Lift not the painted veil which those who live
Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there,
And it but mimic all we would believe
With colours idly spread, - behind, lurk Fear
And Hope, twin Destinies; who ever weave
Their shadows, o'er chasm, sightless and drear.
I knew one who had lifted it - he sought,
For his lost heart was tender, things to love,
But found them not, alas! Nor was there aught
The world contains, the which he could approve.
Through the unheeding many he did move,
A splendour among shadows, a bright blot
Upon this gloomy scene, a Spirit that strove
For truth, and like the Preacher found it not.
Just say No! to fundamentalism - of any religion.
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'I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free'
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Fallen Angels
- David Cameron (for risking the disorderly dissolution of the Euro)
- Giorgio Napolitano (for stance on Budapest 1956: Prague 1968: Italy 2013)
- Mervyn King (for bailing-out Northern Rock)
- Nicholas Kaldor (for inventing VAT)
18 comments:
Drew will love that he`s a great Percy Bysshe fan.
Confess, you would give - what? to have written even the first 11 words N. And had the thoughts that generated them.
I haven`t looked at romantic poetry for ages but I used to like Coleridge and Wordsworth more.
I would have said there was something rather cerebral if not masculine about Shelley. Bit of a Tomboy are you HG ?
No, it's the sound of the words - painted veil - colours idly spread - splendour among shadows-
Perhaps he had those first and then could form his thoughts.
It would be so so easy to develop a masssssivve crush on HG, dont you think Newmania? ;-)
Tomboy? What was I thinking?!
"
I went to choose a new kitchen sink N; palest primrose yellow stony-stuff (Ithought it would be cheery to do the washing up in).".
.....
I bet you are an ace cook and beguiling hostess as well. Of course you are.
'I haven`t looked at romantic poetry for ages'
If it can be thought at all, then some poet has said it better. You know this, if you don't eat properly your mind will get thin and sad.
I seem to recall an earlier discussion (chez C?) about whether the music can precede the words (I say yes & perhaps you agree)
Ibsen's Wild Duck sits beautifully on these waters
and of course Nietzsche swam powerfully here too
I do read poetry on occasion HG just not the romantics much . I "did" them at school' and again at University , perhaps its time to have another look. The last poetry I read was a Rudyard Kipling collection, (verse really I suppose )and Ted Hughes Anthologised by Simon Armitage ( who I would also recommend). I had a go at writing it for a while without much success.The process is nourishing though
ND-Ibsen and Nietzsche
You are a cheery cove Nick. HG did you know that ND was a soldier with a philosophy degree. Thats what I call an unusual perspective.
Music, painting, sculpture, words - they're all accessing emotion (or feeling) and shaping it into a particular mode, so if I want to make you sad I'll offer you F sharp minor or the Marschallin singing Ja, ja as she gives up Octavian , ...
Because words are the universal skill they are probably a predominant category, so get used for speaking of the others. Mathematics is a very special member of the group, and quite apart.
So, no, words don't come first, but they come more usually, because of our expressive training, and they are not the most powerful necessarily, it depends what is being communicated.
Forms of words need exercise too; that's why I said the mind will get thin if not nourished with forceful and beautifully precise inputs from masters of word art forms. (The thought of Newmania currently fired by Kipling gives pause, though).
I'm learning to read sculpture (the Bargello being just round the corner) now; of course words come in useful here too, I can hardly send you a creamy marble arm curved just so, I have to press keys I trust will be in your visual memory and in your acquired knowlege about the form of S.Trinita bridge, and the reconstruction of Florence after it was blown up and how the exact curve was reconstructed....
So, too, what is the role of memory and recall, and what do we store? words, or some amorphous substance that is goaded into appropriate being by the rhetorics available to each of us in our measure?
Don't know Nietzsche, but you called up Richard Strauss, so there wasn't a complete blank.
The poverty of the intellectual training offered at schools is damaging in ways that are extending in every direction, if all this is so.
It's a pity that only the opening section of Also Sprach Z ever gets played, the rest is wonderful too
maybe enough to encourage reading of the book ! which is admittedly a risky way of approaching Nietzsche-as-philosopher.
As regards short poems, (well, roundelay, it does contain the magnificent 11-line O Mensch! Gib Acht!
Sometimes I wonder if Nietzsche didn't have an unfortunate understanding of what can fairly be described as one of the driving forces of western culture.
No-one could live in Florence and not understand the nature of the word Triumphant. Whether it is christianity, despite the language of portrayal, I doubt, but then,
Lift not the painted veil...
There is a little, arched delicious niche let into the wall of my terrace. All the builders were pleased to restore it carefully -
'A Madonna, signora!, the perfect place, why remove the ledge?'
But the ledge was removed and no statue will stand there. Instead I have asked the painters who are recovering the frescoes in the entrance to paint me an Agnus Dei.
He will stand on green grass and spring flowers, woolly in his cream curls, and in one polished, black, raised hoof he will carry the standard of the red cross on the white ground.
So much for the Meek; not my Earth, not if I can help it.
You should write a book HG you are a treasure.
No one could be in Florence and not understand the nature of the word Beauty...and that's just the golden ringlets and green eyes of the chancers on the steps of the Duomo...
Rarely do great beauty and great virtue dwell together, though L.
(Mr HG has green eyes, though his ringlets were black).
You’re right Lillith I think I might be able to do something worthwhile if I could live in that environment. As it is I keep the aspidistra flying . Wey faced and crushed one of the forlorn and bewildered faces like petals on a wet, black bough.
( I think a sense of the drama of ones gorgeous self is essential)
N, When you have a moment would you say what it is that Conservatives want? You might miss out the bit about the 11 plus, but what is the wingeing about Mr Cameron? And why is the media so anti too?
What status quo is he disturbing?
Conservative Party members do you mean.They want immigration controlled , distance from the EU. lower taxes , reformed public services and benefits especially and less state interference. less red tape , more prisons and harsher sentences, a special position for the family , parliament to be parliament. No regional government , English votes ( but not the break up of the Union usually ). Sub themes are support for small and local business , conservation generally of art , cultural memory , continuity ( eg history properly taught in schools) Parks. buildings and the fabric of the country in innumerable ways . The de-politicisation of the Police and its urgent reform ( possibly by a local accountable sherrif).
The return of individual being responsible for his actions in a variety of ways. On foreign policy there is far less distinctive than say the Liberals who define themselves abroad( and are full of it .... few of them turned up at Hull with their bum bags to help). Its not coherent in the way Marxism is and the picture changes . In the Party Cameron is widely adored , the vocal minority and especially bloggers are misrepresentative. The Party as a whole is more (c)onservative and less libertarian.
On the media you mean the BBC well there is good book out called "Can we trust the BBC" by Robin Aitken and it charts the shift of policy towards Independent style editorialising. Put simply the BBC is a highly conservative and elitist organisation that defaults to the orthodoxies of the 60s and 70s.The vast majority of its perspective Oxbridge intake are of a certain political complexion . They are quick to report such systematic bias in the Police but , of course , blind to their own equally damaging Liberal agenda. Its subtle , to do with choice handling and presentation but enveloping nonetheless ( Europe is the fault line) On the status quo he is disturbing another time.
If you mean the current state of policy development I have the Party summary ? Its a very good document but a bit long for me to type .I would be more than happy to deliver it personally ..(ho ho) .Sadly my tea leaves are saying "Croydon lies ahead for you " ...not Italy. Shame. That Mr. HG is a lucky chap for all his green eyes . If I die and go to heaven I will be wandering around rooms of sculpture with “HG “explaining .
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