On Middle-Aged Reading

Middle age is when you can't read for more than half an hour without feeling sleepy. So when the lids start to droop, you get up off the couch, pray Midday Prayer, take down and fold the line-dried laundry, wash a load of bedsheets, then sit down and read again. Half an hour later, your lids droop, so you get up, wash the lunch dishes, clean the bathroom, get a glass of water, and see what's going on in Facebook land. Then you get back on the couch, open your book, and after another half hour your whole head begins to droop. Then you give up and watch silly game shows on GSN and shout answers at the contestants because, you know, they just might hear you. Then you pray Midafternoon Prayer and ask, as one does at the beginning of every Office, "God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me." Perhaps one should do that before one tries to read.

Hey, remember me?

     Oh, my. It's been forever and a day since I last posted anything on this blog, and even longer since I posted anything that remotely resembles an essay. My last several posts have been of the "cop-out" variety, I'm afraid, memes and such, rather than products of a fertile and creative mind. I suppose my mind has been neither fertile nor creative in recent months.

     I realize, too, that I've left poor Aminta/Amyntas hanging on a cliff. I really should post the rest of the play, if for no other reason than to say I've done it.

     The truth is, I've been attending to other things. Lame excuse, I know. Even now, as I type this, I'm deliciously distracted by Dinu Lipatti's rendition of Schumann's Piano Concerto. Stunning performance, this; probably my very favorite of this particular piece.

     In fact, I've been on a Lipatti kick lately. The more I listen to his tragically few recordings, the more convinced I am of his profound greatness. Born in 1917, died in 1950, he left us far too soon. Who knows what he would have achieved, had he lived at least ten or twenty years more? Already, his technique was as close to perfect as one could wish for, and his interpretations were pure, devoid of self-indulgence.

     Have I been busy writing poetry? No. How many new poems have I written this year? One. Am I worried? Not really. It comes and goes, waxes and wanes, swells and troughs (is "trough" a verb?). However, The Lyric will be putting three of my older poems in their upcoming issue, so at least I'll be in print again soon.

     Do you know, Lipatti is the only pianist I've heard so far who takes the last movement of Schumann's concerto at what I think is the proper tempo. Just thought I'd throw that in.

     Well, it's been swell connecting with "you" again, whoever "you" are that bothers to read my "important nothings." (Quick, from what famous author did I lift that last phrase? Answer to come in my next post. Who knows when that will be.)

    

My Favorite Things Beginning with T, U, V, W, and Y

T

• Author and/or poet: Elizabeth Taylor (d. 1975), Tennyson
• Book: The Tortoise and the Hare by Elizabeth Jenkins, They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth
• Film: The Trouble with Angels; Truly, Madly, Deeply; A Touch of Class; The Turning Point (1977)
• Actor: Spencer Tracy
• Actress: Emma Thompson
• Composer: Tosti
• Opera: Tosca
• Food: tiramisu, trout

U

• Book: Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mays
• Film: Under the Tuscan Sun

V

• Author and/or poet: Virgil
• Book: A Village in a Valley by Beverley Nichols
• Composer: Vivaldi, Verdi

W

• Author and/or poet: Wordsworth, Mary Wesley
• Book: William by E. H. Young
• Fictional character: Wilmet Forsyth (A Glass of Blessings, Barbara Pym)
• Film: When Harry Met Sally, Working Girl, Where the Boys Are (1960)
• Actor: Tom Wilkinson
• Actress: Kate Winslet, Julie Walters
• Composer: Hugo Wolf
• Opera: Werther
• Food: watermelon, but I've become allergic to it

Y

• Author and/or poet: E. H. Young
• Film: You've Got Mail
• Actor: Michael York
• Actress: Loretta Young
• Food: yogurt

My Favorite Things Beginning with Q, R, and S

Q

• Film: The Queen
• Composer: Roger Quilter

R

• Author and/or poet: Christina Rossetti
• Book: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• Fictional character:
• Film: Return to Me, Roman Holiday
• Actor: Alan Rickman, Oliver Reed
• Actress: Rosalind Russell, Diana Rigg, Meg Ryan
• Composer: Rossini, Rachmaninov, Richard Rodgers
• Opera: Rigoletto
• Food: rib eye steak, medium rare

S

• Author and/or poet: Dodie Smith, George Bernard Shaw
• Book: The Secret Garden, The Soul of Kindness (Elizabeth Taylor)
• Fictional character:
• Film: Don't make me choose one, or even two or three. Summertime, Sense and Sensibility (1995), Shadowlands, The Shop around the Corner, Sleepless in Seattle, Sabrina (both versions)
• Actor: James Stewart
• Actress: Maggie Smith, Juliet Stevenson, Meryl Streep
• Composer: Schubert, Schumann
• Opera: Suor Angelica, Serse (Xerxes)
• Food: shrimp

My Favorite Things Beginning with O and P

O

• Author and/or poet: Ovid
• Book: Can't think of one at the moment.
• Film: Old Acquaintance
• Actor: Peter O'Toole
• Actress: Maureen O'Hara
• Composer: Okay, I guess it's Carl Orff .... but not really.
• Opera: Orfeo
• Food: oatmeal, oatmeal cookies, oatmeal bread

P

• Author and/or poet: Barbara Pym
• Book: Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Film: Persuasion (1995), The Philadelphia Story
• Actor: David Hyde Pierce
• Actress: Joan Plowright, Michelle Pfeiffer
• Composer: Purcell
• Opera: I Puritani
• Food: Pasta, in just about any preparation. I could eat pasta every single day. Potatoes – ditto and ditto. And did you know that when both pasta and potatoes are cold (e. g., pasta salad, potato salad, etc.), their starches do not completely convert to sugar in your body?

