At the Time Wall - Ernst Jünger

Part Nine

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At the Time Wall - Ernst Jünger

51

Herodotus, at the dawn of history, looked back on the mythical night. A new light cast a powerful glow that fell even on the gods. There is a historical Christ, but no historical Jupiter. We are at the midnight hour of history; the twelve hands have sounded, and we look ahead into a darkness where future things are taking shape. This view is accompanied by horror, by grave forebodings.

It is the hour of death, but also the hour of birth. The things we see or think we see do not yet have names; they are anonymous. When we label them with words, we touch them vaguely and cannot understand them. Where we say "peace", there may be war. Joyous plans turn into deadly ones, often overnight. Historical names are now only valid in reserve, like classical physics or conventional warfare. Things change without our knowledge. The walls within which our vocabulary still holds sway have closed in on us. Poetry confirms this. It also testifies to something greater, something other than the beginning of a new historical era, a period that can be compared to others in history.