Sparked by by Gaston Bachelard's materialist poetics of reverie, space and dreams, this is an audio-visual exploration of the archetypal More

Sparked by by Gaston Bachelard's materialist poetics of reverie, space and dreams, this is an audio-visual exploration of the archetypal love/death theme examined by, among others, Norman Brown, Herbert Marcuse, and Jean Laplanche, LIFE AND DEATH IN PSYCHOANALYSIS (1970, 1976). _______________________ Here is the text (in Filipino and in English) of the poem recited in the video: EROS/THANATOS: GUNI-GUNI NG KATAWAN AT TALINGHAGA NG KALIKASAN ni E. SAN JUAN, Jr. [Free translation of "The Three Temptations" (see below) by the author] "Anong kamatayan ang nais mo?" Tanong ng babae: "Isang pagkasirang tanso na nagbubukas Ng isang kumbento para sa puso; o kaya Isang batas na pahintulot para sa isang higante, isang pinilakang pagpanaw; O iyong uring dapat pagsikapang matamo; Isang sakramento, isang paglisang ginintuan?" Ay lintik, paano makapipili ang may pakay? Lagi na lamang may sumisingasing na apoy-- Sa aking leeg gumagapang ang salamander! Ngunit dito sa matatag na larangan, Lupang kinabuwalan ng mga magiting na mandirigma, Ang mga dwende'y umaawit ng isang tumbagang himnong handog sa iyo. Subalit kung maaari lamang sana'y makalikha ako para sa sarili Ng isang ulo ng higante, malayo sa pangungulila't pag-iisa-- Oo, totoong aapaw ang tawa ng nimpa ng dagat At malulunod ang aking pinilakang libingan. Sapagkat ito'y tadhana Mula sa bangin, sa pagitan ng matatarik na bundok Na nagdudulot sa atin ng bagwis na sadyang akma sa peregrinasyon. At ikaw na sumasayaw tulad ng isang masanghayang anghel Sa himapapawid ay ipinagkaitan, talagang dahop Sa gintong katangian ng biyayang alindog At kung sakaling ipagdarasal mo ako upang makamit ang "Isang mainam at liblib na burol" na itinakda para sa aking Pagpanaw, aking kamatayang tunay na ginto; Nauukol sa iyo, tanging sa iyo lamang, iniaalay ko ang aking pangalan. "O, ano ngayon, anong uring kamatayan ang ninanasa mo?" Sabi ng babae: "Walang iba kundi ang aking yapos." ________________________________________________ THE THREE TEMPTATIONS by E. SAN JUAN, Jr. "What death would you desire?" She says: "A bronze death that yields A cloister for the heart, or that Which is charter for a giant, a silver death; Or that for which one must labor: One's sacrament, that's a death of gold?" Alas! How can your pilgrim choose? Always there's the hissing of fire— On my neck creeps the salamander! But here on this steadfast ground Earth where the mighty have fallen The gnomes choir a bronze hymn to you And yet could I but rear for myself— A giant's head far from all solitude— O how the undine's lustre shall flood Into my silver sepulcher! For it is fate Out of gorges between sheer cliffs That gives us wings for pilgrimage And you who dance like a scented sylph On the winds have not, have not The golden character of grace And should you but pray for me 'A fine and private place' plucked up For this death, my death, that's golden; To you, alone, I give my only name— "Oh, now, what death would you desire?" She says: "There is only my embrace." [First published with the title "The Dream of the Rose Window" in THE HARVARD ADVOCATE 1964 and in Godkissing Carrion: Selected Poems 1954-64; then in The Ashes of Pedro Abad Santos and Other Poems, 1985; and in Balikbayang Mahal: Passages from Exile, 2007]
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Suid Afrika voor 1652. 1487 The Portuguese explorer Batholemeu Dias sails down the coast to reach southern Angola. He later lands at present-day More

Suid Afrika voor 1652. 1487 The Portuguese explorer Batholemeu Dias sails down the coast to reach southern Angola. He later lands at present-day Walvis Bay and soon after at Lüderitz Bay. 1488 Dias succeeds in circumnavigating the Cape, naming it "Cabo de Bõa Esperança" or the Cape of Good Hope. This is a major breakthrough in the search for discovering a sea-route to India. 1495 With the ascension of Manuel I to the Portuguese throne, the Royal House of Portugal strengthens its support of the scientific maritime investigation into finding a sea trade route to India. 1497 Vasco da Gama is mandated to expand on Dias' discoveries. Da Gama departs from Targus on 8 July 1497, heading an expedition consisting of two ships, São Rafael and São Gabriel . They sail along the southern African coast on the way to India. They put foot on South African soil for the first time on 8 November at present-day St. Helena Bay on the west coast and encounter the first Khoi-Khoi. Da Gama gives the following description of them in his diary: ' The inhabitants of this country are tawny-coloured. Their food is confined to the flesh of seals, whales and gazelles, and the roots of herbs. They are dressed in skins, and wear sheaths over their virile members. They are armed with poles of olive wood to which a horn, browned in the fire, is attached ... ' Further east Da Gama and his crew sight the Natal coast on Christmas Day and name it "Terra do Natal", which is Portuguese for "Land of Birth" (Christmas). (Bron: Bron: SA history online -www.sahistory.org.za)
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