My Favorite Things Beginning with M and N

M

• Author and/or poet: F. M. Mayor, Lucy Maud Montgomery
• Book: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, The Man of Property by John Galsworthy
• Fictional character: Mildred in Barbara Pym's Excellent Women
• Film: Moonstruck
• Actor: Sir Ian McKellen
• Actress: Anna Massey, Hayley Mills
• Composer: Mozart
• Opera: Madama Butterfly
• Food: mozzarella di bufala

N

• Author and/or poet:
• Book: No Fond Return of Love by Barbara Pym, The New House by Lettice Cooper
• Fictional character: Niles Crane!!!!!
• Film: Notting Hill
• Actor: Paul Newman
• Actress: Mildred Natwick
• Composer: Thomas Newman (film)
• Opera: Le Nozze di Figaro, Norma
• Food: New England clam chowder

My Favorite Things Beginning with K and L

K

• Author and/or poet: Emily Kimbrough
• Book: Can't think of any, but I'm sure something will come to mind later
• Fictional character: Kit in the Sue Barton series
• Film: The King's Speech
• Actor: Greg Kinnear
• Actress: Deborah Kerr, Diane Keaton
• Composer: Jerome Kern
• Opera: none
• Food: Knoblauchsuppe (German garlic soup—it's dee-lish!)

L

• Author and/or poet: Rosamond Lehmann
• Book: Little Women, Little Town on the Prairie
• Fictional character: Lotte in The Enchanted April
• Film: Little Women (1994), Love Affair (1939)
• Actor: Jack Lemmon
• Actress: Christine Lahti
• Composer: Lully, Loewe (of Lerner and Loewe)
• Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor
• Food: Linguine with white or red clam sauce, lasagna (almost any kind, but no mushrooms)

My Favorite Things Beginning with I and J

I

• Author and/or poet:
• Book: In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden, Invitation to the Waltz by Rosamond Lehmann, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
• Fictional character: Irene in John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga
• Film: Into Great Silence, I Capture the Castle
• Actor: none
• Actress: none
• Composer: none
• Opera: Idomeneo, Iphigénie en Tauride
• Food: ice cream

J

• Author and/or poet: Elizabeth Jenkins
• Book: Jane Eyre, Jane and Prudence (Barbara Pym)
• Fictional character: Jane Eyre, Jane Bennet
• Actor: James Earl Jones
• Actress: Glenda Jackson
• Composer: none
• Opera: none
• Food: Jordan Almonds

My Favorite Things Beginning with G and H

G

• Author and/or Poet: John Galsworthy, Elizabeth Gaskell
• Book: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick
• Film: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
• Fictional character: Captain Gregg, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
• Actor: Cary Grant, Hugh Grant, Kelsey Grammer
• Actress: Judy Garland
• Composer: Gluck, Gershwin
• Opera: Giulio Cesare, Gianni Schicchi
• Food: gnocchi, grouper
• Place: none

H

• Author and/or Poet: Gerard Manley Hopkins, Helene Hanff
• Book: Henrietta's War and Henrietta Sees It Through by Joyce Dennys
• Film: Holiday, The Holiday (two completely different films!)
• Actor: Anthony Hopkins
• Actress: Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn
• Composer: Händel
• Opera: Hansel und Gretel
• Food: halibut, Honey Nut Cheerios
• Place: any Half-Price Books store

My Favorite Things Beginning with E and F

E

• Author: Emerson
• Book: Excellent Women by Barbara Pym, 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, and The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, Emma by Jane Austen
• Film: Enchanted April, Emma (ITV 1995)
• Actor: None
• Actress: None
• Composer: None
• Opera: L'Elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love)
• Food: Eggs. The perfect food.
• Place: Edinburgh, Scotland
• Fictional character: Elizabeth Bennet, of course

F

• Author/Poet: E. M. Forster, Robert Frost
• Book: Forty Plus and Fancy Free and Floating Island, both by Emily Kimbrough
• Film: Four Weddings and a Funeral, French Kiss, Foreign Affairs
• Actor: Colin Firth, Harrison Ford
• Actress: Sally Field
• Composer: George Fenton (films), Fauré
• Opera: Falstaff
• Food: French fries
• Place: Florence
• Fictional character: Fanny Price, Mansfield Park

My Favorite Things Beginning with C and D

C

• Author: Lettice Cooper
• Book: Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym
• Film: Come to the Stable
• Actor: Michael Caine, George Clooney
• Actress: Toni Colette
• Composer: Corelli, Chopin
• Opera: Così fan tutte, La Cenerentola
• Food: Coconut cream pie (NOT meringue), chocolate mousse
• Fictional character: Mr. Collins (Pride and Prejudice)

