Friday 31 May 2013

Birth of Venus illegitima

Louis Welden Hawkins: Clytie

"The ever smitten Hermes empty left his golden throne,
bent on amorous theft."
"He found a palpitating snake"
"She seemed at once, some penanced lady elf,
Some demon's mistress, or the demon's self."
"It was no dream: or say it a dream was,
real are the dreams of Gods"
"Into the recessed woods they flew:
nor grew they pale, as mortal lovers do"
"The serpent began to change: her elfin blood to madness ran"
"Tis Apollonius sage: but too he seems the ghost of folly haunting my sweet dreams"
"Of wealthy lustre was the banquet room, filled with brilliance and perfume"
" "Fool! Fool!!" repeated he.. shall I see three made a serpent's pray?"
"Then with a frightful scream she vanished"

(Extracts from Lamia, by John Keats)


(Therion: Birth of Venus illegitima)

Thursday 30 May 2013

Delirium

 William Etty - Hero, Having Thrown herself from the Tower at the Sight of Leander Drowned, Dies on his Body 1829




Wednesday 29 May 2013

Is anybody there?!

Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Beata Beatrix

Walking through the darkness
A lonely man searchin' for a soul
Look everywhere, no one around
Something in the distance
A memory reminds me of a time
Look everywhere, no one around

And I'm lookin', reaching out again
Trying to find someone alive

Do you hear me?
Is anybody there

Standing in the darkness
A trouble mind talking to myself
So long alone, is it a dream
Sidewalks cold and lonely
The shadows of the night begin to fade
Open my eyes, nobody's there

Still I'm looking, reaching out again
Trying to find someone alive

Do you hear me? 

Tuesday 28 May 2013

By the sword and the cross

George Frederic Watts - Sir Galahad

A maiden knight — to me is given
Such hope, I know not fear;
I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven
That often meet me here.
I muse on joy that will not cease,
Pure spaces clothed in living beams,
Pure lilies of eternal peace,
Whose odours haunt my dreams;
And, stricken by an angel's hand,
This mortal armour that I wear,
This weight and size, this heart and eyes,
Are touch’d, are turn’d to finest air.
(from Tennyson's "Sir Galahad")

Monday 27 May 2013

The Artist and the Devil



(Niccolo Paganini - Violin Concerto no 1 . Allegro maestroso)
(R.I.P. 27 May 1840)


Sunday 26 May 2013

Losing you

John William Waterhouse: A Female Study

Friday 24 May 2013

Dante's dance

Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Beatrice, Meeting Dante at a Wedding Feast, Denies him her Salutation


Thursday 23 May 2013

Love po(si)tions

Hard labour in Mango's bar, South Beach, Ocean Dr.



(Tygers of Pan Tag - Love Potion no 9)

Wednesday 22 May 2013

Far beyond the sun...

Michelangelo: Dying Slave

... to where the sun sets...

(Yngwie Malmsteen - Far beyond the sun)

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Ulysses

Frank Frazetta: Atlantis

Ulysses (by Alfred Lord Tennyson)

It little profits that an idle king, 
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: all times I have enjoyed
Greatly, have suffered greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone; on shore, and when
Through scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vexed the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known – cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honoured of them all – 
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy,
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
As though to breathe were life. Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this grey spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
........................................................
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me – 
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads – you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.


Monday 20 May 2013

The kingdom of madness!

Jan Matejko Stanczyk: Faking a toothache

When the night is on the run
and your dreams are almost gone
seas of fire snatch your soul
beast of morning then unfold
in a whirlpool sadness creeps
shadows walk with silent feet
is there something in the air
turns your hope into dispair

Oh kingdom of madness you've got me undone
oh kingdom of madness you've really begun
oh kingdom of madness you've got me on the run

When the night is on the run
and your dreams are almost gone
seas of fire snatch your soul
beast of morning then unfold
take your hands away from me
leave my eyes so I can see
it's not pleasure that you seek
you destroy the ones who are week

Oh kingdom of madness you've got me undone
oh kingdom of madness you've really begun
oh kingdom of madness you've got me on the run

the minstrel sings as he
looks at me
but he doesn't make a sound
and a lovely time is had
by all
as the jester takes his crown
everyone's laughing
everyone's laughing
everyone's laughing but me

Oh kingdom of madness you've got me undone
oh kingdom of madness you've really begun
oh kingdom of madness you've got me on the run 





Sunday 19 May 2013

Saturday 18 May 2013

Love is all

Boris Vallejo: Seduction


Everybody's got to live together
All the people got to understand
So love your neighbour
Like you love your brother
Come on and join the band

Well all you need is love and understanding
Ring the bell and let the people know
We're so happy and we're celebratin'
Come on and let your feelings show

Coz love is all 
Well love is all
Love is all can't you hear the call
Oh well love is all you need
Love is all you need at the Butterfly Ball

Ain't you happy that we're all together
At the ball in nature's countryside
And although we're wearing different faces
Nobody wants to hide

Love is all and all is love and
It's easy, yes it's so easy
At the Butterfly Ball where love is all
And it's so easy

All you need is love and understanding
Hey ring the bell and let the people know
We're so happy and we're celebratin'
Let your feelings show

Love is all, yes love is all at the Butterfly Ball
Love is big, love is small
Love is free, love is all
At the Butterfly Ball

When your back's to the wall
When you're starting to fall
You got something to lean on
Love is everything
It can make you sing 
At the Butterfly Ball
Love is all, I say love is all, yes love is all
At the Butterfly Ball


Friday 17 May 2013

Personal demons dethroned, we become masters of fate

Michael Whelan: Elric of Melnibone

When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be (by John Keats)

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love—then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.


