The Lovers’ Chronicle 15 October – imagine; reprise – birth of Virgil – art by James Tissot

Dear Zazie, Here is today’s Lovers’ Chronicle from Mac Tag dedicated to his muse. Who do you imagine in the still of the night? Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

time for a reprise
“Ok, let’s hear it”
imagination is the foundation,
a harbor durin’ the rough years
if i had any hope, a word that gits
overused, it was from imaginin’
“A safe place to escape to”
right, solace was not comin’
from anywhere, so i created it
“And it paved the way”
yes, we created us

as alluded to, or mentioned, the primary abode for most of my time, spawned by isolation, both real and created, the certainty of safety, sought to heal from wounds, psychological and physical, then havin’ trust, not much, so a place had to be created just to git by, only had space for one, yet once in awhile the aperture would open to make room for another but those were brief moments, not worth the trouble; till you

in the still night,
thoughts of you

holdin’, bodies entwined
kissin’ this and that of you

whatever means
will always sing, you

here is the answer,
long thought lost

this feelin’, here
in your arms

the what-is-it comes over
partin’ flesh and the thrill
of under me, you

Pale Love, Pale Rider

for Tamela

where, when, why

nights at the opera
cocktail parties
lunches
the haven on the hill,
surrounded by pine trees

brief in the scheme
an accordion expandin’,
contractin’, elusive
here then gone
almost

the connection strong
seemin’ly headed
in that direction
then not
then held everything
ever wanted
well, not quite

what could have been

i carry with me
i am never without it
whatever is done
is your doin’

and it is you,
whatever always means
and whatever
will always sing, is you

here is the answer,
long thought lost,
and this is the wonder
i can carry again

this feelin’, here
bein’ in your arms

so many memorable
moments from the road

the photographs,
the scenery, the music,
the sight
of the sun and wind
in your hair

stoppin’ whenever
the scene and the light
were in alignment

that night, headed west
on i-20, when we noticed
we could see Orion
through the open moon roof

but mostly, the music

your teasin’ me
as i sing along
with those old
country songs

our classic rock duets,
like an epic rendition
of “Open Arms”
and the songs,
“Unchained Melody”
comes to mind,
that inspire carnal pit stops

ready for the next one

A Shiner on tap mornin’
And I still ain’t got no baby
To leave me without warnin’
Anytime at all
Time to fly on back
To the High Plains

***

i remember
first smiles,
first kisses
last words
and farewells
i remember
beauty and sorrow

remember
when you said
imagine
i want to
and i try
but
it has been so long

imagine…
on a road trip
music turned up
moon roof wide open
long stretch of wide open
two lane black top

my hand restin’
on the gear shifter
of a sudden
a hand rests on mine
i turn to look at you
in wide wonder

i pull over
and turn to you
words fail
but a tear
tells the tale

i tip my hat

if i could just write
one line worthy of you…

borne as best could
you, who so well know
unquestionably
the only topic

equally, beyond doubt;
the truth, the passion
the path chosen

depend upon it, after all
there is no seducin’ me
from the path

ah, this will be a struggle
hell, since when has it not

all i want to do
is write good
verse for you
and i cannot
even do that

***

Too many years chasin’,
Or runnin’ from
The not so
dearly departed

When she would sometimes cry,
no solace in soothin
hugs, nor in whispered words,
we would sit under the
silence of pulsin’ stars
and wait

No better highlight
in the day of this
cowboy poet, than
to make a pretty
woman smile or laugh

Well I would give it away
But I cain’t even do that

Upset? Hardly
Feelin’ grateful
Maybe even
Eternally
Too dramatic?
Not hardly. Such
A long time in
Darkness; you have
No idea

My legendary inner calm payin’ dividends this mornin’. Frustrated when colleagues do not match my level of intensity and exactness!

Once, a selfish,
Closed, defensive,
Cold SOB
I would go back
In time and kick
My own ass, if
I could. Payin’
For his mistakes
Still, to this day

Buried, denied,
Ignored, refused,
Shunned, covered up,
And neglected
My wants, needs and
Desires for so
Long, not sure if
They still exist

Virgil
Depiction 3rd century AD (“Monnus-Mosaic”, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier)

Today is the birthday of Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro; near Mantua, Cisalpine Gaul; Roman Republic; October 15, 70 BC – September 21, 19 BC Brundisium, Italy, Roman Empire); poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Rome’s greatest poets. His Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Modeled after Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid follows the Trojan refugee Aeneas as he struggles to fulfill his destiny and arrive on the shores of Italy, which in Roman mythology, is the founding act of Rome. Virgil’s work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably Dante’s Divine Comedy, in which Virgil appears as Dante’s guide through hell and purgatory.

