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Friday 8 April 2016

Thomas Wyatt: It may be good (infinite recursion)

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Hong KongñZhuhaiñMacau Bridge...epa05247573 A general view over construction works on the Hong KongñZhuhaiñMacau Bridge on Lantau island in Hong Kong, China, 07 April 2016. The construction project  consists of a series of bridges and tunnels crossing part of the Pearl River Estuary that will connect Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in mainland China. After several delays and cost overruns the bridge is forecast to be completed by the end of 2017 at a cost of 13.2 billion euro.  EPA/JEROME FAVRE

A general view over construction works on the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau bridge on Lantau island in Hong Kong, China. The construction project consists of a series of bridges and tunnels crossing part of the Pearl River Estuary that will connect Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in mainland China: photo by Jerome Favre/EPA, 7 April 2016

Hong KongñZhuhaiñMacau Bridge...epa05247573 A general view over construction works on the Hong KongñZhuhaiñMacau Bridge on Lantau island in Hong Kong, China, 07 April 2016. The construction project  consists of a series of bridges and tunnels crossing part of the Pearl River Estuary that will connect Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in mainland China. After several delays and cost overruns the bridge is forecast to be completed by the end of 2017 at a cost of 13.2 billion euro.  EPA/JEROME FAVRE

A general view over construction works on the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macau bridge on Lantau island in Hong Kong, China. The construction project consists of a series of bridges and tunnels crossing part of the Pearl River Estuary that will connect Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in mainland China: photo by Jerome Favre/EPA, 7 April 2016
 
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/The_Chocolate_Girl.jpg

La serveuse de chocolat (La belle chocolatière/The chocolate girl): Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789), 1743-1745 (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden)
Thomas Wyatt: It may be good

It may be good like it who list
..but I do dowbt who can me blame
..for oft assured yet have I myst
..and now again I fere thesame
..The wyndy worde[s] the Ies quaynt game
..of soden chaunge maketh me agast
..for dred to fall I stond not fast
Alas I tred an endles maze
..that seketh to accorde two contraries
..and hope still & nothing hase
..imprisoned in liberte[s]
..as oon unhard & and still that cries
..alwaies thursty & yet nothing I tast
..for dred to fall I stond not fast
Assured I dowbt I be not sure
..and should I trust to suche suretie
..that oft hath put the prouff in ure
..and never hath founde it trusty
..nay sir In faith it were great foly
..and yet my liff thus I do wast
..for dred to fall I stond not fast 
Hase hazard, attempt
ure use

Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542): It may be good like it who list: transcription from British Library Egerton MS 2711, fol. 22 by Richard Harrier in The Canon of Sir Thomas Wyatt's Poetry, 1975

http://escherdroste.math.leidenuniv.nl/images/droste.jpg

Illustration of "the nurse" on Droste cocoa tin, showing a visual form of recursion known as the Droste effect; the woman in the image is holding an object which contains a smaller image of herself holding the same object, and so forth: image by Jan (Johannes) Musset (?), c. 1903

A Vatican Swiss guard stands in the corridor of the entrance of the Bronze Door of the Apostolic Palace, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 7, 2016. The door is the main entrance to the Palace and tradition goes that when a pontiff dies the door is closed by a Swiss guard. (Alessandro Di Meo/Pool Photo via AP)

A Vatican Swiss guard stands in the corridor of the entrance of the Bronze Door of the Apostolic Palace, at the Vatican. The door is the main entrance to the Palace and tradition goes that when a pontiff dies the door is closed by a Swiss guard: photo by Alessandro Di Meo/AP, 7 April 2016

A Vatican Swiss guard stands in the corridor of the entrance of the Bronze Door of the Apostolic Palace, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 7, 2016. The door is the main entrance to the Palace and tradition goes that when a pontiff dies the door is closed by a Swiss guard. (Alessandro Di Meo/Pool Photo via AP) 

A Vatican Swiss guard stands in the corridor of the entrance of the Bronze Door of the Apostolic Palace, at the Vatican. The door is the main entrance to the Palace and tradition goes that when a pontiff dies the door is closed by a Swiss guard: photo by Alessandro Di Meo/AP, 7 April 2016

Members of Saudi security forces cross through a fire during a military exercise west of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Members of Saudi security forces cross through a fire during a military exercise west of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: photo by Saudi Press Agency/Reuters, 7 April 2016

