Creative Writing

Bavarian Gentians

Not every man has gentians in his house in Soft September, at slow, Sad Michaelmas. Bavarian gentians, big and dark, only dark darkening the daytime torchlike with the smoking blueness of Pluto's gloom, ribbed and torchlike, with their blaze of darkness spread blue down flattening into points, flattened under the sweep of white day torch-flower of the blue-smoking darkness, Pluto's dark-blue daze, black lamps from the halls of Dis, burning dark blue, giving off darkness, blue darkness, as Demeter's pale lamps give off light, lead me then, lead me the way. Reach me a gentian, give me a torch let me guide myself with the blue, forked torch of this flower down the darker and darker stairs, where blue is darkened on blueness. even where Persephone goes, just now, from the frosted September to the sightless realm where darkness was awake upon the dark and Persephone herself is but a voice or a darkness invisible enfolded in the deeper dark of the arms Plutonic, and pierced with the passion of dense gloom, among the splendor of torches of darkness, shedding darkness on the lost bride and groom.

By D.H. Lawrence

Narcissus and Echo

1985

Shall the water not remember Ember my hand’s slow gesture, tracing above of its mirror my half-imaginary airy portrait? My only belonging longing; is my beauty, which I take ache away and then return, as love of teasing playfully the one being unbeing. whose gratitude I treasure Is your moves me. I live apart heart from myself, yet cannot not live apart. In the water’s tone, stone? that brilliant silence, a flower Hour, whispers my name with such slight light: moment, it seems filament of air, fare the world becomes cloudswell. well.

By Fred Chappell

See also:

http://www.shadowofiris.com/narcissus-poem/

Venus and Adonis (extracts)

EVEN as the sun with purple-colour'd face Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn, Rose-cheek'd Adonis hied him to the chase; Hunting he loved, but love he laugh'd to scorn; Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him, And like a bold-faced suitor 'gins to woo him.

'Thrice-fairer than myself,' thus she began, 'The field's chief flower, sweet above compare, Stain to all nymphs, more lovely than a man, More white and red than doves or roses are; Nature that made thee, with herself at strife, Saith that the world hath ending with thy life.

'Vouchsafe, thou wonder, to alight thy steed, And rein his proud head to the saddle-bow; If thou wilt deign this favour, for thy meed A thousand honey secrets shalt thou know: Here come and sit, where never serpent hisses, And being set, I'll smother thee with kisses;

[…]

With this she seizeth on his sweating palm, The precedent of pith and livelihood, And trembling in her passion, calls it balm, Earth's sovereign salve to do a goddess good: Being so enraged, desire doth lend her force Courageously to pluck him from his horse.

Over one arm the lusty courser's rein, Under her other was the tender boy, Who blush'd and pouted in a dull disdain, With leaden appetite, unapt to toy; She red and hot as coals of glowing fire, He red for shame, but frosty in desire.

The studded bridle on a ragged bough Nimbly she fastens:--O, how quick is love!-- The steed is stalled up, and even now To tie the rider she begins to prove: Backward she push'd him, as she would be thrust, And govern'd him in strength, though not in lust.

So soon was she along as he was down, Each leaning on their elbows and their hips: Now doth she stroke his cheek, now doth he frown, And 'gins to chide, but soon she stops his lips; And kissing speaks, with lustful language broken, 'If thou wilt chide, thy lips shall never open.'

He burns with bashful shame: she with her tears Doth quench the maiden burning of his cheeks; Then with her windy sighs and golden hairs To fan and blow them dry again she seeks: He saith she is immodest, blames her 'miss; What follows more she murders with a kiss.

Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast, Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh and bone, Shaking her wings, devouring all in haste, Till either gorge be stuff'd or prey be gone; Even so she kissed his brow, his cheek, his chin, And where she ends she doth anew begin.

Forced to content, but never to obey, Panting he lies and breatheth in her face; She feedeth on the steam as on a prey, And calls it heavenly moisture, air of grace; Wishing her cheeks were gardens full of flowers, So they were dew'd with such distilling showers.

