No.64

This painting “The Princes in the Tower” by John Everett Millais 1829-1896, along with the story to which it relates, was included in a book given to me when I was a quite young, and I remember that it made me quite sad. 

Edward and Richard were the sons of Edward IV. When he died in 1483, the two immediately went to the Tower of London to prepare for the coronation of the elder boy Edward. Because he was only 13, his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester was made Protector, but within a few months Parliament declared the boys illegitimate and Richard was crowned King. The two brothers were never seen again, and in 1674, when two skeletons of children were discovered in the Tower, it was assumed that these were the remains of the princes.

I’ve been trying to recall what other books I had as a boy. Arabian Nights was a collection of the well-known tales and was probably my favourite. I enjoyed stories like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island. We also had a very old Chatterbox Annual, a properly bound book, containing about 200 pages. This had belonged to someone in my father’s family, and it was full of stories, poems, pictures and paintings.

Shock-headed Peter

That picture might be familiar to older folks. I remember that it appeared in our Chatterbox Annual. Created by Heinrich Hoffman, Der Struwwelpeter consisted of ten German stories, each with a moral.

See Slovenly Peter! Here he stands, 

With his dirty hair and hands. 

See! his nails are never cut; 

They are grimed as black as soot; 

No water for many weeks, 

Has been near his cheeks; 

And the sloven, I declare, 

Not once this year has combed his hair! 

Anything to me is sweeter 

Than to see shock-headed Peter. 

One more picture from the Chatterbox Annual - another painting by John Everett Millais,  The Boyhood of Raleigh

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No.63

Clouds come floating into my life, 

no longer to carry rain or usher storm,

but to add colour to my sunset sky.

- Rabindranath Tagore

Excerpt from

The Cloud

by

Percy Bysshe Shelley

I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,

From the seas and the streams;

I bear light shade for the leaves when laid

In their noonday dreams.

From my wings are shaken the dews that waken

The sweet buds every one,

When rocked to rest on their mother's breast,

As she dances about the sun.

I wield the flail of the lashing hail,

And whiten the green plains under,

And then again I dissolve it in rain,

And laugh as I pass in thunder.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” 

― John Lubbock, (The Use Of Life)

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No.62

Thanks to FreeFoto.com for the image

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Wordsworth's Daffodils

The Two Versions

The First in 1804

I wandered lonely as a Cloud

That floats on high o'er Vales and Hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd

A host of dancing Daffodils;

Along the Lake, beneath the trees,

Ten thousand dancing in the breeze.

The waves beside them danced, but they

Outdid the sparkling waves in glee: --

A poet could not but be gay

In such a laughing company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude,

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the Daffodils.

The Second in 1815

I wandered lonely as a Cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and Hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host of golden Daffodils

Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:-

A Poet could not but be gay

In such a jocund company:

I gazed - and gazed - but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude,

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the Daffodils.

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No.61

In 1848 three young British artists rebelled against the academic style of painting and founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

The eldest of the trio was William Holman Hunt who was just 21 and the others were John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

What they proposed was a return to the style of the Italian painters who had lived prior to Raphael. They wanted to find again the simple naturalism of artists like Fra Angelico and Botticelli.

So, avoiding the dark shadows which were typical of their contemporaries, they used bright colours on white backgrounds.

The Brotherhood was later joined by a number of other artists who produced a huge number of paintings varying in subject matter and in style.

Here are three examples:-

Amaryllis

William Holman Hunt

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Vanessa

John Everett Millais

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The Day Dream

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

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No.60

An ornamental garden

in the Auburn Botanical Gardens, Sydney, Australia

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Leisure
by W.H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

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No.59

Unicorn in Captivity

A 15th Century Tapestry

Tapestry is a form of textile art, woven on a vertical loom. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length (called the warp) and those parallel to the width (called the weft); the warp threads are set up under tension on a loom, and the weft thread is passed back and forth across part or all of the warps. 

Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike cloth weaving where both the warp and the weft threads may be visible. In tapestry weaving, weft yarns are typically discontinuous; the artisan interlaces each coloured weft back and forth in its own small pattern area. It is a plain weft-faced weave having weft threads of different colours worked over portions of the warp to form the design.

Most weavers use a naturally based warp thread such as linen or cotton. The weft threads are usually wool or cotton, but may include silk, gold, silver, or other alternatives.

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The Farm Cart

by Myles Birket Foster 1825-99

The name of this English watercolour artist will be unfamiliar to most people. Yet for many years he was highly regarded and around 400 of his paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy. Also known as an illustrator, he worked for a time for Punch magazine and the Illustrated London News.

Later he was criticised for his idealised pictures of country life. He was one of a number of artists whose works were used by Cadbury to decorate their boxes of chocolates.

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No.58

Paul Robeson 1898-1976

American athlete, singer, actor and civil rights activist

While a student at university, he experienced a great deal of prejudice and even violence because of his colour. He excelled in basketball, baseball and track events, and was twice named to the All-American Football Team.

In 1923 he left university with a lawyer’s degree, but the problem about not being white was always present. When a secretary refused to take dictation from him, he gave up his job with a legal firm and went on the stage.

He appeared in 11 films including “Showboat” (1936).

Here he is with Uta Hagen in "Othello"

In 1944 following his success in “Othello” he won the Donaldson Award for Best Acting performance.

Outside the USA Paul Robeson was welcomed warmly everywhere he went, but at home life was very different for him and all coloured people.

In 1950 he appeared before the All-American Activities Committee and from that year till 1958 his passport was denied him.

Ol' man river,

Dat ol' man river

He mus' know sumpin'

But don't say nuthin',

He jes' keeps rollin'

He keeps on rollin' along.

He don' plant taters,

He don' plant cotton,

An' dem dat plants 'em

Is soon forgotten,

But ol' man river,

He jes keeps rollin' along.

You an' me, we sweat an' strain,

Body all achin' an' racked wid pain'

Tote dat barge, Lift dat bale, 

Git a little drunk an' you lands in gaol,

Ah gits weary an' sick of tryin'

Ah'm tired of livin' an' feered of dyin',

But ol' man river,

He jes' keeps rolling' along.

Interestingly, after he became involved in the struggle for racial equality, he changed 2 lines in the song. At the end, instead of the sad “I’m tired of livin’ and feared of dyin” he substituted the confident declaration “I must keep fightin’ until I’m dyin’!”

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