La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Having read John Keats' poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci for the first time yesterday, I wish to share this beautiful poem and some of the lovely artworks inspired by it. John Keats was very popular with the Pre-Raphaelites, Rossetti in particular. Rossetti himself insisted that Keats be included in the 'List of Immortals' of 1848. Throughout the various Pre-Raphaelite phases Keat's poem continued to be a source of inspiration with generations of painters.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

So haggard and so woe-begone?

The squirrel’s granary is full,

And the harvest’s done.

I see a lily on thy brow,

With anguish moist and fever-dew,

And on thy cheeks a fading rose

Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads,

Full beautiful—a faery’s child,

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,

And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;

She looked at me as she did love,

And made sweet moan.

I set her on my pacing steed,

And nothing else saw all day long,

For sidelong would she bend, and sing

A faery’s song.

She found me roots of relish sweet,

And honey wild, and manna-dew,

And sure in language strange she said—

‘I love thee true’.

She took me to her Elfin grot,

And there she wept and sighed full sore,

And there I shut her wild wild eyes

With kisses four.

And there she lullèd me asleep,

And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—

The latest dream I ever dreamt

On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings and princes too,

Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;

They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci

Thee hath in thrall!’

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,

With horrid warning gapèd wide,

And I awoke and found me here,

On the cold hill’s side.

And this is why I sojourn here,

Alone and palely loitering,

Though the sedge is withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.

 This is an early pencil sketch by Rossetti, from April 1848 - a few months before the PRB was founded. The first of three sketches Rossetti would do for this poem, a watercolour of a similar composition was done in 1855 with Lizzie Siddal as the model. This sketch is just a little early for Lizzie to be the model, but I do think that the knight looks like Walter Deverell.
The unfinished sketch below is a later one, 1855, with Lizzie most probably as the model. Though unfinished, it is a beautiful work, and illustrates the 6th stanza which is written above the horse's head. (always nice to see Rossetti's handwriting) I am surprised that Rossetti never completed a full painting of La Belle Dame sans Merci, despite doing some sketches.

                                                             

Frank Cadogan Cowper 1926

I love this version by Frank Cadogan Cowper. He is often described as 'the last of the Pre-Raphaelites' because he carried on the Pre-Raphaelite style long after that kind of work had fallen out of favour with the public. It is very aesthetic in its composition; focusing mainly on the beautiful woman in the centre, with the sleeping knight lying rather comically in the foreground, the evening light glinting of his armor and the poppies, symbolic of sleep and death, are beginning to grow around him.  The woman is traditional Pre-Raphaelite, but  her dress I find unusual; rather Art Nouveau - the date of this painting is 1926, though an earlier version is 1905; these both would have been after the Art Nouveau period, which I think was influential of this painting.

Sir Frank Dicksee 1903

Ah! What a lovely painting! Frank Dicksee sure knows how to paint a really aesthetically pleasing work of art. The landscape, horse and woman are all beautiful. I especially like the details on the horse's reins and the overall glowing light. However, I do admit to finding the knight a little odd. Yes, he is wonderfully painted, but why is he standing in that position? It looks more like something from a religious subject. I think Dicksee is depicting, like Rossetti, stanza 6 where the woman is enchanting the knight with her singing, rather like the sirens... and he cannot look at anything else but her. 

John William Waterhouse is a favourite of mine, and this version of La Belle Dame Sans Merci is really lovely. This depiction I find a little darker than the others, for in the other paintings the woman is rather removed, but in Waterhouse's version we see the woman in the act of enchanting the knight and literally trapping him, with that lovely hair of hers... how I wish I had hair like that! The light of the woman's face and dress contrasted with the man in shadow makes the audience focus on her; she is the primary subject in the painting. Also, her dress is beautiful...The colour of it is divine!

So, I now feel inspired to read more of John Keats' poems, and I also fancy watching that film about Keats with the great Ben Whishaw in it - a good reason to watch any film I think! 

Best Wishes

Photograph Album Update

I have recently become the proud owner of a late Victorian photograph album (explanatory post here). Today I have found some photos to put in the album. Every Sunday after church, I go down to my local flea market in Tynemouth Station; it is full of vintage and handmade stalls, antiques, records and utter junk. Mostly junk. However, there are always some great finds - I was lucky enough to discover a box of old family photographs. Bought two carte de visites that I found interesting.

The first is of a young woman, probably local; for the studio was in Sunderland. I chose this one because I found her dress interesting. The belt with three buckles, the bells at the neck and down the skirt, the snake bracelet. A very nice outfit overall. What intrigued me most, though, was the whistle attached to the buttons. What could it be for? I do not know for sure but the costume looks to be mid/late 1880's early 90's maybe? It has quite a military feel to it, with the belt and whistle, but it is probably just fashion. I wonder who this woman was, what her occupation was? Her hands look as though she did some sort of labour (though she could just have big hands) and she does not look high class. It would be nice to find out more about this woman, for she seems rather interesting.

