The Lovers’ Chronicle 26 October – reflections – birth of Charlotte de Sauve & Beryl Markham – art by Vasily Vereshchagin & Elizabeth Nourse – photography by Guillermo Kahlo – premiere of Wait Until Dark

Dear Zazie,  Here is today’s Lovers’ Chronicle from Mac Tag dedicated to his muse.  Who is a reflection of you?  Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

not an obvious song
came up with one
after a little, you know;
“Tangerine, tangerine
Living reflection from a dream
I was her love
She was my Queen 
And now a thousand years between”
”More Led Zeppelin please”
right, the only proper response
”I see how that resonated with you”
i could not have have been anyone’s love
because i never let anyone pry me open,
never had a queen for more than a moment,
but i knew all about reflections from dreams
and how it felt to be a thousand years between 
“Better this way being each other’s reflection”
with nothin’ between livin’ our dream

© copyright 2023.2024 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

usually how the process starts, with a reminder or a memory, then let the words start flowin’, could come as story; on the balcony, you are listenin’ to one of your audio books, sippin’ on a drink, i am writin’ or readin’, also with a drink, we reach over for a touch, or look up and smile; reflection on a mild autumn day

© copyright 2022.2023 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

in mirrors, in windows
sometimes expected,
sometimes not

in dreams, lucid
or uncontrolled
thoughts throughout
songs, melody or lyrics
in these and other ways

could be near
or from a distance
clear or vague
comin’ of goin’
or all around

reflections of you
wherever i turn

© copyright 2021.2023 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

Pale Love, Pale Rider

for Gay

you call me and i go

a rainy road
past midnight

the door unlocked

i smile, enter and
shake off the wet

here is a full woman
on her side in the bed

night is a room
darkened for lovers

through the vagaries
we have been sent to find

in your eyes, i watch you bloom

© copyright 2020 mac tag/cowboy coleridge all rights reserved

various reflections
in the rear view
the mirors of the past
in a structured world
this the only allowance
for spontaneity,
for randomness

which way it goes
depends
who i saw
where i went
what movies are on
what songs did i hear

today, the red head i saw
walkin’ down the street
a reminder of could have been

© copyright 2019.2023 Mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

all that can be hoped for
is to write somethin’
that will resonate
with you

maybe somethin’ about
layin’ you down
in a bed of roses

or how i await
each passin’ moment
with greater anticipation
until i hear your voice again

oh wait, this is better..

i have no greater hope
than that someday
you will accompany me

© copyright 2018 Mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

thanks Karen…

i ain’t talkin ’bout romance
romance is for pikers
“You’re talking about
something rare.”
yes

“The kind that floods your blood
with emotions, the kind
that reshapes you,
defines you
and elevates you.”
yes

“The kind that is worth
everything you have…”
yes
“…with the one
you cannot be without!”
yes

© copyright 2017 mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

Until then…
I shall be awaitin’
each passin’ moment
with greater anticipation

so enjoy our correspondence
Love havin’ an outlet
when inspiration strikes
nice to not have to worry
about quellin’ the spirit

good to have someone
to share my musin’s with
helps me feel like I am doin’
somethin’ about my first
best destiny; to write for you

My charm,
my inspiration,
my words;
all a reflection
of you

© copyright 2016 mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

This music, good yet sad to hear
I can hardly misconceive you;
With divided devotions and mixed emotions
I take the meanin’ with a heavy heart

Once, they lived in Venice
Close to Saint Mark’s, and the
Grand Canal. Where they took
their pleasure near the sea

Well, it was all graceful for them
They would break love off to write or
paint, while the music, sigh on sigh,
played a melody so plaintive

© copyright 2015 mac tag/cowboy Coleridge all rights reserved

a once ago (2010) conversation between two friends who want to be more than friends.  Hope you enjoy.

for Julie

Dear J,
Song lines of the day.  Hope this resonates with you, it does with me; Bon Jovi “Bed of Roses”;
“I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses
For tonight I’ll sleep on a bed of nails
I wanna be just as close as your Holy Ghost is
And lay you down in a bed of roses.”
M

Dear M,
This resonates on many levels.  I will see you at lunch tomorrow!
J

Dear J,
I shall be awaitin' each passin' moment with greater anticipation.
M

Dear M,
I do not believe there is a woman in the world
immune to your charm!
J

Dear J,
Regardin’ my so called charm: It matters not a whit to me whether others think I am charmin’.  It matters to me only that you think so.  I also think that what you call my charm, I call merely my reflection of you; my response to you.
M

Dear M,
I’m totally at a loss for words and I’m quite sure I can’t take the credit you so graciously extend to me!
I had a feeling you were going to address your “charm” at some point.
You are, by all accounts, a gentleman and a cowboy which inherently means you are a discriminating man.
It’s all good.
J

