The Lovers’ Chronicle 30 April – tell me – art by Luigi Russolo – verse by John Crowe Ransom

30 April 2024 By Rhett 0 In Random

Dear Zazie,

Here is today’s Lovers’ Chronicle from Mac Tag.

Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

clearly in the throes

of an illusory vision

i could see, and i said,

as breath would allow,

wake, wake from sleep

but i would not

i shook my head,

no i cannot,

i must tell you

i cannot go

until i have told you

all that you must hear

and outside

the rain

falls steady

“I don’t feel well.”
-holdin’ you-
well, i think
you have never felt better

a smile, then…
“I should be getting up,
there is much to do.”
no, i will take care
of everything
just relax and rest
it is little that i can do
for one who has done so much

a sigh, then,…
“But don’t leave just yet,
stay with me.”
as you wish, so it is
“Tell me again.”
-smilin’ and teasin’-
tell you that
which you already
know so well
“Yes, tell me.”
that which i love to tell
“Yes, yes, tell me
what I long to hear.”

i begin…

She said she did not feel well.
Holdin’ her in his arms he said,
well, I think you have never felt better.
She managed a smile and said,
I should be getting up, there is much to do.
Nonsense, he said, I shall make all the arrangements.
It is little that I can do for one who has done so much.
You just relax, he continued, and try to rest.
She sighed and felt the tension start to ebb away.
But don’t leave just yet, she said. Stay with me.
As the lady wishes, he said, so it is.
She looked up at him and said, tell me again.
He smiled and teased, tell you that
which you already know so well?
Yes, tell me.
That which I love to say?
Yes. She smiled, yes, tell me that
which I long to hear.
He began…

Today is the birthday of Luigi Russolo (Portogruaro, Italy 30 April 1885 – 6 February 1947 Cerro, Italy); Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto The Art of Noises (1913). He is often regarded as one of the first noise music experimental composers with his performances of noise music concerts in 1913–14 and then again after World War I, notably in Paris in 1921. He designed and constructed a number of noise-generating devices called Intonarumori.

1911, Souvenir d’une nuit (Memories of a Night), oil on canvas, 99 x 99 cm, private collection

1912, Sintesi plastica dei movimenti di una donna, oil on canvas, Musée de Grenoble

Russolo’s grave in Laveno Mombello

Gallery

1909, Self-portrait with Skulls, painting
1910, Profumo (meaning “scent”, “fragrance”)
1911, La Rivolta (The Revolt), oil on canvas
1911–12, La Musica (a pianist playing for his audience), oil on canvas
1912, Solidity of Fog, oil on canvas
1913, Dynamism of a Car, oil painting
1929, Soap-dish, oil painting
c. 1940s, Landscape with trees, painting

Today is the birthday of John Crowe Ransom (Pulaski, Tennessee, April 30, 1888 – July 3, 1974 Gambier, Ohio); educator, scholar, literary critic, poet, essayist and editor. He is considered to be a founder of the New Criticism school of literary criticism. As a faculty member at Kenyon College, he was the first editor of the widely regarded Kenyon Review. Highly respected as a teacher and mentor to a generation of accomplished students, he also was a prize-winning poet and essayist.


Ransom at Kenyon

For I could tell you a story which is true;
I know a lady with a terrible tongue,
Blear eyes fallen from blue,
All her perfections tarnished—and yet it is not long
Since she was lovelier than any of you.
- “Blue Girls”, line 13, from Two Gentlemen in Bonds (1927).
And weeping fast as she had breath
Janet implored us, “Wake her from her sleep!”
And would not be instructed in how deep
Was the forgetful kingdom of death.
- “Janet Waking”, line 25, from Two Gentlemen in Bonds (1927).

Chills and Fevers (1924)

And a wandering beauty is a blade out of its scabbard.
You know how dangerous, gentlemen of threescore?
May you know it yet ten more.
- “Judith of Bethulia”, line 4.

Here lies a lady of beauty and high degree.
Of chills and fever she died, of fever and chills,
The delight of her husbands, her aunts, an infant of three,
And of medicos marveling sweetly on her ills.
- “Here Lies a Lady”, line 1.

Two evils, monstrous either one apart,
Possessed me, and were long and loath at going:
A cry of Absence, Absence, in the heart,
And in the wood the furious winter blowing.
- “Winter Remembered”, line 1.

Mac Tag

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