Sunday, March 1, 2009

A Reflection on Beauty

Young Woman Bathing Her Feet
Camille Jacob Pissaro 1895

Pissaro Painting 'Young Woman Bathing Her Feet

.

The young woman's face is flushed

as she soaks her feet in cool green water

The leaves are turning in September light

but sun still soothes the trees

.

and her hair is wound above her slender

neck She dreams of the harvest dance

with Lucien though he has said nothing yet

nothing! She stares at her slim legs

.

and worries if they're fat O time enough

for the skin to swell for leaves to fall

for the ice to lock like habitual

migraine But for now her tired feet

.

revive in the stream dress and petticoat

hiked above pale pink knees as she leans

over the water seeing... a pretty young girl

Yes! the loveliest in all of Louveciennes!

....

Peter Meinke

"Scars" 1996


*********

The loveliest faces are to be seen by moonlight, when one sees half with the eye and half with the fancy. Persian Proverb
~~~~~~
The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose. Hada
~~~~~~~~~~
That which is striking and beautiful is not always good; but that which is good is always beautiful. Ninan De L'Enclose
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting. John Kenneth Galbraith

17 comments:

Linda said...

Thank you for making me smile. Blessings

larkswing said...

What a pleasant post for a flurry kind of afternoon!

Smiles!

ChaChaneen said...

Lovely poem and picture for a rainy Sunday here in California! Have a great day my friend!

sandy said...

ahhh so nice...really enjoyed it.

MuseSwings said...

Thank you! It's a cold blustery day here in Florida. There'll be no bathing by the river here either.

Lavinia said...

You know, Musey, the mischievous side of me just wants to say to the poet Peter Mienke, "Maybe she just stepped in something!"

Debby said...

Oh! That Lavinia! Irrepressible as always.

What a nice post. 'The loveliest in all of Louveciennes' would suffer frostbite if she were soaking her feet in our neck of the woods this day, the blue of her feet creating a interesting contrast with the green of the water. How poetic, doncha think?

Midlife, menopause, mistakes and random stuff... said...

Oh Muse Swings!!! I love Pissaro and have a couple of nice (not cheap though, lol)reproductions!! One of them is this very one.
Woulnd't you have loved to live in that time? It seems so romantic........:)

Steady On
Reggie Girl

Sparky said...

That was lovely. I wish I was there in the warmth washing my feet in the cool water.
WHAT! ... I can't say something without being clever for once??
[snort] LOL
I think we need another adventure ... really bad! ♥ ∞

Shelley said...

Pissaro is one of my favorites too - but I had forgotten about this painting - glad you posted it w/ the poem. I wish I could soak my feet right now!

Cynthia Pittmann said...

What a charming post! Come back over to Oasis and visit me again. I don't know how I lost track of you but I'm adding myself as a follower right away. I found you again because a dear friend commented on an old post and there you were. I hope you will add yourself to my blog too. I have some posts with classic painting headers as well...love the poem and the quotes too. Also, come and see my new puppy! We have the same name right! I love that! <3

MuseSwings said...

Very astute observation, Lavinia! Lucien is the name of Pissaro's son - he was also an excellent painter.

Pissaro is a favorite of mine too, Shelly and Reggie Girl. I love his water and his rainy day paintings.

We do need an adventure, Sparky and a foot soak sounds good about now.

Cynthia! Thank you for your very kind comment - I will stop by. I was visiting your posts a while back and got side tracked too. I'll be by.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of my sister who worked a holiday at Macy's and each night after her shift hobbled from the store in much need of a pond to relax her very sore feet. Thank goodness there were no puddles near the store - not a glowing endorsement for the shoe department.
Anyway - I, too, enjoy Pissaro's style and Meinke who makes it look easy - when it's not. What a wonderful combination. A great day for poetry and art at the Muse-um. Thank you.

PS- I was finally able to connect to your blog once again - AOL must have had an energy drink.

Blicky Kitty said...

Oooooh that's beautiful. I love the term --Louveciennes. So fun and playful.

soulbrush said...

so relaxing, so ethereal, i wish life was still like that...

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

Great Quotes, great pictures. Thanks, Muse.

The Crusty Crone said...

I'm with Lavinia... thought maybe she stepped in some cow dung and she was wondering if she should also try a sponge bath for her arm pits. Sigh. Sorry, I'm not very romantic. It is a lovely post, however.