One night as he sat at his table head on hands he saw himself rise and go. One night or day. For when his own light went out he was not left in the dark. Light of a kind came then from the one window.

Samuel Beckett, Stirrings Still

Such a deep affinity with the way Beckett portrays self. Beckett mentions Walther, “To this end for want of a stone on which to sit like Walther …”

I sat upon a stone,/covered one leg with the other,/and set my elbow on them/I nestled in my hand/my chin and one of my cheeks./In this position I started pondering/How one should live in the world.

Walther von der Vogelweide, Codex Manesse