Nadav Drukker responds

“Chillon is a castle on the shores of the lake, which can be seen (small and a bit blurry) in the photos. I read it recently (it’s not so long) as we’re all prisoners now. I have visited the castle and seen the dungeon that Byron describes after his own visit there (and also saw the graffiti that he left).

At first I could not relate, as my gilded cage is not dank and I am not chained to the pillars. But after reflection, I was a moved by two stanzas. VII, where he describes his brother, chained to a nearby pillar and the agony of not being able to touch him. The second, stanza X, is about a bird. There are majestic buzzards nesting nearby who soar in front of my window for hours. During the strictest part of the quarantine, I was watching them and thinking of their freedom and ability to cover great distances with ease. A typical sentiment expressed in so many poems and songs, which being a privileged human I normally perceive as a bit kitsch. But here I was envious of the bird, so put Byron’s text over a photo of one.“

“Chillon is a castle on the shores of the lake, which can be seen (small and a bit blurry) in the photos. I read it recently (it’s not so long) as we’re all prisoners now. I have visited the castle and seen the dungeon that Byron describes after his own visit there (and also saw the graffiti that he left).

At first I could not relate, as my gilded cage is not dank and I am not chained to the pillars. But after reflection, I was a moved by two stanzas. VII, where he describes his brother, chained to a nearby pillar and the agony of not being able to touch him. The second, stanza X, is about a bird. There are majestic buzzards nesting nearby who soar in front of my window for hours. During the strictest part of the quarantine, I was watching them and thinking of their freedom and ability to cover great distances with ease. A typical sentiment expressed in so many poems and songs, which being a privileged human I normally perceive as a bit kitsch. But here I was envious of the bird, so put Byron’s text over a photo of one.“Wilson loop on Lac Leman