Power in Silence, by Michael Field

Christian Schloe
Christian Schloe

I present today my last selection from Underneath the Bough, a love poem in “The Third Book of Songs” in that collection. It must be understood within the context of the lesbian relation between the two authors, Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper. The poet loves a silent girl, but “her royal, jewelled speechlessness” does not mean that she does not reciprocate: “It were not right / To reckon her the poorer lover; / She does not love me less.” The two are like birds, looking for intimacy: “what is more dear / Than a cherry-bough, bees feeding near / In the soft, proffered blooms?” The young girl “is a dove” who must liberate herself from barriers and give herself fully to the power of love: “My close-housed bird should take her flight / To magnify our love.CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Penelope, by Francis Thompson

John Singer Sargent - The Honourable Victoria Stanley
John Singer Sargent – The Honourable Victoria Stanley

Volume 2 of The works of Francis Thompson, Poems contains a section titled A Narrow Vessel, starting with the following description:

Being a little dramatic sequence on the aspect of primitive girl-nature towards a love beyond its capacities

It consists mostly of poems about unhappy love affairs with girls; they are often bitter and reproachful, sometimes telling of “sin.” CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Rebirth

Ivan Bilibin - Illustration for Contes de l'isba
Ivan Bilibin – Illustration for Contes de l’isba: Ivan-Tsarevich and the Firebird (1931) – from Christie’s

In my last semi-annual editorial, I described the police persecution of our British website provider, culminating in his guilty plea. The administration of the websites was taken over by his son, who was forced to close them down in May, following a further police raid with a threat of confiscation of his servers, as well as a blackmail by British Telecom over his security clearance. The heart of the matter is explained in the latest Pigtails in Paint editorial: the latter website, as well as the blog of Graham Ovenden, had uncovered the misconduct of the UK police in the Ovenden frame-up trial and conviction. Corrupt cops must protect their careers by censoring the exposure of their treachery, leading them to further acts of abuse. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Forbidden Fruit, by Roy Harper

Cover of Roy Harper's album Valentine
Cover of Roy Harper’s album Valentine (1974)

The English folk rock singer, songwriter and guitarist Roy Harper (born on June 12, 1941) has released 32 albums during a career that has lasted over 50 years. His 7th album Valentine, released in 1974 with Harvest Records, contains 10 tracks, starting with the song “Forbidden Fruit” that tells of a love affair with a 13 years old girl. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Farewell

John William Waterhouse - Saint Eulalia
John William Waterhouse – Saint Eulalia (1885) – from jwwaterhouse.com

British Telecom has ordered the execution of Pïgtails in Paint and Agapeta. You can write me.

Email address for contact
Email address for contact

Sonnets of a Little Girl, IV, by Ernest Dowson

Léopold Morice - Fillette à la coquille
Léopold Morice – Fillette à la coquille, Pont Alexandre III, Paris, France – from Wikimedia Commons

Of the 8 Sonnets of a Little Girl, only two were published in Dowson’s lifetime: a modified version of the 8th, and this one, the 4th, in its original version. It appeared with the title “Sonnet to a little Girl” in London Society, volume 50, November 1886, over the initials E.C.D. Notice that while the title is dedicated to “a little girl,” in the first sentence of the poem he writes about the child “his” and “him.” CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…