Verse

Aeneid (29–19 BC)

Book I

Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam fato profugus Laviniaque venit
Litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
Vi superum, saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram,
Multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem
lnferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum
Albanique patres atque altae moenia Romae.

Arms, and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate,
And haughty Juno’s unrelenting hate,
Expell’d and exil’d, left the Trojan shore.
Long labours both by sea and land he bore,
And in the doubtful war, before he won
The Latian realm, and built the destin’d town;
His banish’d gods restor’d to rites divine,
And settled sure succession in his line,
From whence the race of Alban fathers come,
And the long glories of majestic Rome.
Lines 1–7, as translated by John Dryden (1697).

Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate,
What goddess was provok’d, and whence her hate:
For what offense the Queen of Heav’n began
To persecute so brave, so just a man!
Involv’d his anxious life in endless cares,
Expos’d to wants, and hurry’d into wars!
Can heav’nly minds such high resentment show,
Or exercise their spite in human woe?
Lines 8–11 (tr. John Dryden).

Dux femina facti.
- A woman leads the way.
- Line 364 (tr. Dryden).
Quis fallere possit amantem?
- Who can deceive a lover?
- Line 296

today is the birthday of James Tissot (Jacques Joseph Tissot; Nantes; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902 Doubs, France); painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of Paris society before moving to London in 1871. He became famous as a genre painter of fashionably dressed women shown in various scenes of everyday life.

Self-portrait in 1865

In 1875-6, Tissot met Kathleen Newton, a divorcee who became the painter’s companion and frequent model. He composed an etching of her in 1876 entitled Portrait of Mrs N., more commonly titled La frileuse. She moved into Tissot’s household in St. John’s Wood in 1876 and lived with him until her death in the late stages of consumption in 1882. Tissot frequently referred to these years with Newton as the happiest of his life, a time when he was able to live out his dream of a family life.

Gallery

Le dejeuner

Seaside, 1878

Été (Kathleen Newton) (vers 1877)

Jeunes femmes regardant des objets japonais (1869), Cincinnati Art Museum

La Japonaise au bain, 1864

bad news

A Woman of Ambition, 1885

The Shop Girl, c. 1878–1885

The Woman of Fashion, c. 1883–1885

The Ladies of the Cars, c. 1883–1885

The Circus Lover, 1885

Holyday, 1876. Thought to originally have been part of a diptych depicting Tissot’s garden in St. John’s, alongside A Convalescent, c. 1876

Still on Top, c. 1873. Note the two lower figures wearing a red Communard cap and a Japanese-style Obi cloth

Faust and Marguerite in the Garden, 1861

The Circle of the Rue Royale, a scene in Paris seen from the balcony of the Hôtel de Coislin overlooking the Place de la Concorde.

Portrait of James Tissot by Edgar Degas, c.1866-67

On the Thames, 1882

Tissot in 1898 (detail of a self-portrait on silk)

The Ball, 1880
October, 1877
Gentleman in a Railway Carriage, 1872
Chrysanthemums, 1875
Lilacs, 1875
The Fireplace, 1869
The Gallery of H.M.S. ‘Calcutta’ (Portsmouth), 1877
The Captain’s Daughter, 1873
Kathleen Newton In An Armchair, 1878
The Garden Bench, 1882
Young Lady in a Boat, 1870
A Passing Storm, 1876
The Thames, 1867
Captain Frederick Gustavus Burnaby, 1870
La partie carrée, 1870
Ball on Shipboard, 1874
Mavourneen, Kathleen Newton, 1877
At the Rifle Range, 1869
Boarding the Yacht, 1873
The Bridesmaid, 1883-83

And on this day in 1964, composer and songwriter Cole Porter died in Santa Monica, California. He wrote many wonderful songs it was hard to choose just one for the SOD.

The Song of the Day is Frank Sinatra‘s version of Porter’s song, “In the Still of the Night”.

In the still of the night, that is what I think of; you. Carryin’ your heart and you leanin’ back in my arms. My body when it was with your body. Kissin’ this and that of you. The what-is-it comes over partin’ flesh and the thrill of under me, you.

Mac Tag

thanks for stoppin’ by y’all