The Kiss (Art Drop #5)

It's Valentine's Day! Time to celebrate love, kissing, and romance with Kahlil Gibran, Leonard Cohen, and Greek painter Théodore Ralli.

Théodore Jacques Ralli, The Kiss (1887)

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, today’s Art Drop begins with The Kiss, a painting by Théodore Jacques Ralli.

Ralli was a Greek painter, watercolorist, and draftsman, who is known mainly for his “Orientalist” paintings. Born in Constantinople, he traveled widely but spent most of his life in France and Egypt.

I love this painting depicting 19th-century people of color in the intimate exchange of affection Mozart called “il tenero momento.” The tender moment of heightened sensitivity in the expectation of love. It’s a moment couples all over the world are likely to celebrate and repeat today.

Here’s the poem

Click here for a lovely audio version I found on YouTube. The print version is below.

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
   And when his wings enfold you yield to
him,
  Though the sword hidden among his
pinions may wound you.
    And when he speaks to you believe in
him,
     Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

     For even as love crowns you so shall he
crucify you. Even as he is for your growth
so is he for your pruning.
     Even as he ascends to your height and
caresses your tenderest branches that quiver
in the sun,
     So shall he descend to your roots and
shake them in their clinging to the earth.

                                       •

     Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto
himself.
     He threshes you to make you naked.
     He sifts you to free you from your husks.
     He grinds you to whiteness.
     He kneads you until you are pliant;
     And then he assigns you to his sacred
fire, that you may become sacred bread for
God’s sacred feast.

     All these things shall love do unto you
that you may know the secrets of your
heart, and in that knowledge become a
fragment of Life’s heart.

     But if in your fear you would seek only
love’s peace and love’s pleasure,
     Then it is better for you that you cover
your nakedness and pass out of love’s
threshing-floor,
    Into the seasonless world where you
shall laugh, but not all of your laughter,
and weep, but not all of your tears.

                                      •

     Love gives naught but itself and takes
naught but from itself.
     Love possesses not nor would it be
possessed;
     For love is sufficient unto love.

     When you love you should not say,
“God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am
in the heart of God.”

     And think not you can direct the course
of love, for love, if it finds you worthy,
directs your course.
     Love has no other desire but to fulfill
itself.

     But if you love and must needs have
desires, let these be your desires:
     To melt and be like a running brook
that sings its melody to the night.
     To know the pain of too much tenderness.
     To be wounded by your own under-
standing of love;

     And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
     To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving;
     To rest at the noon hour and meditate
love’s ecstasy;
     To return home at eventide with gratitude
    And then to sleep with a prayer for the
beloved in your heart and a song of praise
upon your lips.

—Kahlil Gibran
From The Prophet via The Poetry Foundation (Public Domain)

And for those who have 6 minutes to spare— here’s Leonard Cohen

The song is called “A Thousand Kisses Deep.” The soulful looking guy in the video is 34-year-old Brad Pitt. And that’s Claire Forlani looking just as enchanted by their tender moment at the pool. This romantic scene is from Meet Joe Black. (1998)

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Art Drop. And remember—2024 is a leap year. It’s Ladies Night all year long.