Laughing at Death

VANITY FAIR
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

"All is vanity, nothing is fair."

Beautiful movie & music, this song especially:

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

lyrics by
George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788 – 1824)
sung by Sissel (b 1969)

In the novel Vanity Fair (1848), the author William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 - 63) makes death a topic at which his readers can laugh. He also shows his characters laughing in the face of death. One example of this juxtaposition of death and laughter is the light and joking manner in which the -th regiment views the impending battle. The prevailing attitude is well illustrated by Dobbin's reply to George, who is imagining himself, "among the killed and wounded returns, and at the top of the list."

"Psha! It will be time enough to cry out when we are hurt" (290).

George, characteristically, is easily convinced, and the two, who are presently vacationing at Brighton, join their party for "an exceedingly brisk and merry" dinner. The conversation is jolly and filled with the excitement of the coming campaign. Dobbin amuses his friends with accounts of the army in Belgium, "where nothing but fetes and gaiety and fashion were going on." The lively dinner progresses, but when Amelia and Becky declare their intentions of going along with the regiment to Brussels, Dobbin is more inclined to worry than he was earlier.

"She can't go," he said; "think of the -- of the danger," he was going to add; but had not all his conversation during dinner-time tended to prove there was none? He became very confused and silent. (p. 295)

Along with George and Dobbin, Rawdon also views the campaign as a lark rather than as a life-or-death matter. His attitude is displayed when Becky is dictating to him the letter intended for Miss Crawley.

"Before quitting the country and commencing a campaign which very possibly may be fatal --"

"What?" said Rawdon, rather surprised, but took the humour of the phrase, and presently wrote it down with a grin. (p. 302)

Business taken care of, the intimate little party leaves Brighton, but the holiday does not come to an end. Indeed, when the regiment reaches Brussels the spirit of gaiety, if anything, grows stronger:

The place was full of English soldiery as they passed. English bugles woke them in the morning; at nightfall they went to bed to the note of the British fife and drum: all the country and Europe was in arms, and the greatest event of history pending: and honest Peggy O'Dowd, whom it concerned as well as another, went on prattling about Ballinafad, and the horses in the stables at Glenmalony, and the clar't drunk there; and Jos Sedley interposed about curry and rice at Dumdum; and Amelia thought about her husband, and how best she should show her love for him; as if these were the great topics of the world. (p. 328; Chapter 28)

Undoubtedly, the majority of the -th regiment shared the sentiments of Amelia, who "was not much alarmed." But Thackeray takes care to warn his readers, if not his characters, that although "all looked as brilliant and harmless as a Hyde Park review . . . Napoleon was preparing to lay so many of them low" (p. 325). Thackeray is able to see the comic side of death, but he also takes it seriously. What is required to impress upon the -th regiment the import of their mission and the inappropriateness of their behavior? While laughing in the face of death may have its place, along with black garb and dirges, the campaign is not, as Rawdon thinks on departure, "as gay as a hunting party."

Le Déjeuner De Chasse ~ The Hunting Lunch

Also of interest:
Picnic After the Hunt
&
Hunter, Hero, and Friend
The British Soldier's Dog in the Napoleonic Wars
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, March 28th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts ~ Taking Death Seriously
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

The Courtier and the Judge

THE SMILE OF REASON
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

Jean Baptiste Joachim Colbert,
Marquis de Croissy (1703 - 1777)
1749 portrait
by Louis Tocqué (1696 - 1772)

I enjoyed this compare / contrast assignment, way back in graduate school, when our 18th Century Literature professor instructed the class to go the art museum in search of portraits featuring what he referred to as "The So-Called Smile of Reason." I devised similar assignments for my own students and sent them on various artistic quests at least once per semester. I loved that museum -- called The Snite -- at the time (1985) -- not only for the artwork but also for sitting quietly to read or write or grade or wander aimlessly with a friend, to soothe the soul.