Children of the sea

Donatto Giancola: Venus Awakening


In the misty morning, on the edge of time
We've lost the rising sun, a final sign
As the misty morning rolls away to die
Reaching for the stars, we blind the sky

We sailed across the air before we learned to fly
We thought that it could never end
We'd glide above the ground before we learned to run, run
Now it seems our world has come undone

Oh they say that it's over
And it just had to be
Ooh they say that it's over
We're lost children of the sea, oh

We made the mountains shake with laughter as we played
Hiding in our corner of the world
Then we did the demon dance and rushed to nevermore
Threw away the key and locked the door

Oh they say that it's over, yeah
And it just had to be
Yes they say that it's over
We're lost children of the sea

In the misty morning, on the edge of time
We've lost the rising sun, a final sign
As the misty morning rolls away to die
Reaching for the stars, we blind the sky

Oh they say that it's over, yeah
And it just had to be
Oh they say that it's over
Poor lost children of the sea, yeah

LOOK OUT! the sky is falling down!
LOOK OUT! The world is spinning round and round and round!
LOOK OUT! The sun is going black, black
LOOK OUT! It's never never never coming back, LOOK OUT!


(Rock n Roll Children - Children of the sea)

Thursday 16 May 2013

Out of the Darkness...

Lord Frederic Leighton:  Odalisque


George Gordon Byron - My Soul Is Dark

My soul is dark – Oh! quickly string
The harp I yet can brook to hear;
And let thy gentle fingers fling
Its melting murmur o’er mine ear.
If in this heart a hope be dear,
That sound shall charm it forth again:
If in these eyes there lurk a tear,
‘Twill flow, and cease to burn my brain.

But bid the strain be wild and deep,
Nor let thy notes of joy be first:
I tell thee, minstrel, I must weep,
Or else this heavy heart will burst;
For it had been by sorrow nursed,
And ached in sleepless silence long;
And now ‘tis doomed to know the worst,
And break at once – or yield to song.


(Jack Starr - Odile)

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Romance (true love)

Lord Frederic Leighton: The Reconciliation of the Montagues and Capulets over the Bodies of Romeo and Juliet


In the early morning just at daybreak
I am faced with the path that I must take
And I know we can't be together
No, not today, tomorrow or forever

As in a dream I turn for a moment
I feel the joy of that our love meant
It hurts to know that we can't be together
Not today, tomorrow or forever

I can only dream now of New York and Paris
And of the days in my grand Moscow palace
I won't forget, I will always remember
Though you are gone, not just for now but forever

We will never forget, Hallelujah, Hallelujah ...

Don't say goodbye my love, our hearts sadly yearning
Can it be true you won't be returning
The way you said we cannot be together
No, not today, tomorrow or forever

And I will live for you in every lonely place
In every moment's sleep I will see your face
But as I reach out and try to touch your hand
You're not there, Oh God, how can I understand

And so farewell to a love so forsaken
A sad hello to the steps fate has taken
The cards are down, we cannot be together
But I will treasure your memory forever

The book is closed now, we cannot be together
But in our hearts we'll have each other forever
We'll live apart with love together forever
We'll live apart but love together forever

(Ken Hensley/Glenn Hughes - Romance)

Tuesday 14 May 2013

The beginning and the end...

Arthur Hughes: Silver and Gold

(A Lament By Percy Bysshe Shelley)

O world! O life! O time!
On whose last steps I climb,
Trembling at that where I had stood before;
When will return the glory of your prime?
No more—Oh, never more!

Out of the day and night
A joy has taken flight;
Fresh spring, and summer, and winter hoar,
Move my faint heart with grief, but with delight
No more—Oh, never more!

Monday 13 May 2013

Tearing out my heart...

Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Pluto and Proserpine (detail)

First time I saw your face
By your side was the only place
That I would wanna be
Sometimes and I don't know why
Love can come or it can pass you by
Now you take all the love you gave to me
(You take it from me)
You're tearin' out my heart
Oh -

Never thought I'd see the day
You would throw my love away
And oh... it's killing me
One thing you'll never know
How it hurts to let you go...
As you turn and walk away from me...
(Walk away)
You're tearin' out me heart
Feel like I been ripped apart
You're tearin' out my heart...

