Lady of the Lake
dwells in the vast,
cool fragrant rooms
of a translucent palace
Surrounded by earthy
and watery companions’
leaves her robe behind
and goes swimming
in the well of inspiration;
bringing the light of spring
to the dark of winter
her reflection shimmers
in every leaf and lingers
on every cool breeze.
Fin
Friday Flash
hosted by Galen
Friday flash is a mime written in 55 words and Nouvelle 55 is writing about a painting.
my poem is based on the first (photo) Painting of Jane Morris (1839-1914),
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)
Rossetti captures Jane’s beauty as well as her character; she was,
according to contemporary accounts,
an unusually silent woman.
In the 1860s, while painting his first pictures of single female figures, Rossetti fell under the spell of Titian, Palma Vecchio, and the great Venetian masters of voluptuous female flesh. His brushstrokes broadened, replacing what he had described as the “stipple in the flesh” of his earlier, painstakingly detailed Pre-Raphaelite compositions. His head-and-shoulders portraits sold well, and by 1870 he was devoting himself almost entirely to representations of the ideal woman, often in the form of Jane Morris. Rossetti’s later works were embraced by the Symbolist painters, who shared his interest in painting dreamy, introspective women lost in silent meditation and mystical inwardness.
Lady of the Lake
dwells in the vast,
cool fragrant rooms
of a translucent palace
Surrounded by earthy
and watery companions’
leaves her robe behind her reflection shimmers
in every leaf and lingers
on every cool breeze.
Fin
photo credits: Painting of Jane Morris (1839-1914), by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882):;
2 & 3rd Rodney Smith;tumblr