Dear J,
Just a quick note to let you know I enjoyed our lunch and that I am findin’ our time together ever more enjoyable.  I regret but one thing about our time together; that it ends.  Please be safe.
Until,
M

thank you M
I feel very fortunate to be able to spend time with you
J

Dear J,
Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy our correspondence!  Love havin’ an outlet for when inspiration strikes.  It is nice to not have to worry about quellin’ the spirit.  It just feels good to have someone to share my musin’s with.  It helps me feel like I am doin’ somethin’ about my first best destiny; to write, to create words for someone special.
The Song of the Day is “You’ll Accompany Me” Bob Seger.
M

M,
First, always trust your inspiration!  You’re doing just fine with it!!  Second, regarding the SOD, well played sir! J

Dear J,
My charm, my inspiration, my words; all a reflection of you.
Still,
M

The Song of the Day is “Reflection of You” Bear in Heaven (Lovelock Remix).

Charlotte de Sauve

Today is the birthday of Charlotte de Beaune Semblançay, Viscountess of Tours, Baroness de Sauve, Marquise de Noirmoutier (France 26 October 1551 – 30 September 1617 France); noblewoman, courtesan and a mistress of King Henry of Navarre, who later ruled as King Henry IV of France. She was a member of Queen Mother Catherine de’ Medici’s notorious “Flying Squadron” (L’escadron volant in French), a group of beautiful female spies and informants recruited to seduce important men at Court, and thereby extract information to pass on to the Queen Mother.

Charlotte was sent to court where she was educated in the household of the Queen Mother, Catherine de’ Medici. Blonde-haired, and described as having been “beautiful, intelligent, and immoral”, she was married to Simon de Fizes, Baron de Sauve, secretary of state first to King Charles IX and afterwards King Henry III, in 1569 when she was eighteen years old. Her marriage was arranged by the powerful Guise family. In the words of historian Jean Heritier, her background meant that “at twenty-one, she knew all there was to be known about politics”. Author Mark Strage described Charlotte as having had a face that was “more agreeable and animated than sensuous”.

She was appointed maid-of-honour to Marguerite de Valois. She is recorded as taking part in some of the extravagant pageants and ballets which Catherine de’ Medici produced in abundance. She helped Catherine mount an outdoor banquet and lavish show depicting the Apotheosis of Woman on 9 June 1577 at the château of Chenonceau. During the banquet the male guests were served by Catherine’s most beautiful ladies-in-waiting who wore topless gowns and their hair flowing loose as was the custom of brides on their wedding night.

On 27 November 1579 Baron de Sauve died. Charlotte then married Francois de La Tremoille, Marquis de Noirmoutier on 18 October 1584.

Charlotte later became the mistress of Henry’s greatest adversary, Henry I, Duke of Guise, with whom she spent the night at Blois on 22 December 1588, before his assassination by “the Forty-five”, Henry III’s bodyguards, the following morning. She had other lovers, including the Duc d’Épernon and the Seigneur d’Avrilly.

Vasily Vereshchagin

Today is the birthday of Vasily Vereshchagin (Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin; Cherepovets, Novgorod Governorate, Russian Empire; October 26, 1842 – April 13, 1904; Port Arthur, Russian Empire (now Lüshunkou, China)); artist.  The graphic nature of his realist scenes led many of them to never be printed or exhibited.

By the late 19th century, Vereshchagin had gained popularity, not only in Russia, but also abroad and his name never left the pages of the European and American press. From his earliest works, unlike most contemporary battle pieces depicting war as a kind of parade, Vereshchagin graphically depicted the horrors of war. “I loved the sun all my life, and wanted to paint sunshine. When I happened to see warfare and say what I thought about it, I rejoiced that I would be able to devote myself to the sun once again. But the fury of war continued to pursue me”. Vereshchagin wrote.

Gallery

Today is the birthday of Elizabeth Nourse (Mt. Healthy, Ohio; October 26, 1859 – October 8, 1938 Paris); realist-style genre, portrait, and landscape painter. She also worked in decorative painting and sculpture. Described by her contemporaries as “the first woman painter of America” and “the dean of American woman painters in France and one of the most eminent contemporary artists of her sex,” Nourse was the first American woman to be voted into the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. She also had the honor of having one of her paintings purchased by the French government and included in the Luxembourg Museum’s permanent collection.  Nourse’s style was described by Los Angeles critic Henry J. Seldis as a “forerunner of social realist painting.” Some of Nourse’s works are displayed at the Cincinnati Art Museum.

