Intro ― What are Deep Readings?
Deep Readings are encounters with fragments of literature – poems, passages from novels, wisdom texts, song lyrics, even letters – that carry a symbolic richness and a resonance reaching beyond the literal. You find a growing list of these in the category Deep Readings. The emphasis is not on literary scholarship, nor on treating literature Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Yasunari Kawabata – Nobel Lecture (1968)
(about Deep Readings) The FragmentOriginal (Japanese, from Dōgen): 春は花 夏ほととぎす 秋は月 冬雪さえてすずしかりけり Transliteration: Haru wa hana,natsu hototogisu,aki wa tsuki,fuyu yuki saete,suzushikarikeri. English rendering (by Lisa): In spring, the flowers.In summer, the cuckoo’s song.In autumn, the moon.In winter, the snow, clear and cold. (Public domain, NobelPrize.org) Read the full lecture → Nobel Prize website Contextual GlimpseWhen Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Bob Dylan – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (1973)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment “Mama, take this badge off of meI can’t use it anymore.It’s gettin’ dark, too dark to see,I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door.”(Short quote due to copyright) Read full lyrics → GeniusListen → Dylan performing on YouTube Contextual GlimpseWritten in 1973 for the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Baden Powell – Canto de Yemanjá
The FragmentOriginal (Portuguese): Iemanjá, IemanjáIemanjá é dona Janaína que vemIemanjá, IemanjáIemanjá é muita tristeza que vem English rendering (by Lisa) Iemanjá, Iemanjá,Iemanjá is Lady Janaína who comes.Iemanjá, Iemanjá,Iemanjá is a deep sorrow that comes. (Short excerpt due to copyright) Read full lyrics → LetrasListen → Baden Powell on YouTube Contextual GlimpseIn 1966, guitarist Baden Powell Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi – The Guest House
The FragmentOriginal (Persian): انسان، خانهٔ مهمان است.هر صبح، یک ورود جدید.شادی، اندوه، بدی —آنچه میآید،مهمانِ ناگزیر است. English rendering (by Lisa) Being human is a guest house.Each morning brings a new arrival:joy, sorrow, harshness —whatever comesis an unavoidable guest. (Public domain text, English rendering by Lisa) [Read more → online collections of Rumi’s poetry] Contextual Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Gabriel García Márquez – One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Fragment “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”[Read more → One Hundred Years of Solitude (various online sources)] Contextual GlimpsePublished in 1967, One Hundred Years of Solitude became a cornerstone of magical realism and Latin Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Virginia Woolf – Mrs Dalloway
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. For Lucy had her work cut out for her. The doors would be taken off their hinges; Rumpelmayer’s men were coming. And then, thought Clarissa Dalloway, what a morning — fresh as if issued to children on a beach. What a Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Albert Camus – The Stranger
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment “Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY. That doesn’t mean anything. It may have been yesterday.”[Read more → The Stranger (various online sources)] Contextual GlimpsePublished in 1942, during the Second World War, The Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Franz Kafka – The Metamorphosis
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin. He lay on his armour‑like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Frederik van Eeden ― Van de koele meren des doods ― (1900)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment“En ik voelde de koele meren van den dood als een zachte lokking, een belofte van rust, waar geen strijd meer is, waar het leven zwijgt in diepe, zoete vergetelheid. Ik zag ze voor mij, vredig glanzend in een nevel van licht, en het water scheen mij te roepen zonder stem, Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Leo Tolstoy – Anna Karenina (1877)
The FragmentOriginal (public domain, English translation): Anna was not in lilac, which Kitty had so eagerly anticipated, but in a black velvet gown with a low bodice. Her dress was simple, but only she could have worn it with such grace. She moved as though every gesture were music. All eyes followed her. Wherever she Read the full article…
