Monday 13 August 2012

ET EGO IN ARCADIA SUM...

“A woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets.” - Gloria Stuart
 
Magpie Tales has chosen a beautiful photograph by Francesca Woodman for this week’s prompt. Francesca Woodman (USA, April 3, 1958 – January 19, 1981) was a photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring herself and female models. Many of her photographs show young women who are nude, who are blurred (due to movement and long exposure times), who are merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured. Her work continues to be the subject of much attention, years after she committed suicide by jumping out a loft window in New York.
 

This post is also part of Imaginary Garden with Real Toad meme.
 

Arcadia

Et ego in Arcadia sum, 
Amidst a forest made of paper
Beneath a spectre of a sun,
Holding a shell long since mute…

Ave Venus pulcherissima!
You know full well your wiles,
My voice alone dares not sing;
For how long must I await you?

Tempus est volucre.
Yet, I condemned to plod along
And death expect tomorrow.
Life, tarry not behind me,
Catch up with me today!

10 comments:

  1. I am not familiar with the phrases but I do like the muted shell and expecting death tomorrow ~

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  2. Muted shell? I like that.....and the incorporated colour!

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  3. It's so sad in the reality of it all, she did not wait long enough. Exceptional piece, thank you!

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  4. My two years of Latin study (so long ago) leave me a bit rusty ... Love how you incorporated it.

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  5. I loved this opening history of the photographer. I had not known she committed suicide by jumping. So sad. She was a great talent.

    The forest made of paper is a strong image and the poem for me follows it.

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  6. There is so much meaning and strength in the words I recognize..but saddness keeps tugging at me with the knowledge you provide...such a gift..it lasts..

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  7. How well the Latin phrases sit with your words - they almost provide a shell for the English parts... :)

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  8. Holding a shell long since mute... Obviously, she felt pretty empty too...

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  9. The Latin worked so beautifully here...very nice...

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  10. How very clever. Even in nature's harmony, there is death.

    Brilliant!

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