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| Monet's garden at Giverny in the rain |
_______ APRIL SHOWERING _______
Against the planks and panes the April rains
Pelt and pummel –– splash and splutter –– bounce ––
Reeling on the pavement as they trounce
Impartially the people, peaks and plains.
Liquid –– loose –– not ladled by the ounce ––
Streaming through the gutters –– sputters –– spouts
Headlong on the heads of lords and louts,
On furrowed fields and forests in amounts
Which seem to favor trout while casting doubts
Even ducks the deluge could survive.
Relentless –– flailing –– like a thing alive
Image sweet of simpering spring it flouts
Nurturing yet with wet insistent drive
Gorgeous, thrilling glories soon to thrive.
~ FreeThinke
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| Gorgeous thrilling glories |
Now, please listen to Claude Debussy's
Jardins sous ls pluie (Gardens in the rain)
played by the composer, himself,
the perfectaccompanment
to April Showering.
It's sheer magic
Though April showers
ReplyDeleteMay come your way
They bring the flowers
That bloom in May.
So if it's raining,
Have no regrets,
Because ii isn't raining rain you know
It's raining violets.
So where you see clouds
Up on the hills
There soon will be crowds
Of daffodils.
So keep on looking for the bluebird,
And listening for his song
Whenever April showers come along.
~ B. G. De Sylva (1921)
I LOVE this sonnet -- and the graphics and the music as well!
ReplyDeleteI will be sharing your sonnet and the musical piece with my homeschool students this week.
Thank you, AOW. I hope the interconnectedness ion Art, Poetry, and Music becomes apparent to your students.
DeleteI have a strong belief that true ART of all varieties is the means by which mankind may find BEAUTY in almost anything –– even in pain and suffering as well as other examples of the worst aspects of life.
BEAUTY is at the HEART of ALL CREATION.
At the turn of the nineteenth to the twenteth century we were still striving toward the Light of Beauty, Truth, and the transformatinal power of Prayer and Uplifting Thought.
The twentieth century soon smashed all that to pieces with the two World Wars separated by the Great Depression, but BEHIND all those horrors, I would insist the Hulking Menace of Marxism lurked, and its poisonous tyrannical, anti-Christian, pro-Violence and Selfishness Doctrine was the Root Cause of most of the Havoc.
I thank God every day, however, for the encouragement and inspiration that wonderful works of Art give me despite all the wicked, dreadfully stupid things that bedevil us.
ART –– an umbrella term for Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Literature, Drama, Poetry, Music, Horticulture, Hospitality and even Gastronomy at its highest levels –– has the power to TRANSFORM what-may-seem-dull-and-commonplace at first glance into something MARVELLOUS and EXHILARATING.
What a wonderful tapestry of artistry! Your poem combines nicely with the visual mastery of Monet and Debussey's wonderful but all to short work. Brilliant! Thank you for this small feast for the senses!
ReplyDeleteThank YOU, sir!
DeleteUnderstanding and Recognition are the two greatest gifts one human being may give to another.
Most precious, perhaps, because they are all too rare.
_________ Contained Gardens _________
ReplyDeleteI have a special love for container gardens.
____ Something about clustering pots
of varying sizes to best advantage ––
____ and portability –– adds great appeal.
I also love raffishly untidy herbaceous borders.
____ Formal parterres fascinate,
________ but frankly make me nervous,
Yet long-established espaliered fruit trees
____ on ancient stone, brick or stuccoed walls
________ make a notable exception.
Courtyard gardens
____ in old European monasteries
________ and collegiate quadrangles
____________ at Oxford and Cambridge
Have about them an unmistakable aura
____ of eternal renewal, and of
________ Eternity, itself.
Growing things beautifully
____ indicates –– to me ––
________ a love and a reverence
____________ for Life.
~ FreeThinke
Just WONDERFUL, FT! Really good writing, as usual. What a gift!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just want to say I want to be sitting on that pier in your masthead picture...quiet, alone, far away......!! And yes, it can rain, too!!
