In the 10th grade I started learning German in order to read Hesse's "Siddartha" in the original. I accomplished that during the first few months at Penn State; on my own, since Hesse was not in the curriculum. Much later when deployed to Germany I read "Das Glasperlenspiel" ("The Glass Bead Game") in the original, having read the translation in high school.
That book, Hesse's last full-length novel, speaks to the synthesis of learning from various sources, such as music, literature, painting, and philosophy. As time passes, I see more clearly what that means as I read, reflect, talk with others, and write.
S.L. Weisend shared with me a poem by Tomas Tranströmer, who passed away i n his native Sweden yesterday. He won the Nobel prize for Literature in 2011, and while I remember that, I do not remember reading anything more by him outside of whatever was in the news story. Tranströmer himself was an accomplished pianist who co ntinued playing with his left hand after a stroke paralyzed his right.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/books/tomas-transtromer-crystalline-swedish-poet-dies-at-83.html?_r=0
When sharing the following poem with my, S.L paid me the huge compliment of seeing traces of the Nobel Laureate in some of my poems. I am honored, and agree; I will be reading more of him!
The work shared with my is based on an actual event involving two of my favorite composers, Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt. Wagner married Liszt's daughter, Cosima. I visited their graves in Bayreuth.
What do you think? I provide a link to the poem, and pictures I took of the graves.
http://www.theparisreview.org/poetry/1861/la-lugubre-gondola-no-2-tomas-transtromer
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