My Living, Breathing Muse

<body topmargin="0" leftmargin="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" height="100%"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="125" bgcolor="#111111" text="#F7F7FF"> <div></div> <div> <a href="index.htm" target="_top" title="The Writing Buddha"><u><img src="ca456550.jpg" border="0" width="86" height="85" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></u></a> </div> <div> <b><img src="ca53f2f0.gif" border="0" width="63" height="47" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></b> </div> <div> <a href="id88_m.htm#1" target="TRLX_Middle" title="My Living, Breathing Muse"><u><img src="ce557410.jpg" border="0" width="87" height="65" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></u></a> </div> <div> <a href="id88_m.htm#2" target="TRLX_Middle" title="My Living, Breathing Muse"><u><img src="ce657410.jpg" border="0" width="87" height="65" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></u></a> </div> <div> <a href="id88_m.htm#3" target="TRLX_Middle" title="My Living, Breathing Muse"><u><img 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background="079cb9a3.jpg"> <div> <font size="5" color="#000000" face="Bodoni"><b>The Writing Buddha</b></font>    |     <a href="index.htm" target="_top" title="The Writing Buddha"><u>home</u></a> </div> <div>                                                    </div> <div> My Living, Breathing Muse </div> <div></div> <div></div> <div> <i>El dolor infinito...</i> </div><br> <div> <i><b><img src="42896ec0.jpg" border="0" width="150" height="236" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></b></i> </div><br> <div> <a href="id33_photo.htm" target="_top" title="Photos"><u><b>Photos</b></u></a> </div><br> <div> <a href="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/central_america/panama/index.htm" target="_top" title="http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations"><u><b><img src="cf4895b0.gif" border="0" width="137" height="91" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></b></u></a> </div><br> <div> <i><b>"Body of my woman, I will persist in your grace.</b></i> </div> <div> <i><b>My thirst, my boundless desire, my shifting road.</b></i> </div> <div> <i><b>Dark river-beds where the eternal thirst flows</b></i> </div> <div> <i><b>and weariness follows, and the infinite ache."</b></i> </div> <div>  <a name="1" id="1"><img border="0" src="1x1.gif" height="1" align="bottom" width="1" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a> </div> <div><img src="cc138ea0.jpg" border="0" width="312" height="234" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></div> <div>  <a name="2" id="2"><img border="0" src="1x1.gif" height="1" align="bottom" width="1" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a> </div> <div><img src="cc337e90.jpg" border="0" width="311" height="233" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></div> <div>  <a name="3" id="3"><img border="0" src="1x1.gif" height="1" align="bottom" width="1" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a> </div> <div><img src="cc737e90.jpg" border="0" width="311" height="233" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></div> <div>  <a name="4" id="4"><img border="0" src="1x1.gif" height="1" align="bottom" width="1" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a> </div> <div><img src="ccb37e90.jpg" border="0" width="311" height="233" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></div> <div>  <a name="erotic" id="erotic"><img border="0" src="1x1.gif" height="1" align="bottom" width="1" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a> </div> <div><img src="d2437f10.jpg" border="0" width="311" height="241" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></div> <div>  <a name="dress" id="dress"><img border="0" src="1x1.gif" height="1" align="bottom" width="1" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a> </div> <div><img src="d32378d0.jpg" border="0" width="311" height="397" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></div> <div>  <a name="birthday" id="birthday"><img border="0" src="1x1.gif" height="1" align="bottom" width="1" hspace="0" vspace="0"></a> </div> <div><img src="d3837e90.jpg" border="0" width="311" height="233" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></div><br> <div> <hr align="center" size="2"> </div><br> <div> <i><b>Cupid and Psyche</b></i> </div><br> <div> <b><u><img src="62ff8b00.jpg" border="0" width="248" height="176" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></u></b> </div><br> <div> <p align="justify">Once upon a time there lived a princess so beautiful that she was thought to be lovelier than even Venus, Goddess of Love. She took away the power of speech from all those who set eyes upon her. From all over her Father's kingdom and abroad, men travelled for miles just to catch a glimpse of her. Some said she was Venus herself in mortal guise. Soon.. Venus' temples and shrines were ignored as more and more men flocked to see Psyche. Venus, out of jealousy, commanded that her son, Cupid, ensure that no man would ever love her. Cupid went to Psyche, but fell in love with her himself. Still.. he did as he was told.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">Her family, surprised to find that their daughter was no longer sought by any suitor, consulted the oracle of Apollo. The Oracle said that the daughter had angered the Gods in some way, and must be sacrificed to a monster to appease them. In sorrow, they took their daughter to the top of a nearby mountain and left her there, to await her fate.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">Soon Zephyr, the God of the winds, came along and carried her along to a beautiful palace. A voice addressed her, though she saw no one, and it instructed her to enjoy the house and grounds around her. The food was magnificent. A choir could be heard , though not seen. At night, when she retired to bed, she was joined in her bed .. in the darkness.. by a lover, who said he was now her husband but that she must never look upon him. He was gentle. He was loving. In the morning.. he was gone.