D

• Author/Poet: E. M. Delafield, Emily Dickinson
• Book: Diary of a Provincial Lady, E. M. Delafield
• Film: Desk Set
• Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert Downey, Jr.
• Actress: Irene Dunne, Doris Day, Judi Dench, Bette Davis
• Composer: Donizetti
• Opera: Don Giovanni, Dido and Aeneas
• Food: Double Devonshire cream, dim sum
• Fictional character: Dickon (The Secret Garden), Dulcie (No Fond Return of Love)

My Favorite Things Beginning with B

Favorite author: Anita Brookner
Favorite book: The Bible
Favorite film: The Big Chill, Brief Encounter (1945), Broadcast News
Favorite actor: Hugh Bonneville, Jim Broadbent
Favorite actress: Ingrid Bergman, Emily Blunt, Ellen Burstyn
Favorite composer:  Bach, Bellini
Favorite opera: Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Favorite food: Boeuf bourgignon
Favorite place: Backstreet Café in Houston
Favorite fictional character: Belinda in Barbara Pym's Some Tame Gazelle

My Favorite Things Beginning with "A"

True, I was inspired by a very popular blogger who began this meme: commenter asks for a letter, he assigns one, and the commenter in turn writes a post listing all his/her favorite things beginning with that letter. However, I did not ask said blogger for a letter; I just decided to do this on my own. So there. And I may do more than one letter if I so choose. In fact, I may go through the entire alphabet, if my sanity reaches a low enough trough.

Today's letter is A.

Favorite author: Austen, of course!
Favorite book by any author: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Favorite film: All About Eve
Favorite actor: Fred Astaire
Favorite actress: Jean Arthur, Dame Judith Anderson, Julie Andrews, Eve Arden
Favorite composer: none
Favorite opera: Ariodante (Handel)
Favorite food: Almonds and almond paste. I've yet to try almond butter, but I have a feeling I'll like it.
Favorite place, geographical or otherwise: Abbey of Regina Laudis, Bethlehem, CT
Favorite fictional character, in any medium: Anne Elliot, Persuasion

Tasso's AMINTA (AMYNTAS): Act II, Scene 2

ACT III

Scene 2

(Amyntas, Daphne, Nerina)

[Review the cast of characters here.]

AMYNTAS   Your pity was no pity at all, o Daphne, when you held back my arrow; but my death shall be more bitter because it is delayed. And now, why do you lead me along so many different paths and distract me with such useless talk? Of what are you afraid? That I will kill myself? You fear for my welfare.
DAPHNE   Do not despair, Amyntas; for if I know her well, it was but shame, not cruelty, that made her flee.
AMYNTAS   My despair could be my salvation, since hope has only been my ruin. Alas, hope still tries to spring up within my breast, only because I am alive. What is worse than the life of a wretch such as I?
DAPHNE   You now live, wretched man, in your misery; but may you suffer this state only to be happy when it is granted. If you continue to live and hope, your reward will be that which you saw in her lovely nakedness.
AMYNTAS   Did it not seem to Love nor to my fortune that I was indeed miserable, since I was forced to behold Sylvia's fair form, which will never be mine?
NERINA   So then I must be the accursed bearer of bitterest news! Will your soul be forever wretched, Montanus, when you hear of the harsh fate of your only daughter Sylvia? Old, bereft father: ah, you are father no more!
DAPHNE   I hear a mournful voice.
AMYNTAS   I hear Sylvia's name, which wounds my ears and heart. But who speaks of her?
DAPHNE   It is Nerina, gentle nymph very dear to Cynthia, who has such beautiful hands and eyes and such comely, graceful ways.
NERINA   I only want him to know so that he will make sure to recover her unfortunate remains, if there be any. Ah, Sylvia! How cruel and unhappy your fate!
AMYNTAS   What could have happened? What is she saying?
NERINA   Daphne!
DAPHNE   What are you saying to yourself? Why do you name Sylvia, and why do you lament?
NERINA   I lament a bitter circumstance.
AMYNTAS   Of what circumstance could she be thinking? I feel as if my heart is freezing and my spirit receding. Is she alive?
DAPHNE   Tell us, of what bitter circumstance do you speak?
NERINA   Oh, God, why am I the messenger? But I had best say it. Sylvia came to my lodgings, naked: you would know the reason. Once dressed again, she asked if I wished to go with her on the hunt which had been organized in the ilex wood. I agreed, and we went; and we found many nymphs gathered there. Shortly after, an unusually large wolf emerged from I know not where, and from his lips dripped bloody drool. Sylvia fitted an arrow to the bow that I gave her; she pulled, and struck him at the top of his head. Then he ran back into the wood and she, brandishing another arrow, followed him.
AMYNTAS   O doleful beginning! What end will she yet announce to me?
NERINA   I with my own arrows gave chase, but she was too far ahead, and I ran slower. As they went into the wood, I saw her no more; but following their tracks, I entered woods even more dense and deserted. There I espied Sylvia's arrow on the ground, and not far from it a white veil which I myself had wrapped round her hair. When I looked round, I saw seven wolves licking the earth which was splattered with blood around a bone stripped bare. It was my good fortune that I was not seen by them; they were so intent upon their meal. And so, full of fear and pity, I went back. This is as much as I can tell you of Sylvia: here is her veil.
AMYNTAS   Have you not said enough? Oh, veil, blood! Ah, Sylvia, you are dead!
DAPHNE   Poor man, he has fainted from grief. Perhaps he is dead.
NERINA   He breathes still; this may be a brief faint. There, he revives.
AMYNTAS   Grief that so distressed me, why do you not kill me now? You are too slow! Perhaps you leave the task to my hand. I am glad it may do such a task, since you cannot, or refuse to do so. If there is nothing lacking to the certainty of her death or the plenitude of my misery, what do I care? What more do I await? O Daphne, you saved me, only to hear this final bitterness? It would surely have been good and sweet to die then, when I wanted to kill myself; I would have then evaded the sorrow this news has given me. Now that you have done the extreme of your cruelty, you shall suffer that I die, and suffer you should.
DAPHNE   Delay your death, until we better understand the truth.
AMYNTAS   Why do you want me to delay? I have waited too long and understood too much.
NERINA   Ah, if I were only mute!
AMYNTAS   Nymph, I pray you, give me that veil which is the only sad remnant of her, that it may accompany me through the short path of life left to me; and with its presence, may it increase that pain, which is indeed small, if I need help to die.
NERINA   Should I give it or not? the reason he asks for it makes me think I should not.
AMYNTAS   Cruel one, such a small gift you deny me at the very end? Also in this my fate shows itself averse to me. I renounce the veil: it stays with you. And all of you, stay; for I go never to return.
DAPHNE   Amyntas, wait, listen—. Ah, me, with what fury he departs!
NERINA   He goes so quickly, it would be vain to pursue him. Therefore it is better that I remain silent and recount nothing to poor Montanus.
CHORUS   It is not necessary to kill one's self for love: for faith and love are enough to hold united those chosen souls.

