of people who just know, alas, their loveliness:
the loveliness of a dog is of a better kind,
shapelier than the kind a human shows.
Does death disgust us for the reason
that we in fact are much too fond of life?
When a plant dies, does it think of something?
Does a violet have a feeling when it fades?
By the loveliness of a fish how touched we are,
no legs, no hands, the round enormous eyes!
Water: Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1566, oil on canvas, 67 x 51 cm (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)
Robert Walser (1878-1956): This life, how old it is (Spring 1928) from Robert Walser: Thirty Poems, selected and translated by Christopher Middleton: Christine Burgin/New Directions 2012
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