Painting by ChagallIn my previous entry, I revealed what I look for in a muse: courage, strength, and kindness. I want to be courageous and strong, and kind. I seek others who display these characteristics, for they give me strength. A poem by Edward Thomas called "The Unknown Bird" speaks to me of what it is like to hear the muse. Thomas writes:
Three lovely notes he whistled, too soft to be heard
If others sang; but others never sang
In the great beech-wood all that May and June.
No one saw him: I alone could hear him
Though many listened. ...
Oftenest when I heard him I was alone,
Nor could I ever make another hear.
La-la-la! he called, seeming far off--
...
as if the bird or I were in a dream.
Yet that he travelled through the trees and some-
times
Neared me, was plain, though somehow distant still
He sounded. ...
Listening to the muse is a deeply mysterious process, not unlike prayer. I see now the muse is the way inward, the part of the self that respects art. The muse doesn't judge. It only loves.
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9 comments:
Lovely entry. Poem a lovely metaphor for listening to the muse. Very nice, T.
At first glance of painting, perhaps partly because of the way it loaded onto my screen, I thought the lovers were buried beneath the tree (and still see it that way)--perhaps equating love and eternity.
Submerging; going down; entering, merging with the earth--that is how I see everything. It is comfort, trueness, selfhood...
I couldn't respond yesterday for some reason, so am happy to see that I can today. There is a a wistfulness about this poem, but also a closeness. This muse is yours, and in you, and only in you. I am glad you are listening, my dear.
Love, Vicky
very lovely as always. judi
Beautiful poem, I'd never read it before... Thank you for posting it.
~Lily
Thanks Theresa for encouraging me to stop and think of what I look for in a muse and to discover that we are similarily inspired, or do I mean mused?
Courage. Stength. Kindness. The muse I listen to has these qualities, too, and I listen to her as I write in my journal. My personal muse is female. At least, in my own mind.
The painting is lovely, and so is the poem. Thanks for sharing it with us, Theresa.
"never judges" "only loves"- Check out "Never Gonna Dance" from film SWING TIME (1936) with Fred Astaire. Reminds me of verse repeat. Got me humming- Thanks much!
Gretchen
"In art, as in life, everything is possible so long as it is based on love." ~ Marc Chagall
Thanks for the "never judges" too-
Gretchen
Theresa, that was lovely. Here`s another take on the Muses, by Goethe.
A Plan the Muses entertain`d
Methodically to impart
To Psyche the poetic art;
Prosaic-pure her soul remain`d.
No wondrous sounds escaped her lyre
E`en in the fairest Summer vight;
But Amor came with glance of fire,--
The lesson soon was learn`d aright.
Hugs,
V
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