To be continued.

Tasso's AMINTA (AMYNTAS): Act III, Scene 1

Review the cast of characters here.

ACT III

Scene 1

Tyrsis, Chorus

 

TYRSIS   O arrant cruelty, ungrateful heart, ungrateful woman; o three and four times most ungrateful sex! And you, Nature, negligent mistress, you would put in women's faces and forms all that is gentle, comely, and kind, yet you would forget their other parts? Perhaps the wretch has killed himself; he has not come. For three hours now, I have searched and searched again for him in the place and surroundings where I left him; but I cannot find him for his footprints. Ah, he has surely killed himself! I will ask news of him from those shepherds I see there. Friends, have you seen Amyntas, or perhaps heard news of him?

CHORUS   How distraught you seem. What is it afflicts you? Whence this sweat and anxiety? Are you ill? Tell us.

TYRSIS   I fear the worst for Amyntas. Have you seen him?

CHORUS   We have not seen him since he left with you a good while ago. Of what are you afraid?

TYRSIS   That he may have killed himself.

CHORUS   Killed himself? But why? What do you believe is the reason?

TYRSIS   Hatred and Love.

CHORUS   Two powerful enemies indeed. When put together, what can they not do? But explain further.

TYRSIS   He loved a nymph too much and was too much hated by her.

CHORUS   Come, tell all. This is a well-trod path; perhaps someone will come who has news of him. Perhaps even he himself will come.

TYRSIS   I will tell you gladly, for it is not right that such inexplicable ingratitude should stand without reproach.

I had informed Amyntas (and I was, alas, the one who apprised and led him; now I am sorry for it) that Sylvia would go with Daphne to bathe in a certain spring. So he went there, doubtful and uncertain, moved not by his heart but only by my insistent prodding; he often turned back in doubt, but I urged him forward against his will. Then the spring was near; behold, we heard a womanly wail; and almost at once, we saw Daphne beating her palms together. When she saw us, she raised her voice: "Ah, haste!" she cried, "Sylvia has been assaulted!"

Hearing this, the lovelorn Amyntas sprang forth like a leopard, and I followed. There naked as she was born, we saw the young girl tied to a tree, and her hair was the rope that bound her: her very hair was wrapped around the tree in a thousand knots, and her lovely girdle which once protected her virginal breast had assisted in accomplishing this violent act, for it bound both her hands to the hard trunk. The tree itself provided bonds against her: a twist of a pliable branch held each of her soft legs.

We saw before her a villainous satyr who had just then finished tying her. She defended herself as much as she could; but how long could she have struggled? Amyntas, an arrow in his hand, hurled himself like a lion, and I meanwhile had filled my tunic with stones. Then the satyr fled, and in doing so, gave way for Amyntas' gaze. Amyntas turned his lovesome eyes upon those graceful limbs, which seemed soft and white as lilies that tremble with dew. I saw his whole face glow; then he approached her softly and shyly and said:

"O lovely Sylvia, forgive these hands, if they dare too much in approaching your sweet limbs; but harsh necessity urges them: the necessity to loosen these knots. This is the grace that fortune grants them, be it against your will."

CHORUS   Words to soften a heart of stone. But what did she say then?

TYRSIS   She said nothing; but scornful and ashamed, she lowered her face to the ground and, twisting herself as much as she could, hid her delicate bosom. He, coming forward, began to loosen the blond tresses, saying: "Such a rough trunk was never worthy of such lovely knots. What advantage do lovers have, if they share with the trees that tie which binds them to the ones they love? Cruel tree, could you offend these fair locks, that did you such honor?" Then with his hands he loosened her own in such a way that he seemed to fear even touching them; yet at the same time, he desired them. Then he bent to untie her feet; but when Sylvia's hands were freed she said scornfully: "Shepherd, do not touch me. I belong to Diana; I know how to free my own feet."

