Enduring Love

Results from Monday think thank:

Responses to Sonnet 18

As promised:

Remember the words' limit!

Wuthering Heights in film (1992)

To be linked to the passage in your anthology:

Music, literature and art

Look at what I've discovered today at an art gallery:

Tim Rollins & K.O.S. A Midsummer Night's Dream (After Shakespeare and Mendelssohn)

I quote from the catalogue:
This work was made with a group of very young children who were asked to paint flowers using watercolours: the reference is to the sprite Puck who, in Shakespeare's comedy, symbolizes love as a type of transformation. Oberon, the King of the Fairies, orders him to find a flower from which to extract a magical juice that, trickled onto the eyelids of a slumbering person , makes him or her fall in love with the first person seen upon awakening. This incipit ..... is not only the source of the visual reference to flowers but also the use of materials such as apple juice in the pictorial impasto.
The acronym K.O.S means Kids of Survival, a group of adolescents from South Bronk that worked with the artist.

La belle dame sans merci by John Keats

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Ballad

I. O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
II. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms!	5
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
III. I see a lily on thy brow
With anguish moist and fever dew,	10
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
IV. I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,	15
And her eyes were wild.
V. I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look’d at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.	20
VI. I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.
VII. She found me roots of relish sweet,	25
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
“I love thee true.”
VIII. She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sigh’d fill sore,	30
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
IX. And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream’d	35
On the cold hill’s side.
X. I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!”	40
XI. I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
XII. And this is why I sojourn here,	45
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.

To round everything off ......

 

Trailer from 'Bright Star' - film directed by Jane Campion in 2009 and based on

Keats' final period.

Ode on a Grecian Urn (Ode su un'urna greca)

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Tu, sposa ancora intatta della quiete,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Figlia adottiva del silente tempo,
Sylvan historian, who canst thou express Narratrice dei boschi, che fiorite
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: Storie sai dire meglio dei miei versi,
What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape Che leggenda rivive tra le fronde
Of deities or mortals, or of both, Della tua forma? Sono dèi o mortali?
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? A Tempe siamo, o nelle valli arcadie?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? E che uomini, dèi, schive fanciulle
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? S'inseguono qui folli? o cercan scampo?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? E i musici? Che estasi selvaggia!

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Dolce è l'udita melodia, più dolce
Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; La non udita. Su, teneri flauti,
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd, Non per le orecchie, dunque, ma per l'anima,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone: Più cari senza musica, suonate!
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Tu, giovane fra gli alberi, il tuo canto
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Mai smetterai, ed essi mai le chiome;
Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss, E tu, focoso amante, mai potrai
Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve; Baciare la fanciulla che t’è accanto:
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, La tua felicità mai non avrai,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! Ma non dolerti: lei non sfiorirà,
                                          Così sempre amerai una sempre bella.

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed Beati rami, che giammai di foglie
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu; Nudi direte addio alla primavera!
And, happy melodist, unwearied, E te beato, musico mai stanco,
For ever piping songs for ever new; Che sempre nuovi canti intonerai.
More happy love! more happy, happy love! Ma più felice, più felice assai,
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd, Amore, amore ancora da godere,
For ever panting, and for ever young; Sempre ansimante e giovane in eterno!
All breathing human passion far above, Non come la passione degli umani,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd, Che lascia il cuore addolorato e sazio,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue. La lingua secca e il fuoco fra le tempie.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice? Chi siete voi che andate al sacrificio?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest, A quale altare, misterioso prete,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, Porti quella giovenca che muggisce
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest? Ai cieli, i dolci fianchi inghirlandata?
What little town by river or sea shore, Da che borgo sul mare o della costa,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel, O quieta cittadella alta sul monte
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn? Vien questa gente a questo pio mattino?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore Silenziose, o paese, le tue strade
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell Saranno, e mai nessuno tornerà
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return. A dire perché fosti abbandonato.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Attica forma! Vaghi atteggiamenti!

Con figure di marmo ricamate,

Con boschi, fronde, erbe calpestate,

Tu, muta forma, fai come l'eterno:

Ci togli il senno, Fredda Pastorale!

Ma quando il tempo volgerà per noi,

Tu rimarrai, di nuovi, altri dolori

Consolatrice all'uomo, cui dirai:

"Il bello è vero, il vero è bello." - Questo

Sapete sulla terra, e questo basta.

The sources for the Grecian Urn

The Borghese Vase in the Daru Gallery, at Louvre Museum

Drawing of the Sosibios Vase, by John Keats, Keats-Shelley Museum, in Rome

The Portland Vase

Perhaps from Rome, Italy, about AD 5-25
The most famous cameo-glass vessel from antiquity
The scenes on the Portland Vase have been interpreted many times with a historical or a mythological slant. It is enough to say that the subject is clearly one of love and marriage with a mythological theme. The ketos (sea-snake) places it in a marine setting. It may have been made as a wedding gift. (British Museum)
   

The Townley Vase, Roman 2nd century AD (British Museum). Found at villa at Monte Cagnolo near Rome

Sosibios, The Athenian Volute krater c 50 BC (Musée du Louvre)

Enduring Love Part 1

This is the beginning of the film and the book. Can you detect any differences between the two?