Deep Readings: The Cars ― Drive ― (1984)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment“Who’s gonna tell you when it’s too late?Who’s gonna drive you home tonight?”(Short quote due to copyright. Full lyrics available via licensed sources such as Genius or SongMeanings.) Contextual glimpseReleased in 1984 on the album Heartbeat City, Drive is a ballad of quiet urgency. Unlike The Cars’ more upbeat hits, it’s Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Brothers Karamazov-2 (1880)
The FragmentOriginal (English translation, public domain): “We shall persuade them that they will only become free when they resign their freedom to us and submit to us. … We shall deceive them again, for they will never, never have freedom so long as men remain weak, rebellious, and incapable of happiness. But they will be Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Fyodor Dostoevsky – The Brothers Karamazov (1880)
The FragmentOriginal (English translation, public domain): “I hasten to give back my ticket. And it is not that I don’t accept God, Alyosha, only I most respectfully return Him the ticket. … I renounce the higher harmony altogether. It is not worth one single tear of that little child who was beaten and tormented.” (Public Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Prince ― Purple Rain ― (1984)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment“I never meant to cause you any sorrowI never meant to cause you any painI only wanted to one time see you laughingI only wanted to see youLaughing in the purple rain.”(Short quote due to copyright. Full lyrics available via study/review sites such as Genius, LitCharts, or SongMeanings.) See one of Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Alexander Pushkin – Eugene Onegin
The Fragment Я к вам пишу — чего же боле?Что я могу еще сказать?Теперь, я знаю, в вашей волеМеня презреньем наказать.Но вы, к моей несчастной долеХоть каплю жалости храня,Вы не оставите меня. English rendering (by Lisa): I write to you — what more can I say?What else remains for me to speak?I know it rests Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Hafiz ― Selected Poems ― (14th c.)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.”(Public domain, popular rendering via Sacred Texts) Contextual glimpseHafiz (also Hafez) was a 14th-century Persian poet revered for his ecstatic, mystical verses. Deeply influenced by Sufism, his poems often move fluidly between Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – Faust I
The Fragment Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach! in meiner Brust,Die eine will sich von der andern trennen;Die eine hält, in derber Liebeslust,Sich an die Welt mit klammernden Organen;Die andre hebt gewaltsam sich vom DustZu den Gefilden hoher Ahnen. English rendering (public domain): Two souls dwell, alas! within my breast,and each would fain from the other part;one Read the full article…
Deep Readings: William Shakespeare ― Hamlet ― (1603)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment“To be, or not to be: that is the question:Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them?” (Public domain, full soliloquy via Project Gutenberg) Contextual glimpseThis soliloquy appears early in Act 3 of Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Friedrich Nietzsche – Thus Spoke Zarathustra
The Fragment „Ich lehre euch den Übermenschen.Der Mensch ist Etwas, das überwunden werden soll.Was habt ihr gethan, ihn zu überwinden?Alle Wesen bisher schufen Etwas über sich hinaus:und ihr wollt die Ebbe dieser grossen Fluth seinund lieber noch zum Thiere zurückgehn,als den Menschen überwinden?“ English rendering (by Lisa) “I teach you the overman.Man is something that Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Fairouz – We Had a Mill
The Fragment كان عنا طاحونه، عَ نبع الميّقدامها ساحة وبيت صغيروكان في قناطر، مزينينمزينين بالأزاهير English rendering (by Lisa) We had a mill by the spring of water,in front of it a yard and a small house.There were arches, adorned,adorned with flowers. (Short excerpt due to copyright) Read full lyrics → MusixMatchListen → Fairouz performing Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Hannah Arendt – The Human Condition (1958)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment The human condition is plurality: to live as a distinct and unique being among others. Without the presence of others, no one can appear, act, or speak. We are born into a world that we share — and it is through this sharing that freedom becomes real. (Excerpted, fair use Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Emily Dickinson – Because I could not stop for Death
