"The waves in the steel..."

When I visited Japan in 1984, I went to the Tokyo National Museum (Ueno). There I saw a couple pre-1500 (i.e., pre-European influence...) swords (Click here to see one).

These swords were unornamented, austere.... They were achingly beautiful. What most struck me was the subtle variations in color of the steel along the length of the blade. I thought of the opening words of Hermann Broch's novel The Death of Virgil: "Steel blue and light...." I thought: "The waves in the steel..." (See my web page about the opening words of "The Virgil": "Water -- The Arrival"....)

When I got back to the U.S., I made an envelope for a note to tell Broch's son about what I had seen (See unfolded envelope "blank", above).

Return  to virtual exhibition of my Envelope Art (another "Virgil" envelope: "...it was the word beyond speech").       Learn  how to "read" envelope "blanks" (e.g., picture at top of this page). See  my web page interpreting the opening paragraph of The Death of Virgil. Return/Go to my H.F. Broch de Rotherman page.   Read Medieval morality play: The Summoning of Everyman.

	http://www.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/sq/sword.html Copyright © 2003 Brad McCormick, Ed.D. bradmcc@cloud9.net (2006-03-12 ISO 8601) 12 March 2006CE v01.11