Hemlock #28 Watchmen: A Cold War Essay (Part One) Ozymandias, The Doomsday Clock, Rorschach, Nukes in Vietnam, Berlin Pop, Rilke, Thomas Merton & the Unspeakable, and Confronting the End of the World

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Music Credit (Cover of 99 Luftballons by NENA, performed by /millibeep)

⁠https://youtu.be/gTss-rBgUl8⁠

What the song means (⁠Genius⁠):

[Verse 1]If you have some time for me

Then I will sing a song for you

Of ninety-nine balloons

On their way to the horizon

Are you perhaps thinking of me right now?

Then I will sing a song for you

Of ninety-nine balloons

And something that came of them

[Verse 2]

Ninety-nine balloons

On their way to the horizon

Were taken for UFOs from space

Hence, a general sent

A squadron after them

To give the alarm

But there, on the horizon

Were just ninety-nine balloons

[Verse 3]

⁠Ninety-nine jet fighters

Each was a great warrior

Regarded themselves as Captain Kirk⁠

There was a great display of fireworks

The neighbors didn't understand

And instantly felt offended

But they shot at the horizon

At ninety-nine balloons

[Verse 4]

Ninety-nine ministers of war

Matches and petrol canisters

Regarded themselves as clever people

Already on the scent of a hunt⁠

They shouted, "War," and wanted power⁠

Man, who would have thought?

That someday it would come this far

Because of ninety-nine balloons

[Verse 5]Ninety-nine years of war

Left no place for winners

War ministers don't exist anymore

Neither do the fighter jets

Today, I stroll around

See the world in ruins

I've found a balloon

I think of you and let it fly

--//--

Sources:

• Archaic Torso of Apollo

  • Source: ⁠Wikipedia: Archaic Torso of Apollo⁠

  • Summary: This poem by Rainer Maria Rilke explores an ancient, fragmented statue of the Greek god Apollo, contemplating its powerful and enduring presence despite its missing parts. The poem ultimately concludes with the famous line, "You must change your life"

• JFK and the Unspeakable

  • Source: ⁠Goodreads: JFK and the Unspeakable⁠

  • Summary: James W. Douglass's book argues that President John F. Kennedy's assassination was the result of his conversion from a Cold Warrior to a peacemaker. It posits that Kennedy was killed by his own security apparatus for pursuing peace with the Soviet Union and Cuba.

• Merton Lectures on Rilke

  • Source: ⁠Goodreads: Thomas Merton on the Poetry and Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke⁠

  • Summary: This is a collection of remastered talks by Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk and renowned poet, who deeply admired Rainer Maria Rilke. In these lectures, Merton explores Rilke's poetry and letters, demonstrating how Rilke's work informed his own Catholic spirituality.

• Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke

  • Source: ⁠Goodreads: Letters to a Young Poet⁠

  • Summary: This is a collection of ten letters written by poet Rainer Maria Rilke to a young officer cadet, Franz Xaver Kappus. Rilke advises the young man not on his poetry itself, but on how to live an authentic and artistic life by looking inward for truth.

• Robert Bly Commentary of Rilke

  • Source: ⁠Scribd: Rilke and Bly⁠

  • Summary: Robert Bly, an American poet and translator, is known for his influential translations and commentary on Rilke's poetry.

• The Sonnets to Orpheus by Rilke

  • Source: ⁠Goodreads: The Sonnets to Orpheus⁠

  • Summary: "Sonnets to Orpheus" is a collection of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, written as a tribute to a young woman who died from illness. The poems explore themes of art, life, and death through the mythological figure of Orpheus, the legendary musician who could charm all of nature with his song.

• Doomsday Clock

  • Source: ⁠Britannica: Doomsday Clock⁠

  • Summary: A symbol maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to represent how close humanity is to a human-made global catastrophe. The clock is a metaphor, with "midnight" representing the end of the world, and the time is assessed annually based on threats like nuclear weapons and climate change.