CHORUS   Such pride resides in the nymph's heart? A gracious act so ungraciously rewarded! 

TYRSIS   He kept himself away respectfully, not even raising his eyes to look at her, denying himself his pleasure in order to save her the trouble of denying him of it. I who was hidden, and saw and heard everything, was then about to cry out, but restrained myself. Now hear something strange. After much effort, she freed herself; and as soon as she was loose, without even saying "farewell," she began to flee like a deer; yet she had no cause to fear, for she noted Amyntas' respect.

CHORUS   Then why did she flee?

TYRSIS   Sylvia wanted to attribute her escape to her own fleetness, not to Amyntas' timid love.

CHORUS   Then she is ungrateful also in this. What did the wretched boy do then? What did he say?

TYRSIS   I know not; for I, full of disgust, ran to catch her, but in vain, for I lost her. Then returning to the spring where I had left Amyntas, I did not find him, but my heart foresees something bad. I know he had been ready to die even before this occurred.

CHORUS   It is the custom and the cunning of every lover to threaten to die, but rarely do they do so.

TYRSIS   May God grant that he will not be the rare exception.

CHORUS   No, he will not be.

TYRSIS   I will go to the cave of the wise Elpinus. If Amyntas is alive, perhaps he has taken refuge there, where often the bitterest suffering is sweetened at the sound of the clear pipes which, being heard, draws the stones from the heights and makes the rivers run with pure milk, and distills honey from the hard trunk.

To be continued.



From My Big Orange Book: Sara Teasdale

I am so weak a thing, praise me for this,
That in some strange way I was strong enough
To keep my love unuttered and to stand
Altho' I longed to kneel to you that night
You looked at me with ever-calling eyes.
Was I not calm? And if you guessed my love
You thought it something delicate and free,
Soft as the sound of fir-trees in the wind,
Fleeting as phosphorescent stars in foam.
Yet in my heart there was a beating storm
Bending my thoughts before it, and I strove
To say too little lest I say too much,
And from my eyes to drive love's happy shame.
Yet when I heard your name the first far time
It seemed like other names to me, and I
Was all unconscious, as a dreaming river
That nears at last its long predestined sea;
And when you spoke to me, I did not know
That to my life's high altar came its priest.
But now I know between my God and me
You stand forever, nearer God than I,
And in your hands with faith and utter joy
I would that I could lay my woman's soul.

                                                             ~ from "From the Sea"

Tasso's AMINTA (AMYNTAS): Act II, Scene 3

For the cast of characters, click here.

ACT II

Scene 3

Amyntas, Tyrsis

 

AMYNTAS   I want to see what Tyrsis has accomplished. If he has accomplished nothing, then I would rather kill myself before that cruel girl's eyes than waste away with love. She who so enjoys my heart's wound, inflicted by her beautiful eyes, will likewise have to enjoy the wound of my breast, inflicted by my own hand.

TYRSIS     Amyntas, I have comforting news to announce: cease now this excessive lamenting.

AMYNTAS   What are you saying? What news do you bring? Life or death?

TYRSIS   I bring health and life, if you will dare to make yourself face them. But you will need to be a man, Amyntas, a daring man.

AMYNTAS   What do I need dare, and to face what?

TYRSIS   If your beloved were in the midst of a wood surrounded by the highest cliffs, which gave lodging to tigers and lions, would you go there?

AMYNTAS   I would go there more sure and bold than the merry village girl to the dance.

TYRSIS   And if she were among bandits and weapons, would you go there?

AMYNTAS   I would go there more gladly and readily than the thirsty hind to the fountain.

TYRSIS   An even greater daring is needed for this great test.

AMYNTAS   I would go into the midst of the rapid torrents when the snow melts and sends them swollen to the sea; I would go into the fires of Hell, whenever she may go there, if such a beautiful thing can be found in Hell. Come, tell me everything.

TYRSIS   Listen.

AMYNTAS   Quickly, tell me!

TYRSIS   Sylvia is waiting for you at a spring, naked and alone.

AMYNTAS   What did you say? Sylvia is waiting for me, naked and alone?

TYRSIS   Alone, save Daphne, who supports us.

AMYNTAS   She is waiting for me, naked?

TYRSIS   Yes, but ...

AMYNTAS   But what? You are silent, you are torturing me.

TYRSIS   But she does not yet know that you will be there.

AMYNTAS   Bitter conclusion, that poisons all the past sweetness! With what cunning, cruel one, do you torment me? Does it not seem to you, then, that I am not so very unhappy, and you come to increase my misery?

TYRSIS   If you do as I advise, you will be happy.

AMYNTAS   What do you advise?

TYRSIS   That you take what friendly fortune offers you.

AMYNTAS   God would not wish me to do anything which displeases her; I have never done anything that displeased her except to love her; but this was forced upon me by her beauty and was no fault of mine. I will always try as I can to please her.

TYRSIS   Then you would love her against her will, were you capable of not loving her.

AMYNTAS   Not against her will—but I would still love her.

TYRSIS   Against her wishes, then.

AMYNTAS   Certainly, yes.

TYRSIS   Though it may at first pain her, why not then dare against her wishes and take from her that which in the end would be precious and dear to her because you have taken it?

