segunda-feira, fevereiro 07, 2005
Fragmentos
THE difficulty of the first address on any new occasion, is felt by every man in his transactions with the world, and confessed by the settled and regular forms of salutation which necessity has introduced into all languages. Judgment was wearied with the perplexity of being forced upon choice, where there was no motive to preference; and it was found convenient that some easy method of introduction should be established, which, if it wanted the allurement of novelty, might enjoy the security of prescription.
Isto é o Dr. Samuel Johnson, o meu herói quer na Literatura quer na Vida, no início do número 1 da sua crónica bisemanal The Rambler (saiu religiosamente todas as Terças e Sábados desde 20 Março de 1750 até 14 de Março de 1752), meditando sobre a dificuldade natural de qualquer começo. Depois de passar por Homero, Horácio, Tucídides e Plutarco, acaba a oferecer o consolo da sua gentil ironia, o consolo possível, para o terrível destino do Cronista Falhado:
Nor is the prospect less likely to ease the doubts of the cautious, and the terrours of the fearful; for to such the shortness of every single paper is a powerful encouragement. He that questions his abilities to arrange the dissimilar parts of an extensive plan, or fears to be lost in a complicated system, may yet hope to adjust a few pages without perplexity; and if, when he turns over the repositories of his memory, he finds his collection too small for a volume, he may yet have enough to furnish out an essay. He that would fear to lay out too much time upon an experiment of which he knows not the event, persuades himself that a few days will show him what he is to expect from his learning and his genius. If he thinks his own judgment not sufficiently enlightened, he may, by attending the remarks which every paper will produce, rectify his opinions. If he should with too little premeditation encumber himself by an unwieldy subject, he can quit it without confessing his ignorance, and pass to other topicks less dangerous, or more tractable. And if he finds, with all his industry, and all his artifices, that he cannot deserve regard, or cannot attain it, he may let the design fall at once, and, without injury to others or himself, retire to amusements of greater pleasure, or to studies of better prospect.
De Crónica em Crónica até ao Falhanço final, os temas serão: Deus, estrelas, violência espiritual, cabeleiras a arder, silêncio, as devastações do amor, mais violência espiritual, ditirambos, solipsismos, humilhação, divagações e ultraviolência. A esperança, ténue mas persistente, é que nos espaços vazios, por entre as fissuras das palavras, alguém consiga detectar um rastro de luz. Ou:
Wir
wissen ja nicht, weisst du,
wir
wissen ja nicht,
was
gilt.
— Paul Celan, Zürich, Zum Storchen (excerto).
Vamos a ver no que isto vai dar.