Sir Thomas Rokeby (1631 - 1699)
1661 portrait
by Nicholaes Maes (1634 – 1693)

After perusing the available examples of
Enlightenment portraiture, here's what I came up with . . .
The Marquis de Croissy (1703 - 1777) wears an expression of satisfaction. Rather than a smirk, I see a smile of tolerance and amused resignation. He knows that he lives in a world numbering many fools, and he knows that his wealth and position have made him luckier than many. He appears, in his 1749 portrait by Alex Louis Tocqué, more pleasant than pleased. The habit of mind evinced is one of complacence. His expression suggests that he accepts as natural the numerous disparate elements of human behavior (even those which may be artificial!) without brooding about the possibility of hypocrisy or inconsistency. As a courtier, he has cultivated an expansive view of life which allows for folly as well as generosity of spirit in both himself and others.

The Marquis does not lead a life of study and contemplation. If his complexion is somewhat pallid it is so from an indulgent diet and erratic sleeping habits. A life of sensuous excesses is taking a physical toll on him; yet he presents, if not the picture of health, a delightful sense of the robust life. His attire is ornate: rich brown and blue velvets, gold and red brocade, golden buttons. He gazes straightforwardly from a background depicting a tempestuous storm. An aura of illumination lights his head and face from behind. His life is lit by a knowledge of the world which is external and objective. His eyes are knowing, if not far-seeing. He himself has become a center of order and gaiety in a potentially dark, oppressive, brooding world.

As the poet William Blake (1757 - 1827) wrote:

There is a Smile of Love
And there is a Smile of Deceit
And there is a Smile of Smiles
In which these two Smiles meet . . .
Sir Thomas Rokeby (1631 - 1699), is his portrait by Nicolaas Mass, is rather more placid and self-contained than the Marquis de Croissy. His habits tend neither toward generosity nor folly. As a Presbyterian judge, he follows a path of restraint in all things -- from dress and diet to entertainment and socializing. Instead of surrounding himself with witty and amusing people, as the Marquis must have done, Rokeby looks to himself (and perhaps to God) for a communion of spirit and intellect rather than one of body and intellect. He appears to be philosophical and knowledgeable yet vulnerable in a way that the Marquis is not and probably has never been. He looks young, probably younger than he is in years. Whereas the Marquis' habits of excess have aged him prematurely, Rokeby's more stringent habits of body and mind cause his cheeks to fairly burn with health and a restrained passion.

The color in his face is high and intense, and his lips are full. His black and white attire is somber but not his expression. He is neither robust nor severe. He is not easily provoked, but one would not call him gentle. He strives always to be temperate and rational. Though he cannot be credited with the Marquis' expansive acceptance of humankind, he is not cold-hearted. His demeanor suggests that self-discipline and self-knowledge provide the key to order in a world which tends toward untidiness. His glance is steadfast; behind him all is quite dark, though to his left filtered light suggests dawn or sunset. His face only is illumined directly -- with an internal, subjective light which must come from either within or above.

The Judge and the Courtier: both were born to titles and distinction; both had the means to live lives of taste and refinement. However, each was trained in his own way to an educated awareness of his surrounding environment and culture. Thus the two developed widely differing concepts of self and order.
Both paintings held by
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
University of Notre Dame
South Bend, Indiana Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, March 14th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
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Red Dresses and Sad Songs

RED IS THE COLOR OF MY TRUE LOVE'S DRESS
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

Nivôse by Martha Romme
from her Calendar Series ~ Les Douze Mois de l’Année, 1919

Sometimes mistakenly translated as "Level"
but, in fact, that would be niveau;
this is Nivôse, an old French term for Winter:
"In Nivôse earth is sealed and usually covered with snow.
At this time earth is resting . . . "

Some years Valentine's Day is snowy,
and you need a red coat
to throw on over your red dress.

Marching On by Sebastian Bauer

For Valentine's Day, I have been saving up a few red - dress paintings and searching for poetry to match. Many songs and poems feature a red dress (as posted previously). However, nothing that I came across) felt quite right for today, so I settled on one of my favorite sad cowboy songs. After all, the word red is in the title. Furthermore, there are those who experience Valentine's Day as a doleful occasion, so perhaps the connection is fittingly forlorn:

Red River Valley

From this valley they say you are going
I will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile
For they say you are taking the sunshine
That has brightened our pathway awhile . . .

