En als we dan toch bezig zijn in de categorie mooie video’s: deze hier wees Absent Martian mij op.
- loom (n.)
- O.E. geloma “utensil, tool,” from ge- perfective prefix + -loma, of unknown origin. Originally “implement or tool of any kind” (cf. heirloom); thus, “the penis” (c.1400-1600). Meaning “a machine in [w]hich yarn or thread is woven into fabric” is from 1404.
Drabkikker 
Ik denk: niemand reageert, dus doe ik dat maar. Bij deze.
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Ja.
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Sången om korsspindeln
Bak villande skog på en grönskande slätt,
där solskenet gassar så hett,
där sitter en spindel så svart och så stor
i gräset och stirrar och glor.
Han solstrålar fångar och tvinnar och gnor
och spinner till mörker och knyter ett flor
så starkt och så tätt,
så luftigt och lätt,
i dess maskor han fångar var levande själ
och pinar och plågar ihjäl.
Och solen hon bleknar, och ljuset så matt
det slocknar i svartaste natt.
Och mänskorna vandra omkring utan själ
men finna sig fram lika väl.
De tycka att mörkret är ljust som en dag
och mörkrädda bli, när det ljusnar ett tag
och gömma sig väl,
och drömma sin själ,
så stark och så fri. När de vakna från det
de tro att de somna så sött.
Men spindeln han spinner så arg i sitt sinn’
– en själ kan han ej fånga in.
Den själen går fri genom tidernas varv
från hjälte till hjälte i arv.
Och maktfulla gör dem och bringar dem nöd
och ära och nesa, – och seger och död,
och pina och blod
för mandom och mod. –
Ty alla de strida mot spindelens nät
och alla de falla på det.
(Adolf Georg Paul)
Sibelius composed this poem. It’s one scary song. And this was one scary clip. Beautiful, but oh so terrifying.
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Wow. Even in Google Translate’s mangled version that is a pretty poem.
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“in its meshes he captures each living soul and torments and tortures to death” = pretty?
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I meant the way in which the song describes the events, not the events themselves.
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Ok, here’s a translation by Lynn Steele.
On a greening plain behind a trackless wood,
where the sun beats down so hotly,
there sits a spider so huge and so black
in the grass, and stares and glowers.
He captures sunbeams and toils and twines,
and spins them to darkness, and fashions a veil
so strong and tight,
so airy and light,
in its meshes he captures each living soul
and torments and tortures to death.
And the sun turns pale, and the light, so feeble,
flickers out into darkest night.
And people wander about without souls
But find their way all the same.
They think the darkness is light as day.
If it lightens a bit they take fright from the dark
and hide themselves away,
and dream themselves a soul
so strong and free. And when they wake up
they think they are falling sweetly asleep.
But the spider spins his furious thoughts,
one soul he can never take prisoner.
That soul moves freely through the circles of time,
passed on from hero to hero.
And it gives them power, and it brings them trouble
and honor and shame – and triumph and death,
and torment and blood
for manhood and courage
For all of them struggle against the spider’s net
and all of them fall in.
Still not terrifying? No?
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Yes, but pretty terrifying.
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Ok. I give up. Maybe you need to hear this as a child (and probably even as a good recording of the song) to get all the shivers and shudders. And it sounds scarier in Finnish (what wouldn’t?). That must be it.
(Whoah, good that it’s a sunny evening. Not at all scared of evil soul craving spiders in the daylight. Nope.)
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One needs to distinguish between content and form. While the former may be terrifying, the latter may still be perceived as pretty. Ever seen a picture of a nuclear explosion?
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Sure sure, I get the form/content distinction. But would you find a picture of a nuclear explosion pretty had you experienced one yourself?
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Well, that of course depends on how close an experience you are talking about. If I were to witness it from a safe (yeah, right) distance I’d probably be all WOOOAHHHH, and find pictures of it maybe even prettier than before. A little bit closer to ground zero might bring me to different conclusions. In either case, the realization of its horribleness would of course utterly overrule the prettiness. Content, after all, is the essence; form is just a brittle egg’s shell.
So, do I perceive a certain reservation regarding spiders?
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Ok then. Maybe it’s the word “pretty” I’m puzzled with. Some things can be mesmerizing in a horrendous way, but pretty? Yes, the content is the essence :-). I’m not phobic, but yes, spiders are evil (not really, I know). It took me two attempts to watch the clip. It’s sheer horror when that poor moth gets entangled in the net.
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Ahh, I see what you mean. ‘Pretty’ is indeed something you would use for daisies and butterflies rather than apocalyptic cataclysms. Maybe ‘awesome’ would have been more apt, if the sad misuse of that word hadn’t worn off its literal meaning so much.
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