16 January 2014

Étonnant que je puisse oublier, que j'oublie si facilement et chaque fois pour si longtemps, le principe à partir duquel seulement l'on peut écrire des oeuvres intéressantes, et les écrire bien..

"Il faut d'abord se décider en faveur de son propre esprit et de son propre goût. If faut ensuite prendre le temps, et le courage, d'exprimer toute sa pensée à propos du suject choisi (et non pas seulement retenir les expressions qui vous paraissent brillantes or caractéristiques). Il fault enfin tout dire simplement, en se fixant pour but non les charmes, mais la conviction."

Astonishing that I can forget, forget so easily and for so long every time, the only principle according to which interesting works can be written, and written well..

"You have first of all to side with your own spirit, and your own taste. Then take the time, and have the courage, to express all your thoughts on the subject at hand (not just keeping the expressions that seem brilliant or distinctive). Finally you have to say everything simply, not striving for charm, but conviction."

06:00

In the park, there are occasional pockets of darkness formed by vegetation along the paths. As they arrive from the east, planes drop one after the next into the flightpath to Heathrow airport, creating a fluctuating acoustic overhang or slab. Udo was describing how distant sounds, modified as they approach across a terrain, create a diffuse sense of space, a latent region into which a listener may feel they dilate and become more porous. In this park, aircraft descending overhead produce a sense of constriction, an involuntary flinching or bunching, the way a mollusc might retract its foot. The space of the park itself is affected, becoming more compressed, with a heavy lid. When the wind blows the other way, Heathrow transfers to easterly operations and planes land over another part of the city. At those times the park is aerated and the sky lifts.

Credits / References

Francis Ponge: Mémorandum / Memorandum in Proêmes / Proems, 1935. Francis Ponge: Selected Poems, edited by Margaret Guiton. Translated by Margaret Guiton, John Montague and C.K. Williams. Faber, London, 1998. p2–3.