Come and sit by my side if you love me
Do not hasten to bid me adieu
But remember the Red River Valley
And the one who has loved you so true

Sung by Marty Robbins (1925 -1982)

I am also thinking that Henry David Thoreau's observation about the number of chairs in his house is equally appropriate to these three paintings:

". . . one for solitude [plus cats!]

Seen on The Cat Café
[still searching for title and artist]

. . . two for friendship

Young Girls Reading (aka The Two Sisters), 1889
by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

. . . three for society."

The Three_Sisters, 1896
by Léon-Henri-Marie Frédéric (1856 – 1940) ♥♥♥ Happy Valentine's Day!

May it be filled with cats and sisters, books and fruit,
red coats and dresses, and a selection of sad songs!

Two recent favorites:
Wishing you A Perfect Day with No Hard Feelings

. . . and this old favorite that I always seem
to find myself humming around this time of year.
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, February 28th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Sisters, Friends

"LOVE YA LIKE A SIS"
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

Painting by Claudia Tremblay

Reminds me of ~ Di, Kit, Peg

****************
"I remember standing at the wide white sink doing dishes
while the three girls braided their hair into a single fat rope.
Their conversation consisted of one of them telling the other
two to hold still, and then another one complaining the others
were pulling and would mess everything up. . . . our three girls
were firmly tethered together as one daughter" (36 - 37).

from Tom Lake ~ by Ann Patchett

[See also: FN, KL, QK]

This Fortnightly post will continue the theme of "Friends in Art" that I was having so much fun with last time! The various paintings have all come to my attention recently, but all of the literary passages below have appeared on previous blog posts -- at least a decade ago. So, it does not seem too soon to re-share these favorite thoughts on the depth and breadth of true friendship.

"And friendship had other charms to captivate my heart.
We could talk and laugh together
and exchange small acts of kindness.
We could join in the pleasure that books can give.
We could be grave or gay together.
If we sometimes disagreed, it was without spite,
as you might differ with yourself,
and the rare occasions of dispute
were the very spice to season our usual accord.
Each of us had something to learn from the others
and something to teach in return.
If any were away, we missed them with regret
and gladly welcomed them when they came home.
Such things as these are heartfelt tokens
of affection between friends.
They are signs to be read on the face and in the eyes,
spoken by the tongue and displayed in countless acts of kindness.
They can kindle a blaze to melt our hearts and weld them into one."

Augustine (354 - 430)
from Confessions, Book 8

"Companion or friend? I have come to believe that you can get along without anyone — that is, without the close contact of any one person. That is a terrible shock to me, but I think it is true. You do need companionship, but wherever you go, in whatever new environment, you will find people who, to a large degree, take the place of those you left. That is, you will find as many contacts, they will become as intimately a part of your life, as friends before.

"If you can get along without friends is it all gone after you leave a person? I don't think so, because when you see them again, or write to them, it all comes back. You can meet and talk with as much intensity and freedom as before, your connection is as strong even though the contact surface is not as great.

"Besides, I think that companionship is a static, objective thing. You can have it with anyone and it is relatively the same, while friendship is subjective and multicolored. There are as many different kinds of friendship (for me, at least) as there are friends. The intimate companionship goes, I think, when you leave a friend, but friendship stays. It is an inherent possibility of relationship that, once admitted — well, there it is."

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906 - 2001)
from Bring Me A Unicorn, 1972

Drei Winterthurerinnen, 1822
[Three Women from Winterthur, Switzerland]
by David Sulzer (1784 - 1864)

Old Friendship
Beautiful and rich is an old friendship,
Grateful to the touch as ancient ivory,
Smooth as aged wine, or sheen of tapestry
Where light has lingered, intimate and long.
Full of tears and warm is an old friendship
That asks no longer deeds of gallantry,
Or any deed at all - save that the friend shall be
Alive and breathing somewhere, like a song.

Eunice Tietjens (1884 - 1944)
from Leaves in Windy Weather

****************

"None of us are as young as we were.
So what? Friendship never ages."

W. H. Auden (1907 - 73)

****************

"There was a definite process by which
one made people into friends, and it involved
talking and listening to them for hours at a time."

Dame Rebecca West (1892 - 1983)

****************

"The proper office of a friend is to side with you
when you are wrong. Nearly anybody
will side with you when you are right."

