Painting is truly a
luminous
language.
Appoloinaire
The Owl
Owls in a Cave
'Owls in a Cave'
Magdalena van de Passe, Peter Paul Rubens, 1617 - 1634, The Rijksmuseun
My poor heart's an owl
One woos, un-woos, re-woos.
Of blood, of ardour, he's the fowl.
I praise those who love me, too.
The Ibis
Storks in a Nest
'Storks in a Nest'
Magdalena van de Passe, Peter Paul Rubens, 1617 - 1634, The Rijksmuseun
Yes, I'll pass fearful shadows
O certain death, let it be so!
Latin mortal dreadful word,
Ibis, Nile's native bird.
The Ox
Lucas and the Ox
'Lucas and the Ox'
Hieronymus Wierix, 1563 - before 1590, The Rijksmuseun
This cherubim sings the praises
Of Paradise where, with Angels,
We'll live once more, dear friends,
When the good God intends.
Apollinaire's Notes to the Bestiary
Admire the vital power
And nobility of line:
It praises the line that forms the images, marvellous ornaments to this poetic entertainment.
It's the voice that the light made us understand here
That Hermes Trismegistus writes of in Pimander.
'Soon' we read in the Pimander, 'they descend into the shadows. . . . and an inarticulate cry rises from there that seems the voice of light. '
Is not this 'voice of light' the design, that is to say the line?
And where the light fully expresses all its colour.
Painting is truly a luminous language.
From magic Thrace
Orpheus was a native of Thrace. That sublime poet played on a lyre that Mercury gave him. It was made from the shell of a tortoise, stuck round with leather, with two horns and a sounding board and strings made from sheep's gut. Mercury gave these lyres to both Apollo and Amphion. When Orpheus played and sang, the wild animals themselves came to hear his singing. Orpheus invented all the sciences, all the arts. Grounded in magic he knew the future and predicted the Christian coming of the Saviour.
My harsh dreams knew the riding of you
My gold-charioted fate will be your lovely car
Bellerephon was the first to ride Pegasus when he attacked the Chimaera. There are many chimaeras that exist today, and before combating one of them, the greatest enemies of poetry, it is necessary to bridle Pegasus and even yoke him. One knows well what I wish to say.
The full form that conceives.
In the lair (the form) of the female hare superfetation (second conception during gestation) is possible.
With his four dromedaries
Don Pedro of Alfaroubeira
Travels the world and admires her.
The celebrated travel book entitled: 'History of Prince Don Pedro of Portugal, in which is told what happened to him on the way composed for Gomez of Santistevan when he had covered the seven regions of the globe, one of the twelve who bore the prince company', reports that the Prince of Portugal, Don Pedro of Alfaroubeira, set out with twelve companions to visit the seven regions of the world. These travellers were mounted on four dromedaries, and having passed through Spain, they went to Norway and from there to Babylon and the Holy Land.
