One art - Poem by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant 
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

 --Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied.  It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
Elizabeth Bishop :) 
The Complete Poems 1927-1979 

Después - Poema de Cristina Peri Rossi

Y ahora se inicia 
la pequeña vida
del sobreviviente de la catástrofe del amor:

Hola, perros pequeños, 
hola, vagabundos, 
hola, autobuses y transeúntes.

Soy una niña de pecho
acabo de nacer del terrible parto del amor.

Ya no amo.

Ahora puedo ejercer en el mundo
inscribirme en él
soy una pieza más del engranaje.

Ya no estoy loca.

Cristina Peri Rossi
“Otra vez eros” 1994

by9:

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preppycollegiate:

There literally shouldn’t be more to life.

Masseratti 3 litros- Víctor Valera Mora

hijomionotefiesdelasmujeres:

A seiscientos kilómetros por hora cuestiono todo

no tengo paz ni sosiego y digo cuestiono todo

me dejo llevar me gusta cuando me sucede

el animal que soy sobre las catedrales husmeando

mi desmedido desenfado mi boca salvaje

cerrando y abriendo puertas espantosas

la micromáquina filmadora de…

I want it…soooo bad u_u

vivelareine:

My review of The Expert Cook in Enlightenment France

[I was given a review copy of this book by the publisher upon my request.]

The Expert Cook in Enlightenment France by Sean Takats fills a much needed gap in 18th century studies by exploring the history of cooks in 18th century France. There has been much written about French food and cooking methods during this period, but precious little has been published about the people behind the food. Takats places the French cook back into the spotlight, providing a concise and informative overview on cooks, their work, their precarious role in society and how they hoped to strengthen that role through cooking during the Enlightenment.

Cooks, as Takats explains, held a unique place in 18th century society. Both men and women worked as cooks, and unlike other occupations which were primarily male or female, cooking was seen as neither masculine or feminine. The occupation of a cook was not entirely domestic, like a house servant, or entirely professional, like an architect. This in-between occupation created a greater degree of autonomy and freedom for cooks when it came to looking for employment. They often bargained with employers for wages and other benefits, and had much more freedom when working in the home than a typical domestic house servant. Cooks also published cookbooks, recipes and other instruction manuals, which was not common outside of ‘behavior’ manuals written with domestic servants in mind.

However, their role in society was at times contradictory. Although employers gave cooks much freer ‘reign’ than a typical house servant, cooks were greatly mistrusted. Satirical prints and stories about dirty, evil, and sexually promiscuous cooks abounded in 18th century France. Cooks intended to improve their status by reforming methods of cooking, recipes, and the kitchen itself, however these reforms only inspired greater suspicion of cooks and cooking. When ‘modern cuisine’ was developed, it was intended to showcase the power that cooking and food could have on the body and establish cooking as a legitimate science. These attempts to establish the importance of cooking only caused greater problems - after all, reason followed that if food could be used to improve health, it could cause destruction and death as well. The poor reputation of cooks at the time only helped to strengthen the stereotype of the cook as a dangerous, secretive person. Unfortunately, efforts by cooks to improve their reputation in society generally fueled the suspicion and derision he general populace held for them. However, despite this setback, cooks played an important role with 18th century society and used the Enlightenment to help pave the way for French cooking as we know it today.

It is a slimmer book - about 145 pages of text - but it provides a good overview of the role of cooks during this period and Takats’ writing is academic but accessible enough for the general reader to enjoy. It was a surprising read for me, as I hadn’t thought about cooks during this time period as anything other than a typical servant. It was enlightening to read about their unique position, and the surprising poor reputation that cooks had in society. I definitely recommend it for 18th century libraries, French studies libraries, and anyone particularly interested in the role of cooks during the 18th century

slowlyeden:

A sixteenth-century love poem in Latin written by an Englishwoman has been discovered pasted inside a 1561 edition of Chaucer- the first discovery of its kind.

Medieval scholar Elaine Treharne made the discovery at the rare book room at West Virginia University and has researched its author. The poem was written by Elizabeth Dacre to Anthony Cooke,when she was around eighteen. Treharne’s research suggests that Cooke, a tutor to King Edward VI, may have been Elizabeth’s tutor. The poem’s cheeky, intimate tone and the subject matter within its Elizabethan context (as well as the fact it’s ‘a tad rude’) have led Treharne to suggest an illicit love affair between tutor and pupil.

While she went on to become a powerful and influential woman in Elizabeth I’s circle, Dacre was also a Roman Catholic (at a time when this was getting more and more unpopular), writing to her Protestant tutor. It is the first pre-19th century love poem written by a woman in Latin ever discovered, and the fact that it was found in Chaucer is also noteworthy- women’s libraries at this time were more likely to consist of romances and moral tracts.

The Poem:

To Anthony Cooke   
The goodbye I tried to speak but could not utter with my tongue by my eyes I delivered back to yours.   
That sad love that haunts the countenance in parting contained the voice that I concealed from display, just as Penelope, when her husband Ulysses was present, was speechless – the reason is that sweet love of a gaze.   
Then afterwards Ovid sends greeting muses to the absent, just as to you, distant, I have sent my small note.   
I hope then that silent Dacre will not be scorned by you for the mind has suffered and held fast in faithfulness to you.   
Believe that among servants there is not any more faithful:   
as Plancus Plotinus thus will Dacre be to you.   
I remain your servant Plancus, more faithful than any;   
to this servant Dacre, you remain sweet Coke.

Long enough am I now; but if your shape should swell under its grateful burden, then shall I become to you a narrow girdle

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