Self-Portrait I
by Tove Ditlevsen
I cannot:
cook
pull off a hat
entertain
wear jewelry
arrange flowers
remember appointments
send thank-you cards
leave the right tip
keep a man
feign interest
at parent-teacher conferences.
I cannot
stop:
smoking
drinking
eating chocolate
stealing umbrellas
oversleeping
forgetting to remember
birthdays
and to clean my nails.
Telling people what they want to hear
spilling secrets
loving
strange places
and psychopaths.
I can:
be alone
do the dishes
read books
form sentences
listen
and be happy
without feeling guilty.
421 notes
·
View notes
and I always dream about meeting some mysterious person who will listen to me and understand me. I know from books that such people exist, but you can't find any of them on my childhood street.
– Tove Ditlevsen, The Copenhagen Trilogy
23 notes
·
View notes
Conversations with Friends E04
Book title: Childhood (Barndom in Danish; 1967) by Tove Ditlevsen
48 notes
·
View notes
Może wiele nieszczęść wynika stąd, że ludzie nie są zbyt zainteresowani tym, co się dzieje w kimś najbliższym.
Tove Ditlevsen - “Moja żona nie tańczy”
110 notes
·
View notes
I bought this on a whim and I just started reading it, but I have a feeling I'm in the process of discovering a new favorite author
12 notes
·
View notes
Tove Ditlevsen, Childhood (1967)
32 notes
·
View notes
I can: be alone
I cannot:
cook
pull off a hat
entertain
wear jewelry
arrange flowers
remember appointments
send thank-you cards
leave the right tip
keep a man
feign interest
at parent-teacher conferences.
I cannot stop:
smoking
drinking
eating chocolate
stealing umbrellas
oversleeping
forgetting to remember
birthdays
and to clean my nails.
Telling people what they want to hear
spilling secrets
loving
strange places
and psychopaths.
I can:
be alone
do the dishes
read books
form sentences
listen
and be happy
without feeling guilty.
— Tove Ditlevsen, in Self-Portrait 1 (The Paris Review, December 9, 2021) (via minima--moralia)
14 notes
·
View notes
I really loved The Faces by Tove Ditlevsen, which reminded me a lot of The Bell Jar. Beautiful writing and a good example of that great genre called “she’s not doing well” lol
16 notes
·
View notes
Tove Ditlevsen (Danish, 1917-1976)
86 notes
·
View notes
Anxiety I
by Tove Ditlevsen
Anxiety is old it
reeks of childhood it
has no object
is awakened by glances, words and
sudden noise
lives in recurring dreams where
the one you love
shows the deadly hatred he
hides by day.
People’s eyes are yellow they
are too close together and they
have no lashes
over them their
menacing eyebrows
run endlessly together
the corners of their mouths
dislocate and twist, watercolor-wet
do not look at them
slip away from any dangerous
and keen attention.
Wrap yourself in rhythms and
rhymes from the old
bygone songs
hide with the troll and
the dragon the
pure evil
shy away from all affection even
from the child who plays with and
caresses the cat
shy away from his expectation
his memories
his blocked future.
Seek the company of those who
peacefully turned away
want nothing from you
libraries waiting rooms
railway stations
people with suitcases
in hand have
firm contours
unknown
goals in a
world that is not yours.
All the others are transformed
under your stare as if
under windswept waves
they know that you see their
secrets and
innermost thoughts
hate your lurking and waiting
you do not know the day
of the catastrophe
approaching by the hour.
Anxiety is old your
father and your mother are
safety and danger
staring through your
lover’s eyes and are not dead.
Do not watch them. Lay
flowers on the grave light
candles at night
fold your hands and hum
in devotional horror the old
forgotten songs.
257 notes
·
View notes
Tove Ditlevsen, Dependency
20 notes
·
View notes
'You have two faces,' she said, astonished. 'That's not allowed. You can only wear once face at a time.'
-Tove Ditlevsen The Faces
6 notes
·
View notes
2 notes
·
View notes
childhood - tove ditlevsen
29 notes
·
View notes