Daybreaks, I try to be free
But your memory is haunting me
Oh - there's nothing I can do
All alone in the candlelight
I see your face again tonight
And I feel all the emptiness without you
(Without you) tearin' out my heart
Oh, I feel like I been ripped apart
Tearin' out my heart...
Whoa... my heart



Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Pluto and Proserpine 

Sunday 12 May 2013

Heartbreaker

Theodoros Rallis: Tigre Et Tigresse

(Northwind - Heartbreaker)

Saturday 11 May 2013

Friday 10 May 2013

Hymn of the immortal warrior


Charles Ernest Butler: Funeral of a Viking Warrior

A hero was he
Touching all our lives
As if he lived and died
In a single moment
Great were his deeds
All his words were true
He lived and died
A man of honor
He paid with his life
For his life was the price
To pass the gates immortal
Thy journey begins
With sword in the wind
Stay thy hand rest thy command
For odin's call was heard above them all
Thy name shall never die!
Long shall we remember
He who walked the road of danger
Master of revenge
Death's no stranger
Blood and death lived on his sword
The god of war his only lord
Into the depths of hell
Go all he fell
Take thy shield take thy sword
All thy weapons to the sky
Ye shall need them when odin bid thee rise
For none but the brave
Shall rise up from the grave
To see the valkyries fly
And so it was by the hand of odin
Did the immortal warrior pass through
The gates of valhalla and into legend.
Rise brother rise pass valhalla's gates
Here great warriors await
Reborn from thy steel
All thy wounds be healed
From the earth to the sky
Now the son of odin rise!
Take thy place among the kings
For thy soul shall never die!


(Manowar - Hymn of the immortal warrior)

Thursday 9 May 2013

Upon the edge of thornes

J.W. Waterhouse: Dante and Beatrice


An offering of reasons
We put them all away
A covering of treasons
That one by one we let slip away

A solitary dancer
So lost upon her stage

I have seen you on the edge of dawn
Felt you there before you were born
Balanced your dreams upon the edge of thorns
But I don't think about you anymore

A study made of winter
Of summers long ago
And dreams that use to glitter
Safely now hidden under snow

And so we end this chapter
And let the stage lights fade

I have seen you on the edge of dawn
Felt you there before you were born
Balanced your dreams upon the edge of thorns
But I don't think about you anymore 


Tuesday 7 May 2013

Lost but not found...

Donato Giancola: Shamans loss

(Zandelle- The Abyss)

Monday 6 May 2013

She shaid..... shhhhhhh....

James Jacques Joseph Tissot: Japanese Woman in the Bath

Sunday 5 May 2013

Pastoral love...

Charles Edward Halle: Paolo and Francesca


Saturday 4 May 2013

Friday 3 May 2013

The night of the demon!


Joseph Geefs: L'ange du mal

There's a scream in the night
There's death on the wind
And a heartbeat that's pounding like rain
There's a flash in the sky
A cry of a hound
As if someone is wailing the dead

And the nightmare begins as the Devil rides out
From the heat thru the gates of Hell
And there's no escape from the curse of the damned
You better beware

Don't you know it's the night of the demon
When spirits run high
Don't you know it's the night of the demon
When spirits run high

Better lock up your doors
And get off the streets
If you fear for the reaper of souls
For they say when he rides he never returns
Till he's paid back the debt that he owes

So beware of the night
As the darkness descends the terror's about to unfold
And pray that your life will be spared of the fate
You better beware

Don't you know it's the night of the demon
When spirits run high
Don't you know it's the night of the demon
When spirits run high

And the nightmare begins as the Devil rides out
From the heat thru the gates of Hell
And there's no escape from the curse of the damned
You better beware

Don't you know it's the night of the demon
When spirits run high
Don't you know it's the night of the demon
When spirits run high

Thursday 2 May 2013

Wednesday 1 May 2013

A knight in York: Dance of the Darkness

William Blake: Oberon, Titania and Puck with fairies dancing

Once upon a dark autumn night
I was so very far from sleep
I longed to walk beneath the stars
Into the wood so dark and deep-

Neither myth nor fairy tale
could keep me from the path to the maze
But eyes upon me I could feel
Hidden in the shadows watching always-

Something in the darkness pulled me deeper
Something in the madness eased my mind
Was I awake or was I dreaming
Cut the strings that bind me to mankind-

Once while I was sitting in my room
One cold and silver winter's day
I could hear another worldly call
try as I might I could'nt turn away-

Something in the darkness pulled me deeper
Something in the madness eased my mind
Was I awake or was I dreaming
Cut the strings that bind me to mankind----

Somewhere in between the moss and the stone
The wind and the wood became my home
I layed myself down upon the green
when the ivy overgrew I could never leave--

Something in the darkness pulled me deeper
Something in the madness eased my mind
Was I awake or was I dreaming
Cut the strings that bind me to mankind

Something in the darkness pulled me deeper
Something in the madness eased my mind
Was I awake or was I dreaming
Cut the strings that bind me---to mankind------