In 1887, she moved to Paris, France along with her older sister, Louise, who was to be her lifelong companion, business manager, housekeeper and hostess. In Paris, she attended Académie Julian, studying under Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre. While studying in Paris Nourse became acquainted with fellow painter Caroline Augusta Lord. Already having advanced skill when she arrived and having developed her style while in Cincinnati, she quickly finished with her studies and opened her own studio. In 1888, her work was featured in her first major exhibition at the Société des Artistes Français. Her subjects were often women, mostly peasants, and depictions of France’s rural countryside.

Though continuing to live and work mainly in Paris, Nourse travelled extensively around Europe, Russia, and North Africa painting the people she met.

She was one of the “New Women” of the 19th century successful, highly trained women artists who never married, like Ellen Day Hale, Mary Cassatt, Elizabeth Coffin and Cecilia Beaux. Hale, Nourse, and Coffin “created compelling self-portraits in which they fearlessly presented themselves as individuals willing to flout social codes and challenge accepted ideas regarding women’s place in society. Indeed, the New Women portraits of the 1880s and 1890s are unforgettable interpretations of energetic, self-confident and accomplished women.”

During the first world war, Nourse defied the tendency of most American emigres to return home and remained in Paris, where she worked to assist the war’s refugees and solicited donations from her friends in the United States and Canada for the benefit of people whose lives were disrupted by the war. In 1921, she was awarded the Laetare Medal for “distinguished service to humanity” by a Catholic layperson, an annual award from Notre Dame University in Indiana.

Nourse retired and when her sister died in 1927, she became ill and depressed. In 1920, she was operated on for breast cancer, and, in 1937, the cancer returned.

Gallery

Today is the birthday of Guillermo Kahlo (born Carl Wilhelm Kahlo; Pforzheim, Grand Duchy of Baden 26 October 1871 – 14 April 1941 Coyoacán, Mexico City); photographer. He documented important architectural works, churches, streets, landmarks, as well as industries and companies in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century.

Kahlo married María Cardena in August, 1893. The night she died giving birth to their third child, he asked Antonio Calderón for his daughter Matilde’s hand in marriage. After the marriage, Kahlo sent his and Maria’s daughters away to be raised in a convent.

Kahlo and Calderón were the parents of painter Frida Kahlo.

Gallery

Beryl Markham

today is the birthday of Beryl Markham (née Clutterbuck, Ashwell, Rutland, United Kingdom 26 October 1902 – 3 August 1986 Nairobi, Kenya, Africa); aviator (one of the first bush pilots), adventurer, racehorse trainer and author. She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west. She wrote about her adventures in her memoir, West with the Night.

On her family’s farm, she developed her knowledge of and love for horses. Barely an adult, she became the first licensed female racehorse trainer in Kenya and rapidly became a successful and renowned figure among the racing community of Kenya.

Impetuous, single-minded and beautiful, Markham was admired and described as a noted non-conformist, even in a colony known for its colourful eccentrics. She was married three times, taking the name Markham from her second husband, the wealthy Mansfield Markham. She is believed to have had an openly public affair in 1929 with Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the son of George V, but the Windsors allegedly cut the romance short. She also had an affair with Hubert Broad, who was later named by Mansfield Markham as a co-respondent in his 1937 divorce from Beryl. After her Atlantic crossing, she returned to be with Broad, who was also a great influence in her flying career.

She befriended the Danish writer Karen Blixen during the years that Baroness Blixen was managing her family’s coffee farm in the Ngong hills outside Nairobi. When Blixen’s romantic connection with the hunter and pilot Denys Finch Hatton was winding down, Markham started her own affair with him. He invited her to tour game lands on what turned out to be his fatal flight, but Markham supposedly declined because of a premonition of her flight instructor, British pilot Tom Campbell Black.

Largely inspired by Black, with whom she had a long-term affair, Markham took up flying. She worked for some time as a bush pilot, spotting game animals from the air and signaling their locations to safaris on the ground. She also mingled with the notorious Happy Valley set, a group of hedonistic, largely British and Anglo-Irish aristocrats and adventurers who settled in the “Happy Valley” region of the Wanjohi Valley, near the Aberdare mountain range, in colonial Kenya and Uganda between the 1920s and the 1940s. In the 1930s, the group became infamous for its decadent lifestyles and exploits, following reports of drug use and sexual promiscuity. The area around Naivasha was one of the first to be settled in Kenya by white people and was one of the main hunting grounds of the ‘set’. The colonial town of Nyeri, Kenya, to the east of the Aberdare Range, was the centre of Happy Valley settlers. Some of the notable members of the Happy Valley set were: The 3rd Baron Delamere and his son and heir the 4th Baron Delamere; Denys Finch Hatton; Sir Jock Delves Broughton and wife Diana Delves Broughton; Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll; Lady Idina Sackville; Alice de Janzé (cousin of J. Ogden Armour) and her husband Frédéric de Janzé.

Mac Tag

thanks for stoppin’ by y’all

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