Poetry and Art

Going to deviate from actual stories for a while, and focus on poetry.

I don’t tend to read much poetry, but there are some that have stayed with me from the first time I read them.  I realised the other day, back when I posted about my altered books and craft stuff, I never posted about this – a blank, spiral-bound book, which I filled with some of my favourite poetry and art.  Instead of simply posting it as ‘craft’, I’ve decided to highlight some of the poetry …

But first, the front and back covers …

Art - part of Alma-Tadema's 'Coign of Vantage' (top), and Alfonse Mucha's 'Monaco Monte Carlo'

'A Coign of Vantage' - Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

The first page ... I adore the art of Briton Riviere, and struggle to pick a favourite … this one, like the goddess herself, is too beautiful to find the words that would fittingly describe it.

‘Solitude’ ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

  Weep, and you weep alone

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

  But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;

  Sigh, it is lost on the air;

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

  But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;

  Grieve, and they turn and go;

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

  But they do not need your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;

  Be sad, and you lose them all –

There are none to decline your nectared wine,

  But alone you must drink life’s gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;

  Fast, and the world goes by.

Succeed and give, and it helps you live,

  But no man can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure

  For a large and lordly train,

But one by one we must all file on

  Through the narrow aisles of pain.

Art - 'The Prisoner' ~ Evelyn de Morgan