Whatever I have been saying about deliberation, this morning brought a subtle reminder that sometimes swift action is more important (although, as I have previously observed, Isaiah Berlin has also made this point). The reminder came from the Vox channel on XM Satellite Radio, which happened to be airing Mahler's Knaben Wunderhorn songs the morning after I watched Act One of Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke. The song "Das irdische Leben" (The Earthly Life) seemed to be about the aftermath of Katrina, even though the text was far older. See if you get what I mean by reading an English translation of the text:"Mother, oh mother, I'm hungry! give me some bread or I shall die!"
"Just wait! Just wait, my dear child! tomorrow we shall hurry to harvest!"And the grain was harvested, the child still cried out:
"Mother, oh mother, I'm hungry! give me some bread or I shall die!"
"Just wait! Just wait, my dear child! tomorrow we shall hurry and go threshing!"And when the grain was threshed, the child still cried out:
"Mother, oh mother, I'm hungry! give me some bread or I shall die!"
"Just wait! Just wait, my dear child! tomorrow we shall hurry and bake!"And when the bread was baked, the child lay on the funeral bier!
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