"Come To The Edge . . . "
Here is another of my 'scrabble' pieces. I have made and sold several variations of this piece before. The quote is still a favorite of mine.
"Come to the edge", he said.
They said, "We are afraid".
"Come to the edge", he said.
They came, he pushed them, and they flew.
French poet and novelist 1880-1918
Upon further research on Apollinaire and this quote, I discovered that these words were originally written by an English poet named Christopher Logue. The poem he wrote was commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in 1961 or 1962, to be used for a poster advertising an Apollinaire Exhibition titled "Apollinaire Said".
Hence the mis-attribution, by me and everyone else in the English-speaking world . . . oh wait, I found this photo on-line, with the words written in Spanish on a wall somewhere in Salamanca, Spain, also attributing the quote to Mr. Apollinaire. . . .
On the bottom right of the wall the quote is attributed to G Apollinaire
With the understanding of the circumstances by which this misappropriation may have occurred, I have to say that I will continue to think of Guillaume Apollinaire every time I read these words.
Besides, I really like saying Guillaume Apollinaire.
***
When I read these words I think how many times I have stood on "The Edge" of one of life's major decisions waiting for a push, from something or someone . . . thinking, feeling, fearing that "the decision" was way too BIG for me to make on my own . . .
. . . only to realize that once 'pushed' I was able to fly. Always have.
I think I'm always on the edge, especially right now with rats out in back and the world and the direction we are headed. I agree with you, we may just do ourselves in like in the movie where Charelton Heston finds the Statue of Liberty on the sand in the ocean. Ah life and it's worries. Rebeca, thanks for stopping by my 29Faces post, I appreciate it. This is a wonderful quote and your pieces is great as always. I love that butterfly just waiting to be pushed. Wonderful work. Take care.
ReplyDeleteI came, I read, I got a history lesson, learned something new, learned how to say Guillaume, and got to see some awesome art.
ReplyDeleteAnother marvelous piece, dear Rebeca.
A lovely quote and great that you spent the time to research it and be able to put us all right to who actually said it! Think many of us relate to the quote, waiting for the push so we can try out our wings.
ReplyDeleteI've been pushed over an edge recently! At the moment my knicker elastic seems to have hooked half way down - Praying for strong knicker elastic until my wings get up to speed :D
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