I've grown a goiter by dwelling in this den–
As cats from stagnant streams in Lombardy,
Or in what other land they hap to be–
Which drives the belly close beneath the chin:
My beard turns up to heaven; my nape falls in,
Fixed on my spine: my breast-bone visibly
Grows like a harp: a rich embroidery
Bedews my face from brush-drops thick and thin.
My loins into my paunch like levers grind:
My buttock like a crupper bears my weight;
My feet unguided wander to and fro;
In front my skin grows loose and long; behind,
By bending it becomes more taut and strait;
Crosswise I strain me like a Syrian bow:
Whence false and quaint, I know,
Must be the fruit of squinting brain and eye;
For ill can aim the gun that bends awry.
Come then, Giovanni, try
To succor my dead pictures and my fame;
Since foul I fare and painting is my shame.
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A clever title.
ReplyDeleteMichelangelo's letter seems like an ode to ageing.
I agree it does, Andrew, except Michelangelo really wasn't all that aged at the time. He started painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel when he was 33 and finished when he was 37. In the top picture on the wall and not the ceiling, you'll see "The Last Judgement", which he painted in his 60s. Michelangelo lived to be 88, so whatever physical discomfort he may have gone through painting the ceiling, apparently didn't have any lasting effect.
DeleteSuch a beautiful way to say “This sucks. Oh my aching back!”
ReplyDeleteMitchell: EXACTLY!!
DeleteHis little cartoon sketch is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteWho knows, Debra, he could have been a Renaissance version of Charles M. Schulz if only hadn't let the Medicis and Papal commissions get in the way.
DeleteIt could not have been easy! It certainly was poetic haha!
ReplyDeleteIf you have to strain, Ananka, you might as well strain like a Syrian bow.
DeleteHi, Kirk, and happy 550th birthday (in heaven) to Italian artist Michelangelo!
ReplyDeleteWhat do you give a guy for his 550th b-day? How about if I give him props for the tremendous toil and discomfort he endured to paint the Sistine Chapel? Shucks, I whined to Mrs. Shady about having to paint the doghouse.
Thanks for remembering the late, great Michelangelo, good buddy Kirk. I'm returning with a new post this Sunday and hope you can swing by. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Shady, maybe a poem like Michelangelo's would have worked with you wife. I'll see you Sunday or thereabouts.
DeleteQuit your bitchin' Michelangelo, and get back to work!
ReplyDeleteMike, that's what the Pope told him.
DeleteHi Kirk, How remarkable that we still have both the painted ceiling and the original letter that documents and humanizes it.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Oh, I agree, Jim. I wish letters existed for all such masterworks.
Delete