sovay: I've waited all year from midwinter through till May

Sovay (

sovay) wrote,
@ 2008-05-01 23:10:00

Current music:

David Sylvian, "The Devil's Own"

I've waited all year from midwinter through till May
Happy May Day, all.

What is the sea for the man who has loved and left her? She is fire-water, whisky, rum, a roric flame. She is a green-eyed witch; she speaks in tongues. Her coral rings are forged of skeletons; her white shoulders glisten with the dust of powdered bones.

She is memory, the number of numbers, the eye of the world, the mirror of the sea. What is the ocean for the sailor who has loved and left her? The one lover who dissolves the night. A bottomless glass of moonshine.

And sailors? All sea-talkers. The sons of mermen.

—Rikki Ducornet, The Fountains of Neptune (1989)

(Post a new comment)

	nineweaving 2008-05-02 03:33 am UTC (link)
	You found it! Nine (Reply to this)(Thread)

	sovay 2008-05-02 06:37 pm UTC (link)
	You found it! I found where to find it! It's in print; I should have a copy soon. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mer_moon 2008-05-02 03:41 am UTC (link)
	Oh. That quite is so lovely. I'm going to have to track the book down. Also, happy May day! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	sovay 2008-05-02 06:38 pm UTC (link)
	That quite is so lovely. I'm going to have to track the book down. I picked it up because of the title; because of those lines, I knew I needed it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	seajules 2008-05-02 04:22 am UTC (link)
	Some of her daughters are blue-eyed, however, and some of her sailors merely borrowed from the old men that are mountains. G (Reply to this)(Thread)

	sovay 2008-05-02 06:37 pm UTC (link)
	Some of her daughters are blue-eyed, however, and some of her sailors merely borrowed from the old men that are mountains. Poem? (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ap_aelfwine 2008-05-02 05:20 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! Happy May Day to you, also. That's a lovely quotation there. (Reply to this)

	thistleingrey 2008-05-02 05:53 am UTC (link)
	Happy May Day, and I hear that one might congratulate you? (Reply to this)(Thread)

	sovay 2008-05-02 06:25 pm UTC (link)
	Happy May Day, and I hear that one might congratulate you? I now have my Master's in Classics from Yale. Thank you! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ap_aelfwine 2008-05-02 06:34 pm UTC (link)
	I now have my Master's in Classics from Yale. Thank you! Brilliant! Congratulations! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	asakiyume 2008-05-02 06:44 pm UTC (link)
	Congratulations! Are you going on for a PhD? (Reply to this)(Parent)

	schreibergasse 2008-05-02 08:26 pm UTC (link)
	Congratulations! Welcome to the wonderful world of Things That Look Good On Your Resume! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	asakiyume 2008-05-02 10:30 am UTC (link)
	Oh yes, yes, this is surely true. What does "The Devil's Own" sound like? (Reply to this)(Thread)

sovay
2008-05-02 06:36 pm UTC (link)

What does "The Devil's Own" sound like?

I can't put the song up here, because it's one of the few iTunes-purchased mp3s I own, but it has keyboards and stray sound effects and what sounds like a clarinet to me; it's slow and spare and slightly jazzy, but mostly it's three o'clock sleepless.

The night is dark and cold
The strong winds and the rain
Crack the branches upon my window
The devil beats his drum
Casting out his spell
Dragging all his own down into hell

The ticking of the clock
Inexorably goes on
The howling of the stray souls of heaven
The treasures of the cove
Where traders stored their gold
Echo voices still dead to the world

Underneath the vine
Shaded by the leaves
I still hold you close to me
Beneath the open stars
Beneath the pillows and the sheets
I still hold you dear to me

The ticking of the clock
Surely sunrise won't be long
When darkness hides inside its own shadow
The devil beats his drum
Casting out his name
Dragging all his own down into shame

The last three lines of the first verse are quoted by Tanith Lee in "The Nightmare's Tale" (The Book of the Dead), which is how I discovered it. The only other piece of music I have by him is a cold and haunted soundscape with Holger Czukay, "Plight (The Spiralling of Winter Ghosts)," which I like very much.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

asakiyume
2008-05-02 06:42 pm UTC (link)

Your comment came in just as "Cat-Eye Willie Claims His Lover" came on. Such timing.

These lyrics are wonderful; I like the first three lines, actually, as well as the last three (which are also the final three, I see). I'm going to listen to iTunes' 30 seconds and see about getting it. And the cold and haunted soundscape also sounds like quite a piece.

!! Just got your e-mail!!

Edited at 2008-05-02 06:42 pm UTC

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	clarionj 2008-05-02 12:45 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks! this is lovely. I'm going to have to look up Rikki Ducornet (I've no idea). And Happy May all around! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	sovay 2008-05-02 06:36 pm UTC (link)
	I'm going to have to look up Rikki Ducornet (I've no idea). My mother knew her in college, is the strangest part! (Reply to this)(Parent)

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