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Sydney Grew
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« Reply #150 on: 14:41:42, 18-05-2007 » |
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Next come two poems by Meleager, written in the first century B.C. Like the Johnson we posted last month this first one expresses a psychological insight both acute and universal.
WRIT IN WATER
HOLY, all-embracing Night,
Lamp with mute and watchful light,
We invoked your aid to prove
Plighted troth and mutual love;
When our vows were sanctified,
You stood witness; none beside.
Then, with many a kiss, he swore
He would leave me nevermore;
Then I vow'd, with heaving breath,
I would love him true till death.
You, and none beside you, heard
Every sigh and every word.
Now he says his vows were writ,--
Says, and takes no shame of it--
Writ, as winds in water trace
Words that they as soon efface.
Lamp, thou seest him where he lies,
Mirrored in another's eyes.
Finally a second Meleager selection, expressing this time in its evocation of that "living flame" a pure lyricism to rival that of Schubert's best songs.
ALEXIS
OH, but I saw him, fresh and fair
And heedless in the noonday heat,
Alexis!--when the summer air
Made ripe the heavy-headed wheat.
How sweet and shy the wilful eyes
That for a moment dwelt on mine;
Not all the splendour of the skies
Could match their loveliness divine!
The night her dewy fingers laid
On earth's hot brow, and bade her rest.
But those remembered glances made
A fiercer fire within my breast;
When sleep on toilworn eyes was poured,
To me alone no respite came;
I slept; but in my dreams adored
Those kindling eyes, that living flame.
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #151 on: 15:34:38, 18-05-2007 » |
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Mr Sidney Grew,
I love Simonides poem translated by A. Benson. I don't know A Benson and I found some information about him on this site: A. C. Benson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
I don't understand why they don't want to publish his complete diaries. Is there a reason behind this stubborness or is it just out of neglect that his diaries are not publised.
Thank you for posting such a good poem.
It takes time for me to go through many poems here, but I am making some progress reading and copying many of them into my diary (that I don't expect to be published).
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Soundwave
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« Reply #153 on: 19:25:41, 28-05-2007 » |
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Ho!
"They are not long, the weeping and the laughter,
Love and desire and hate:
I think they have no portion in us after
We pass the gate.
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream."
(Edward Dowson)
Used by Delius.
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Ho! I may be old yet I am still lusty
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marbleflugel
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« Reply #154 on: 21:56:17, 28-05-2007 » |
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Ho! S'wave ,I believe it was Ernest Dowson. One of my early radio musical mentors, Ray Moore, used to quote him in late night mode. 'days of wine and roses' of course also gave rise to the Jack Lemmon film. Great stuff earlier on Syd.
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« Last Edit: 23:02:18, 28-05-2007 by marbleflugel »
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'...A celebrity is someone who didn't get the attention they needed as an adult'
Arnold Brown
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #155 on: 08:13:10, 29-05-2007 » |
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I like this thread very much.
I used to like poetry of Tarkovsky's father. Many people here know Andrei Tarkovsky who made many movies. This poem is from his movie Stoker.
I could not find anything else by Tarkovsky father on the net.
Now summer has passed,
As if it had never been.
It is warm in the sun.
But this isn't enough.
All that might have been,
Like a five-cornered leaf
Fell right into my hands,
But this isn't enough.
Neither evil nor good
Had vanished in vain,
It all burnt with white light,
But this isn't enough.
Life took me under its wing,
Preserved and protected,
Indeed I have been lucky.
But this isn't enough.
Not a leaf had been scorched,
Not a branch broken off. . .
The day wiped clean as clear glass,
But this isn't enough.
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Soundwave
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« Reply #156 on: 08:52:49, 30-05-2007 » |
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Ho Marbleflugel. Apologies for the "Edward". As you say, it was Ernest Dowson. Senility strikes again. I assume you know my favourite Delius work - "Songs of Sunset". I play it regularly and it always has the power to affect me.
Cheers
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Ho! I may be old yet I am still lusty
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time_is_now
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« Reply #157 on: 09:19:09, 30-05-2007 » |
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Ernest Dowson Not only set by Delius, but also by Schoenberg (Op 22 No 1).  |
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #158 on: 09:28:49, 30-05-2007 » |
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Arsenii Tarkovsky (father of movie director Andrei Tarkovsky)
And this I dreamt, and this I dream
And this I dreamt, and this I dream,
And some time this I will dream again,
And all will be repeated, all be re-embodied,
You will dream everything I have seen in dream.
To one side from ourselves, to one side from the world
Wave follows wave to break on the shore,
On each wave is a star, a person, a bird,
Dreams, reality, death - on wave after wave.
No need for a date: I was, I am, and I will be,
Life is a wonder of wonders, and to wonder
I dedicate myself, on my knees, like an orphan,
Alone - among mirrors - fenced in by reflections:
Cities and seas, iridescent, intensified.
A mother in tears takes a child on her lap.
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marbleflugel
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« Reply #159 on: 09:33:04, 30-05-2007 » |
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Ho! Soundwave, Cheers t-i-n. Actually I didn't know of either of these settings but come to think of it natural choice for both composers, given their healthily eclectic reach. I'll look fwd to investigating, thanks-Hampson in Sea Drift at
the Proms a couple of years ago makes me think he could do a great job with 'Sunset'. Nice to see you quoting a couple of standards in your tag, t-i-n.
t-p, the Tarkovsky poems are marvellous-he and Ernest Dowson would have shared a bottle of good vodka surely.
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« Last Edit: 09:35:25, 30-05-2007 by marbleflugel »
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'...A celebrity is someone who didn't get the attention they needed as an adult'
Arnold Brown
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time_is_now
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« Reply #160 on: 10:14:21, 30-05-2007 » |
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Nice to see you quoting a couple of standards in your tag, t-i-n. Cheers, mf. Both, of course, to be understood as performed by the man who's replaced Schubert as my avatar - supreme lyricists of their respective centuries?  |
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The city is a process which always veers away from the form envisaged and desired, ... whose revenge upon its architects and planners undoes every dream of mastery. It is [also] one of the sites where Dasein is assigned the impossible task of putting right what can never be put right. - Rob Lapsley
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marbleflugel
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« Reply #161 on: 11:33:17, 30-05-2007 » |
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Totally  , as agents provocateurs for a host of good things. I see you have 'Circle In The Round' -which makes me think of the title track, wayne shorter's 'sanctuary', et al. Milton Nascimento and Shorter did an album called 'Native dancer'which you might enjoy? |
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'...A celebrity is someone who didn't get the attention they needed as an adult'
Arnold Brown
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trained-pianist
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« Reply #162 on: 19:08:39, 03-06-2007 » |
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Gumilev
Eternal
I’m in the days’ embracing limits,
Where even skies are ever gray,
Look through the ages, live in minutes,
And wait for Holy Saturday;
The end of soul’s aimless travels,
Of lucks and troubles peaceful end.
O, come, my day when I’ll be able
To Know, See and Understand.
My soul will be so new and broad,
All, that’s alluring, will be mine.
And I will bless the golden road,
From blind worm and to golden sun.
And he, who went with me wherever,
Trough thunders and the silent peace,
He, who was kind to me in fever,
And cruel when I stayed in bliss;
Who taught me to a wisdom whole,
To fight, reserve, or overcome,
Will turn to me, and leave his pole,
And simply tell me, “We have come.”
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BobbyZ
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« Reply #163 on: 19:35:40, 03-06-2007 » |
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Words and Music on R3 tonight, In Search of England. Will be interesting to compare with the excellent Russian Dreams of a couple of weeks ago.
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Dreams, schemes and themes
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