How good to see you here, Z! The French Impressionists and their American counterparts are my favorite works of the painters' art, and Debussy's music in some wonderful mysterious way captures the same magical way of looking at life that sees to celebrate only the GOOD and the BEAUTIFUL.
DeleteNow that IS a Gift, and I thank God the unique Vision they had –– all before the devastation of the First Wor War –– was captured and preserved for us to enjoy forever in unforgettably beautiful images and music that reflects the same aura of radiant charm and affection for life.
The pier is a New England scene –– probably in Maine where my father's ancestors first settled on the North American continent. The sea is in my blood, athough I must confess to being a very poor sailor. I've been known to get seasick on ferry crossings. ;-)
:P
ReplyDelete.Mais oui, les sons et les chansins des trottoirs de Paris –– valsant dans la pluie! Charmant, quoique toujours un peu mélancolique, tres "Gallique!"
Delete_____ La Pluie ("The Rain) ____
The sky is grey, the rain invites itself
As if by surprise.
It is at our place and like a ritual
That bogs us down
The umbrellas open in step
Like a dance.
The drops fall in abundance
On gentle France
The rain is falling, falling, falling
On this (day of) Sunday in December.
In the shelter of umbrellas
The passers-by hurry, hurry without waiting
We like it, sometimes it raises its voice
It pushes us around.
It gives no more of its news
In a heat wave
Then it comes back like a need
Out of affection
And it sings its grand song to us:
The flood
And it falls, and it falls, and it falls, it falls
It is hot
And it falls, and it falls, and it falls.
Qui ecrivez cela? Rappelez-moi, je vous en prie.
Zaz
Delete:P
DeleteJ'aime beaucoup Paris sera toujours Paris, aussi la composeur-chanteuse Zaz. Le Jazz Hot a un vigueur merveilleuse. C'est tres joyeux presque élégante de temps en temps. Très tres tres bien!
DeleteA latter day incarnation of Edith Piaf, perhaps?
Edith is certainly the iconic French singer... Zaz seems a modern imitation.
DeleteHear how the wind begins to whisper.
ReplyDeleteSee how the leaves go streaming by.
Smell how the velvet rain is falling,
Out where the fields are warm and dry.
Now is the time to run inside and stay.
Now is the time to find a hideaway
Where we can stay.
Soon it's gonna rain.
I can see it.
Soon it's gonna rain.
I can tell.
Soon it's gonna rain.
What are we gonna do?
Soon it's gonna rain.
I can feel it.
Soon it's gonna rain.
I can tell.
Soon it's gonna rain.
What'll we do with you?
We'll find four limbs of a tree.
We'll build four walls and a floor.
We'll bind it over with leaves,
And run inside to stay.
Then we'll let it rain.
We'll not fell it.
Then we'll let it rain,
Rain pell-mell.
And we'll not complain
If it never stops at all.
We'll live and love
Within our own four walls.
We'll find four limbs of a tree.
We'll build four walls and a floor.
We'll bind it over with leaves,
And run inside to stay.
Soon it's gonna rain.
Come run inside to stay!
Soon it's gonna rain.
For soon it's gonna rain.
I can see it.
I can feel it.
Run inside and...
Then we'll let it rain.
We'll not feel it.
Then we'll let it rain.
Ran pell-mell.
And we'll not complain
- Happy ending!...
If it never stops at all.
Then we'll let it rain.
Why complain?
We'll live and love within our walls.
Happily we'll live and love,
No cares at all.
Happily we'll live and love
Within our castle walls.
~ TOM JONES & HARVEY SCHMIDT - THE FANTASTICKS (1960)
Listen to the pouring rain
ReplyDeleteListen to it pour,
And with every drop of rain
You know I love you more
Let it rain all night long,
Let my love for you go strong,
As long as we're together
Who cares about the weather?
Listen to the falling rain,
Listen to it fall,
And with every drop of rain,
I can hear you call,
Call my name right out loud,
I can here above the clouds
And I'm here among the puddles,
You and I together huddle.
Listen to the falling rain,
Listen to it fall.
