Emptiness and fullness

Claesz, Still life, 1635
Claesz, Still life, 1635


LIFE IS A CONTAINER
I've had a full life.  Life is empty for him.  There's not much left for him in life.  Her life is crammed with activities.  Get the most out of life. His life contained a great deal of sorrow.  Live your life to the fullest.

Metaphors We Live By George Lakoff and Mark Johnson 1980 page 51:


George Lakoff's concept of container metaphors is a pivotal contribution to the field of cognitive linguistics, as it offers unique insights into the ways humans structure their thoughts and experiences. Rooted in Lakoff and Mark Johnson's 1980 work "Metaphors We Live By", container metaphors are a type of conceptual metaphor that underpin much of our understanding of abstract ideas and concepts. By examining these metaphors, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the intricate interplay between language, thought, and culture.

Container metaphors are based on the idea that our experiences and perceptions of the world are frequently structured in terms of containment. In other words, we understand various abstract concepts by metaphorically relating them to containers, which have clear boundaries, an inside, and an outside. This conceptualisation of ideas as containers is pervasive in everyday language and thought, shaping how we make sense of complex phenomena.

Examples of container metaphors include:

Emotional containment: Emotions are often described as being contained within individuals, as exemplified by expressions such as "bottling up emotions" or "letting off steam". These metaphors suggest that emotions have boundaries and can be held or released, much like the contents of a container.

Spatial containment: We frequently use container metaphors to discuss spatial relationships. For instance, we say that objects are "in" a room or "on" a shelf, implying that these spaces act as containers that hold the objects. Similarly, geopolitical entities are often conceived as containers, with countries or cities being described as "full" or "empty".

https://metaphorsofmovement.wiki/index.php?title=Containers

Lakoff and Johnson’s study of container metaphors deliberately avoided any consideration of poetry since their main aim was to demonstrate that metaphor is basic to everyday language and perception of the world. Perhaps the poets who referred so regularly to the heart or the soul being ‘full’ (or ’empty’) were not even aware that they were using metaphorical language:


Die erste Liebe füllt das Herz mit Sehnen
Nach einem unbekannten Geisterlande

First love fills the heart with longing
For an unknown land of spirits

Fellinger, Die erste Liebe	D 182


Nichts ist, was das Herz mir füllt,
Huldin, als dein holdes Bild!

There is nothing that can fill my heart,
Gracious one, other than your beauteous image.

Kosegarten, Huldigung	D 240


Was ist es, das die Seele füllt?
Ach, Liebe füllt sie, Liebe!
Sie füllt nicht Gold noch Goldes wert,
Nicht was die schnöde Welt begehrt,
Sie füllt nur Liebe, Liebe!

What is it that fills the soul?
Oh, love fills it, love!
It is neither gold nor what it is worth that fills the soul,
Not what the base world desires,
Only love fills it, love!

Kosegarten, Alles um Liebe 	D 241


Denn sie fühlet sich ganz und gießt Entzückung
In dem Herzen empor, die volle Seele,
Wenn sie, dass sie geliebt wird,
Trunken von Liebe, sich´s denkt!

For she feels that she is complete and delight is being poured
Into her heart from above, her full soul,
When she, because she is loved,
Believes that she is drunk with love!

Klopstock, An Sie	D 288


O Liebe, die mein Herz erfüllet,
Wie wonnevoll ist deine Seligkeit

Oh love, which is filling my heart,
How delightful your bliss is

Gleich, Lambertine	D 301


Wie ist es denn, dass trüb und schwer 
So alles kömmt, vorüberzieht, 
Und wechselnd, quälend, immer leer, 
Das arme Herz in sich verglüht?    

So how is it that things that are bleak and heavy
Both come and pass away,
And that changing, tormented, always empty,
My poor heart burns itself up?

Tieck, Abend	D 645

It is hard to imagine, though, that poets of the calibre of Rückert and Goethe were not making conscious decisions about their use of this imagery:


Kehr ein bei mir,
Und schließe du
Still hinter dir
Die Pforten zu.

Treib andern Schmerz
Aus dieser Brust.
Voll sei dies Herz
Von deiner Lust.

Dies Augenzelt,
Von deinem Glanz
Allein erhellt,
O füll es ganz.

Take up your home with me
And close the gates
Quietly behind you,
Close the gates.

Drive other pain
Out of this breast.
May this heart be full
Of your delight.

My field of vision
Takes in your radiance
And is lit by that alone,
Oh fill it completely.

Rückert, Du bist die Ruh	D 776



Freudvoll
Und leidvoll,
Gedankenvoll sein,
Langen
Und bangen
In schwebender Pein,
Himmelhoch jauchzend,
Zum Tode betrübt,
Glücklich allein
Ist die Seele, die liebt.

Full of joy,
Full of suffering, 
Being full of thoughts;
Stretching 
And worrying
In hovering pain;
Exulting up to heaven
Distressed to death;
The only one that is happy
Is the soul that loves.

Goethe, Die Liebe	D 210

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