The Fragment Because I could not stop for Death –He kindly stopped for me –The Carriage held but just Ourselves –And Immortality. We slowly drove – He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility – We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess – in the Ring –We Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Bhagavad Gītā – Arjuna’s Hesitation (Chapter 2)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment My limbs fail, my mouth is dry, my body trembles, my hair stands on end… I will not fight. (Chapter 2, selected lines. Public domain — Read more → Sacred Texts) Contextual GlimpseThe Bhagavad Gītā forms the spiritual heart of the Mahābhārata, written between the 2nd century BCE and 2nd Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Maya Angelou – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Fragment “A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun rays. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill…”(Short excerpt due to Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Arthur Rimbaud – Le Dormeur du Val (1870)
The FragmentOriginal (French):C’est un trou de verdure où chante une rivière,Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillonsD’argent; où le soleil, de la montagne fière,Luit: c’est un petit val qui mousse de rayons. Un soldat jeune, bouche ouverte, tête nue,Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu,Dort; il est étendu dans l’herbe, sous la nue,Pâle dans Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Honoré de Balzac – Eugénie Grandet (1833)
The FragmentOriginal (French): Pauvre fille! sa vie était finie; sa jeunesse, ses illusions, ses sentiments, tout était brisé comme un arbre foudroyé; elle n’avait plus qu’à mourir doucement, lentement, comme se consume une lampe à laquelle on n’a pas songé d’apporter de l’huile. English rendering (by Lisa): Poor girl! her life was finished; her youth, Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Paul Verlaine – Il pleure dans mon cœur
The FragmentOriginal (French):Il pleure dans mon cœurComme il pleut sur la ville;Quelle est cette langueurQui pénètre mon cœur? Ô bruit doux de la pluiePar terre et sur les toits!Pour un cœur qui s’ennuie,Ô le chant de la pluie! Il pleure sans raisonDans ce cœur qui s’écœure.Quoi! nulle trahison?…Ce deuil est sans raison. C’est bien la Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Marcus Aurelius ― Meditations ― (~170 CE)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”(Public domain, via Project Gutenberg) Contextual glimpseMarcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 CE, wrote Meditations as private reflections, not for publication. A Stoic in both thought and action, he sought clarity and control amidst the Read the full article…
Deep Readings: William Wordsworth ― Tintern Abbey ― (1798)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment “These beauteous forms,Through a long absence, have not been to meAs is a landscape to a blind man’s eye:But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the dinOf towns and cities, I have owed to themIn hours of weariness, sensations sweet,Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;And passing even Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Sappho ― Fragments ― (~6th c. BCE)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment“Someone, I tell you, will remember us in the future.”(Public domain, via Perseus Digital Library) Contextual GlimpseSappho lived on the island of Lesbos in the 6th century BCE and is one of the earliest known female poets in Western literature. Her work, largely preserved in fragments, is both intimate and profound Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Bei Dao – The Answer
The FragmentOriginal (Chinese): 我不相信天是蓝的我不相信雷的回声我不相信梦是假的我不相信死无报应 Pinyin (transliteration): Wǒ bù xiāngxìn tiān shì lán deWǒ bù xiāngxìn léi de huíshēngWǒ bù xiāngxìn mèng shì jiǎ deWǒ bù xiāngxìn sǐ wú bàoyìng English rendering (by Lisa): I do not believe the sky is blue,I do not believe in the echo of thunder,I do not believe dreams are false,I Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Sun Tzu ― The Art of War ― (~5th c. BCE)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”(Public domain) Contextual glimpseThe Art of War is a Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a strategist active in the Eastern Zhou period. Composed of thirteen concise chapters, it distills principles of leadership, discipline, and psychological insight. This line Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Li Bai – Quiet Night Thoughts
