Une chansonnette de Nicolas-Germain Léonard

Frederick Morgan - Childhood Sweethearts
Frederick Morgan – Childhood Sweethearts

Nicolas-Germain Léonard (1744–1793) est un poète idyllique français. À dix-huit ans il fut, comme poète, couronné par l’Académie de Rouen pour une pièce sur les idées religieuses. Né en Guadeloupe, il y retourna à plusieurs reprises, et la postérité lui a reproché d’en dresser un tableau « champêtre », ignorant la cruauté de cette société basée sur l’esclavage dans les plantations ; son œuvre relèverait aussi d’un exotisme colonial à destination d’un lectorat métropolitain. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

It Started with a Kiss, by Hot Chocolate

Cover of the single It Started with a Kiss by Hot Chocolate
Cover of the single It Started with a Kiss by Hot Chocolate – from Discogs

The British soul band Hot Chocolate was formed in 1968 by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. It knew fame in the 1970s and 1980s, with at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1980. The group was interrupted several times and its membership changed through the years. In particular Errol Brown, who was their lead singer, frontman and principal songwriter, left in 1986.

Their song “It Started with a Kiss” was released in 1982 as A side of a single, and was included as track 6 on their seventh studio album Mystery. It reached number 5 in the UK. In autumn 2004, it became voted by the UK public as one of the Top 20 love songs of all time. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Some kisses exchanged by Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper

Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper
Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper

In a recent post, I gave some excerpts of love letters exchanged by Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper in 1885, the year they celebrated their private marriage. Today, I give two beautiful short quotes from further love letters. Again, they are taken from their complete correspondence edited by Sharon Bickle, and I will refer to these letters by their number in that collection. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Maistresse, embrasse moy, par Pierre de Ronsard

Jana Brike - Sketchbook
Jana Brike – Sketchbook

Hélène de Fonsèque (1545–1618), fille de René de Fonsèque, baron de Surgères, et d’Anne de Cossé, entra au service de la reine Catherine de Medicis en 1566 en tant que fille d’honneur, puis fille de chambre de la reine de 1567 à 1578. Elle rencontra Pierre de Ronsard (1524–1585) en 1568. Le poète, âgé de 44 ans, tomba amoureux de cette jeune femme de 23 ans, qui fut sa muse jusqu’en 1574. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Le Baiser, II, par Germain Nouveau

Félix Bracquemond - Le baiser, d'après Toulmouche
Félix Bracquemond – Le baiser, d’après Toulmouche (1857) – The New York Public Library Digital Collections

Le poète français Germain Marie Bernard Nouveau, né le 31 juillet 1851 à Pourrières dans le Var, reste largement ignoré du grand public.

Au cours de sa jeunesse, il intégra les milieux d’avant-garde et rencontra plusieurs poètes, en particulier Charles Cros, Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud et Paul Verlaine. Frappé d’une crise de folie mystique en 1891, il fut interné à l’hôpital Bicêtre d’où il sortit après quelques mois. Il traversa plusieurs crises mystiques proches de l’aliénation, et finit par entreprendre une vie de mendiant et de pèlerin. Revenu dans son village natal en 1911, il y mourut d’un jeûne trop prolongé le 4 avril 1920. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

They plaited garlands in their time, by Michael Field

Lawrence Alma-Tadema - Spring
Lawrence Alma-Tadema – Spring (1894) – from Wikimedia Commons (reduced)

Throughout their adult life, Katharine Bradley and her niece Edith Cooper lived together as lovers and, under the pen name Michael Field, wrote jointly poetry and drama. One generally assumes that their love started in a Platonic mode when Edith was a teenager, and became sexual when she reached adulthood. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Sonnet II, by Eric Stenbock

SergiyKrykun - Eric Stenbock
SergiyKrykun – Eric Stenbock – from DeviantArt

I have chosen the following love poem from Stenbock’s second collection Myrtle, Rue and Cypress. The Latin subtitle is inspired by the starting verse of the Canticle of Canticles of Solomon in the Bible: “Osculetur me osculo oris sui quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino,” which translates as “Let her kiss me with the kiss of her mouth; for thy breasts are better than wine.” The first two verses indeed follow it, replacing “breasts” by “love” (since the beloved was probably a boy). CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…