The Lovers’ Chronicle 7 November – silent night – birth of Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam – art by Paul Peel

Dear Zazie, Here is today’s Lovers’ Chronicle from Mac Tag dedicated to his muse. Tell us about your night dreams. Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

this comes from a line in “Nocturne”,
a poem by the French poet Villiers
“I didn’t think you were going
all Christmas on me”
could have gone very dramatic
and based the theme on his play
Axël, in which two lovers realize
that life will never measure
up to their dreams
so they die by suicide
“Thank you for not”
yes, a more suitable topic
as we prepare for another
night together

the theme today could have come from a line in Villiers play Axël’; “Vivre? les serviteurs feront cela pour nous” (“Living? Our servants will do that for us”) but reworked as, the verse will do that for me; how it all started, seems far away and not, time doin’ what it does, content to live through the verse, a self imposed silence, till you brought me back to livin’

trade off in night sounds
High Plains wind for city traffic

the nights outside back then
were dictated by the weather
i remember one time
i stopped at the edge of a canyon
on one of my road trips at night
to record myself outside readin’
one of poems
when i got home and played it
i could not hear my voice for the wind

the other difference in night sounds
then, i would sleep to the sound of music
now, i sleep to the sound of you breathin’

vast improvement

Pale Love, Pale Rider

a story,
a mystery
approaches,
openin’ myself
as never before,
as much upon this

to have soon, advance
upon our embrace

this night envelopes
we have all we need

this dream enshrouds
the totem keeps spinnin’
this we fiercely cling to
this our sweet refrain

mystery approaches,
opens as much upon us

the lengthenin’ shadows
advance upon our embrace

this night envelopes
we have all we need

this dream enshrouds
the totem keeps spinnin’
this we cling to
our refrain

the night, the dream
the stars in the sky,
fiercely even

if by that you mean conviction,
i have some, but i admit it depends
on which way the wind is blowin’
……

everything in this vision
the feelin’s, accepted
and conceived in the only
sensuality, have become
more vitally important
than anything else

silent night
comin’ down
your voice
still
in my head

i know
what i want

thanks Karen…

i may not be
the smartest guy
but i figured this out
my days without you
ain’t worth a damn…

i listen to the sound
of your name, whisked
by the wind across
a South Dakota canyon
on a night, cold
with the only light
comin’ from a full moon
that shines with a halo
in the dark cloud-curtained sky

i turn my face to the snow
beginnin’ to fall
silently, and reflect
on my own, alone,
lookin’ at the moon,
with my thoughts of you
and i imagine…
and i smile

That it not be blessed, that it not be sung;
Though it will be known to me

It shows there is no mercy
One of the not chosen
It has revealed its pain

This dream enshrouds
The token keeps spinnin’
This we cling to
This our refrain

Today is the birthday of Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam (Jean-Marie-Mathias-Philippe-Auguste, comte de Villiers de l’Isle-Adam; Saint-Brieuc, Brittany, France 7 November 1838 – 19 August 1889 Paris); symbolist writer.

He came from a distinguished, though not wealthy, aristocratic family. His father became obsessed with the idea he could restore the family fortune by findin’ the lost treasure of the Knights of Malta (Philippe Villiers de L’Isle-Adam, 16th century Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, was his ancestor), which had reputedly been buried near Quintin durin’ the French Revolution. Consequently, he spent large sums of money buyin’ land, excavatin’ it and then sellin’ it at a loss when he failed to find anything of value. The most important occurrence in his early years was probably the death of a young girl with whom Villiers was in love, an event which would deeply influence his literary imagination.

Villiers’ works, in the Romantic style, are often fantastic in plot and filled with mystery and horror. Important among them are the drama Axël (1890), the novel The Future Eve (1886), and the short-story collection Contes cruels (1883, tr. Sardonic Tales, 1927). Contes cruels is regarded as an important collection of horror stories, and the origin of the short story genre conte cruel. The Future Eve greatly helped to popularize the term “android” (Androïde in French, the character is named “Andréide”).

Villiers believed the imagination has within it much more beauty than reality itself, existing at a level in which nothing real could compare.

Villiers considered Axël his masterpiece, a drama published in 1890. It was influenced by his participation in the Paris Commune, the Gnostic philosophy of Hegel as well as the works of Goethe and Victor Hugo. It begins in an occult castle. The Byronic hero Axël meets a Germanic princess. After an initial conflict they fall in love. They speak of the amazing journeys they plan to have. But they realize that life will never measure up to their dreams. They then die by suicide.

Villiers had made several trips to Paris in the late 1850s, where he became enthralled by artistic and theatrical life. He acquired a reputation in literary circles for his inspired, alcohol-fuelled monologues. Villiers began livin’ a Bohemian life, frequentin’ the Brasserie des Martyrs, where he met his idol Baudelaire, who encouraged him to read the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Poe and Baudelaire would become the biggest influences on Villiers’ mature style. Around this time, Villiers began livin’ with Louise Dyonnet, a woman whose reputation scandalised his family so much they made Villiers undergo a retreat at Solesmes Abbey. Villiers would remain a devout, if highly unorthodox, Catholic for the rest of his life.

Villiers finally broke with Dyonnet in 1864. His attempts at securin’ a suitable bride for himself would all end in failure. In 1867, he asked Théophile Gautier for the hand of his daughter Estelle, but Gautier—who had turned his back on the Bohemian world of his youth and would not let his child marry a writer with few prospects, turned him down. Villiers’ own family also disapproved of the match. His plans for marriage to an English heiress, Anna Eyre Powell, were equally unsuccessful. Villiers finally took to livin’ with Marie Dantine, the illiterate widow of a Belgian coachman. He wrote a poem, “Nocturne”, that served as inspiration for this poem, dedicated to Villiers and to you.

Night Dream

The great mystery
Approaches, opens Herself
As much upon us
As the stars in the sky

The lengthenin’ shadows
Gradually advance
Upon our embrace
Under the stars in the sky

This night envelopes
We have all we need
Just us and the stars
My love and your beauty

This dream enshrouds
The token keeps spinnin’
This we fiercely cling to
This our sweet refrain:

Just the night and the dream

My love and your beauty

The Song of the Day is “Nocturne Op. 43-2” words by Villiers, music by Gabriel Fauré, Baritone: Gérard Souzay, Piano: Dalton Baldwin

And today is the birthday of Paul Peel (London, Ontario 7 November 1860 – 3 October 1892 Paris ); academic painter. Having won a medal at the 1890 Paris Salon, he became one of the first Canadian artists to receive international recognition in his lifetime.

Self-portrait from the National Gallery of Canada

In 1882 he married Isaure Verdier. He contracted a lung infection and died in his sleep at the age of 31.

Gallery

portrait of a girl

the rest 1889

The Discovery of Moses

Frances with the apple (1888)

The Little Shepherdess (1892) Oil on canvas. Art Gallery of Ontario

Mac Tag

thanks for stoppin’ by y’all

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The Lovers’ Chronicle 7 November – silent night – birth of Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam – art by Paul Peel

Night Dream

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The Lovers’ Chronicle 7 November – silent night – birth of Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam – art by Paul Peel

Night Dream

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