Wadi Rum II

Lawrence's house...

T.E. Lawrence mentions repeatedly the beauty of Wadi Rumm: “We looked up on the left to a long wall of rock, sheering in like a thousand-foot wave towards the middle of the valley, whose other arc, to the right, was an opposing line of steep, red broken hills” (T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, 341).

Ein schöner Rücken kann auch entzücken.

Lawrence’s descriptions of the landscapes are always detailed and fascinating, “he had the gifts of a great nature writer” (Korda 78). In Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence mentions the beauty of the desert landscapes again and again, most of the times he especially praises Wadi Rumm. He talks of “curved slopes of pink sandstone and tamarisk-green valleys to Rumm. Air and light were so wonderful that we wandered without thinking in the least of to-morrow” (Lawrence 385). His visual imagery shows close observation and the reader can really feel the enthusiasm of Lawrence when he describes the beautiful landscape of Wadi Rumm. Another remarkable feature is his metaphorical way of relating to the landscape: “We entered Rumm at last, while the crimson sunset burned on its stupendous cliffs and slanted ladders of hazy fire down the walled avenue” (ibid.).

An schattigen Stellen ist es oft erstaunlich grün.