Look, how a bird lies tangled in a net, So fasten'd in her arms Adonis lies; Pure shame and awed resistance made him fret, Which bred more beauty in his angry eyes: Rain added to a river that is rank Perforce will force it overflow the bank.

[…]

By this, the boy that by her side lay kill'd Was melted like a vapour from her sight, And in his blood that on the ground lay spill'd, A purple flower sprung up, chequer'd with white, Resembling well his pale cheeks and the blood Which in round drops upon their whiteness stood.

She bows her head, the new-sprung flower to smell, Comparing it to her Adonis' breath, And says, within her bosom it shall dwell, Since he himself is reft from her by death: She crops the stalk, and in the breach appears Green dropping sap, which she compares to tears.

Brano tratto dal dialogo tra Odisseo e Calipso, da Diaoghi con Leucò, Cesare Pavese

CALIPSO Odisseo, non c’è nulla di molto diverso. Anche tu come me vuoi fermarti su un’isola.

Hai veduto e patito ogni cosa. Io forse un giorno ti dirò quel che ho patito. Tutti e due siamo

stanchi di un grosso destino. Perché continuare ? Che t’importa che l’isola non sia quella che

cercavi ? Qui mai nulla succede. C’è un po’ di terra e un orizzonte. Qui puoi vivere sempre.

ODISSEO Una vita immortale.

CALIPSO Immortale è chi accetta l’istante. Chi non conosce più un domani. Ma se ti piace la

parola, dilla. Tu sei davvero a questo punto?

ODISSEO Io credevo immortale chi non teme la morte.

CALIPSO Chi non spera di vivere. Certo, quasi lo sei. Hai patito molto anche tu. Ma perché

questa smania di tornartene a casa? Sei ancora inquieto? Perché i discorsi che vai facendo tra gli

scogli?

Odisseo. Se domani io partissi tu saresti felice?

Calipso. Vuoi saper troppo, caro. Diciamo che sono immortale. Ma se tu non rinunci ai tuoi ricordi

e ai sogni, se non deponi la smania e non accetti l’orizzonte, non uscirai da quel destino che

conosci.

ODISSEO Si tratta sempre di accettare un orizzonte.

E ottenere che cosa ?

CALIPSO Ma posare la testa e tacere, Odisseo. Ti sei mai chiesto dove vanno i vecchi dei che il

mondo ignora? Perché sprofondano nel tempo, come le pietre nella terra, loro che pure sono

eterni. E chi son io, chi è Calipso?

ODISSEO Ti ho chiesto se sei felice.

CALIPSO Non è questo, Odisseo. L’aria, anche l’aria di quest’isola deserta, che adesso vibra

solamente dei rimbombi del mare e di stridi di uccelli, è troppo vuota. In questo vuoto non c’è

nulla da rimpiangere, bada. Ma non senti anche tu certi giorni un silenzio, un arresto, che è come

la traccia di un’antica tensione e presenza scomparse ?

ODISSEO Dunque anche tu parli agli scogli ?

CALIPSO E’ un silenzio, ti dico. Una cosa remota e quasi morta. Quello che è stato e non sarà

mai più. Nel vecchio mondo degli dei quando un mio gesto era destino. Ebbi nomi paurosi,

Odisseo. La terra e il mare ma obbedivano. Poi mi stancai; passò del tempo, non mi volli piú

muovere. Qualcuna di noi resistè ai nuovi dei; lasciai che i nomi sprofondassero nel tempo; tutto

mutò e rimase uguale; non valeva la pena di contendere ai nuovi il destino. Ormai sapevo il mio

orizzonte e perché i vecchi non avevano conteso con noialtri.

Odisseo. Ma non eri immortale?

CALIPSO E lo sono, Odisseo. Di morire non spero. E non spero di vivere. Accetto l’istante. Voi

mortali vi attende qualcosa di simile, la vecchiezza e il rimpianto. Perché non vuoi posare il

capo con me, su quest’isola?

