Les Tendres Souhaits (Tender Wishes)

18 Saturday May 2013

Tags

Claire Lefilliâtre, English translation, French song, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, John William Godward, Le Poème harmonique, Pastoral, Vincent Dumestre

: The Favourite, by John William Godward, 1901

John William Godward (9 August 1861 – 13 December 1922)

Photo credit: Wikipaintings

Here is a lovely little song. The music is by Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (4 January 1710 – 16 March 1736). My translation is mostly literal. So, please do not expect a beautiful poem. I wanted to translate the words. This song is a very simple pastoral.

Que ne suis-je la fougère
Où, sur la fin d’un beau jour,
Se repose ma bergère
Sous la garde de l’amour ? Under the watch of
Que ne suis-je le zéphyr
Qui rafraîchit ses appas,
L’air que sa bouche respire,
La fleur qui naît sous ses pas ?

Why am I not the fern/ Where, towards the end of a beautiful day,/ My shepherdess rests/ And love watches over her?/ Why am I not the gentle breeze,/ That refreshes her charms,/ The air her mouth breathes,/ The flower born under her steps.

Que ne suis-je l’onde pure
Qui la reçoit dans son sein ?
Que ne suis-je la parure
Qui la couvre après le bain ?
Que ne suis-je cette glace,
Où son minois répété
Offre à nos yeux une grâce
Qui sourit à la beauté ?

Why am I not the pure mist/ That receives her into its bosom/ Why am I not the ornament/ That covers her after her bath?/ Why am I not that mirror,/ Where her sweet little face repeats itself/ Offering to our gaze a grace/ That smiles at beauty?

Que ne puis-je, par un songe,
Tenir son cœur enchanté ?
Que ne puis-je du mensonge
Passer à la vérité ?
Les dieux qui m’ont donné l’être
M’ont fait trop ambitieux,
Car enfin je voudrais être
Tout ce qui plaît à ses yeux !

Why am I not, as in a dream,/ Holding her heart bewitched?/ And why can I not from a lie/ Go on to the truth?/ The gods who gave me life/ Made me too ambitious,/ For I would like to be/ All that pleases her eyes!

Le Poème harmonique

Vincent Dumestre

Claire Lefilliâtre

art:

Autumn, by John William Godward, 1900 (video)

Nerissa, by John William Godward, 1906 (below video)

May 18, 2013

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Obama Confounds The Opposition!

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in Uncategorized

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On Ferdinand Hodler

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by michelinewalker in the Nineteenth Century

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Alphonse Mucha, Art Nouveau, Ferdinand Hodler, Leysin, Milo Winter, Switzerland, The miller his son and the donkey, World Esperanto Association

Portrait of Berthe Jacques, wife of the artist by Ferdinand Hodler (1894)

I am sending, once again, my earlier post on The Miller, His Son and the Donkey and one on Ferdinand Hodler.

You can’t please everyone: Aesop retold (michelinewalker.com)

My purpose is to show images. Two are by Milo Winter (The Æsop for Children, EBook #19994) and one is the work of Ferdinand Hodler, perhaps the finest Swiss artist of the 19th century. I would like to show you more of his work.

Ferdinand Hodler (14 March 1853 – 19 May 1918) was born in Berne, Switzerland. He was soon the only surviving member of his family. All died of tuberculosis. This experience coloured his life. For instance, Hodler painted several portraits of his mistress and former model Valentine Godé-Darel during the years she was dying of cancer. The video I am inserting in this post documents her “disintegration” Interestingly, Hodler also painted some 20 portraits of himself. These may be a chronicle of the gradual metamorphosis that characterizes human life.

After Ferdinand Hodler’s father died, his mother married a decorative artist. This may explain Hodler’s career as illustrator. He apprenticed at Thun and then moved to Geneva. He is associated with many movements: from realism to expressionism, including symbolism and Art Nouveau (see “Adoration III” at the bottom of this post). We have seen the work of Alphonse Mucha (24 July 1860 – Prague, 14 July 1939) who was a Czech Art Nouveau artist.

In order to improve his skills, Hodler travelled so he could study the work of other artists. He was particularly interested in the art of Hans Holbein.

Hodler painted several landscapes and portraits. Favourite subjects were women and people going about their daily activities, genre painting. However he was also an illustrator.

Ferdinand Hodler married twice and his son by one of his models, Augustine Dupin (1852–1909), Hector Hodler (1 October 1887, in Geneva – 31 March 1920, in Leysin, Switzerland) founded the World Esperanto Association.

During the last year of his life, he had suicidal thoughts. Hodler died at the age of 65 and is now considered a Swiss legend.