It's raining,
It's pouring,
The old man is snoring,
Went to bad
And bumped his head,
He couldn't get up in the morning,
Listen to the falling rain,
listen to the rain
~ JOSE FELICIANO
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ReplyDeleteAll right, bu I can't what his has to do with moods and images engendered by spring rain. What I'm tryng to do here is encourage us to think appreciate the winder, the beauty and the glory of things freely given to ALL of us by God and Nature.
DeleteThe less we think of OURSELVES and the more we look OUTWARD and UPWARD the better off we are apt to be.
Preaching may have its place, but the EVOCATION of God's Glory in music, art ,poetry, and the domestc arts does far more to improve our outlook and lthus ead us towards Salvation.
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ReplyDeleteI'LL ANSWER YOU WITH A POEM BY A MUCH GREATER POET THAN EitHER OF US whoae penetrating insight slift the mind to greater understanding of the essence and true nature of Reality:
DeleteHeaven" — is what I cannot reach!
The Apple on the Tree —
Provided it do hopeless — hang —
That — "He aven" is — to Me!
The Color, on the Cruising Cloud —
The interdicted Land —
Behind the Hill — the House behind —
There — Paradise — is found!
Her teasing Purples — Afternoons —
The credulous — decoy —
Enamored — of the Conjuror —
That spurned us — Yesterday!
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
BY THEWAY, I'M SORRY, BUT WE DON'T GET TO DICTATE TO GOD WHAT THE NATURE OF OUR SALVATION –– OR ITS OPPOSITE–– SHALL BE. THAT IS ENtTIRELY UP TO HIM. SO LET US TRY TO BE HUMBLY GRATEFUL FOR WHATEVER GOOD MAY COME OUR WAY, AND TRUST GOD TO LEAD US TOWARDS SOMETHING BETTER IF WE MAINTAIN OUR FAITH IN HIM.
LIFE BECOMES SIMPLER , MORE PLEASANT, AND MUCH MOR SATISFYING IF WE DO.
"His yoke is easy, and His burden is light."
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ReplyDeleteYOU of all people ought to know better than to try tio post YOUR degrading, degenerate FILTH in MY bailiwick.
DeleteYou're welcome only to DEPART
Unless yo'uve had a chnage of Heart.
__ On the Beauty of Stillness in Nature __
ReplyDeleteNo sound beyond the dropping of the leaves
Or shushing in the treetops of the stirring
In the air and periodic whirring
Soft of wings and bundling of sheaves ––
Every now and then a bird may call
Looking for or longing for his mate;
Escaping still the hunter’s dinner plate.
Scythes swish steadily as grain grown tall
Submits to delicate compelling force.
Workers silently bent to their task
Over whom hot sunshine spills its rays
Reap swiftly knowing pain could come, of course.
Later, in the afterglow they’ll bask
Dreaming foolishly of better days.
~ FreeThinke
The above was inspired by Brueghel's painting The Reapers. The theme I draw from the painting is this: We will never know how well off we really are, unless we stop thinking only of ourselves, and LIFT OUR EYES to APPRECIATE all the BEAUTY and WONDER that SURROUNDS us.
Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
ReplyDeleteTelling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
Now the only girl I've ever loved has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
Little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart
Rain please tell me now does that seem fair
For her to steal my heart away when she don't care
I can't love another when my heart's somewhere far away
Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
Oh the only girl I've ever loved has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
Little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart
Rain won't you tell her that I love her so
Please ask the sun to set her heart aglow
And rain in her heart and let the love we knew start to grow
Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
Oh I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
When the rain comes
They run and hide their heads
They might as well be dead
When the rain comes
Thank you. I was looking for this earlier, but couln't find i, because i misremembered it as "Listen to the Music of the Falling Rain" COSE but not precise enough. ;-(
DeleteHere's part of what WIKI says about it:
"Rhythm of the Rain" is a song performed by The CASCADES, released in November 1962. It was written by Cascades band member JJOHN CLAUDE GUMMOE.
On March 9, 1963, it rose to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and spent two weeks at number 1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked the record as the number 4 song of 1963 . . .