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James Hutton
The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,—no prospect of an end.
James Hutton (1726–1797)
Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, I · p. 304
Original wording
A crystal before sunrise
Eduard Mörike (1804–1875) was a German poet from Württemberg. His winter poem takes place before sunrise. Precisely because daylight has not yet fallen fully on things, the speaker finds an image for an unusual state of wakefulness.
No false ray yet
The small word “now” limits the comparison to a moment. The crystal does not stand for an unchanging character. It names a receptiveness that the first light might alter even as it reveals it.
My soul now resembles a crystal
That no false ray of light has yet struck;
My spirit seems to flow, it seems to rest,
Open to the impression of a marvellous power near at hand,
Which from the clear belt of blue air
At last calls a magic word before my senses.– Eduard Mörike, Gedichte, p. 1.[1]
Between flow and rest
In the same breath the spirit seems to flow and to rest. The images contradict each other only if one takes either for a final explanation. The poem keeps perception open.
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