spring

THE WAVE

As when far off in the middle of the ocean
A breast-shaped curve of wave begins to whiten
And rise above the surface, then rolling on
Gathers and gathers until it reaches land
Huge as a mountain and crashes among the rocks
With a prodigious roar, and what was deep
Comes churning up from the bottom in mighty swirls
Of sunken sand and living things and water —
So in the springtime every race of people
And all the creatures on earth or in the water,
Wild animals and flocks and all the birds
In all their painted colors, all rush to charge
Into the fire that burns them: love moves them all.

Virgil

translated by Robert Pinsky
The Threepenny Review

whatever you can

WALKING THE MARSHLAND

It was no place for the faithless,
so I felt a little odd
walking the marshland with my daughters,


Canada geese all around and the blue
herons just standing there;
safe, and the abundance of swans.



The girls liked saying the words,
gosling,
egret, whooping crane, and they liked

when I agreed. The casinos were a few miles
to the east.
I liked saying craps and croupier


and sometimes I wanted to be lost
in those bright
windowless ruins. It was April,

the gnats and black flies
weren't out yet.
The mosquitoes hadn't risen

from their stagnant pools to trouble
paradise and to give us
the great right to complain.

I loved these girls. The world
beyond Brigantine
awaited their beauty and beauty

is what others want to own.
I'd keep that
to myself. The obvious




was so sufficient just then.
Sandpiper. Red-wing
Blackbird. "Yes," I said.

But already we were near the end.
Praise refuge,
I thought. Praise whatever you can.

Stephen Dunn

(reprinted from Between Angels, Poems by Stephen Dunn, by permission of the author and WW Norton & Company Inc. Copyright © 1989 Stephen Dunn.)

The Japanese regard the crane as a symbol of good fortune and longevity because of its fabled life span of a thousand years. It also represents fidelity, as Japanese cranes are known to mate for life.

frog - a - woo

THE FROG WHO WOULD A WOOING GO

A Frog he would a-wooing go,
Whether his mother would let him or no.

Off he set with his opera-hat.
On the road he met with a Rat.



"Pray, Mr. Rat, will you go with me,
Kind Mrs. Mousey for to see?"

They soon arrived at Mousey's hall.
They gave a loud tap, and they gave a loud call.

"Pray, Mrs. Mouse, are you within?"
"Yes, kind sirs, and sitting to spin."

"Pray, Mrs. Mouse, now give us some beer,
That Froggy and I may have good cheer."

"Pray, Mr. Frog, will you give us a song?
Let the subject be something that's not very long."

"Indeed, Mrs. Mouse," replied the Frog,
"A cold has made me as hoarse as a hog."

"Since you have caught cold, Mr. Frog," Mousey said,
"I'll sing you a song that I have just made."

As they were in glee and merrymaking,
A Cat and her kittens came tumbling in.

The Cat she seized the Rat by the crown,
The kittens they pulled the little Mouse down.

This put Mr. Frog in a terrible fright,
He took up his hat, and he wished them good night.

As Froggy was crossing it over a brook,
A lilywhite Duck came and gobbled him up.

So here is an end of one, two, three--
The Rat, the Mouse, and little Froggy.

THE END

this tale is so very odd, one begins to wonder who these critters are meant to symbolize, and what the 'backstory' is. i couldn't find it, though i found a wonderful bit of very serious satire about it, as well as various versions of the poem itself (and a short story-ization as well).

this, like yesterday's tale, does not have a happy ending. it and the illustrations are a bit perverse (he's kissing her tail?). are there other cultures with much the same story (as we've seen with others)?

and why do all our frogs wear trousers? do we have graphics, as do the japanese, that allow for the simple grace of this worthy creature?

well, then, there is always this.

the crane you never knew

it's odd, i know, but whenever i heard the names of certain of male artists, who lived long ago, i always, until beginning this blog, pictured them as old, white-haired, hoary and wizened. not so. many of them, i am finding, are young--and they're cute! take walter crane, for instance.

Walter Crane is one of the most popular English illustrators of the second half of the 19th century. With Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott, he established the genre of picture books for children. The characteristics of his illustrations are decorative frames, use of black outlines and exquisite depiction of, for example, dresses and furniture. His work was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites and by Japanese woodblock prints. 1

crane's illustrations and paintings demonstrate his clear placement in the aesthetic movement (primarily the 1860s and 70s, pre-dating the japonisme/art nouveau era by a decade), but even here in this work we see the fans, the pottery, and even the occasional japanese print beginning to sneak in.

his aladdin has strong japanese elements, but is clearly of indeterminate national origin! but even here we have the blue and white tiles of the aesthetic movement (and crane's own home).

what most surprised me about crane were his strong socialist beliefs. in these lithographs, the copy is enlightening (though i really don't understand all the politics).

they are each pages from "Mrs. Mundi at Home RSVP: The Terrestrial Ball", published by Marcus Ward & Co., 1875

/
MRS MUNDI GAVE A GREAT BALL...
DAME EUROPE WAS THERE IN THE LAST PARIS PASSION.
MISS AMERICA TOO, IN IDENTICAL FASHION.
WITH ASIA AND AFRICA PICKING THEIR CRUMBS
AND AUSTRALIA MELTING HER GOLD SUGAR PLUMS.
FRAULEIN GERMANY, FULL OF IMPORTANCE AND LAND,
WITH FAIR SIGNORA ITALY, HAND WITHIN HAND;
COUSIN RUSSIA, MORE FRIENDLY THAN EVER WAS KNOWN,
AND THE POOR DOGGY DENMARK WITH NEVER A BONE.

it was crane's observation that since the time when east-west trade began in the mid-19th century, it had exerted an enormous influence on the arts of europe. this was because, in his view, life in japan had still been akin to life in europe during medieval times and was thus a country where artists and craftsmen marvelously trained for many kinds of decorative work, and who took part of a bold and unconstrained naturalism. europeans found a living art, an art of the people, in which tradition and artistic talent had remained untainted, and whose work was beautiful, diverse, and with tremendous connection to and communicative of nature. it was not surprising that this art effected western artists as strongly as it did, and that its effects were so profound.

aesthetically speaking

what is called 'the aesthetic movement' intrigues me. it's primarily an 'anglo' phenomenon, ie great britian and the united states. and in part, it flourished in the us because of a brit (who was wilde).

it does get complicated when one begins to discuss personalities, with wilde, ruskin, whistler, and more, and i do want to get into that--it's fascinating. but for the moment let's look at these artifacts.


what we see is, as the chicago museum of art says, 'the floral designs emulate Japanese paintings and lacquer, but

the overall
form is West- ern.'

both countries did go into art nouveau, but in both it was embraced a little later; here we


have, essentially, victorian design with japanese symbols (fans, cranes, the japanese symbol for the chrysanthemum's) on it. none of the fluidity of line and form that would enrich the world of arts in the next few years is yet seen, and yet... it's really interesting.

(whistler 'symphony in white #2'; herter brothers chair; royal crown derby; 'aladdin' by walter crane)