AMYNTAS   Ah, Tyrsis, Love will answer for me, for he speaks from so deep within my heart, I cannot answer for myself. You by now are too shrewd through long habit to discuss love. That which binds my heart also binds my tongue.

TYRSIS   Then we do not want to go?

AMYNTAS   I want to go, but not where you believe.

TYRSIS   Where, then?

AMYNTAS   To death, since you have not done anything else in my favor other than what you now tell me.

TYRSIS   And this seems so little to you? Then do you believe, fool, that Daphne would ever have advised you to go if she had not glimpsed, at least in part, Sylvia's heart? And though she may know her heart, perhaps she may not want others to know that she knows. If you seek Sylvia's approval, do you not know that you seek what would most displease her? Of what use, then, is this desire of yours to please her? And if she wills your happiness to be stolen or abducted, and not given through her mercy, why should the one method matter more than the other?

AMYNTAS   But who can assure me that she wills it thus?

TYRSIS   Oh, folly! You still ask for the assurance that it will displease her and it must rightly displease her, so you must not attempt. Yet who would assure you that she is as you say? And what if she were, and you did not go? The doubt and the risk are the same, yet it is better to die bravely than cowardly. You are silent; you are beaten. Now admit your loss, for your admission may bring about great victory. Let us go.

AMYNTAS   Wait.

TYRSIS   Why wait? Do you not know that time is flying?

AMYNTAS   Well, let us first think of what must be done, and how.

TYRSIS   Let us think on the way of what remains to be done; but he who thinks too much accomplishes nothing.

CHORUS   Love, in what school, from what teacher, does one learn your intricate and mysterious art? Who can teach us to express what the soul understands as it flies to the heavens on your wings? Not even the learned Athena, nor Lyceus can explain it to us; nor Phoebus on Helicon, who considers Love to be as he teaches: he speaks of it coldly and rarely; he does not have the ardent voice that would be worthy of you; he does not elevate his thoughts to the heights of your mysteries. Love, you alone are the only teacher of yourself. You teach the simplest rustics to read those wondrous things that you write with your own hand in amorous letters within the eyes of others. With eloquent words you loosen the tongues of your faithful followers, and often (oh, strange and singular eloquence of Love!) with confused and broken words, one better expresses one's heart and moves another more deeply; for one cannot accomplish this with embellished and expert phrases, and silence is always filled with words and pleas. Love, others may still read the Socratic papers, but I will learn your art from two lovely eyes. The poems from the wisest pens may be lost, but I will have my simple ones, inscribed on rough bark by a rough hand.

To be continued. 



These are a few (!) of my favorite things ...

     'Tis the season for The Sound of Music to be shown on TV, though I'm not quite sure what-all it has to do with Christmas. Perhaps because it's a "family" movie, it seems appropriate to air it during a "family" time of year.

     At any rate, 'tis also the season for making lists (and, yes, checking them twice).

     My favorite novels and films are already listed in the left sidebar. So here are more of my favorite things:

 

Non-fiction books: Practically everyone who knows me knows I love everything Helene Hanff wrote. In fact, I wrote a whole post about her and her delightfully chatty, autobiographical books. They know, too, how much I love the ever-amusing travel memoirist Emily Kimbrough, of whom I wrote in this post. Like Helene Hanff, I am a tremendous Anglophile, so I also love Beverley Nichols (a man, not a woman, in case you didn't know), especially A Thatched Roof, A Village in a Valley, and his trilogy Merry Hall/Laughter on the Stairs/Sunlight on the Lawn.

 

Food stuff: Wowee. Let's see. I could eat pasta every single day. I like it simply prepared, though if you offered me a plate of cannelloni, I wouldn't spit in your eye. Seafood is a biggie with me, especially salmon, halibut, monkfish, shrimp, scallops, and lobster. And I looooove a good steak, prime rib or rib eye, medium rare. I'd have to say my favorite overall cuisine is Italian (oh, big surprise), then French and Chinese. I only like Filipino if it's my mother's. No one else's can compare. I never go out to Filipino restaurants anymore (heck, I have a hard time even finding Filipino restaurants) because they simply don't measure up to my mom's cooking.

     My most favorite dessert in the whole world (probably) is coconut cream pie. Not coconut meringue – coconut cream. Chocolate silk pie. Chocolate mousse. Chocolate pot de crème. Cream puffs, St. Honoré, St. Tropez (just about anything with pastry cream; I just love pastry cream).

 

Music: Baroque, baroque, and baroque for relaxation and "mood." Corelli first of all, Bach, Handel, Purcell, Monteverdi, all that ilk. I prefer instrumental, however; surprisingly, I seldom listen these days to vocal or choral. Piano repertoire – Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninov, whatever. I'm not fond of Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev. As to non-classical, I like old standards and singers such as Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Jane Morgan, Vera Lynn, Rosemary Clooney, early Doris Day, Helen Ward, Helen Forrest, Mel Torme, Vic Damone. I never tire of the Beatles, especially early to mid-Beatles. Vintage Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan. Peter, Paul, and Mary. A special fondness for Blood, Sweat, and Tears and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Yes, I am a child of the 60's and early 70's.

 

TV: Come on; do you even have to ask? Okay, besides Frasier: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, M*A*S*H, The Paper Chase, The Antiques Roadshow, Chopped!, Iron Chef America, House Hunters International and, of course, Dancing with the Stars. I used to love Candace Olsen's old show Divine Design, and that great travel show of the early to mid-90's, Travelers. I miss Samantha Brown's European show. She's a kook.

