tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post7413069890433979618..comments2024-03-23T20:37:37.891-07:00Comments on First Known When Lost: NeverthelessStephen Pentzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-84896557483386990522019-11-09T22:00:17.876-08:002019-11-09T22:00:17.876-08:00Susan: It's always nice to have an autumn vis...Susan: It's always nice to have an autumn visit from you. Thank you very much for your kind words about the post, and about the blog.<br /><br />I remember you commenting favorably on Waite's paintings a few years back -- I've taken to re-posting the paintings each autumn, for I am fond of them as well. They do capture the light and colors of autumn wonderfully, don't they? I understand what you mean about the "melancholy" of the third painting. It is particularly beguiling to me because it captures perfectly the light and color of certain autumn scenes from my childhood in Minnesota. The years vanish, and, for a moment, I return. Nothing has changed. But that light and those colors are found in many places in autumn, aren't they?<br /><br />I have the same "charming small old hardcover" of Blyth's Haiku: Summer-Autumn. About 35 or so years ago (can it be?), just after graduating from law school, I came across a set of all four volumes in a used bookstore in Seattle. Those "charming small old" volumes are among my dearest possessions.<br /><br />Thank you again for your kind words about the blog. As I have noted before, your long-time presence here means a great deal to me, and I can never thank you enough for being here over the years. I wish you a wonderful and beautiful autumn.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-31568147312289501572019-11-05T15:08:28.700-08:002019-11-05T15:08:28.700-08:00There is so much to love about this post; finally ...There is so much to love about this post; finally I have, on an early dark evening, time & inclination to respond.<br />"and yet, and yet".... I have a charming small old hardcover of Blyth's Summer -Autumn Haiku.<br />I had read Issa's wistful one shortly before your post. And I very much like Geoffrey Scott's poem, which is new to me.<br />And now the paintings. The first two are old friends; the first is lovely. I like the second because, improbably, to me it very much resembles a familiar landscape in Central Park -- the colors, too, are so close to ours. And the third one took my breath away with its melancholy.<br />Here in the "Heat Island" of New York City the leaves are turning color reluctantly. It's been such a wet fall that much is still lush & green.<br />"First Known" is a great source of pleasure for me -- a resource I often turn to last on the internet in the evening, as a source of calm.<br />SusanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-8957004972955965382019-10-22T20:42:02.689-07:002019-10-22T20:42:02.689-07:00Mary: It's great to hear from you again. Tha...Mary: It's great to hear from you again. Thank you very much for your kind words.<br /><br />Yes, that first painting by Waite is quite something, isn't it? The way he captures the light and the colors of a grey, nearing-the-end-of-autumn day is wonderful. <br /><br />Thank you for the autumn visit. I hope you have been enjoying the season, and will continue to do so. Best wishes.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-88587010143210843982019-10-22T11:26:22.047-07:002019-10-22T11:26:22.047-07:00A most beautiful post, the Edward Waite paintings,...A most beautiful post, the Edward Waite paintings, especially the first, perfectly in harmony with the poems. Nagara indeed.<br />And soon time for my November favorite - the 23rd Sonnet. <br />Thank you for the beauty you share.<br />MaryMary F.Ahearnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-82839562697816249232019-10-22T00:00:00.019-07:002019-10-22T00:00:00.019-07:00Damian: "Fragile melancholy" is a perfe...Damian: "Fragile melancholy" is a perfect description. (Although, as you know, he certainly had his loud and manic moments.) I agree that autumn and many of his songs go well together. His death, and in such a fashion, was indeed a sad thing. <br /><br />On a lighter note: Happy Birthday! I wish you the best. Thank you very much for stopping by again.