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Proust, Marcel - Collected Poems - Albert Cuyp I
Identifier
019783
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
“Albert Cuyp I.” refers to the Dutch painter Albert Cuyp, and it is a poem which takes as its inspiration a painting:
Albert Cuyp painted landscapes and storm tossed seas. There are very few riders in de Cuyp's paintings, and those that are have no conspicuous 'Pink plumes tossed by busts that swell the prodigal blond curls and bring the same pink to every cheek'.
Without saying any more I think it is helpful here to think allegorically - ..........
“Albert Cuyp I” was set to music by the composer Reynaldo Hahn, a nice rather sultry sensual looking man, during Proust’s lifetime. Proust and Hahn were lovers for some time and after they had grown apart as lovers stayed lifelong friends.
Reynaldo Hahn : Portraits de peintres d'après Proust - 1 Cuyp
A description of the experience
Albert Cuyp I
The sinking sun dissolves into air so clear
a flight of doves ripples it like a pond;
a sort of halo guilds birches, guilds bulls!
while bluish incense blurs the hillside, and
splendid quagmires stagnate in the sky.
Riders, mount! Pink plumes are tossed
by busts that swell the prodigal blond curls
and bring the same pink to every cheek.
Lured by glowing fields and creeks, they trot
past indifferent herds of oxen and wrapped
in a golden mist of sleep—galloping now,
breathing the timeless minutes, breathing deep.