Coda

It always irritates me when websites fizzle out without a word of explanation about their demise to their regular readers. It irritates me even more that I have been one of these annoying website owners. So far.

There was a disaster in my life at the end of 2020 which put writing and curating Figures of Speech quite out of my mind. It was a personal disaster that is unsuited to sharing with strangers. Although I hoped that one day the fog would clear, in the two years of upheaval that ensued there were only a few moments of clarity. It's probably time to stop pretending that this state of affairs is likely to change.

Deep dives into subjects such as the Schubert biography or topics in German literature are no longer within my powers. The trivial forays into politics are a waste of time: in my opinion the doom of Western civilisation is sealed and nothing anyone can say, write or do will unseal it. One should save one's breath to cool one's porridge – and be thankful as long as one still has porridge and breath with which to cool it.

This website will now stay frozen in time as long as I keep paying the hosting fees. The pages are constructed in a very standard HTML and should remain viable for the foreseeable future. The comments system is vulnerable to technological progress, since it depends on a programmed interface with a server database – an interface that is always evolving. For this reason the comments system has been switched off. The search function is also vulnerable, but will remain activated. A day may come when it no longer works, however.

The image on the home page – Segantini's Alpine shepherdess wondering where the youngster bringing her lunch has got to – will stay, as will the Silberdistel on the year banner.

Never say never, but that is probably it. Thank you for your patience and attention.