Saturday, May 14, 2011

Garden Theatre ( Autumn ) II


I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted to the tomb,




When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.


He questioned softly why I failed?
"For beauty," I replied.


"And I for truth, - the two are one;
We brethren are," he said.

 

And so, as kinsmen met a night,
We talked between the rooms,

 

Until the moss had reached our lips.
And covered up our names.



Emily Dickinson.
In memory of my father, whose birthday it was today, 14 May, 1926.
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11 comments:

  1. Jane and Lance HattattMay 14, 2011 at 3:34 AM

    Hello Faisal:
    The words of Emily Dickinson fit so very perfectly with your well chosen and lovely images. A most attractive and pleasing post with which to start the weekend.

    Have an enjoyable day!

    [We think that your comment on our latest post was lost when Blogger went down hence no reply. But thank you anyway.]

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  2. Gardener in the DistanceMay 14, 2011 at 5:07 AM

    Hello Jane and Lance,
    Yes, my comment was chewed up thanks to the Google Department. I certainly hope you are rewarding yourselves, as you should. Emily Dickinson has been my sister through many a dark night. God bless, Faisal.

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  3. Peter HoltMay 14, 2011 at 2:42 PM

    So...if truth and beauty are the same then truth must be...subjective. Aha! Thanks, Emily.

    And thanks, Faisal - this is interesting stuff. The images (tableaus?) remind me of Frederick Sommmer:

    http://www.google.ca/search?q=frederick+sommer&hl=en&site=webhp&prmd=ivnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=tfbOTfm0NIfdgQeb-5mtDA&sqi=2&ved=0CDcQsAQ&biw=1065&bih=597

    But your images are prettier and more...hushed.

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  4. Gardener in the DistanceMay 14, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    Thankyou Peter for such a generous comment. I've seen a couple of Sommer's portraits, but never all the other work...it's amazingly beautiful. Thanks for pointing him out.
    I like your sense of humour!

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  5. James GoldenMay 14, 2011 at 8:09 PM

    Faisal, moving visual and verbal selections in memory of your father.

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  6. Gardener in the DistanceMay 14, 2011 at 8:35 PM

    Thankyou, James. My father adored nature.

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  7. Benjamin VogtMay 15, 2011 at 8:59 AM

    Quoting Emily is perfect. Certainly for me, and my poetic influlences, her, Robert Frost, Whitman, Bishop, and Wordsworth are tops on the list (if you go back far enough in my career).

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  8. Gardener in the DistanceMay 15, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    ED's poems are succinct. This one I've always felt for. Among the others you mention, Benjamin, I like Robert Frost a great deal ( have read a few mid-century American poets ). Elizabeth Bishop too. I was hoping yo be a poet in my youth...

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  9. Sue CatmintMay 17, 2011 at 4:30 AM

    dear Faisal, this post and the garden theatre below are both exquisite. I love your creativity in choosing and placing those objects. The ED poem goes so well as everyone above has said, and it is very moving that you dedicate it to the memory of your father. cheers, catmint

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  10. 936000May 19, 2011 at 11:47 AM

    Absolutely Gorgeous again! I have a tiered floor lamp and on each tier I have an old abandoned bird's nest. I love them!
    Your photos are just lovely!

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  11. Gardener in the DistanceMay 20, 2011 at 4:33 AM

    Catmint, you're a trooper, and thankyou for your eye.
    Calling Ravens, thankyou, too. Do you know of Esther Woolfson's book, Corvus: a Life with Birds, detailing, in particular, her bringing into her home of a rook? She has a website/blog.

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