ODISSEO Lo farei, se credessi che sei rassegnata. Ma anche tu che sei stata signora di tutte le

cose, hai bisogno di me, di un mortale, per aiutarti a sopportare.

CALIPSO E’ un reciproco bene, Odisseo. Non c’è vero silenzio se non condiviso.

ODISSEO Non ti basta che sono con te quest’oggi ?

CALIPSO Non sei con me, Odisseo.

Tu non accetti l’orizzonte di quest’isola.

E non sfuggi al rimpianto.

CALIPSO Quel che rimpiango è la parte viva di me stesso come di te il tuo silenzio. Che cosa è

mutato per te da quel giorno che terra e mare ti obbedivano ? Hai sentito ch’eri sola e che eri

stanca e scordato i tuoi nomi. Nulla ti è stato tolto. Quello che sei l’hai voluto.

CALIPSO Quello che sono è quasi nulla, caro. Quasi mortale, quasi un’ombra come te. E’ un

lungo sonno cominciato chissà quando e tu sei giunto in questo sonno come un sogno. Temo

l’alba, il risveglio; se tu vai via, è il risveglio.

ODISSEO Sei tu, la signora, che parli ?

CALIPSO Temo il risveglio, come tu temi la morte. Ecco, prima ero morta, ora lo so. Non

restava di me su quest’isola che la voce del mare e del vento. Oh non era un patire. Dormivo. Ma

da quando sei giunto hai portato un’altr’isola in te.

ODISSEO Da troppo tempo la cerco. Tu non sai quel che sia avvistare una terra e socchiudere

gli occhi ogni volta per illudersi. Io non posso accettare e tacere.

CALIPSO Eppure, Odisseo, voi uomini dite che ritrovare quel che si è perduto è sempre un

male. Il passato non torna. Nulla regge all’andare del tempo. Tu che hai visto l’Oceano, i mostri e

l’Eliso, potrai ancora riconoscere le case, le tue case ?

ODISSEO Tu stessa hai detto che porto l’isola in me.

CALIPSO Oh mutata, perduta, un silenzio. L’eco di un mare tra scogli e un po’ di fumo. Con te

nessuno potrà condividerla. Le case saranno come il viso di un vecchio. Le tue parole avranno un

senso altro dal loro. Sarai più solo che nel mare.

ODISSEO Saprò almeno che devo fermarmi.

CALIPSO Non vale la pena, Odisseo. Chi non si ferma adesso, non si ferma mai più. Quello che

fai, lo farai sempre. Devi rompere una volta il destino, devi uscire di strada, e lasciarti affondare

nel tempo…

ODISSEO Non sono immortale.

CALIPSO Lo sarai se mi ascolti. Che cos’è la vita eterna se non questo accettare l’istante che va

? L’ebbrezza, il piacere, la morte non hanno altro scopo. Cos’è stato finora il tuo errare inquieto ?

ODISSEO Se lo sapessi avrei già smesso. Ma tu dimentichi qualcosa.

CALIPSO Dimmi.

ODISSEO Quello che cerco l’ho nel cuore, come te.

CESARE PAVESE

Il brano è tratto da Dialoghi con Leucò, pubblicato nel 1947.

Music

In Music, we will explore ways of representing the ideas of echo and reflection through musical

imitation - using voices, instruments and computers - drawing on the stimuli texts provided by

Ms Bastide, and specifically the narratives of Hades & Persephone and Echo & Narcissus.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx8AdSFqWOw

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg4-AtqhKh8

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FsrPEUt2Dg

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45oY-rA9vvw

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOA-2hl1Vbc

Visual Arts

Working towards final outcomes in the form of layered, palimpsest masks/faces/coverings representing convergence and

debate between diverse cultures, ideas and viewpoints – linked by threads, strings, dialogues…

http://www.metmuseum.org/connections/masks

Key ideas and possibilities:

Guarding, hiding or revealing

What does the mask ‘SAY’?

