Give me a golden pen, and let me lean
On heap'd-up flowers, in regions clear, and far;
Bring me a tablet whiter than a star,
Or hand of hymning angel, when 'tis seen
The silver strings of heavenly harp atween:
And let there glide by many a pearly car,
Pink robes, and wavy hair, and diamond jar,
And half-discover'd wings, and glances keen.
The while let music wander round my ears,
And as it reaches each delicious ending,
Let me write down a line of glorious tone,
And full of many wonders of the spheres:
For what a height my spirit is contending!
'Tis not content so soon to be alone.
—John Keats, “On Leaving Some Friends at an Early Hour”
Back in Print
Blackboard Drawings
1919–1924
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner recorded his views of the world in numerous books, as well as in more than five thousand lectures. Steiner generally spoke freely, using only minimal notes. But when explaining conceptually difficult topics, he frequently illustrated what he had to say in color, using chalk on a large blackboard. After his earlier lectures, the drawings were erased and irretrievably lost, but after autumn 1919, the blackboards were covered by heavy black paper so that the drawings could be rolled up afterward and preserved.
In addition to Steiner’s drawings, this volume includes contributions by Martina Maria Sam, Wolfgang Zumdick, and Taja Gut.
Also of interest
From the Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner
Autobiography
Chapters in the Course of My Life, 1861–1907
Written 1924–1925 (CW 28)
My relationship to Christianity should make it clear that my spiritual science cannot be attained through the kind of research ascribed to me by many people. They suggest that I have assembled a theory of spirit based on ancient traditions. They suppose that I have elaborated Gnosticism and other such teachings. The spiritual insight attained in Christianity as Mystical Fact is brought directly from the world of spirit itself. I examined the records of history and incorporated them into that work only because I wanted to demonstrate, both to the lecture audience and to the book’s readers, the harmony between history and what is perceived spiritually. But I took nothing from historical documents for the book’s content unless I had first experienced it in spirit.
During the period when my statements about Christianity seemed to contradict my later comments, a conscious knowledge of real Christianity began to dawn within me. Around the turn of the century, this seed of knowledge continued to develop. The soul test described here occurred shortly before the beginning of the twentieth century. It was decisive for my soul’s development that I stood spiritually before the Mystery of Golgotha in a deep and solemn celebration of knowledge.
—Rudolf Steiner, Autobiography: Chapters in the Course of My Life: 1861–1907 (CW 28), p. 188
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