Zitate von William Morris
William Morris
Geburtstag: 24. März 1834
Todesdatum: 3. Oktober 1896
Andere Namen: উইলিয়াম মরিস, Вилијам Морис
William Morris war ein britischer Maler, Architekt, Dichter, Kunstgewerbler, Ingenieur und Drucker. Er war weiter einer der Gründer des Arts and Crafts Movement und früher Begründer der sozialistischen Bewegung in Großbritannien.
Zitate William Morris
„Love is enough: cherish life that abideth,
Lest ye die ere ye know him, and curse and misname him;
For who knows in what ruin of all hope he hideth,
On what wings of the terror of darkness he rideth?“
Love is Enough (1872), Song VI: Cherish Life that Abideth
Kontext: Love is enough: cherish life that abideth,
Lest ye die ere ye know him, and curse and misname him;
For who knows in what ruin of all hope he hideth,
On what wings of the terror of darkness he rideth?
And what is the joy of man's life that ye blame him
For his bliss grown a sword, and his rest grown a fire?
„It may be yet the Gods will have me glad!
Yet, Love, I would that thee and pain I had!“
"The Death of Paris".
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70)
Kontext: Forgetfulness of grief I yet may gain;
In some wise may come ending to my pain;
It may be yet the Gods will have me glad!
Yet, Love, I would that thee and pain I had!
„Let us speak, love, together some words of our story,
That our lips as they part may remember the glory!“
Love is Enough (1872), Song VII: Dawn Talks to Day
Kontext: Let us speak, love, together some words of our story,
That our lips as they part may remember the glory!
O soft day, O calm day, made clear for our sake!
„Stretch forth your open hands, and while ye live
Take all] the [[gifts that Death and Life may give!“
"March".
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70)
Kontext: Rejoice, lest pleasureless ye die.
Within a little time must ye go by.
Stretch forth your open hands, and while ye live
Take all] the [[gifts that Death and Life may give!
„Stout must thine heart be, nor shall that avail
If thou a wicked soul in thee dost bear;
So once again I bid thee to beware,
Because no base man things like this may see,
And live thereafter long and happily.“
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70), The Lady of the Land
Kontext: What man art thou that thus hast wandered here,
And found this lonely chamber where I dwell?
Beware, beware! for I have many a spell;
If greed of power and gold have led thee on,
Not lightly shall this untold wealth be won.
But if thou com'st here knowing of my tale,
In hope to bear away my body fair,
Stout must thine heart be, nor shall that avail
If thou a wicked soul in thee dost bear;
So once again I bid thee to beware,
Because no base man things like this may see,
And live thereafter long and happily.
„Alas, alas! another day gone by,
Another day and no soul come“
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70), The Lady of the Land
Kontext: "Alas, alas! another day gone by,
Another day and no soul come," she said;
"Another year, and still I am not dead!"
And with that word once more her head she raised,
And on the trembling man with great eyes gazed.
„Change is come, and past over, no more strife, no more learning:
Now your lips and your forehead are sealed with his seal,
Look backward and smile at the thorns and the burning.
— Sweet rest, O my soul, and no fear of returning!“
Love is Enough (1872), Song VIII: While Ye Deemed Him A-Sleeping
Kontext: All wonder of pleasure, all doubt of desire,
All blindness, are ended, and no more ye feel
If your feet treat his flowers or the flames of his fire,
If your breast meet his balms or the edge of his steel.
Change is come, and past over, no more strife, no more learning:
Now your lips and your forehead are sealed with his seal,
Look backward and smile at the thorns and the burning.
— Sweet rest, O my soul, and no fear of returning!
„And fair with sculptured stories it was wrought,
By lapse of time unto dim ruin brought.“
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70), The Lady of the Land
Kontext: Noble the house was, nor seemed built for war,
But rather like the work of other days,
When men, in better peace than now they are,
Had leisure on the world around to gaze,
And noted well the past times' changing ways;
And fair with sculptured stories it was wrought,
By lapse of time unto dim ruin brought.
„But the kissed lips of Love and fair life everlasting!
Cry out, for one heedeth, who leadeth you home!“
Love is Enough (1872), Song IX: Ho Ye Who Seek Saving
Kontext: Come — pain ye shall have, and be blind to the ending!
