Web of Morning
“I remember a clear morning in the Ninth Month when it had been raining all night. Despite the bright sun, dew was still dripping from the chrysanthemums in the garden. On the bamboo fences and criss-cross hedges I saw tatters of spider webs; and where the threads were broken, the raindrops hung on them like strings of white pearls. I was greatly moved and delighted…. Later I described to people how beautiful it all was. What most impressed me was that they were not at all impressed.”
Sei Shonagon, The Pillow Book, 1002
(Yes, that date is correct... amazing when you think about what we were doing in the western world in 1002! Sei's experience as a lady in waiting at the high court of Japan was unusual, but the reaction to her enthusiasm over a dew-drenched spider web would probably still be pretty typical today.)
Web of Morning
“I remember a clear morning in the Ninth Month when it had been raining all night. Despite the bright sun, dew was still dripping from the chrysanthemums in the garden. On the bamboo fences and criss-cross hedges I saw tatters of spider webs; and where the threads were broken, the raindrops hung on them like strings of white pearls. I was greatly moved and delighted…. Later I described to people how beautiful it all was. What most impressed me was that they were not at all impressed.”
Sei Shonagon, The Pillow Book, 1002
(Yes, that date is correct... amazing when you think about what we were doing in the western world in 1002! Sei's experience as a lady in waiting at the high court of Japan was unusual, but the reaction to her enthusiasm over a dew-drenched spider web would probably still be pretty typical today.)