Introduction and Welcome

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Friday, July 29, 2011

The Fountain - Beauguereau, St. Matthew's Passion - Bach, My Shadow - Robert Louis Stevenson

  
At the Fountain - William Adolphe Beauguereau


The following is a link to a short article on William Beauguereau and his painting.  http://www.goodart.org/artofwb.htm  Again a reminder that caution should be used in researching this artist as many of his works are nudes.

Johann Sebastian Bach's St. Matthew's Passion  as it suggests is based on the story of Jesus' death as recorded by Matthew.  It was written in German but you can click the link below for a translation into English.    I like to print the words to follow in English as I listen to the music. It fittingly has a hauntingly sad sound.
 http://www.choral-society.org/resources/2005_06/St_Matthew_text.pdf
The following link is the beginning of an 8 part version of this work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhPOJ_l4UU8&feature=bf_prev&list=PLC8DFDB137F3B65CC&index=1


My Shadow
BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an errant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

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