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October 15, at sea
The ship represents the accumulation of human genius over
centuries. For centuries, millenia, past and present nations have
spawned generations, have refined and gradually perfected them. The
ship is the triumph of reason, its supremacy over the elements. The ship represents logic, mathematics, calculation, measure, balance. It
represents strict reality without any extra elements. It also represents complex imagination, dreams; its motor, its engine is a complex, powerful Wagnerian megaphonic music.
The rhythm of the ship corresponds directly to the heartbeat of
man. My heart beats with its timing, beat, rhythm.
Now, at this moment, somewhere, someone is in agony; someone
is bemoaning life, being nostalgic about the past; someone is mourning a
beloved deceased; someone else is plotting a crime; another person has
his head bent over a piece of paper and is composing a sonnette; some
place the sheep are returning home; somewhere else there is dancing,
fighting and beating; a child is being born, horses are running in open
fields, and water mills are grinding away on the flanks of mountains; somewhere there is song and wine, love and happiness; on a distant star, it is storming and forests are rustling; on a distant star, there is love and death; a world is destroyed, a world is born...
I have walked the magnificent and gorgeous banks of lake Garda which, centuries ago, were sung to by Virgil and Catullus...
I do not know, is it the sky that has imparted its color to the sea or
has it absorbed its color from the sea? Seafarers say that the color of the
sea is suspended from heaven.
We passed the city of Bari in the evening. By night, it is a most impressive city, newly constructed, grand, with broad streets, with a magnificent seashore. Buildings, big buildings, grand, monumental.
Among other things, the new, huge building of the Palazo
[sic] finanzi struck my eye in one respect. Even though it reflects the new style, it is simple and handsome. But on both sides of the main entrance
there are double, tall columns upon which there is neither a structure nor arches but on each column, reaching halfway up the wall, there is a
statue. Therefore, in this case, the columns do not serve a constructive, necessary function, but represent decor, luxury, style, beauty, aesthetics.
It is late in the evening, it is night. A bird is flying alone, fearlessly,
over the dark, gloomy seas. Apparently the ship serves as its mooring, companion, support; it has come with the ship and it is going with it. It
soars, then flees over the masts. Bread crumbs, edible odds and ends
on board ship supports its existence.
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