lundi 14 juin 2010

À Paul Sunstone

Dark eyes




Un poète ukrainien, Yevhen Hrebinka, a écrit “Les yeux noirs » publié en 1843 dans la Literaturnaya Gazeta, les mots furent mis en musique, en 1884, par le compositeur allemand Florian Hermann.  Depuis, Chaliapin, Django Rheinhardt, Bob Dylan et plusieurs autres ont chanté  les yeux noirs.
« Des yeux noirs, des yeux pleins de passion !
Des yeux ravageurs et sublimes !
Comme je vous aime, comme j'ai peur de vous !
Je sais, je vous ai vus, pas au bon moment !
Oh, non sans raison vous êtes plus sombres que les ténébres !
Je vois de la peine en vous pour mon âme,
Je vois une flamme victorieuse en vous
Dans laquelle brûle mon pauvre coeur.
Mais non je ne suis pas triste, il n'y a pas de chagrin
Mon destin me réconforte.
Le meilleur que dieu nous a donné dans la vie,
Je l'ai sacrifié pour ces yeux de feu !»
Pourquoi cette fascination pour les yeux noirs?  Des yeux bleus ont dit souvent qu’ils sont d’acier ou de glace, sauf, bien sûr, ceux de Thérèse; les yeux pers sont déroutants et réservés aux déesses.  Les yeux gris?  On n’en parle pas en littérature même si l’on y trouve « une jument aux yeux verts ».  Les yeux bruns laissent indifférent même s’ils présentent un petit air mystérieux et changent de ton selon l’éclairage ambiant.
Mais les yeux noirs sont insondables à l’instar de l’eau noire des lacs profonds ou réputés sans fonds comme certains de nos lacs laurentiens.  Ils font un peu peur quant ils deviennent encore plus noirs sous l’effet de la passion; certains y voient un reflet de Lucifer, d’autres, une annonce d’orage imminent, d’autres encore de la lubricité affirmant qu’ils deviennent d’un noir spécial sous l’effet du désir charnel. 

La jeune fille sur la clôture, trouvée sur le Blog Café Philos de Paul Sunstone un californien  de Los Angeles, serait-elle moins mystérieuse si ses yeux eussent été bleus ou bruns?   Tant de questions se posent : elle s’assied ou se prépare à partir? Elle a peur ou elle désire ardemment quelque chose…qui s’en vient ou qui s’en va?  A-t-elle peur, est-elle fâchée ou intriguée?  Que regarde-t-elle avec tant d’intensité? D’abord, est-elle si jeune que cela?
Elle ne porte pas, à l’évidence, de brassière mais les seins ne sont pas ceux d’une jeune fille ce me semble.

Son regard trouble par son intensité et son absence apparente de direction.  Les yeux s’orientent vers la gauche mais, en même temps, ils ne semblent pas regarder vers l’extérieur.

Tout, ici, est intérieur, au fond, le corps est accessoire.  Le créateur nous invite à intuitionner une action intérieure, à solutionner un mystère caché dans l’insondable des yeux noirs.  Je sens obscurément que la dame veut qu’on respecte son secret et je le respecterai.
Paul Costopoulos, jeudi, 10 juin 2010

27 commentaires:

  1. Paul, you wicked thing, checking out the bosom springiness of charcoal drawings.

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  2. Interesting and puzzling — the drawing, the song, and your thoughts.

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  3. @Sledpress: nothing wicked here just plain observation. I was not checking the springiness but the relative position between neck and abdomen. Should we say that wickedness is in the eye of the beholder?
    @Rob-bear: I was indeed puzzled by the picture as were the members of the creative writing group I introduced to it. Most saw a young dreaming girl.
    The song is a traditional now in Russia: Ochi chornyye, ochi strastnyye, etc... I'm sure you heard it many times.
    They liked, though, the way I focused upon the eyes. When singled out and isolated they take a whole new aspect and meaning.

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  4. Well, I am a dusty old thing and prone to wickedness. The drawing is skilled and the song passionate, but -- well, perhaps I am a cynic. Passion and mysterious beauty in women, young or not so young, always come to dust and I wonder sometimes at the profundity men find in both. Probably that is in the eye of the beholder too.

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  5. The eyes of the beholder are most important, yes indeed. If you are a dusty old thing, you don't even seem to be above 40 or 45, maybe less, then what am I at 79?
    I always said that age is a mindset, not a number.
    My revered grandmother used to say:"beauty is skin deep and passes quickly, the beast remains". But some beasts are beautifull inside and that is the main thing.

