Poetic-Verses from ATHANASE
The Milkmaid - painting of Vermeer (English))
The Milkmaid
to Thoré -Bürger
'Appetitum terminari ad bonum et pulchrum non est terminari in diversa'
('Appetite find its appropriate outlet in goodness, peace and beauty and nowhere else')
Aquinas, De veritate XXII, 1-12
We admire the full light that dawns whitely
where eye and object meet in a solemn encounter,
and the way matter submissively reshapes itself
to this supremely rigorous incarnation of form!
What peaceful beauty illuminates this woman
and dignifies the pious curves of her hands,
what gentle affection hovers like a refrain
sung from the unsuspected depths of the soul!
O how lovely is the wholeness of quiet people,
in whom resides the solid, magisterial beauty
of hearts which accomplish with humility
the tasks of a life as obscurely silent as an urn!
I love, I love the way the light rests on the table, the poured milk, the bread,
these images of goodness, these hymns to a serene world!
translated into English by Norton Hodges
to Thoré -Bürger
'Appetitum terminari ad bonum et pulchrum non est terminari in diversa'
('Appetite find its appropriate outlet in goodness, peace and beauty and nowhere else')
Aquinas, De veritate XXII, 1-12
We admire the full light that dawns whitely
where eye and object meet in a solemn encounter,
and the way matter submissively reshapes itself
to this supremely rigorous incarnation of form!
What peaceful beauty illuminates this woman
and dignifies the pious curves of her hands,
what gentle affection hovers like a refrain
sung from the unsuspected depths of the soul!
O how lovely is the wholeness of quiet people,
in whom resides the solid, magisterial beauty
of hearts which accomplish with humility
the tasks of a life as obscurely silent as an urn!
I love, I love the way the light rests on the table, the poured milk, the bread,
these images of goodness, these hymns to a serene world!
translated into English by Norton Hodges
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The Milkmaid - painting of Vermeer (English))
The Milkmaid - painting of Vermeer (English))
