Sundials are, without a doubt, a cool invention.
They are practical. They’re ingenious. They’re astoundingly simple. They’re even poetic, in that they require something tangible (a stick) and something immaterial (a shadow) to measure something that is both natural (the movement of the sun) and human-created (the concept of time).
And I’m not the only one who finds sundials poetic. Many sundials have inscriptions on them, often sharing philosophical musings on the notion of time itself. They’re known as “sundial mottos” – and while it’s a neat idea, it would appear that most sundial mottos are a little on the dark side.
Here’s a sampling of some inscriptions found on sundials around the world:
- Time devours everything.
- Life passes like the shadow.
- Time takes all but memories.
- Look at my shadow and you will see your life.
- It is later than you think.
- The last hour is hidden so that we watch them all.
- One of these hours will be your last.
- All hours wound; the last kills.
Remember: most of these are from sundials found in public places, in an age before the average person had a watch. An age where, if you wanted to know the time, you needed to go to a town square or a building significant enough to either have a sundial affixed to the wall, or placed on the ground out front. These are meant to draw the attention of the masses, and remind them, as they take a look to see what time it is, that THEY MIGHT DIE AT ANY MOMENT.
I guess what I’m saying is that if you like the idea of time but prefer not to focus on your own mortality, you should avoid looking at sundials.
If, however, you like the idea of time and feel like relaxing on the couch with some blissfully relaxed chillhop, the album Changes in Time by Shrimpnose might be for you.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. It fades in like a well-calibrated morning alarm.
2. The snare hit is a gentle little tap, like a cat batting at a piece of cardboard.
3. Having a major third repeated on the piano non-stop for the entire song should be boring. But it’s calming.
Recommended listening activity:
Using sidewalk chalk to outline a friend’s shadow at your favourite time of day.