Monday 29 April 2013

Visiting Mozart on an April Morning
When the Lilacs in St. Marx are blooming

Nature's Nurture
The cemetery of St. Marx
was closed 135 years ago, in 1874,
yet to this day in mid-April
the hundreds of lilac bushes lining its walkways
and leaning over gravestones and memorials
turn this quiet place alive with a chorus of colours,
showering it in shades of lavender.

Walking along its paths,
stepping from the warm bright light of the midday sun
into the cool shade of lilac bushes and chestnut trees,
breathing air filled with the heavy scent of lilac blossoms,
fills my soul with peace and gratefulness about being alive.

An angel's wings,
in the shade of an ancient cedar tree,
which has been completely covered by a mighty ivy plant,
turning it into an ivy tree.

Most of the remaining gravestones
are from the Biedermeier period.

St. Marx is the last Biedermeier cemetary remaining,
not only in Vienna, but the whole world.

Rows and rows
of gravestones and lilacs,
hard to choose which ones
to show you.

Cherry blossom time
preceded the lilacs,
while red and white chestnut trees
are about ready to break into full bloom.

I have visited St. Marx
in late fall and winter,
when gardeners were trimming the lilac bushes.
The resources are scarce,
yet - incredibly - access to this heaven
is free, open to Viennese and visitors alike.

Many visitors
come here to visit the Mozart memorial,
erected where his earthly remains were most likely
buried - the exact location is not known, though.

Lilac blossoms
surround this hallowed grounds,
while the memorial itself is decked out
in a gaudy riot of colours, primulas,
fading fast in the heat of the late spring sun.

Photographed by Merisi
on Monday, April 20, 2009
Images and text © Merisi
R e p o s t

17 comments:

  1. Beautiful with all those lilacs. that's a huge angelwing - I love statues, and i see many here.

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  2. Park cemeteries are the most beautiful. I wonder if the architects of these places imagined what they would look like in our time. So beautiful. Cemeteries are a place of peace and often a sanctuary for nature. Your lilacs are gorgeous.

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  3. Wonderful! So often the cemetary is the prettiest place in town.

    My lavender is just on the verge of blooming.

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  4. This is the place for me, what a wonderful resting place!

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  5. Looks like a beautiful and peaceful place. Where exactly is it in Vienna?

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    1. In the 3rd District, not too far from Landstrasse Gürtel.

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  6. There is nothing like the smell of lilacs. We have one side of our backyard lined with lilacs and they are just starting to get their little green leaves. Should have blooms by mid-May!

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  7. Werdet ihr dann an meinem Grabe weinen,
    Trauernd meine Asche sehn,
    Dann, o Freunde, will ich euch erscheinen
    Und will himmelauf euch wehn.

    Schenk auch du ein Tränchen mir
    Und pflücke mir ein Veilchen auf mein Grab,
    Und mit deinem seelenvollen Blicke
    Sieh dann sanft auf mich herab.

    Weih mir eine Träne, und ach! schäme
    dich nur nicht, sie mir zu weihn;
    Oh, sie wird in meinem Diademe
    Dann die schönste Perle sein!
    Abendempfindung, W.A. Mozart, June 1787

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  8. Merisi, this place is sublime. Thank you for showing its beauty to us.

    In my not so peaceful city, I do want you to know that in the middle of Park Avenue one can now see thousands of yellow tulips, whose petals are delicately accented with wispy rosy tracing.

    If I could remember to take my camera with me, I might remember to take a picture for you.

    xo

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  9. The perfume must have been amazing with all thosoe beautiful Lilac bushes.

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  10. This is why your blog will always be one of my favorites. I will never get tired looking at your postcards.
    Thank you very much for dropping by my street :-)

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  11. How very lovely. And how I would love to breath in that heady fragrance!

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  12. Ah, the chorus of color...love that. What beautiful pictures and I think I can smell the lilac from here.

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  13. GORGEOUS! I can almost smell them on the breeze. We have two very new, baby lilacs that we planted our first summer in this house. Can't wait for them to grow tall and full, and fill the yard with that amazing perfume.

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  14. Absolutely breathtaking!

    Sadly, I never visited St. Marx when in Vienna. I will have to add it to my list.

    Could you post links to larger pictures? They are so stunning, I would love to see them in more detail!

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  15. "Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam


    The brief sum of life forbids us the hope of enduring long. Horace.

    They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
    Love and desire and hate:
    I think they have no portion in us after
    We pass the gate.

    They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
    Out of a misty dream
    Our path emerges for a while, then closes
    Within a dream."

    Ernest Dowson

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