Thursday, August 27, 2009

evening disposition

summer evenings spent outdoors carry me away.

the setting of the sun, the gentle breezes, the clouds, the softness of everything.

even as a child i played hard all day and then i craved the soft peacefullness of
art,
music,
writing,
reading,
learning to understand
who i was
becoming.

jennifer's painting has that quality.
she lays bare the too bright clutter of the room beyond,
framed by the soft lilacs of the entrance way.

pass the portal
(like being birthed)
and you enter the world of everything
and everybody,
amplified
and garish.

warm but overblown.

i think she knows about all of this.
"evening disposition" jennifer o'connell

and charlotte had a clear sense of this as well . . .

the human heart has hidden treasures,
in secret kept, in silence sealed;
the thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
whose charms were broken if revealed.
and days may pass in gay confusion,
and nights in rosy riot fly,
while, lost in fame's or wealth's illusion,
the memory of the past may die.

but, there are hours of lonely musing,
such as in evening silence come,
when, soft as birds their pinions closing,
the heart's best feelings gather home.
then in our souls there seems to languish
a tender grief that is not woe;
and thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish,
now cause but some mild tears to flow.

and feelings, once as strong as passions,
float softly back a faded dream;
our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,
the tale of others' sufferings seem.
oh ! when the heart is freshly bleeding,
how longs it for that time to be,
when, through the mist of years receding,
its woes but live in reverie !

and it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,
on evening shade and loneliness;
and, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,
feel no untold and strange distress
only a deeper impulse given
by lonely hour and darkened room,
to solemn thoughts that soar to heaven,
seeking a life and world to come.

24 comments:

gleaner said...

I love the colours and tones in this painting.

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Steven:

What a lovely juxtaposition of image and words. Love the Bronte poem:
" . . . languish a tender grief that is not woe . . . dwell on moonlight glimmer . . . to solemn thoughts that soar to heaven . . ."

All I can say is a simple, "yes".

Delwyn said...

Hello Steven

I have a different feeling when I look down the dark hallway into that room which I see as a bedroom...it reminds me of my childhood bedroom and how the afternoon sun used to pour in through the window and warm the room, casting bright light around the walls, with sounds of summer coming from the street beyond...a safe sanctuary...

Happy days

steven said...

hi gleaner, it can be seen in many different ways (see delwyn's comment compared to my sense of it). it is a lovely painting regardless. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

hi bonnie - thanks for that nice comment. i haven't read much bronte but there are phrases that appeal to me because of their melancholy perspective. i thought that it addressed the sense i had of the picture while grounding the whole idea of the noise of the world in something more ethereal. have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

hey delwyn, i can see that. my room was a sanctuary also but a place to hide. so i guess our experiences colour our perspective!!! have a lovely evening by the river. i'm going in to set up my classroom for the schoolyear today. steven

Dave King said...

Good. Very good. The whole thing came together for me and gelled as something complete. Warm but overblown struck me as just spot on.

steven said...

hi dave - thanks for that. the "world" is often warm but overblown" people sometimes try to imbue their actions and presence with glitz and drama to make themselves memorable, perhaps more valued, and really all that's necessary is to be. just there.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I could happily live with that painting on my wall steven - it has everything I want to know what is going on in that room, yet I am happy to just get a glimpse of its serenity - lovely.

Anonymous said...

I really like your explanation of the painting. The world is like that though and is that where the grass is greener on the other side comes from? The shade of the old apple tree versus the blazing sun of the meadow. To a sheep i guess it depends on his stomach.LOL

Thanks for visiting my Pick a Peck of Pixels and commenting on Baby Kitty.

Anonymous said...

Yes, I love the journey back to the lighted room and
the idea of entering a different and brighter world.
A fabulous painting.
The Bronte's poems are often overlooked/ overshadowed by their prose.

steven said...

hello weaver!!! it does look like it would sit well in the farm!!!!! i really need to see inside the door in the painting. steven

steven said...

hello abe, i know you're right - the world is like that. i do pretty well for all the clamour and racket but i do appreicate quite and calm. you're a good funny man abe!!!! thanks for visiting. steven

steven said...

hi elizabeth - i'm so glad you enjoyed the painting and the poem! i'm just getting to know charlotte's writing so there's noovershadowing for me - yet!!! see you. steven

hope said...

Must be a girl thing...I too found it inviting. And in my mind, "overblown" turned into a fluffy quilt and lots of pillows. :) Then again, as a little girl, retreating to the bedroom was my sanctuary.

As always, you bring new colors to my world...and I thank you.

Rachel Fenton said...

I picked out just the same line as Dave, 'warm but overblown' - I think so much is captured in those words and in that one image. I especially liked how the painting was reminiscent of images made up od lots of photographs all with varying exposures...a lovely effect.

Lisa Ursu said...

What a beautiful painting. I love it, your words, and the Bronte poem. Well done!

steven said...

hi hope!!! i dunno!!! i remember as a boy wanting quiet and colurs rendered through grey-scale. slight lighting, quiet music. poetry, art. but i see my girl and she loves her space but with a different sort of energy to it. so i'm learning as i go about the differences!!! thankyou for your kind comments hope. steven

steven said...

hey rachel i had to look at that painting all over again when you wrote that and bammm !!! there it is. i didn't see it that way!!! nice - thankyou. steven

steven said...

liza - i'm glad that it resonated with you. the bronte piece was entirely new to me. i'm just learning about the brontes. i avoided them for a very long time - i don't even know why!!! have a peaceful evening. steven

Alexandra MacVean said...

Steven!!

"summer evenings spent outdoors carry me away." ---> I am SO there with you! :)

And what an incredible painting. Wow!

Hope you have a good Friday!

Margaret Pangert said...

Hi Steven~ Perfect synergy between the painting and the poem. All the fevers and the storms of daylight recede at nightfall. The lights will soon be dimmed in the bedroom as in the hallway, and passions, griefs, and sensations will be reduced to solemn thoughts and moonlight glimmer. So achingly lovely!

steven said...

hello sophia - i love the warmth and stillness of a summer evening. the air buzzes with the last light. the birds are maing preparations for evening. drinks by the pool. delicious! lucky!!! steven

steven said...

hello margaret, thankyou so much for this kind comment!! ideally there is a leaving behind, a letting go, a calmness. see you again soon. steven