<br /><br />Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-84325210260257242612019-10-21T23:23:21.912-07:002019-10-21T23:23:21.912-07:00Bruce: Like you, I have not experienced a New Engl...Bruce: Like you, I have not experienced a New England autumn, but Dickinson's poem (which is new to me) is certainly a revelation. She is quite something, isn't she? And your meditation is a fine complement to her poem, particularly in its conclusion: autumn is, as you say, "at bottom, in the core of the human heart, about death." Edward Thomas suggests something alone these lines near the end of The South Country: "The motion of the autumn is a fall, a surrender, requiring no effort, and therefore the mind cannot long be blind to the cycle of things as in the spring it can, when the effort and delight of ascension veils the goal and the decline beyond." Of course, one needn't sink into despair at this. It is simply a fact. And one that presents itself in a breathtakingly beautiful fashion. Hence, "nevertheless."<br /><br />Thank you very much for once again sharing your thoughts, as well as your deep knowledge of Dickinson.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-90385835700054939442019-10-21T22:41:02.467-07:002019-10-21T22:41:02.467-07:00Don: Thank you very much. I'm pleased you li...Don: Thank you very much. I'm pleased you like Geoffrey Scott's poem and the song. I suspect you were already acquainted with the haiku, but they are always worth revisiting. And thank you for your poem, which is a lovely gift. It sums things up quite well. <br /><br />As always, it's a pleasure to hear from you.Stephen Pentzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14882220887712092005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-23024337449215802792019-10-21T10:01:22.815-07:002019-10-21T10:01:22.815-07:00Funny, I've actually been thinking of Mark Lin...Funny, I've actually been thinking of Mark Linkous a bit lately. I always recall that he was only 47 when he died, and I cross that temporal milestone later this week. I remember having a several-day span of wallowing in Sparklehorse's music in early 2010 interrupted by the shock of hearing of his suicide. If ever a musical artist's sound could be described as "fragile melancholy," it would be his, I think. Very well suited to this time of year, indeed. Though I seem to have made Nick Cave the soundtrack for this season so far.Damianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07252183161968874259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-60542982643218889742019-10-21T08:44:11.938-07:002019-10-21T08:44:11.938-07:00The name—of it—is "Autumn"—
The hue—of i...<br /><br />The name—of it—is "Autumn"—<br />The hue—of it—is Blood—<br />An Artery—upon the Hill—<br />A Vein—along the Road—<br /><br />Great Globules—in the Alleys—<br />And Oh, the Shower of Stain—<br />When Winds—upset the Basin—<br />And spill the Scarlet Rain—<br /><br />It sprinkles Bonnets—far below—<br />It gathers ruddy Pools—<br />Then—eddies like a Rose—away—<br />Upon Vermilion Wheels—<br /><br />No one noticed the change of seasons more than Emily Dickinson. Never having lived in New England (I know the autumns only of the deep American South), I can't say I know what the arrival of fall means "up there," but I know from my reading of Dickinson that fall's arrival in Amherst was spectacular, a time of great beauty and yet an admonition also--it was, the leaves on fire, Indian summer too lovely to bear,a harbinger of the frigid winter waiting patiently in the wings. And to state the obvious, and perhaps by now the banal, the arrival of fall summons an image of the stricken leaves whispering to us as they spiral to the ground: "We are the prophets of the human predicament." In the end, no matter the splendor of fall, the hyperbole it coaxes from us, the eloquence about blue skies, delight at the leaving of the torrid summer, yes, no matter: the arrival of autumn is always, at bottom, in the core of the human heart, about death. It's a promise we receive every year, as if we needed a reminder. <br /><br /><br />Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5010170380967519230.post-15324328655972676062019-10-21T05:19:19.457-07:002019-10-21T05:19:19.457-07:00Thanks for the Geoffrey Scott, which is perfect. T...Thanks for the Geoffrey Scott, which is perfect. The haiku also, so very fine. And Sparklehorse, new to me, thanks for that also.<br /><br />The post says everything that might be said and, as we know, there is so much that may not.<br /><br />nagara<br />be cause<br />nagara<br /><br />~ for Stephen Pentz <br /><br />all the best,<br />DonDon Wentworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10731340119717821887noreply@blogger.com