He thought he kept the universe alone;
For all the voice in answer he could wake
Was but the mocking echo of his own
From some tree-hidden cliff across the lake.
Some morning from the boulder-broken beach
He would cry out on life, that what it wants
Is not its own love back in copy speech,
But counter-love, original response.
And nothing ever came of what he cried
Unless it was the embodiment that crashed
In the cliff’s talus on the other side,
And then in the far distant water splashed,
But after a time allowed for it to swim,
Instead of proving human when it neared
And someone else additional to him,
As a great buck it powerfully appeared,
Pushing the crumpled water up ahead,
And landed pouring like a waterfall,
And stumbled through the rocks with horny tread,
And forced the underbrush–and that was all.
When all Earth’s seas shall Levitate,
Dark shawled within the skies,
Upon our eyes will Starfish dance
Their waltz of Blind surprise.
The sun will Rise within wine Dark
As Argonauts imbibed,
Whose drunken arms embrace that sleep
Where Phaeton’s horses Stride.
Upon all of Earth’s wind-sanded shores,
As dolphins Learn to soar,
All we once were on the land
Shall be sealed behind the door
Of Ivory and Chastened Gold,
That the Mystery solved complete
Shall never til the seas’ Long fall
Wake mariners from their sleep.
— Van der Leun
I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this
air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their
parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.
— Walt Whitman
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think that they will sing to me.
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
— The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot
Gerard Van der Leun
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Nice version of the Dylan. Thanks.
Was blessed to see the first concert above at the Highland Park United Methodist Church.
And met the conductor at our hotel. That night Dallas received it’s first tornado in many years and we spent 30+ minutes in the hotel stairwell – damage is still evident now driving by several months later.
We must still give thanks for all that we are given.
Thanks for the reminder in these” fake” dark days of all that is good.
The beauty of God will go on,as will we.
This darkness will pass and we will be stronger . Time.
Sleep well my friend.
An additional note: Before being corralled into the stair well, we stood outside, to see and hear the dramatic lightning and thunder storm (in the right temporal order) – against a darkening and cloudy Texas sky – truely a display of nature’s majesty.
Beautiful. Thanks.
Forgot to add Rosalind Russell was a real beauty.
Thanks for putting up, now of all times, that Rutter piece, so beautiful and transparent and so true.
Chris Tietze, the organist and music director, schedules that to be sung by his children’s choir several times a year. The kids sing the treble parts and 5 or 6 men sing the bass and tenor, in the cavern of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, seat of the Archbishop of San Francisco. It’s thrilling to a guy who cries at parades, I’ll tell you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! “The Weight” finally got Gal Gadot’s ”Imagine” out of my head.
I know it’s off topic, and I’ve said it elsewhere, but it bears repeating. Chuck Schumer is a heaping pile of cow excrement. Thanks for reminding us of the beauty of life Gerard.
The Good, the True, and the Beautiful will abide.
Keep the Faith
JWM
I’m already missing the March ritual of counting down to Opening Day. However, as spring is officially here according to the astronomers, here’s the Milwaukee Symphony’s version of the national anthem of the American pastime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkNugqGg9kk&ab_channel=MilwaukeeSymphonyOrchestra
More seriously, but still joyfully: in honor of Bach’s birthday tomorrow, here is a virtuoso’s rendition of BWV 577, the Fugue in G Major, also known as the Jig Fugue. Should get your feet a-tappin’ and a smile on your face; I imagine Bach enjoyed writing it as much as we enjoy hearing it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOP_0YRHbZo&ab_channel=E.PowerBiggs-Topic
Great pix, Gerard!
Fender shreds, but Gibson c o n t r o l s.
I always seem to end up with dust in my eyes when I listen to these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=36&v=wWImXdnxznE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we8tzKNbfEQ
Most excellent. Thank you.