weep for me

WILLOW POEM

It is a willow when summer is over,
a willow by the river
from which no leaf has fallen nor
bitten by the sun
turned orange or crimson.
The leaves cling and grow paler,
swing and grow paler
over the swirling waters of the river
as if loath to let go,
they are so cool, so drunk with
the swirl of the wind and of the river—
oblivious to winter,
the last to let go and fall
into the water and on the ground.

William Carlos Williams

(as we've said, japonisme went by many many names: l'art nouveau, jugendstil, with photography there was photo secession, and with poets it was imagist.)

Brilliant moon,
is it true that you too
must pass in a hurry?
Issa

Above the veil
of mist, from time to time
there lifts a sail.
Gakoku





Nine time arising
to see the moon
whose solemn pace
marks yet only midnight.
Basho














Kisa Lagoon--
the morning sun rising
autumn dusk
Issa


Brother of W. Corwin Chase. The brothers taught themselves the art of the color woodcut in the mid 1920's using Frank Morley Fletcher's manual and produced magnificent color woodblocks for only about ten years.

madame b.

Butterfly
You? you? you? you? you? you? you?
Beloved Idol!
Ador'd, adorèd being,
Fairest flower of beauty.
[taking the child's head in her hands, she draws it to her]
Though you ne'er must know it
`Tis for you, my love, for you I'm
dying, Poor Butterfly
That you may go away
Beyond the ocean,
Never to feel the torment when you are older,
That your mother forsook you!
[exaltedly]
My son, sent to me from Heaven,
Straight from the throne of glory,
Take one last and careful
look At your poor mother's face!
That it's memory may linger,
One last look!
Farewell, beloved! Farewell, my dearest heart!
Go, play, play. 1
(see too here and here and check out this -- it's really interesting)

tiffany's girls

It has long been presumed that the lamps, windows, and other luxury objects produced by Tiffany Studios were designed exclusively by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), the firm's founder and artistic director. A New Light on Tiffany presents new information highlighting the many women who played a crucial role in the design and creation of Tiffany's masterpieces, in particular, Clara Driscoll (1861-1944), head of Tiffany Studios' Women's Glass cutting Department. Driscoll's recently discovered correspondence written during her employment at Tiffany at the turn of the century, reveals that she was responsible for many of the firm's most iconic lampshades, including the Wisteria, Dragonfly, and Poppy, as well as numerous other objects made with glass, bronze, and mosaic. 1

bent

I, who fly with the swallows

DE AEGYPTO

I, even I, am he who knoweth the roads
Through the sky, and the wind thereof is my body.

I have beheld the Lady of Life,
I, even I, who fly with the swallows.

Green and gray is her rainment,
Trailing along the wind.

I, even I, aim he who knowth the roads
Through the sky, and the wind thereof is my body.

Manus animam pinxit,
My pen is in my hand

To write the acceptable word...
My mouth to chant the pure singing!

Who hath the mouth to receive it,
The song of the Lotus of Kumi?

I, even I, am he who knoweth the roads
Through the sky, and the wind thereof is my body.

I am flame that riseth in the sun,
I, even I, who fly with the swallows.

The moon is upon my forehead,
The winds are under my lips.

The moon is a great pearl in the waters of sapphire,
Cool to my fingers the flowing waters.

I, even I, am he who knoweth the roads
Through the sky, and the wind thereof is my body.

Ezra Pound

June Is Bustin' Out All Over

Nettie
March went out like a lion
Awavin' up the water in the bay;
Then April cried and stepped aside,
And 'long came pretty little May!
May was full of promises
But she didn't keep 'em quick enough for some
And the crowd of doubtin' thomases
Was predictin' that the summer'd never come

Men
But it's comin' by dawn,
We can feel it come,
You can feel it in your heart
You can see it in the ground

Girls
You can see it in the trees
You can smell it in the breeze

All
Look around! Look around! Look around!

Nettie
June is bustin' out all over
All over the meadow and the hill!
Buds're bustin' outa bushes
And the rompin' river pushes
Ev'ry little wheel that wheels beside the mill!

June is bustin' out all over
The feelin' is gettin' so intense,
That the young Virginia creepers
Hev been huggin' the bejeepers
Outa all the mornin' glories on the fence!
Because it's June...

All
June, June, June
Just because it's June, June, June!

Nettie
Fresh and alive and gay and young
June is a love song, sweetly song

All
June is bustin' out all over!
The saplin's are bustin' out with sap!
Love hes found my brother, Junior,
And my sister's even loonier!
And my Ma is gettin' kittenish with Pap!
June in bustin' out all over

Nettie
The ladies and men are payin' court.
Lotsa ships are kept at anchor
Jest because the captains hanker
Fer the comfort they ken only get in port!

All
Because it's June... June, June, June
Just because it's June, June, June!

Nettie
June makes the bay look bright and new
Sails gleamin' bright on sunlit blue

All
June is bustin' out all over
The ocean is full of Jacks and Jills,
With the little tail a-swishing'
Ev'ry lady fish is wishin'
That a male would come
And grab 'er by the gills!

Nettie
June is bustin' out all over!
The sheep aren't sleepin' anymore!
All the rams that chase the ewe-sheep
All determined there'll be new sheep
and the ewe-sheep aren't even keepin' score!

All
On acounta it's June! June, June, June
Just because it's June, June, June!

(from the rogers and hammerstein musical)

thirty six and four

THE MOUNTAIN

Six and thirty times and hundred times
the painter tried to capture the mountain,
tore it up,

then pushed on again
(six and thirty times and hundred times)

to the incom- prehen- sible volca- noes,
blissful, full of temptation, without counsel,—
while the outlines of his glory
went on without coming to an end:

Fading a thousand times out of all the days,
nights without comparison from which
dropped, as if they were all too small;
each image at the moment it was needed,
increasing from figure to figure,
not partaking and far and without viewpoint—,
then suddenly knowing, as in a vision,
lifting itself up behind every crevice.

from: New Poems, the other part
translated from rilke: 'der berg,' which was inspired by hokusai's 'thirty-six views of mt fuji' of which 'the great wave' was one. also see an earlier version in the hokusai manga spread.

there is of course tintin, and the other is a 'colorized' very poor scan of a grey-scale illustration of 'the fisherman and his wife' in a german book 'japonismus und art nouveau,' of which i'd love to find a copy! i think i might need a new scanner....

vamp

"in 1919... models had their faces made-up in a new style that recalled japanese prints:

white powder, black kohl and mascara, thinly drawn eyebrows and heart-shaped deep-red mouths."1

saturday evening girls again

rachel found a really
interesting article which
goes into this phenom- enon
in a far

more comprehensive
way than i did.

here are the images,
thumbnails anyway,
from the piece.

Opéra imaginaire - Madame Butterfly, Puccini

reaching for the moon

Frank Sinatra Lyrics

REACHING FOR THE MOON
(Irving Berlin)
[Recorded November 29, 1965, Hollywood]
The moon and you appear to be
so near and yet so far from me,
And here am I, on a night in June,
reaching for the moon and you.

I wonder if we'll ever meet,
my song of love is incomplete,
I'm just the words, looking for the tune, reaching for the moon and you.

[musical interlude]

I wonder if we'll ever meet,
my song of love is incomplete,
I'm just the words, looking for the tune, reaching for the moon and you.

The painting by Taikyu (died circa 1945) of a monkey reaching for the moon on the water also contains a tiny Enso with a larger theme:

The monkey seeks the moon in the water,
chasing after it ceaselessly until death.
If instead, it sinks its hand into the deep spring
the clear, pure moonlight will illume the universe. 1

(image source)