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
See my QK column: "Built-In Shit Detector"
[right-hand side-bar]

Need to send someone a birthday hug?
For me, this painting by Jennifer Yoswa says it all.

Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, February 14th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Friends in Art

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

The Tea Party
by Edward Cucuel (1875 - 1954)

“Friendship is certainly the finest balm
for the pangs of disappointed love.”

~ Jane Austen ~
Northanger Abbey
[Volume I, Chapter IV]

An essay in pictures . . .

Two Ladies on a Bench
by Edward Cucuel (1875 - 1954)

Borbee Plays the Flute, ca 1908
by Florence Kate Upton (1873 – 1922)

Two Girls In The Garden At Montmartre, 1895
by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919)

The Bathers, 1925
Jose de Almada-Negreiros (1893 - 1970)

Two Women Throwing Flowers, 1872
by Mary Cassatt (1844 - 1926)

Two Women in a Boat
by Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847 - 1928)

Two Women in Renaissance Dress, One Playing a Lute
by Frank Stone (1800 – 1859)

Two Young Women Seated, ca 1900
by William Henry Margetson (1861 - 1940)

“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

Earlier Emerson Posts: QK ~ FN ~ KL
Enough excellent transcendental advice
to get you through the entire year!

Coming in two weeks: "Sisters, Friends"
Next Fortnightly Post
Tuesday, January 28th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Christmas Ideals

IDEALS MAGAZINE
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

1963
This is the much earlier "old - time" volume
that both the daughter and the mother (in the story below)
remembered and cherished, from back in the grandmother's day.

Between my mother and her mother (my beloved Grandma Rovilla Lindsey), they collected nearly every Christmas Ideals for 60 years. The oldest one I have from their early purchases is 1947 (Ideals began in 1944). When sorting through my mom's things, I kept all the older issues that my siblings and I recalled from our childhood. How we all loved the pre-Christmas ritual when Mom got them out for us to read. We would pour over the pictures, page after page, and imagine the perfect Christmas!
~ My Own Ideals Christmas ~
The later issues from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s I passed on to the public library sale, since, for me, they lacked the same charm and nostalgia of the earlier years. Before giving them away, however, I did take an afternoon to look through every page, including the letters to the editor.

Turning to the back page of the 1991 issue, I came across this multi - layered, multi - generational (grandmother - mother - daughter) meta anecdote. The mother's letter tells the whole story that happened a year earlier (Christmas 1990) about the daughter's sweet gesture to the mom in honor of the grandmother:

I have a Christmas story I would like to share with you.

"I have Christmas Ideals, Vol. 20, No. 6, November 1963. This issue has been on our coffee table with a candle and a Bible every year since.

"Our daughter came home a week before Christmas for a day. My 91 year old mother is ill and I had not decorated as much as usual and did not put our cherished Ideals on the table.

"My daughter noticed this but said nothing. Christmas morning I found a 1990 Christmas issue of Ideals. A note enclosed said, 'Mother, it did not seem like Chritmas with our Ideals not on the coffee table, is it lost? Here is a new one for you.'"

~ From Mrs. William T. Preston, Kenova, West Virginia

1990
This is the volume that the daughter bought
for her mother when the grandmother was sick,
the year the mom wrote the letter.

1991
This is the volume containing Mrs. Preston's letter
in the Readers' Forum, p. 80

I knew then that I could never part with 1990 and 1991. As you can guess, I shelved them right beside my vintage 1963, an issue which -- just like the daughter in the story -- I remember vividly from every childhood Christmas. From now on, these three magazines will always go together, a sentimental holiday triumvirate.

Another thing I love about the old issues is that my grandmother went through and marked all of her favorites with a tiny red penciled "X".

This one, for example:
At the End of the Year

I cannot let the old year die
Without a thought of you;
Without a wish for Christma joys,
And New Year blessing too. . . .

It is a time when friends and kin
Meet round a common board,
To share the love and fellowship
That happy days afford. . . .

And now my warmetst wishes go
To loved ones and to friends,
That peace and joy be in your hearts,
And love that never ends.

~ Agnes Davenport Bond ~

Also Thanksgiving Ideals

Next Fortnightly Post
Tuesday, January 14th
Between now and then, read

THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com