This second portrait I bought less for curiosity, but for that it is just a lovely portrait. This young woman too is local; the photographers is in Newcastle. I love her dress - looks like early 1890's. I like the that the fabric of the skirt matches the blouse. The collar, laced cuffs and bodice are beautiful additions and make this dress really lovely and unusual. I wonder if this photo was taken for the young woman's sweetheart, perhaps, or for family. I do wish it to be the former - I am such a romantic... sad, I know.

Very pleased with my photographs - they fit perfectly in the album and look about right for the period. Even though I love collecting old photographs, I cannot help feeling a little disrespectful for they are such personal things. It is sad to think that these people are dead and we know nothing of there lives save for what they looked like. Not even a name. I wonder what they would think knowing that their photographs were in a cardboard box in a flea market. I like to think that by buying these portraits I am keeping some sort of memory safe, whereas if not the photos would get mistreated and lost. Ah, maybe I am thinking too much into it now. I digress.
If anybody may have some information or I have got something wrong, like dates or costumes etc,  it would be lovely to know. Updates coming in the future when I find more photographs.
Best Wishes.

1890's Photograph Album

Oh, how I love charity shops! I have recently bought an old photograph album. Though it was mostly void of photos and has significant water damage, I still could not resist and bought it for £9 - a bargain I think! It is a lovely old thing - a really big and heavy book, leather with a nice clasp and everything. I have done some research and concluded that the album is from the 1890s. Very old indeed!

I was disappointed at first to see that the album was empty, but as I turned over the last page I found this photograph...

A mysterious man... how intriguing!

What a fine young gentleman! I wonder who he was, and why was his the only photo left? To try to answer that; the dampness had fused the photograph to the paper backing, but if he was that important surely somebody could have cut it out or something? And the water damage seems to be  a later addition to the album... I wonder who owned this book, what family did it belong to? Ah, so many questions which will never be answered! It is indeed a mystery!

I cannot bear to see this photo album empty, and the young gentleman on his own, so I have decided to find some old photographs, preferably ones from the later Victorian era. I will post any photos I manage to find.

Best Wishes

Lyme Park Photography

For the New Year I traveled down to the Peak District to stay with family. Staying true to British traditions, the weather was awful; it rained constantly for a week. Rather disappointing, for I always enjoy being out in the beautiful countryside down there, and there are so many lovely buildings to explore.

After becoming increasingly annoyed with the rain, I decided to take an umbrella and my camera and wander down to Lyme Park. Lyme Hall and Park is a beautiful country estate near Disley, Cheshire, and is probably best known for being Mr Darcy's Pemberley in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice. You know, the bit where Colin Firth appears from the lake to a rather surprised Lizzy Bennet - my favourite scene of the series (well, apart from all the scenes where the wonderful Mr Collins (David Bamber) is present)!

Here are my photos of Lyme Park and gardens. It was quite misty, which made half of my photographs really fuzzy and useless, and the other half, here, quite spooky.

This is the old Hunting Lodge. I thought the stone had some lovely textures and the building looked very imposing and proud.

Spotted a statue of Artemis on the roof, Ancient Greek Goddess of the hunt, childbirth and virginity.

Found this rather amusing and slightly ironic, seeing as Lyme Hall was just an imposing shadow in the mist...

Poseidon! With a rather lethal looking tridant... would not like to get on the wrong side of him, as found out by lion-hearted Odysseus! 

Happy New Year! and may the weather get considerably better for 2013, lets hope at least...

New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year to you! 2013 is here already! 2012 went by so quickly, but it was such a busy year, for Britain especially - we had the Royal Wedding, Diamond Jubilee, London Olympics, and the highlight of my year; Mumford & Sons in Newcastle and visiting the Tate's Pre-Raphaelite exhibition! I wonder what 2013 has in store for us?

I have never been able to keep to any of my New Year Resolutions, but I don't suppose many people do. This year, though, I am determined it will be different.

Just some of the books I have collected this year which still need reading...

I have masses of books to read, for I always buy some when out, from charity shops and the wondrous Barter Books. I need to stop buying books, otherwise I will need another bookshelf... suppose it gives me an excuse for wanting to make the spare room into a library. As expected, most of my books are on the Pre-Raphaelites, but I have so many on that subject that they never get properly read. I am doing this post so I have to finish all the books that need reading. I will also try to write a review of each book when I finish it. Well, off now to start reading Victorian Things - it has a whole chapter dedicated to hats and bonnets! A wonderful way to start the year!

A Victorian Christmas

Seasons greetings! It is well into December and I am getting rather Christmassy - the decorations have been put up today and most of the presents have been wrapped. All this festivity got me thinking about what Christmas was like in the Victorian era...

