I found a delightful book of verse in a quite indirect way. A 13 years old poetess who celebrated the 7th birthday of a little girl led, through an artist who photographed and painted girls aged between 8 and 12, to a poet who loved girls aged 16. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Author: Christian
Author for Pigtails in Paint since September 2014; associate editor since November 2015. Administrator of the late Agapeta on WordPress (2015/01/09 - 2019/03/01), and now of Poets and Lovers.
À Mlle Renée Zilcken, par Paul Verlaine
Philippe Zilcken (1857–1930), peintre et graveur néerlandais, était un ami de Paul Verlaine, dont il fit un portrait. En novembre 1892, Verlaine se rendit à La Haye pour rendre visite à Zilcken et son ami le peintre Jan Toorop. Ce voyage fut relaté dans son texte Quinze jours en Hollande, publié en 1893. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Curious Child, by Prince
Prince Rogers Nelson (b. June 7, 1958; d. April 21, 2016), known as Prince, was an American artist with multiple talents: singer, songwriter, guitar virtuoso, record producer, dancer, actor, and filmmaker. In some way he represented a dark counterpart of Michael Jackson, and indeed these two contemporary musicians were often rivals.
His 14th studio album (released on October 13, 1992) was titled by a personal “Love Symbol,” and it became his identity, he used it as stage name from June 7, 1993 to May 13, 2000. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Le jardin des secrets
Voici dix-huit mois que vit Poets and Lovers, toujours debout, là où d’autres tombent ou s’endorment. Il vit, brûle et grandit, se nourrissant de secrets… secrets intimes, secrets enfouis et partagés de toute l’humanité. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Dreams of a lonely lighthouse
Under lockdown, many people lived through Internet, physically separated from the outer world, and regular readers of this blog were probably more assiduous in their visits, waiting eagerly for the next post scheduled three days after the preceding one. Accordingly, floating in a virtual world, I spent much time searching the Web and preparing new posts.
Meanwhile, for many, love, deprived from physical contact, living at distance, became an ideality, filling dreams and desires.
My Love and I took hands and swore,
Against the world, to be
Poets and lovers evermore,
To laugh and dream on Lethe’s shore.— Michael Field (Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper), “It was deep April, and the morn,” in Underneath the Bough (1893)
Poets and Lovers exists since one year and a half, it was born privately on March 17, 2019, becoming public on the 20th. This its 218th post. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Petite fille, petit amour, petite enfant, par Georges Chelon
Georges Chelon est un auteur, compositeur et chanteur français, né à Marseille le 4 janvier 1943. Sa chanson “Petite fille, petit amour, petite enfant” parut en septembre 1973 sur un simple 45 tours avec “Les grands ensembles” en face B (Disques Meys 10055 ou 128.21, voir ici la pochette). Elle figure également en position 5 de la face B de son LP 33 tours Ouvrez les portes de la vie, également paru en septembre 1973 (Disques Meys 30014 puis 528.202 en 1975, Disques Meys Barclay 45001 au Canada, voir ici la pochette). CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
No good work of love goes unrewarded with blood libel
Does our epoch love children? All children? Official opinion will answer “yes,” but we can look behind this façade. Rather than love for real children, it is rather a worship for an idealised image of childhood innocence. Behind it lurks a pornographic obsession with defilement and sadism. We can see this through the accusations raised by various authors against known men of the past who were known for loving children. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Toute grâce et toutes nuances, par Paul Verlaine
En 1869, Paul Verlaine rencontre Mathilde Mauté, alors âgée de 16 ans, dont il tombe amoureux. Elle lui inspire les 21 poèmes de sa collection La Bonne Chanson, dont la composition s’échelonne de l’hiver 1869 au printemps 1870, et publiée en 1870 à compte d’auteur chez Alphonse Lemerre. Ils se marient le 11 août 1870. Leur mariage se délitera rapidement, surtout après la liaison de Verlaine avec Arthur Rimbaud. Le couple se sépare en 1874, et Mathilde divorce en 1885, suite à la promulgation d’une loi le permettant. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Nous sommes sept, par Jean Aicard
Le poème « Nous sommes sept » par Jean Aicard fait partie du recueil La Chanson de l’Enfant. C’est une adaptation française du poème « We are Seven » de William Wordsworth.
Une petite fille y parle de sa famille, en particulier de son frère et de sa sœur tous deux morts et enterrés près de sa chaumière, mais qui font toujours partie de sa famille, au même titre que les vivants. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
She came and went, by James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) was an American poet, critic, editor, and diplomat, who knew some fame through his literary criticism and satirical works. On December 26, 1844 he married Maria White, who wrote poetry and was active in the anti-slavery movement. She convinced him to join the abolitionist cause, and he devoted to it a large part of his writings. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…