Kate Greenaway – Brother and sister – iamachild.wordpress.com
Minou Drouet se passionnait pour la musique, ses poèmes chantaient en elle. Aussi son premier amour fut Lucette Descaves, son professeur de piano. Mais bientôt elle fit la connaissance d’un garçon de quinze ans, Philippe, amoureux d’elle, qu’elle finit par aimer. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
L’amour réclame l’ivresse. Les nuits rouges se préparent dans les heures vertes, les lèvres des baisers enflammés se sont allumées avec un doux breuvage. Ma lointaine bien-aimée, la magie de la fée verte pourra-t-elle t’amener à moi ? CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Jagubal – girl with lorito, San Martin, Peru (2009) – from flickr, 22 January 2010
In the poem “The First Reformer” from Lava Lane, and Other Poems, Nathalia Crane told of a hummingbird who by his sweet words, kisses and caresses, persuades flowers not to be ashamed of their nudity. Now in the following poem from The Singing Crow and Other Poems, a young girl is taunted by an older girl “of the narrow shin” for openly indulging in the pleasures of love. But she finds a good advice from a philosopher parrot, a “painted Plato” who instructs her not to grieve because of the reproaches of narrow-minded people: “Love and the rites it sentries / Only the vexed condemn; / There are the lower branches— / There is the goblin stem.” CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Odilon Redon – The birth of Venus (1912) – from WikiArt
In the post “Components of Love” I presented the three types of love and friendship according to the ancient Greeks:
Eros is sexual love, generally driven by beauty; it is discriminating and it can be versatile, blooming or withering fast.
Storge is natural love, as it exists between members of a family, or the love of parents for children; contrarily to Eros, it is unconditional and long-lasting, and it grows slowly.
Philia is friendship, generally within a group, mediated by activities shared in common; it includes also philanthropy and humanitarian work.
The ancient Greeks also used the word Agape for affection and tenderness, similar to Storge. Then in Christianity, this word evolved to mean a purely spiritual, selfless and undemanding love embracing all humanity; in fact, such an ideal love is extremely rare in real human beings. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Musæum hermeticum, frontispice – provient de Wikimedia Commons
Redoutant la répression impitoyable de l’Inquisition, le poète cache ses pensées hérétiques sous des vers dédiés à une Dame. Une boîte verrouillée, dont la clé est cachée dans une autre boîte, pleine de souvenirs, profondément enfouie… CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
Odilon Redon – Helen’s Eyes (Eyes in the Trees) (1882), Saint Louis Art Museum – from The Athenaeum
A dreaming little girl wonders about the dreams of old people and old trees … They must be different from her own, she is so young. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…
W.S. Hartshorn – Edgar Allan Poe (1848) – from “Famous People” collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-10610]
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19th, 1809 — October 7th, 1849) is an American writer known for the strangeness both of his writing and of his life. He was named Edgar Poe, the second child of two traveling stage actors; his father abandoned his family in 1810, and his mother died on December 8th, 1811. His father was also dead then, and Edgar was taken into the home of John and Frances Allan, who served as a foster family, though they never formally adopted him. From them he got his middle name Allan. The family moved to Great Britain in 1815, then back to Richmond, VA, in 1820, so Edgar was educated in both countries. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…