Tag Archives: John Singer Sargent

Foreign Language, Painting, Poetry, Spanish Language

Crepúscular

Palace and Gardens, Spain. John Singer Sargent. 1912.

 

Crepúscular

Juanna Borrero, 1877

 

Todo es quietud ye paz… En la penumbra

se respira el olor de los los jazmines,

y, más allá, sobre la cristal del río

se escucha el aleteo de los cisnes

 

que, como grupo de nevadas flores,

resbalan por la tersa superficie.

Los oscuros murciélagos resurgen

de sus mil ignorados escondites,

 

y vueltas mil, y caprichosos giros

por la tranquila atmósfera describen;

o vuelan luego rastreando el suelo,

 

rozando apenas con sus alas grises

del agrio cardo el amarillo pétalo,

de humilde malva la corola virgen.

 

This poem by Cuban poetess Juanna Borrero is featured on Wrestle with the Angel in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15-October 15.

“Crepúscular” (“Twilight”) describes the graceful flights of swans and bats over a quiet garden. “…over the glassy surface of the water/ Is heard the flapping wings of the swans/ Which, like a bunch of snowy flowers/ Glide over the smooth water.”

Painting, Poetry

She Walks in Beauty

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Lady Agnew. John Singer Sargent. 1893.

 

She Walks in Beauty

George Gordon Byron, 1814

 

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow’d to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shad the more, one ray the less,

Had half impair’d the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

 

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

Painting, Poetry

A Feast of Lanterns

Carnation Lily, Lily Rose. John Singer Sargent. 1886.

 

A Feast of Lanterns

Yuan Mei (translated by L. Cranmer-Byng)

 

In Spring for sheer delight

I set the lanterns swinging through the trees,

Bright as the myriad argosies of night,

That ride the clouded billows of the sky.

Red dragons leap and plunge in gold and silver seas,

And, O my garden gleaming cold and white,

Thou hast outshone the fair faint moon on high.