“Masked Party in a Courtyard,” (1775) by Pietro Longhi
Soothing heartbeats
joined by joy; strings’ melody
Sharp-creeped discomfort
digs deeper entrenchment
Stronger conviction
reaching course of action
Emphatic boom big horns
march towards doom
Tiptoe echoes
dawn insight
Pleasant flowery meadow
pipes cushioned respite
For a moment
tentative fingers of freedom
Inhabited support
marching background
Shifts sip march
soft endorsement
Pizzicato pathways
recede to insignificance
Drunks wander off
but return loud, capricious
Hostess warbles peace
happiness sounds again
Tittering in corners
as sun goes down
I’ve written about this song before, here.
I am today’s host for dVerse’ Poetics. I say:
choose a musical artist, song, or genre of music and write a poem inspired by it or them.
Tao Talk 
I have never heard so much in this movement! It’s so familiar, too familiar maybe, a sing-along melody. Thank you for letting me hear it in a different way.
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<3 Happy to oblige, Jane. I've heard it in movies (Zardoz) and tv series (Watchmen) to good effect. Glad you were able to hear it with fresh ears.
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this is brilliant Li! :-) You got so much into it!
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Thank you very much, Carol Anne. I love the song and can listen to it on repeat.
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Nice one Lisa
Much💚love
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Gillena, thanks much <3
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I remember it from the movie The King’s Speech. 🙂
You captured the bustle, the movement and the gaiety of a garden party very well.
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Ooh, now I want to watch The King’s Speech again, it’s been awhile. Thanks much, Punam.
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You are so welcome. 🙂
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Your poetic craftsmanship did indeed feel like a symphony. Beautiful!
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Susan, thank you so much and also for the follow :)
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I like the way your images create a story–“drunks wander off”–excellent. This is a wonderful piece of music. (K)
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Thank you, Dear K.
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Beautifully written Li.
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Sadje, thank you very much <3
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You’re most welcome
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What a perfect match. Very nice.
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Thank you for the kind words, Randy.
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Love this, Lisa! ❤️👏
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Why, thank you, Chu <3
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Very nice poem and piece of music. That is a mighty tight Corsette on that lady in the painting! Creepy tight! :>)
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I hope that’s just an optical illusion with her cloak covering the rest of her body. You are right that there is something creepy about that painting. Thanks, Dwight. I just read your poem and made comment.
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You are welcome Lisa!
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The use of form gives this a lyrical lilt. So fitting for the musical selection. The ending is perfectly placed.
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So happy you enjoyed the outcome of the listening experience. It’s funny where the mind goes sometimes when listening to music.
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Nice poem. It’s been a long time that I’ve listened to classical music!
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Thank you. You know, Christian, in many ways I prefer it to most other music, but it demands your full attention and some amount of time to appreciate it while listening and unfortunately I don’t often give it that time and attention.
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I wouldn’t say I prefer classical over other music, but each time I get to hear classical music, I tend to enjoy it.
For the longest time, I treated jazz the same way. Now as you know, it’s become a regular in my Sunday feature. That said, I don’t foresee the same to happen with classical music!😀
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I appreciate your Sunday Six jazz offerings very much. The thing with classical is that the songs are way longer usually and nobody wants to take the time to listen to them. So sad but true.
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That’s definitely a key reason why I’m not planning to feature classical music in my Sunday Six!😀
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Would you consider a feature that covers just one classical song on another day of the week? I would definitely read/listen.
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I wouldn’t want to exclude it. For the time being, I have no such plans.
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I think you chose the perfect image for this piece of music and your poem, Lisa. Beethoven’s music is so familiar and yet you’ve brought out phrases and motifs I’ve not appreciated before. The lines that stand out are:
‘Pizzicato pathways
recede to insignificance’
and
‘Tittering in corners
as sun goes down’.
I can still hear that tittering!
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Kim, thank you very much. There is something so dark about that piece and yet then it bops along into pleasantness and then to another dark place.
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I like the quick shifts from joy to booming doom to tiptoed echoes and flowery fields to a bunch of loud drunks. Like that Viking ship ride at a carnival.
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:) Great comment!
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That is a nice interpretation of the music. That is pretty cool Lisa.
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Thanks, Max. I thought between the music, the image, and the song, something came to life.
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It really did…I’ve seen you describe pictures but I never thought about music… and I don’t mean…the bass is incredible etc.
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I got this music through “Barry Lyndon,” the Kubrick film, and heard there it’s fraught with tragic eros — an ancient futility largely lost to modern ears. Of course, I read the poem before listening to the track, and it’s well attuned to perhaps a fuller reading of the music’s mood — such a fragile beauty.
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Thanks, Brendan and good to know where to find it in cinema. It’s a versatile piece of music for the darker aspects of human nature. Not sure if you ever saw “Zardoz” starring Sean Connery, but it is well worth your while if you can find it. (I think amazon prime has it.)
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I’m with Jane – you have added a layer to this gorgeous piece of familiar music. More than nicely done.
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Dale, my humble thanks. Much appreciated.
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Now I have it in my head!
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It will definitely worm its way in :)
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That it will!
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Have you read The Music Lover’s Poetry Anthology edited by Helen Handley Houghton and Maureen McCarthy Draper? I just picked it up from the library, and it’s full of poems by well-known poets inspired by and about music. I thought you might enjoy it.
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No, I haven’t but I just wrote it down :)
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p.s. my library doesn’t have it, but I found a used copy cheap at abebooks (and a few other books while I was at it :)
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you have captured the rhythm of this music perfectly!
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Sara, so happy to hear it. Many thanks.
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