JAMES McNEILL WHISTLER
1834-1903
Nationality - American
Symphony in White No.1 (1861/2)
Portrait of Joanna Hiffernan
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THREE POEMS BY THOMAS HARDY
THE OLD GOWN
I have seen her in gowns the brightest,
Of azure, green, and red,
And in the simplest, whitest,
Muslined from heel to head;
I have watched her walking, riding,
Shade-flecked by a leafy tree,
Or in fixed thought abiding
By the foam-fingered sea.
In woodlands I have known her,
When boughs were mourning loud,
In the rain-reek she has shown her
Wild-haired and watery-browed.
And once or twice she has cast me
As she pomped along the street
Court-clad, ere quite she had passed me,
A glance from her chariot-seat.
But in my memoried passion
For evermore stands she
In the gown of fading fashion
She wore that night when we,
Doomed long to part, assembled
In the snug small room; yea, when
She sang with lips that trembled,
"Shall I see his face again?"
-o0o-
SNOW IN THE SUBURBS
Every branch big with it,
Bent every twig with it;
Every fork like a white web-foot;
Every street and pavement mute:
Some flakes have lost their way, and grope back upward, when
Meeting those meandering down they turn and descend again.
The palings are glued together like a wall,
And there is no waft of wind with the fleecy fall.
A sparrow enters the tree,
Whereon immediately
A snow-lump thrice his own slight size
Descends on him and showers his head and eyes,
And overturns him,
And near inurns him,
And lights on a nether twig, when its brush
Starts off a volley of other lodging lumps with a rush.
The steps are a blanched slope,
Up which, with feeble hope,
A black cat comes, wide-eyed and thin;
And we take him in.
-o0o-
JULIE-JANE
Sing; how 'a would sing!
How 'a would raise the tune
When we rode in the waggon from harvesting
By the light o' the moon!
Dance; how 'a would dance!
If a fiddlestring did but sound
She would hold out her coats, give a slanting glance,
And go round and round.
Laugh; how 'a would laugh!
Her peony lips would part
As if none such a place for a lover to quaff
At the deeps of a heart.
Julie, O girl of joy,
Soon, soon that lover he came.
Ah, yes; and gave thee a baby-boy,
But never his name . . .
- Tolling for her, as you guess;
And the baby too . . . 'Tis well.
You knew her in maidhood likewise? - Yes,
That's her burial bell.
"I suppose," with a laugh, she said,
"I should blush that I'm not a wife;
But how can it matter, so soon to be dead,
What one does in life!"
When we sat making the mourning
By her death-bed side, said she,
"Dears, how can you keep from your lovers, adorning
In honour of me!"
Bubbling and brightsome eyed!
But now - O never again.
She chose her bearers before she died
From her fancy-men.
-o0o-
ANTICIPATION OF SPRING
Leonid Alfremov
b.1955
Nationality - Russo-Israeli
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Many of Robert Burns' love songs were inspired by the different women in his life, and this is no exception. Nancy McLehose was a married lady whose husband very conveniently was in Jamaica. They wrote a number of passionate letters to each other using the names Clarinda and Sylvander. The affair came to an end when she decided to join her husband, and Burns wrote those famous lines -
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever,
Ae fareweel, alas, for ever,
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.
Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me,
Dark despair around benights me.
I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy,
But to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.
Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest!
Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest!
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, enjoyment, love and pleasure!
- Robert Burns 1759-96
-o0o-
SNOW IN THE SUBURBS
Every branch big with it,
Bent every twig with it;
Every fork like a white web-foot;
Every street and pavement mute:
Some flakes have lost their way, and grope back upward, when
Meeting those meandering down they turn and descend again.
The palings are glued together like a wall,
And there is no waft of wind with the fleecy fall.
A sparrow enters the tree,
Whereon immediately
A snow-lump thrice his own slight size
Descends on him and showers his head and eyes,
And overturns him,
And near inurns him,
And lights on a nether twig, when its brush
Starts off a volley of other lodging lumps with a rush.
The steps are a blanched slope,
Up which, with feeble hope,
A black cat comes, wide-eyed and thin;
And we take him in.
-o0o-
JULIE-JANE
Sing; how 'a would sing!
How 'a would raise the tune
When we rode in the waggon from harvesting
By the light o' the moon!
Dance; how 'a would dance!
If a fiddlestring did but sound
She would hold out her coats, give a slanting glance,
And go round and round.
Laugh; how 'a would laugh!
Her peony lips would part
As if none such a place for a lover to quaff
At the deeps of a heart.
Julie, O girl of joy,
Soon, soon that lover he came.
Ah, yes; and gave thee a baby-boy,
But never his name . . .
- Tolling for her, as you guess;
And the baby too . . . 'Tis well.
You knew her in maidhood likewise? - Yes,
That's her burial bell.
"I suppose," with a laugh, she said,
"I should blush that I'm not a wife;
But how can it matter, so soon to be dead,
What one does in life!"
When we sat making the mourning
By her death-bed side, said she,
"Dears, how can you keep from your lovers, adorning
In honour of me!"
Bubbling and brightsome eyed!
But now - O never again.
She chose her bearers before she died
From her fancy-men.
-o0o-
ANTICIPATION OF SPRING
Leonid Alfremov
b.1955
Nationality - Russo-Israeli
-o0o-
Many of Robert Burns' love songs were inspired by the different women in his life, and this is no exception. Nancy McLehose was a married lady whose husband very conveniently was in Jamaica. They wrote a number of passionate letters to each other using the names Clarinda and Sylvander. The affair came to an end when she decided to join her husband, and Burns wrote those famous lines -
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever,
Ae fareweel, alas, for ever,
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee,
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.
Who shall say that Fortune grieves him,
While the star of hope she leaves him?
Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me,
Dark despair around benights me.
I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy,
Naething could resist my Nancy,
But to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love for ever.
Had we never lov'd sae kindly,
Had we never lov'd sae blindly,
Never met or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.
Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest!
Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest!
Thine be ilka joy and treasure,
Peace, enjoyment, love and pleasure!
- Robert Burns 1759-96
-o0o-
My mother and father were both employed by the local Co-operative Society in grocery shops. Her first job was in the office, but in 1914, when so many of the male staff joined the army, she was transferred to one of the shops. They married in 1924 and she became a full-time housewife.
My father was put in charge of a shop, and later became the manager of the branch that was responsible for supplying the other local Co-op groceries with their produce.
I must mention here that during World War II his job was not an easy one. All the hundreds and hundreds of food coupons that were collected had to be sorted, documented and sent to head office. There was no time to do this during working hours, and the job had to be done at home with the help of my mother. There was no pay for her and no overtime for him.
Of course anyone working in a food shop during the war had the advantage of being on the spot when scarce commodities came in. And throughout his working life my father would often receive gifts from reps who were anxious to get good orders from him. My father died aged 89 in 1982, and my mother in 1987 aged 90.
-o0o-
Robert Anton Wilson - The longer one is alone, the easier it is to hear the song of the earth.
Max Lucado - A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.
Charles M. Schultz - All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross - The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.
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THE NEXT POST IS FRIDAY 22nd FEBRUARY
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QUOTES FROM THE WISE AND THE WITTY
Robert Anton Wilson - The longer one is alone, the easier it is to hear the song of the earth.
Max Lucado - A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.
Charles M. Schultz - All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross - The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.
-o0o-
THE NEXT POST IS FRIDAY 22nd FEBRUARY
-o=0=o-
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