If The Field were The Sea ...
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,
'Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!
All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.
About, about, in reel and rout
The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue and white.
And some in dreams assurèd were
Of the Spirit that plagued us so;
Nine fathom deep he had followed us
From the land of mist and snow.
And every tongue, through utter drought,
Was withered at the root;
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.
Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
- from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1834)
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
above : 'The Field Revisited' at National Gallery of Victoria (2018)
below : An original c.1873 watercolour painting, Attrib. Keeley Halswelle RI ARSA, Venetian Boats.
A colourful study in watercolour showing Venetian bragozzo fishing boats, attributed to Keeley Halswelle RI ARSA (1832-1891). Halswelle was a painter of genre scenes and landscapes, and a watercolourist and illustrator. He painted quite extensively in Italy in the 1870s, and in particular Venice, having moved to Italy in 1869. He also had a fondness for boats, and in later life owned a houseboat on the Thames.
This charming small sketch captures the colour and activity of the Venice lagoon. It shows the boats’ decorated square lug sails, traditionally emblazoned with cabalistic signs or heraldic symbols. Sponges and natural dyes were used to paint the sails in bright colours, which would help preserve the material and make the boats recognisable at a distance.
- Text copyright © 2018 Somerset & Wood Fine Art Ltd. All rights reserved.
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