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Wednesday, May 29, 2024
May 18 Memorial
Die Marschallin, from Act I of Der Rosenkavalier, an opera from 1909
Music by Richard Strauss, Words by Hugo von Hoffmannsthal (59 through 106 minutes into opera):
"There is nothing you can do about the passing of time.
Time is a strange thing.
At first we live our lives and time means nothing.
Then, suddenly, you're aware of nothing else.
It's all around us and also within us.
It seeps into our faces;
It trickles across the mirror and flows into our skin.
It also flows between me and you
Silently as an hourglass.
Yet at times I can hear it
flowing inexorably.
Sometimes I awaken in the middle of the night.
I go to all the clocks and I stop them.
Yet, one must not be afraid of time.
Even Time is a creation of the Father who created us all...
Today or tomorrow or the next day you will leave me.
I do not say this to torment you.
I am speaking to myself.
We must be light of heart and light of hand,
holding and taking, holding and letting go.
Those who do not
are punished by Life
and God has no mercy on them."