 

Ways to spend time: Reading, antiquing, book hunting (in antiquarian bookstores), discovering great restaurants. Movies.

     My favorite part of the day is when I'm in prayer. I dedicate the first hour and a half of the morning to God, plus an hour in the evening and a half hour before bedtime. Nothing, however, compares to sitting in silent adoration before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, either exposed in the monstrance or hidden in the tabernacle. If I could, I would spend hours a day doing just that.

Spiritual writers: My favorite go-to books in this area are the ones written by, mysteriously, "A Carthusian," particularly They Speak by Silences. This beautiful little volume is comprised of very short (most of them shorter than one page) meditations and instructions written by a Carthusian monk to a novice. G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, Elisabeth Leseur, Peter Kreeft, Scott Hahn, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (also his writings as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) are others I consult regularly. Among the canon of Saints: Catherine of Siena, Thérèse of Lisieux, Teresa of Avila, Francis de Sales, and Pope John Paul II are my top faves. Of course, Thomas a Kempis' great classic Imitation of Christ; and I have also begun to use the Carmelite book of meditation Divine Intimacy by Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen.

 

Scripture: I find endless strength in the Gospels of John and Luke, as well as John's first epistle and Revelation, Romans (most particularly chapter 8), Galatians, Ephesians, the epistles of Peter, most of Isaiah, much of Jeremiah, Sirach, and of course the Psalms. So much more; impossible to list here.

Tasso's AMINTA (AMYNTAS): Act II, Scene 2

For the cast of characters, click here. 

ACT TWO

Scene 2

Daphne, Tyrsis

 

DAPHNE     Tyrsis, as I have told you, I had noticed that Amyntas loves Sylvia; and God knows I have endeavored to persuade her and gladly continue to do so, just as you now add your prayers. But I would prefer rather to tame a young ox, a bear, or tiger, than to tame a simple girl, a girl as stupid as she is beautiful, who does not yet realize how arousing the weapons of her beauty are, and how sharp; but, with her laughter and her tears she is killing him, without knowing that she does so.

TYRSIS     But what girl, once out of swaddling, is so simple that she does not learn the art of looking beautiful and of pleasing, of tormenting by pleasing, and of knowing which weapon wounds, which one kills, and which one restores life?

DAPHNE     Who is the teacher of such an art?

TYRSIS     You jest and try me: it is she who teaches the birds to sing and fly, the fish to swim, the ram to butt, the bull to use his horns, and the peacock to spread the display of his eyed feathers.

DAPHNE     What is this great teacher's name?

TYRSIS     Daphne.

DAPHNE     Liar!

TYRSIS     And why not? Are you not qualified to teach a thousand girls? Although, to tell the truth, they do not need a teacher. Nature is their teacher, but their mothers and wet nurses also do their part.    
DAPHNE     For goodness' sake, you are both stupid and wicked. Now, to tell you truthfully, I am not certain if Sylvia is as simple as she seems in word and deed. Yesterday I saw something that puts me in doubt of it. I found her near the city in those vast fields where between ponds lies a little island. Just over a clear, tranquil pool she leaned as if to admire herself, and at the same time, to ask advice of the waters about how she should arrange her hair over her brow, and her veil over her hair, and over her veil the flowers that she held in her lap. From time to time she took a privet, then a rose, and put them up to her lovely white neck and to her rosy cheeks, comparing the colors; and then, as though glad of her victory, a smile burst forth which seemed to say: "I still conquer you. I do not wear you for my adornment, but only to shame you, so that they shall see how inferior you are to my beauty." But, while she adorned and admired herself, she chanced to look up and noticed that I had seen her; and she sprang to her feet in shame, letting her flowers fall. Meanwhile, I laughed at her blush and she blushed still more at my laugh. But because she had gathered a part of her hair and the rest had been left scattered loose, once or twice she consulted the spring with her eyes, and looked at herself almost furtively, as if fearing that I would see her look. She saw she was unkempt, yet she was pleased, for she also saw that she was still beautiful. I too saw, and fell silent.

