“The sky considered inside of a hollow sphere in order to describe the positions and motions of astronomical objects. Any particular observer is located at the center of his own celestial sphere. It is easy to imagine the sky as a hemispherical dome. Half the sky is always hidden from an observer on the Earth’s surface; which half of the celestial sphere can be see by an observer depends on the latitude of the Earth and on the date and time. Measurements on the celestial sphere are mad in angular measure (degrees) and do not depend on how far away the objects actually are.”
Jacqueline Milton, “Celestial sphere definition”, Penguin Dictionary of Astronomy (1993)
“Art recalls the memory / Of his true existence / To whoever has forgotten / That Being is the only thing / All the Universe shouts.”
Allen Ginsberg, “This is about death”, Empty Mirror (1961)
“O measureless Church girded with divine arms and adorned with jacinth, you are the fragrance of the wounds of nations and the city of sciences. O, O, and you are anointed amid a noble sound, and you are a sparkling gem.”
Hildegard von Bingen, “Ordo Virtutum” translated by Newman
One man alone has died at Troy, at Metaurus, at Hastings, at Austerlitz, at Trafalgar, at Gettysburg. One man alone has died in hospitals, in boats, in painful solitude, in the rooms of habit and love. One man alone has looked on the enormity of dawn. One man alone has felt on his tongue the fresh quenching of water, the flavor of fruit and of flesh.
I speak of the unique, the single man, he who is always alone.
Jorge Luis Borges, “You, The Gold and the Tigers, translated by Alaistair Reid (1972)
“Sit down, master, on this rude chair of praises, and rule my nervous heart with your great decrees of freedom. Out of time you have taken me to do my daily task. Out of mist and dust you have fashioned me to know the numberless words between the crown and the kingdom. In utter defeat I came to you and you received me with a sweetness I had not dared to remember. Tonight I come to you again, soiled by strategies and trapped in the loneliness of my tiny domain. Establish your law in this walled place. Let nine men come to lift me into their prayer so that I may whisper with them: Blessed be the name of the glory of the kingdom forever and forever.”
Leonard Cohen, “Sit down, master”, The Book of Mercy (1984)
“The heavens grudge us their starry glamour. /Bah! Without it our songs can thrive. / Hey there, Ursus Major, clamor / For us to be taken to heaven alive!”
Vladimir Maiakóvski, “Our March”, Translated by Dorian Rottenberg, (1972)
“In that green realm, gripping / The crackling live wire / And, this time, not letting go.”
Ricardo Sternberg, “landlocked and asleep”, Map of Dreams, (1996)
“Dia dois de fevereiro / Dia de festa no mar / Eu quero ser o primeiro / A saudar Yemanjá / Dia dois de fevereiro / Dia de festa no mar / Eu quero ser o primeiro / A saudar Iemanjá / Escrevi um bilhete a ela / Pedindo pra ela me ajudar / Ela então me respondeu / Que eu tivesse paciência de esperar / O presente que eu mandei pra ela / De cravos e rosas vingou”
Dorival Caymmi, “Dois de Fevereiro” (1957)
“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebezener, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has taken us’.”
Samuel 7:12, Holy Bible, New International Version
