Introduction and Welcome

Welcome to All Things Bright and Beautiful. If you are new to this site, I would recommend that you read my very first entry - which is an introduction and welcome to this blog. You can view it here

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Hans Heysen - Sewing, Prokofiev - Peter and the Wolf, John Donne - Nativity

I really like today's painting by Hans Heysen!  I like the bits of light and shadow, the simple setting and the woman sewing, the window bringing all the greens into the picture....  What do you see to remember?


I feel satisfied with what we've listened to by Engelbert Humperdinck and I'm not inclined to pursue more of his works, so I think we'll go back to some of the fun elementary children's works we covered some years ago, like Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.  If you and your children have never listened to this piece before I think you will enjoy it.  Different instruments and parts of the tune represent different characters in the story.  This is about a half hour long so if you don't want to listen to the whole thing at once you can break it up into several sittings.  

Today's poem by John Donne is about the wonder of the nativity. 

                         Nativity


Immensity, cloister’d in thy dear womb,
Now leaves His well-beloved imprisonment.
There he hath made himself to his intent
Weak enough, now into our world to come.
But O! for thee, for Him, hath th’ inn no room?        5
Yet lay Him in this stall,  and from th’ orient,
Stars, and wise men will travel to prevent
The effects  of Herod’s jealous general doom.
See’st thou, my soul, with thy faith’s eye,  how He
Which fills all place, yet none holds Him, doth lie?        10
Was not His pity towards thee wondrous high,
That would have need to be pitied by thee?
Kiss Him, and with Him into Egypt go,
With His kind mother, who partakes thy woe.

1 comment:

  1. I, too, love this painting! I really love the dappling of the light! How do painters do that? It is amazing to me! :) I've been meaning to look at Peter and the Wolf for some time! :) Thanks for the push!

    ReplyDelete