.
Odd-eyed cat: photo by Keith Kissel, 2007
Life is the Bodies light; which once declining,
Those crimson clouds i'th'cheeks & lips leave shining.
Those counter-changed Tabbies in the ayre,
(The Sun once set) all of one colour are...
Those crimson clouds i'th'cheeks & lips leave shining.
Those counter-changed Tabbies in the ayre,
(The Sun once set) all of one colour are...
Ribbon Eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita), close-up: photo by Chris Watanabe, 2005
Blue Primula (Primula acaulis), Germany: photo by 4028mdk09, 2010
Blue and yellow grapes, Tbilisi, Georgia: photo by Giga Paitchadze, 2007
Sleepy Blue-and-yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna),Weltvogelpark Walsrode, Germany: photo by Olaf Oliver Riemer, 2010
Robert Herrick: Life is the Bodies Light (excerpt), from Hesperides, 1648
Tabbies: from the French tabis "striped silk taffeta", "a rich, watered silk," from Middle French atabis (14c.), from Arabic 'attabiya, from 'Attabiy, a neighborhood of Baghdad where such cloth was first made, named for prince 'Attab of the Omayyad dynasty.
Cf. The New-yeeres Gift:
Let others look for Pearle and Gold,
Tissues, or tabbies manifold...
Tabbies: from the French tabis "striped silk taffeta", "a rich, watered silk," from Middle French atabis (14c.), from Arabic 'attabiya, from 'Attabiy, a neighborhood of Baghdad where such cloth was first made, named for prince 'Attab of the Omayyad dynasty.
Cf. The New-yeeres Gift:
Let others look for Pearle and Gold,
Tissues, or tabbies manifold...
I very much regretted having to crop out part of the visage of the Blue-and-yellow Macaw on the right in the bottom image. The shy expression, in the pleasure of being groomed, is worth a click on the image to view in full.
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who might care for a further taste of the exquisite Herrick:
Robert Herrick: Silks
Robert Herrick: The comming of good luck
Tom,
ReplyDeleteAh yes, "the exquisite Herrick," and as "life is the bodies light," so too does light give life to bodies -- sun has just now risen over the ridge, after 49 consecutive days of fog. . . .
8.23
first silver of sun rising over shadowed
ridge, red-tailed hawk calling on branch
in foreground, sound of waves in channel
arbitrary formation, between
surface and the concept
of light, potential measured
by that, forms of field
grey-white of fog reflected in channel,
wingspan of pelican flapping across if
Yes, you were right, it really worth a click!
ReplyDeleteLovely post!
Thank you for looking at that beautiful shy Macaw, Julia, no wonder it seems to be blushing...
ReplyDeleteSteve, yes, Let light give life to the bodies...
(Ashamed to say I missed the first actual sunrise in two months, stuck in a dark chamber nursing this wretched dogbite... seems it's a dog's life, comme il dit, around here these days.)
These are all so beautiful. And odd-eyed animals and people always stop you in your tracks. (My dog Edie is odd-eyed and when she fixes you with that intense, energetic stare, it's quite arresting.) Hearing that you are still laid-up because of the dog bite makes me sad and angry all at once. The Herrick lines are inspiring and memorable. I'm ashamed to say that I never looked into the derivation of "tabby" (I have several tabby cats. But I'm happy I know it now. Curtis
ReplyDeleteCurtis,
ReplyDeleteOdd-eye mutations (as well as cross-eye mutations) are fairly comment in those beautiful white cats, which, though they tend to be aloof and independent and a bit dimwitted, have always seemed to us to be the angels of the feline world.
It was (obviously) that blue-and-yellow juxtaposition which was the light bulb behind this post. I've been thinking about that combination ever since getting into Goethe's comments on the colours.
(But of course Goethe was always thinking about painting, whereas the natural world has arts of a higher order.)
warming up so as not to
ReplyDeletebe confused
tripping the light
fantastic
out of body
simplistic
into mind
eye and ear
Herrick in the morning