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  6. Well, I'm flattered at ten or fifteen years of under-estimation (fifty-five last November), and I apologize for being a little crabby when I commented yesterday. I'm not even sure why I was in such a bad mood. I was actually touched that you mention that odd chameleon property of brown eyes, which I have.

    I've just always been kind of dusty -- and not at all mysterious, I suppose.

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  7. So I could be your father. We all have bad hair days I guess and we don't need to have obvious reasons for that. A mood is a mood as long as it is not permanent.

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  8. The observer is being observed! Paul, your analysis was astute. You did, though, rightly, start treating the drawing as a psychological portrait. The age, her maturity or lack of, her mysterious eyes, all made you want to know her more, get transported somehow. Interesting how we reveal ourselves in our analysis of art or literature.

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  9. Only more proof of the way that art can get in below the radar and shake us up.

    Actually, my father, if he were alive, would be about five years older than you; my onetime husband, if hewere alive, would be just exactly your age. I like having older friends with deep roots and younger friends who bring me unexpected new things (and brush the dust off, once in a while).

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  10. Thank you both of you. When you start intrepreting art, you are indeed exposing yourself. Any interpretation is more or less a projection of what and who you are.
    I guess my 40 years investigating youth protection cases have left a propension to analyse and dissect.

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  11. Why such a fascination with black eyes? I think that "ochi chernyie" has a distinctly gypsy connotation in Russian culture. They do love to romanticize gypsy girls! It makes sense: We're all charmed by the "other" in our midst.

    For green eyes, nothing beats the beautiful Spanish song, Aquellos Ojos Verdes.

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  12. Ochi Chorniye has taken a Gypsy connotation but it was not Gypsy to begin with. Jango Rheinhardt had a big influence on it.
    Black eyes are inscrutable and they awake curiosity. I have black eyes and people are forever asking:"What are you thinking about?" or "Your eyes are darker than usual, what's going on?"
    I believe I never heard the Spanish song Anonymous is talking about.

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  13. We anonymous green-eyed types can't help but try to spread the word about our charms. We cannot claim inscrutability, and many like to ascribe envy to us, but green eyes are "serenos como un lago" to some.

    Here is "Aquellos" as I first heard it, sung by Nat King Cole, who is so lovely that we forgive his decidedly English-sounding Spanish:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXB33yd4KI0

    And, then, Los Panchos, with those inimitable harmonies:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeIkAsCgR90

    :)

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  14. Muchas gracias Anonyme, I had never heard that song, Cole makes it sound very soft and romantic, the Panchos give a more macho interpretation. Both very enjoyable.
    Thank you.

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  15. I think the interpretation of my drawing surpasses the drawing itself! Thank you so much, Paul!

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  16. You never know how a drawing, or any work of art for that matter, will be interpreted by the beholders.
    The 4 other participants have produced vastly different interpretations, very colourfull and cheery. However I can not convey them to you since I don't have either the written or web texts.

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  17. That's very true. How we interpret a drawing -- even what we observe about it -- can vary greatly from one person to the next. I'm very flattered that one of my drawings was the subject of so much consideration.

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  18. Paul, you are starting a forum here. Good to see this much traffic. I came to thank you for following my memoir blog so diligently and for so long. I posted my final chapter today, and wanted to thank my loyal readers whose comments and insights gave me plenty of inspiration. Your astute question about Mussolini pushed me to include facts that affected the family on a daily basis. The research on Mussosili added a vital historical commentary to the story. Thank you for sharing such insights with me and for your constant support and inspiration. Au revoir, mon ami.

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  19. I must admit that following your memoirs did not require much effort. You maintained "l'intérêt dramatique" throughout.
    As for Mussolini , well I'm a History maniac so I really wanted to have a first hand account from someone I could trust.

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  20. interesting and lovely drawing!!!

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  21. Although her slender body could be of a 14 year old girl, her face is older, and bespeaks that she is between 18 and 21.

    I so admire the artist's skill which went into his drawing of her eyes. They are unfocused, so she is daydreaming. The posture of her body, and position of her legs, tell me she is thinking romantic thoughts, probably erotic.

    It follows that she is thinking of a lover - either real, or fantasised.

    This a wonderful drawing.

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  22. Paul Sunstone would be delighted to read this. Perhaps you could also send it to café philos. The original drawing is there: Girl on a fence.

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  23. @ Phil: Paul is right, Phil I am delighted to read your kind comments on my drawing. Thank you so much!

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  24. Lovely, lovely, lovely post! So full of life and questions and mystery.

    Also, what an intriguing comment thread.

    Loved this. Thanks, Paul (Costo)

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  25. Yes I guess the comment thread has been most surprising...and enjoyable.
    Epharistôpoly. (OK, that's all I know)

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