Image: Wikimedia Commons Korf’s Clock

Korf’s clock is of a novel sort

In which two pairs of hands are used:

One pair points forwards as it ought,

The other backwards a la Proust.

When it says eight it’s also four,

When it says nine it’s also three;

A single glance and you no more

Need fear the ancient Enemy.

For with this wondrous clock you’ll find

As, Janus-like, it turns about

(To such an end it was designed)

Time simply cancels itself out.

Palmström’s Clock

But Palmström’s clock has a “higher” power,

Balanced as lightly as a flower.

Scorning a set pedestrian pace,

It keeps time with a certain grace

And will, in answer to a prayer,

Go en retard, en arriéré.

One hour, two hours, three hours indeed,

Sympathizing with our need!

Though clockwork in its outward part

It hides within — a tender heart.

— Christian Morgenstern

Above: Built in 1586, the town hall in the old Jewish ghetto of Prague bears two clocks: a traditional clock tower with four faces bearing Roman numerals and a second clock bearing Hebrew numerals. The hands on the conventional clocks turn clockwise; those on the Hebrew clock turn counterclockwise. (Thanks, Danesh.)