Start working in 2D – then cut up and made 3D (?)

Strips of text over/between imagery

Huge photocopy fragments – worked over – logically/illogically combining disparate sources

Surprise images and projections may be incorporated

Smaller photocopy collages copied/projected quickly over more complex collages of other texts, inputs and

influences – tracings and notes on A1 paper diary…

Folding, tearing, layering, overworking, swapping

The students cut up and rebuild/combine – strips? Like Exquisite Corpse ?

Recursive process of debate, discussion, disruption, resolution.

Structure of day:

P 1& 2

Overview + discussion/explanation of ideas and imagery

Working on small A3 mask strip collages

A3 mark making and drawing experiments (in response to above) water soluble graphite and white paint.

P 3 & 4

A1 drawings/collages - water soluble graphite and white paint. Using smaller collages as starting point.

P 5 & 6

New stimuli – creative disruption and dialogue (swapping sections, projecting over, bringing in influences from other

groups)

Aiming to resolve individual images (peer feedback/group crit)

Discussing final format of presentation (1 large drawing? corridor of masks? worn and performed in? etc)

14.00- 14.30

Final collective/collaborative outcomes prepared

14.30

Final exhibitions/presentations

Some interaction possibilities (between visual artists and also with other media groups):

Strips of reflective/critical/dialogical words, marks or imagery from all participants across groups

Swapping strips of images for strips of text.

Photographing performers faces and enlarging/integrating into masks?

https://www.pinterest.com/gregelvis/sgbis-y12-creativity-day-2015/

Performance/Movement

Night in Al-Hamra

A candle on the long road

A candle in the slumbering houses

A candle for the terrified stores

A candle for the bakeries

A candle for the journalist shuddering in an empty office

A candle for the fighter

A candle for the doctor at the sick bed

A candle for the wounded

A candle for honest talk

A candle for staircases

A candle for the hotel crowded with refugees

A candle for the singer

A candle for the broadcasters in a shelter

A candle for a bottle of water

A candle for the air

A candle for two lovers in a stripped apartment

A candle for the sky that has folded

A candle for the beginning

A candle for the end

A candle for the final decision

A candle for conscience

A candle in my hand

SAADI YOUSSEF

Translated from the Arabic by Khaled Mattawa

Tullynoe: Tete-à-Tete in the Parish Priest’s Parlour

‘Ah, he was a grand man.’

‘He was: he fell out of the train going to Sligo.’

‘He did: he thought he was going to the lavatory.’

‘He did: in fact he stepped out the rear door of the train.’

‘He did: God, he must have got an awful fright.’

‘He did: he saw that it wasn’t the lavatory at all.’

‘He did: he saw that it was the railway tracks going away from him.’

‘He did: I wonder if… but he was a grand man.’

‘He was: he had the most expensive Toyota you can buy.’

‘He had: well, it was only beautiful.’

‘It was: he used to have an Audi.’

‘He had: as a matter of fact he used to have two Audis’

‘He had: and then he had an Avenger.’

‘He had: and then he had a Volvo.’

‘He had: in the beginning he had a lot of Volkses.’

‘He had: he was a great man for the Volkses.’

‘He was: did he once have an Escort?’

‘He had not: he had a son a doctor.’

‘He had: and he had a Morris Minor too.’

‘He had: he had a sister a hairdresser in Kilmallock.’

‘He had: he had another sister a hairdresser in Ballybunion.’

‘He had: he was put in a coffin which was put in his father’s cart.’

‘ He was: his lady wife sat on top of the coffin driving the donkey.’

‘She did: Ah, but he was a grand man.’

‘He was: he was a grand man…’

‘Good Night, Father.’

‘Good Night, Mary.’

DRAMA/MOVEMENT IMAGES

Yr 12 Creativity Day

W H A T I S B E A U T Y ?

Who is Trapped?

Who Speaks?

Laughter

Twins

Lighthouse

Man/Woman

Mask

Beauty Contest

Flow

Old/Young