Virginalis sancta frequentia
Hinc virginalis sancta frequentia,
Gertrudis, Agnes, Prisca, Cecilia,
Lucia, Petronilla, Tecla,
Agatha, Barbara, Juliana,
Multeque quarum nomina non lego.
aut lecta nunc his addere negligo,
dignas Deo quas fecit esse
integritas anime fidesque.
Tali magistra vel duce praevia
abominantes terrea gaudia,
in carne praeter carnis usum
angelicam tenuere vitam.
He pervagantes prata recentia
pro velle querunt serta decentia,
rosas legentes passionis
lilia vel violas amoris.
O DOS CASTELOS
A Europa jaz, posta nos cotovelos:
De Oriente a Ocidente jaz, fitando,
E toldam-se romanticos cabelos
Olhos gregos, lembrando.
O cotovelo esquerdo é recuado;
O direito é em angulo disposto.
Aquele diz Italia onde é pousado;
Este diz Inglaterra onde, afastado,
A mão sustenta, em que se apoia o rosto.
Fita, com olhar sphyngico e fatal,
O Ocidente, futuro do passado.
O rosto com que fita é Portugal.
THE CASTLES
Europe is lying propped upon her elbows:
From East to West she lies, starting
Out, reminiscent, – Greek eyes from the shelter
Of romantic hair.
Behind her back the left elbow is cast;
The right has the angle place.
That once says Italy in its repose;
This one says England where, gathered apart,
It holds the hand up to support the face.
She stares, her gaze doom-heavy, sphingical,
Out at the West, the future of the past.
The face with which she stares is Portugal.
-Fernando Pessoa
Angela,
I really like this painting: her parted lips, her crazy-long neck, the fun curly-cue hair, the unexpected sky through the window, the strange unshelter space, the teeny-tiny trees leading to a hillside and distant castle, the boundary of the fence, the tension of the ligaments in her palm, her irregular, extended fingers, and of course, her pinky.
Well, I’m flattened by both the painting and the Latin/ Portugese(?). I feel slightly illiterate (or maybe even a lot illiterate)
Angela, what I crave is a full exhibition of your work — all your women together in one collected place, talking to each other and to me.
June (alias Jne) has had one glass of wine too many, as well as one too many attempts to understand the GNU of Wikipedia’s licensing requirement.
Sorry about the misspelling of my own name.
Angela,
It would have been great if the text was translated…
The painting is an arresting one. This one contains less psychological tension than some of your earlier ones, maybe because the face overpowers the usual psychological harbingers that tend to be a signature of your earlier works. Whatever, it is a nice piece.
Keep going. You have a great individual style.
Steve Durbin thank you so much for that poem… its better than mine to go with this painting. I’ve used it in my own blog hope you don’t mind. It’s more appropriate.
D. thank you for describing the painting. D I am really sorry but don’t know if you are David, Dion or Doug… would you tell me?
June I don’t know latin too. But when I read this poem I though it would be suitable to go with the painting to the spectator view.
Look how latin words sounds,flowery words, look at the ambiguity and no understanding that provokes, just like I am trying with the painting. I think the effect works well.
Hi Sunil!Thank you! This painting is truly me, the thing I enjoy most doing and my real soul signature.
Angela,
You’re welcome. I thought you probably knew the poem, a number of elements seem to fit the painting and you.