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">Her mystery husband returned the next night .. and the night after that. It became a routine. At times, she'd ask to see his face and he would refuse. She'd imagined him to be grotesque, but came to love him nonetheless. He was sweet and kind, a wonderful lover. She told him that she wouldn't leave him if Cupid himself were to show up and profess his love for her. She loved him.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">Finally, one night Psyche kept an oil lamp nearby, and when she knew her husband was asleep she lit the lamp. She nearly fainted. Lying in her bed was ... the God Cupid. What she had taken as a soft blanket were his wings. In her shock, she spilled a drop of hot oil on his shoulder, burning him.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">He awoke, angry with Psyche for breaking his command to not look upon him. He fled, and abandoned her. As he flew away, Psyche caught hold of his leg and soared aloft with him. Her strength gave way and she fell to earth, only to be admonished by Cupid for ignoring his warnings. In her despair, Psyche attempted, unsuccessfully, to commit suicide.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">Unable to find her husband again, she went to Venus and begged her for help. Venus, who was still angry at the mortal, refused to help unless Psyche agreed to perform labours to show her devotion. Psyche agreed and was given four impossible tasks.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">She was asked to sort out a storehouse full of grains by their type. Despairing, she asked for help, and an army of ants came to help her, sorting the grains out. She was next directed to gather a handful of wool from some wild and dangerous sheep. Again, she asked for aide, and the briars by the riverside told her to wait, and .. after the sheep had drunk, she could gather the wool from their briars that they had pulled out.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">Venus was not happy to find that the girl had performed her tasks so well. For a final task, she gave Pysche a box, and told her to go to see Proserpine, wife of Hades, God of the underworld, and ask for a little of her beauty. Pysche travelled to the underworld and met the Queen of the dead, who gave her a box, commanding her not to open it. Psyche travelled out of hell again, but onher way, felt that she had worked so hard for so long that she deserved some reward. She thought to open the box and take a little of the beauty out for her own use. However, when she opened the box she found instead that what lay inside was a deathly sleep, and she collapsed on the ground.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">By this time Cupid had recovered from his wound, and was heartbroken that he had left Pysche in such a manner. He sought out to find her, and discovered her laying as if dead. He went to her, brushed away the sleep from her body, and embraced her again. Reminding her that her curiousity was her undoing, he told her to finish the task. While Psyche brought the box to Venus as requested, Cupid went to the Gods and pleaded for their help. After hearing his tale, the Gods agreed to make Psyche one of their own. She was given a cup of ambrosia to drink - to make her an immortal, and butterfly wings so that she might fly alongside her husband. They soon had a daughter, Pleasure.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">They soon had a daughter, Pleasure.</p> </div> <div> <hr align="center" size="2"> </div><br> <div><img src="65262890.jpg" border="0" width="98" height="137" align="bottom" hspace="0" vspace="0"></div><br> <div> <i><b>Naploean and Josephine</b></i> </div><br> <div> <p align="justify">I wake filled with thoughts of you. Your portrait and the intoxicating evening which we spent yesterday have left my senses in turmoil. Sweet, incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect you have on my heart! Are you angry? Do I see you looking sad? Are you worried?... My soul aches with sorrow, and there can be no rest for you lover; but is there still more in store for me when, yielding to the profound feelings which overwhelm me, I draw from your lips, from your heart a love which consumes me with fire? Ah! it was last night that I fully realized how false an image of you your portrait gives!</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">You are leaving at noon; I shall see you in three hours. Until then, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but give me none in return, for they set my blood on fire.</p> </div><br> <div> <i>To his wife, Josephine: Paris, December 1795</i> </div><br> <br> <div> <i><b>Goethe</b></i> </div><br> <div> <p align="justify">My letters will have shown you how lovely I am. I don't dine at Court, I see few people, and take my walks alone, and at every beautiful spot I wish you were there.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">I can't help loving you more than is good for me; I shall feel all the happier when I see you again. I am always conscious of my nearness to you, your presence never leaves me. In you I have a measure for every woman, for everyone; in your love a measure for all that is to be. Not in the sense that the rest of the world seems obscure tome, on the contrary, your love makes it clear; I see quite clearly what men are like and what they plan, wish, do and enjoy; I don't grudge them what they have, and comparing is a secret joy to me, possessing as I do such an imperishable treasure.</p> </div> <div> <p align="justify">You in your household must feel as I often do in my affairs; we often don't notice objects simply because we don't choose to look at them, but things acquire an interest as soon as we see clearly the way they are related to each other. For we always like to join in, and the good man takes pleasure in arranging, putting in order and furthering the right and its peaceful rule. Adieu, you whom I love a thousand times.</p> </div><br> <div> <i>To his wife, Charlotte: Germany, June 1784</i> </div><br> <br> <div> <i><b>Beethoven</b></i> </div><br> <div> <p align="justify">Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I need a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once - Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.</p> </div> <div> ever thine </div> <div> ever mine </div> <div> ever ours </div><br> <br> <div> <i>To ... his anonymous Muse, July 1812</i> </div><br> <br> </td> </tr> </table> </body>