At the beginning of the 19th century, Christmas was not widely celebrated, but by the end of Queen Victoria's reign it had become more like the holiday we are so fond of today. The royal family itself are the ones we have most to thank for the introduction of Christmas to Britain. In 1848 (the same year of the formation of our beloved PRB) the Illustrated London News published a drawing of the royal family around a Christmas tree, which Prince Albert had introduced from Germany. Soon nearly every home contained a decorated tree, complete with ribbons, candles, sweets and homemade decorations. Apparently Victoria and Albert decorated their tree themselves, and the children hung gingerbread on the branches - what a lovely idea! Wish I had thought of putting gingerbread on my tree before I swamped it with baubles...

 What an evenly decorated tree! though with that many candles it looks to be somewhat of a fire hazard...

In 1843 a design for a Christmas card was commissioned by Henry Cole. There were 1,000 copies and each had to be hand coloured. The card sold for one shilling each - this was more than the average person could pay. However, with the advancement in printing technology, the Christmas card became extremely popular - in 1880 alone 1.5 million cards were produced. 

Another commercial aspect to Christmas was invented, again, in 1848 when British confectioner, Tom Smith, came up with a novel and festive way to sell sweets. Inspired by a trip to Paris where he saw sugared almonds sold in twists of paper, he invented the first Christmas crackers. these were at first filled with sweets, then later in the century the contents were changed to paper hats, small gifts and bad jokes.

Ice skating, a popular Victorian past time. That gentleman looks like a very good ice skater! He also looks rather like the other man in the background, and the others too - did the painter run out of models, perhaps?

Camille Pissarro 1879

Claude Monet 1880

While searching for Victorian winter paintings, I came across these two beautiful landscapes by Pissarro and Monet. I was interested to see that both works were painted in the same winter; looking it up I discovered that the winter of 1879-80 was particularly harsh, apparently the seventh worst on record. France was bitterly cold - a temperature of -25.6C was recorded in Paris and the Seine was frozen over. Only by February 1880 did the cold finally fade away, almost two years later, for the cold weather started in '78. 
I love the different shades of blue in Pissarro's painting, really shows the frozen ground and air - makes me shiver even to look at it! The pastel colours of Monet's painting are beautiful, which contrast between the bright orange of the setting sun and its reflection, and the dark shadowy skeletons of trees. I always love finding new paintings - its so interesting not just to study the paintings themselves, but also look into the history around when they were produced. There are so many amazing things in the past. Oh, the beauty of art history!

Merry Christmas!

Thoughts on a Mumford & Sons Concert

I am a little apprehensive of this post, for it is not the kind that I intended to do when I set up my blog. However, I felt compelled to share my thoughts on this subject, for it is very dear to me. Last Tuesday I was lucky enough to see Mumford & Sons in the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena. (I apologize for the quality of the photos, they were taken on my phone) I cannot describe in words how wonderful it was to see my favourite band in concert.  The power of music always amazes me. Here are my humble thoughts...

Starting with a quick word about the support acts. The first was a British band called the Post War Years. Because I have never really liked that style of music, I was surprised to find my self really enjoying their performance - the energy and love the talented young men had for their music was obvious, and watching them perform was compelling. I was rather in awe of the lead singer's dancing - a strange dance it was but intriguing! The second act was the Dawes, all the way from America. I enjoyed their songs and will look more into their music. Obviously, the crowd went wild when Marcus Mumford was invited to do a song with them!

 Finally, it was the turn of Mumford & Sons. As was to be expected the place was in uproar - the starting song was the magnificent Babel. Though I go regularly to concerts, I have never been standing, so was a little taken a back by the energy of the crowd, but by the end of the song I was jumping and singing along with everybody. Our proximity to the stage exceeded my expectations (front row!) - Ted Dwane was less than a metre away and I was able to see his beautiful Movember moustache!

The gig went on for longer than I expected - for over two hours! They played about 15 songs; classics from Sigh No More and newer tracks from Babel. Thistle and Weeds was exceptionally beautiful; with a really long building intro and the tension is slowly built up into a most divine and well composed piece of music. Hopless Wanderer was, obviously, a great one to hear live - the energy of the band is infectious! I was very pleased that Broken Crown was included, for it is my favourite; a dark but hauntingly beautiful song. It was also lovely to see Winston Marshall sing For Those below on his own - he has a beautiful voice - the audience went silent. A very surreal moment.

When we thought the concert was sadly coming to an end, the band went off stage; but then appeared at the other side of the hall. For we were at the front of the main stage, we could not see them, but heard the band play an acoustic rendition of Timshel and Reminder. Again, the crowd fell silent and it was incredible moment to hear the divine voices echoing round the place. The encore was The Cave (epic!) and The Dawes came back on to play With a Little Help From My Friends together. A very fitting ending to an incredible night.

What a great concert! I still cannot believe that I have been able to see Mumford & Sons. The energy and passion they have for their music is incredible and infectious. It is obvious that they love performing their songs and that really comes through when watching them live. Because this is a band who primarily focus on live performances, it is incredible to see them in reality, much better than listening to their albums. I definitely recommend their concerts to anyone who loves this incredible band or even just loves concerts in general. Apart from going to the Tate's Pre-Raphaelite exhibition (review coming next week), seeing Mumford & Sons has been the highlight of my life!