TYRSIS     You tell me what I already knew. Did I not know it?
DAPHNE     Certainly you did. Yet I hear it said that at one time there were no shepherdesses or nymphs so spiteful; nor was I such in my girlhood. The world gets older, and as it does so, becomes more and more cruel.
TYRSIS     Perhaps in the past the city folk did not often frequent the woods and fields, nor did our country women habitually go into the city. Now they and their customs are mixed. But let us abandon this subject. Now, will you not someday make Sylvia happy, if only in your presence, that Amyntas thinks of her?
DAPHNE     I know not. Sylvia is unusually reluctant.
TYRSIS     And Amyntas is unusually cautious.
DAPHNE     A cautious lover is done for; advise him then to take another occupation, since he is so cautious. He who wishes to learn how to love must unlearn caution; he must dare, ask, plead, bother, and in the end, steal; and if this is not enough, he must then abduct her. Do you not know how woman is made? She flees, yet wants others to catch her; she denies, yet wants others to take what she denies; she fights, yet wants others to conquer her. You see, Tyrsis, I speak to you in confidence. Do not repeat what I tell you. And above all, do not put it into verse. You know that I would know how to deal with you in one way or another.
TYRSIS     You have no reason to believe that I would say anything that would displease you. But I pray you, Daphne, for the sweet memory of your fresh youth, help me to help poor Amyntas, who is wasting away.
DAPHNE     Oh, what kind spell has conjured up this fool to recall my youth, the past joy, and the present pain! What would you have me do?
TYRSIS     Knowledge and acuity you do not lack. You need only be ready and willing.
DAPHNE     Come then, I will tell you: Sylvia and I must go in a little while to the spring of Diana, where on the calm waters cool shade is made by that plane tree, inviting the huntresses to rest. There I am sure she will plunge her lovely bare limbs.
TYRSIS     And what of that?
DAPHNE     What of that? Spoken like a dullard! If you have any good sense, you shall need it.
TYRSIS     I do understand, but I do not know if he would be so bold.
DAPHNE     If not, then let him stay away and wait for someone to fetch him.
TYRSIS     He may require that; he is so timid.
DAPHNE     But don't we want to talk a little of you yourself? Come now, Tyrsis, do not you want to fall in love? You are still young enough. You are almost twenty-nine, but you remember when you were a youth. Do you want to live indolent and joyless? For only by loving does man know what joy is.
TYRSIS     The man who avoids love does not flee the delights of Venus, but reaps and enjoys the sweetness of love without the bitterness.
DAPHNE     Flavorless is that sweetness whose spice is not somewhat bitter; it satisfies too quickly.
TYRSIS     It is better to satisfy oneself than to be always famished during the meal and after.
DAPHNE     But he is not famished who possesses and likes the meal; and once tasted, it tempts him to taste again.
TYRSIS     But who possesses that which pleases him so that he has it always ready to satisfy his hunger?
DAPHNE     Who finds the treasure, if he does not seek it?
TYRSIS     It is folly to look for something that so amuses when found, but torments much more when not found. Thus you shall never see Tyrsis as lover, for Love on his throne will always disregard his tears and sighs. I have already wept and sighed enough. Let someone else do so.
DAPHNE     But you have not yet enjoyed enough.
TYRSIS     I do not wish to enjoy, if it costs so dear.
DAPHNE     Even if you do not wish, Love will force you.
TYRSIS     He cannot be forced who remains distant.
DAPHNE     But who remains distant from Love?
TYRSIS     He who fears him and flees.
DAPHNE     What use is it to flee Love, since he has wings?
TYRSIS     Love, when born, has short wings. But he can barely hold them up, and cannot spread them to fly.
DAPHNE     Man may not notice when Love is born, and when he does notice, Love is already grown and flies.
TYRSIS     He cannot notice if he has never before seen Love born.
DAPHNE     We shall see, Tyrsis, if you have the ability to flee and the sharp eyes you claim to have. I declare to you that when you become the sharp-eyed runner, I shall not move a step to help you; not a finger, a word, or a single eyelid.
TYRSIS     Cruel woman, you would have the heart to see me dead? If you really want me to love, then you love me: let us agree to make love!
DAPHNE     You mock me, and perhaps you do not deserve such a lover. Ah, now that smooth blushing face betrays you!
TYRSIS     I am not in jest; but you, with such declaration, do not accept my love. Yet that is how all women are. If you do not want me, I shall live without love.
DAPHNE     You will live happier than you ever were, o Tyrsis; for you live now in leisure, and in leisure Love always sprouts.

TYRSIS     Oh, Daphne, my lord made this leisure for me that I may worship him here, where the vast herds and flocks graze from one sea to the other, throughout the most fertile countries' cultivated lands, throughout the rugged peaks of the Apennines. He told me when he gathered me to his flock: "Tyrsis, one man may drive away wolves and thieves, or guard my walled pens; another may give out punishments and rewards to my ministers; and others may feed and tend the flocks; some have care of the wools and milk, and other the larders. You may sing, now you are at leisure." It is surely right, therefore, that I sing not of earthly Love's caprices, but of the forebears of my lord. I know not as I should call him Apollo or Jove, since in deeds and face he resembles both. My lord's forebears are worthier that Saturn or Uranus. My poetry is too coarse to exalt his dignity; yet, though it sound loud or raucous, he does not spurn it. I do not sing of him since I cannot worthily honor him except through silence and reverence; but may his altars never be without my flowers or without the sweet fumes of fragrant incense. And this simple, devoted faith will be torn from my heart only when deer feed on air, and when the Persian has drunk the Saone and the Gallican has drunk the Tigris, changing their beds and courses.

DAPHNE     Oh, you are going too high: come back down a little to our subject.
TYRSIS     The point is this: that you, in going to the spring with her, will try to soften her; and I, meanwhile, will make sure that Amyntas comes. My task will perhaps be more difficult than yours. Now go.
DAPHNE     I go, but someone else has heard our plan
TYRSIS     If I discern the face well from afar, it is Amyntas who emerges there. Yes, it is he.

END SCENE

To be continued. 



1 Thessalonians 5:17

"Pray unceasingly."

I wake and kneel I kneel to pray
My prayer be raised this rise of day

When day is risen rain or sun
This day be prayer thy work be done

When day is set this work is done
So may I rest come rest of sun

I raise my prayer at set of day
To wake come rise of sun to pray


© Leticia Austria 2013
First published in Time of Singing