Poetic-Verses from ATHANASE
Head of a Girl (English)
Head of a Girl
to Gerrit Van Honthorst
« Qualibet forma, quantum minus habet hujus luminis per obumbrationem materiae, tanto deformior est, et quanto plus habet hujus luminis per elevationem supra materiam, tanto pulchrior est. »
('Every form appears more ugly the less it partakes of this light, because of the shadows cast by material objects, yet the more it comes to absorb this light by raising itself above the material world, the more beautiful it is.')
Ulrich of Strassburg, Summa de bono
A face like still water with a gleam of sunlight, colour perfectly
sui generis in search of the essence of beauty,
contours where the brush has made itself eternal,
her open virgin heart, her splendid mute soul!
O celebration of innocence, triumph of purity
giving her smile a charm which would convert any unbeliever
and suffusing the air with the chaste light
of an indistinct dream, a world full of wonder!
This sublime marriage of yellow, white, blue,
the dizzying play of rich nuances,
like the transparent bodies shining with
the magnificence of God that the Pseudo-Dionysus sang!
Love, redeem my words and lift up my song,
rekindle my fervour to see heaven through its earthly signs!
translated from the French of Athanase Vantchev de Thracy by Norton Hodges
18.01.08.
to Gerrit Van Honthorst
« Qualibet forma, quantum minus habet hujus luminis per obumbrationem materiae, tanto deformior est, et quanto plus habet hujus luminis per elevationem supra materiam, tanto pulchrior est. »
('Every form appears more ugly the less it partakes of this light, because of the shadows cast by material objects, yet the more it comes to absorb this light by raising itself above the material world, the more beautiful it is.')
Ulrich of Strassburg, Summa de bono
A face like still water with a gleam of sunlight, colour perfectly
sui generis in search of the essence of beauty,
contours where the brush has made itself eternal,
her open virgin heart, her splendid mute soul!
O celebration of innocence, triumph of purity
giving her smile a charm which would convert any unbeliever
and suffusing the air with the chaste light
of an indistinct dream, a world full of wonder!
This sublime marriage of yellow, white, blue,
the dizzying play of rich nuances,
like the transparent bodies shining with
the magnificence of God that the Pseudo-Dionysus sang!
Love, redeem my words and lift up my song,
rekindle my fervour to see heaven through its earthly signs!
translated from the French of Athanase Vantchev de Thracy by Norton Hodges
18.01.08.
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Head of a Girl (English)
Head of a Girl (English)