Come — fear ye shall have, mid the sky's overcasting!
Come — change ye shall have, for far are ye wending!
Come — no crown ye shall have for your thirst and your fasting,
But the kissed lips of Love and fair life everlasting!
Cry out, for one heedeth, who leadeth you home!
„A sorry merchant am I on this day,
E'en as thou willest so must I obey.“
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70), The Lady of the Land
Kontext: From those thy words, I deem from some distress
By deeds of mine thy dear life I might save;
O then, delay not! if one ever gave
His life to any, mine I give to thee;
Come, tell me what the price of love must be?
Swift death, to be with thee a day and night
And with the earliest dawning to be slain?
Or better, a long year of great delight,
And many years of misery and pain?
Or worse, and this poor hour for all my gain?
A sorry merchant am I on this day,
E'en as thou willest so must I obey.
„Masters, I have to tell a tale of woe,
A tale of folly and of wasted life“
Introductory verse.
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70)
Kontext: Masters, I have to tell a tale of woe,
A tale of folly and of wasted life,
Hope against hope, the bitter dregs of strife,
Ending, where all things end, in death at last.
„Ending, where all things end, in death at last.“
Introductory verse.
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70)
Kontext: Masters, I have to tell a tale of woe,
A tale of folly and of wasted life,
Hope against hope, the bitter dregs of strife,
Ending, where all things end, in death at last.
„Dreamer of dreams, born out of my due time,
Why should I strive to set the crooked straight?“
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70), Apology
Kontext: Dreamer of dreams, born out of my due time,
Why should I strive to set the crooked straight?
Let it suffice me that my murmuring rhyme
Beats with light wing against the ivory gate,
Telling a tale not too importunate
To those who in the sleepy region stay,
Lulled by the singer of an empty day.
„The dreams of the dawn wherein death and hope strive.“
Love is Enough (1872), Song II: Have No Thought for Tomorrow
Kontext: Lo, the lovers unloved that draw nigh for your blessing!
For your tale makes the dreaming whereby yet they live
The dreams of the day with their hopes of redressing,
The dreams of the night with the kisses they give,
The dreams of the dawn wherein death and hope strive.
„So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on“
"Art Under Plutocracy" (1883).
Kontext: So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.
„Perchance some marvel I shall see“
The Earthly Paradise (1868-70), The Lady of the Land
Kontext: And there he saw a door within the wall,
Well-hinged, close shut; nor was there in that place
Another on its hinges, therefore he
Stood there and pondered for a little space
And thought: "Perchance some marvel I shall see,
For surely here some dweller there must be,
Because this door seems whole and new and sound,
While nought but ruin I can see around".
„Love is enough: while ye deemed him a-sleeping,
There were signs of his coming and sounds of his feet“
Love is Enough (1872), Song VIII: While Ye Deemed Him A-Sleeping
Kontext: Love is enough: while ye deemed him a-sleeping,
There were signs of his coming and sounds of his feet;
His touch it was that would bring you to weeping,
When the summer was deepest and music most sweet...
„Dawn talks to Day
Over dew-gleaming flowers“
Love is Enough (1872), Song VII: Dawn Talks to Day
Kontext: Dawn talks to Day
Over dew-gleaming flowers,
Night flies away
Till the resting of hours:
Fresh are thy feet
And with dreams thine eyes glistening,
Thy still lips are sweet
Though the world is a-listening.
O Love, set a word in my mouth for our meeting,
Cast thine arms round about me to stay my heart's beating!
O fresh day, O fair day, O long day made ours!
„Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement“
Speech, London (10 March 1880).
Kontext: Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement: a sanded floor and whitewashed walls, and the green trees, and flowery meads, and living waters outside; or a grimy palace amid the smoke with a regiment of housemaids always working to smear the dirt together so that it may be unnoticed; which, think you, is the most refined, the most fit for a gentleman of those two dwellings?
So I say, if you cannot learn to love real art; at least learn to hate sham art and reject it. It is not because the wretched thing is so ugly and silly and useless that I ask you to cast it from you; it is much more because these are but the outward symbols of the poison that lies within them; look through them and see all that has gone to their fashioning, and you will see how vain labour, and sorrow, and disgrace have been their companions from the first — and all this for trifles that no man really needs!