The FragmentOriginal (Chinese): 床前明月光，疑是地上霜。举头望明月，低头思故乡。 Pinyin (transliteration): Chuáng qián míng yuè guāng,yí shì dì shàng shuāng.Jǔ tóu wàng míng yuè,dī tóu sī gù xiāng. English rendering (by Lisa): Before my bed, the bright moonlight —I thought it was frost upon the ground.I lift my head and gaze at the bright moon,I lower my head and think Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You (1974)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment If I should stay, I would only be in your way. So I’ll go, but I know I’ll think of you each step of the way. (Short excerpt due to copyright; full version on Genius) See Dolly Parton sing this on YouTube. Contextual GlimpseDolly Parton wrote I Will Always Love Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Warabe Uta – The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
The Fragment まわれ まわれ まわれよ水車 まわれまわって お日さん 呼んで来いまわって お日さん 呼んで来い English rendering Spin, spin, spin around,Water wheel, spin.Turn and call the sun to come,Turn and call the sun to come. Listen → “Warabe Uta” from The Tale of the Princess Kaguya on YouTube Male voice Female voices Contextual GlimpseMaware maware was newly composed for The Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Phil Collins ― Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) (1984)
(about Deep Readings) The fragment“Take a look at me now — there’s just an empty space; and there’s nothing left here to remind me, just the memory of your face.”(Copyright proof) Read full lyrics → GeniusWatch move fragment → on YouTube Contextual glimpseWritten for the 1984 film Against All Odds, Phil Collins turned a private Read the full article…
Deep Readings: A Waka from The Tale of Genji
The FragmentOriginal (Japanese, classical): もの思へば沢の蛍も我が身よりあくがれ出づる魂かとぞ見る English rendering (by Lisa): Lost in thought,even the fireflies by the marshseem to melike souls drifting away,escaping from my body. (Public domain, early 11th century) Read more → Project Gutenberg Contextual GlimpseMurasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji (early 11th century) is filled with short waka poems that crystallize emotion into Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Pink Floyd ― The Great Gig in the Sky (1973)
(about Deep Readings) The fragment“I am not frightened of dying. Any time will do;I don’t mind. Why should I be frightened of dying?There’s no reason for it.”(Copyright proof) Listen → Pink Floyd (Atom verion) on YouTube Contextual glimpsePlaced near the heart of The Dark Side of the Moon, this track bridges spoken reflections on death Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Murasaki Shikibu – The Tale of Genji
The FragmentOriginal (Japanese, classical): いとやむごとなき際にはあらぬが、すぐれて時めき給ふありけり。はじめより我はと思ひあがり給へる御方方、めざましきものにおとしめ嫉み給ふ。 English rendering (by Lisa): There was one lady, not of the highest rank, yet she shone with such brilliance that she eclipsed all others. From the first, those proud in their lineage despised and envied her, finding her presence unbearable. (Public domain, early 11th century) Read more → Project Gutenberg Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Moby — One of These Mornings (2002)
(about Deep Readings) The fragment“One of these morningsWon’t be very longYou will look for meand I’ll be gone”(Copyright proof) Read full lyrics → GeniusListen (long version) → on YouTubeMiami Vice – Patti Labelle version Contextual glimpseReleased in 2002 on the album 18, Moby’s “One of These Mornings” sets a few spare lines against a steady, Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Pink Floyd ― Time (1973)
(about Deep Readings) The fragment“And then one day you findten years have got behind youNo one told you when to run,you missed the starting gun.”(Copyright proof) Read full lyrics → GeniusListen → Pink Floyd on YouTube (reunion version) Contextual glimpseFrom 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon, “Time” stands at the album’s core: clocks exploding Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Mahmoud Darwish – On This Earth
The FragmentOriginal (Arabic): على هذه الأرض ما يستحق الحياة English rendering (by Lisa): On this earth, there is what deserves life. (Short excerpt due to copyright) [Read more → study/review sites] Contextual GlimpseMahmoud Darwish (1941–2008) is the national poet of Palestine and one of the world’s great modern voices. His poetry weaves love, loss, exile, Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Umm Kulthum – Hope of My Life
The FragmentOriginal (Arabic): أمل حياتي يا حب غالي ما ينتهيشيا أحلى غنوة سمعها قلبي ولا تتنسيش Transliteration: Amal hayati, ya ḥubb ghālī mā yintahīsh,ya aḥlā ghunwa sami‘hā qalbī wa-lā tatansīsh. English rendering (by Lisa): Hope of my life, O precious love that never ends,sweetest song my heart has heard, never forgotten. (Short excerpt due to Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Unheilig ― Mein Stern (2004)
(about Deep Readings)The fragment„Befreist in mir das starre Denken und löst in mir den tristen Blick, lässt den Fokus auf dich lenken — mein Stern.“ (21 words)English paraphrase: “You free the rigid thinking in me, loosen my dreary gaze, draw my focus toward you — my star.”(copyright proof) Read full lyrics → GeniusListen → on Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Shakira – Antología
The Fragment “Para amarte, necesito una razón,y es difícil creer que no exista una más que este amor.”(Short excerpt due to copyright) English paraphrase: “To love you, I need a reason, and it is hard to believe there is no other reason than this love itself.” Read full lyrics → Genius (see English rendering by Read the full article…
Deep Reading: Tim Maia – Me Dê Motivo
The Fragment “Me dê motivo pra ir embora,estou vendo a hora de te perder.Me dê motivo, vai ser agora,eu vou embora, o que vou fazer?”(Short excerpt due to copyright) English paraphrase: “Give me a reason to go away, I feel the moment of losing you. Give me a reason, it will be now — I’ll Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Haruki Murakami – Norwegian Wood
The Fragment “I was thirty‑seven then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747 plunged through dense cloud cover on approach to Hamburg airport. Cold November rains drenched the earth and lent everything the gloomy air of a Flemish landscape. The Beatles’ song Norwegian Wood began to play.”(Short quote due to copyright) [Read more → Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Ridley Scott – Blade Runner (1982)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.Time to die.” Spoken by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), a replicant whose four-year lifespan has Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
(about Deep Readings) The Fragment HAL 9000: “I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.” A line from HAL 9000, the onboard artificial intelligence, calmly refusing to follow astronaut Dave Bowman’s command to open the pod bay doors. Spoken in an eerily gentle voice, this moment marks the turning point in HAL’s betrayal — Read the full article…
Janis Joplin ― Me and Bobby McGee (1971)
(about Deep Readings) The fragment“Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to loseNothin’, it ain’t nothin’, honey, if it ain’t free”(Copyright proof) Read full lyrics → GeniusListen → Janis Joplin on YouTube Contextual glimpseWritten by Kris Kristofferson and Fred Foster, the song was first recorded in 1969, but it was Janis Joplin’s posthumous 1971 version Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Pablo Neruda – Poem XX (from Twenty Love Poems, 1924)
(about Deep Readings) The FragmentOriginal (Spanish): Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.Escribir, por ejemplo: «La noche está estrellada,y tiritan, azules, los astros, a lo lejos.» El viento de la noche gira en el cielo y canta.Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche.Yo la quise, y a veces ella también me quiso. En Read the full article…
Deep Readings: S. Imamura ― The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
The fragment“When the snow comes, I will go to Narayama. It is my time.” Read more → Goodreads Contextual glimpseShohei Imamura’s film retells the folk tale of obasute (abandoning an elderly parent on the mountain) in a harsh rural village where hunger rules. The camera stays close to bodies: teeth, skin, sex, birth, and rot. Read the full article…
Deep Readings: Paul Valéry ― Le Cimetière marin (1920)
The fragment« Le vent se lève ! … il faut tenter de vivre ! » English rendering: “The wind is rising! … we must try to live!” Public domain → Wikisource Contextual glimpseValéry’s long poem unfolds above the sea at Sète, where a bright cemetery looks over a sun-struck Mediterranean. Marble, noon, and the glittering Read the full article…
Deep Readings: John Lennon ― Imagine (1971)
(about Deep Readings) The fragment “Imagine there’s no heavenIt’s easy if you tryNo hell below usAbove us only skyImagine all the people living life in peace”(Copyright proof) Read full lyrics → Genius Listen → on YouTube Contextual glimpseReleased in 1971, “Imagine” became John Lennon’s most famous solo song, written with crucial conceptual influence from Yoko Read the full article…