TOPSHOT - A boy from the Arab Jahalin Be...TOPSHOT - A boy from the Arab Jahalin Bedouin community stands next the rubble of his home in the village of Umm al-Kheir south of the West Bank city of Hebron on April 6, 2016 after Israeli authorities demolished six houses that they said were built without permission.  / AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANAMENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images

A boy from the Arab Jahalin Bedouin community stands next the rubble of his home in the village of Umm al-Kheir south of the West Bank city of Hebron after Israeli authorities demolished six houses that they said were built without permission: photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP, 7 April 2016

TOPSHOT - A boy from the Arab Jahalin Be...TOPSHOT - A boy from the Arab Jahalin Bedouin community stands next the rubble of his home in the village of Umm al-Kheir south of the West Bank city of Hebron on April 6, 2016 after Israeli authorities demolished six houses that they said were built without permission.  / AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANAMENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images

A boy from the Arab Jahalin Bedouin community stands next the rubble of his home in the village of Umm al-Kheir south of the West Bank city of Hebron after Israeli authorities demolished six houses that they said were built without permission: photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP, 7 April 2016

 
Quality control workers pick out unsuitable green, unroasted coffee beans from a conveyor belt at Dormans coffee factory in Nairobi, Kenya: photo by Carl de Souza/AFP, 7 April 2016



Quality control workers pick out unsuitable green, unroasted coffee beans from a conveyor belt at Dormans coffee factory in Nairobi, Kenya: photo by Carl de Souza/AFP, 7 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 7, 2016

A migrant boy has a haircut in a makeshift camp at the border crossing at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece. Stranded migrants are spending their days in a makeshift camp near the railway station and waiting for borders to be opened.: photo by Amel Emric / AP, 7 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 7, 2016

French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel smile as they participate in the conclusion of exchanges of the “Café du Monde” organised by the Franco-German Youth Office in Metz, eastern France, as part of a Franco-German cabinet meeting.
: photo by
Frederick Florin / AFP, 7 April 2016

Afghan labourer Hamid Gul, 25, working at a brick factory on the outskirts Mazar-i-Sharif

Afghan labourer Hamid Gul, 25, working at a brick factory on the outskirts Mazar-i-Sharif: photo by Farshad Usyan/AFP, 7 April 2016

Afghan labourer Hamid Gul, 25, working at a brick factory on the outskirts Mazar-i-Sharif

Afghan labourer Hamid Gul, 25, working at a brick factory on the outskirts Mazar-i-Sharif: photo by Farshad Usyan/AFP, 7 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 7, 2016

Afghan labourers work at a brick factory on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif. Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with nearly half the population estimated to be living below the poverty line.
: photo by
Farshad Usyan / AFP, 7 April 2016


A tailor’s shop at a market in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. Helmand was the deadliest province, accounting for more than half of all combat deaths in the last year.: photo by Adam Ferguson for The New York Times, 6 April 2016



A tailor’s shop at a market in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. Helmand was the deadliest province, accounting for more than half of all combat deaths in the last year.: photo by Adam Ferguson for The New York Times, 6 April 2016


Afghan boys attend class in an Islamic religious school in Lashkar Gah. The school has 990 students between the ages of 7 and 19.: photo by Adam Ferguson for The New York Times, 6 April 2016


Afghan boys attend class in an Islamic religious school in Lashkar Gah. The school has 990 students between the ages of 7 and 19.: photo by Adam Ferguson for The New York Times, 6 April 2016


Most of the boys at the school come from districts outside Lashkar Gah, where the Taliban controls five of Helmand Province’s 14 districts.: photo by Adam Ferguson for The New York Times, 6 April 2016


  
Most of the boys at the school come from districts outside Lashkar Gah, where the Taliban controls five of Helmand Province’s 14 districts.: photo by Adam Ferguson for The New York Times, 6 April 2016


Men gather to smoke heroin at a park in Lashkar Ga: photo by Adam Ferguson for The New York Times, 6 April 2016



Men gather to smoke heroin at a park in Lashkar Ga: photo by Adam Ferguson for The New York Times, 6 April 2016

A farmer walks through rice fields in Qiantang village of Suichuan county...A farmer walks through rice fields in Qiantang village of Suichuan county, Jiangxi Province, China, April 6, 2016. Picture taken April 6, 2016.  REUTERS/China Daily ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA.

A farmer walks through rice fields in Qiantang village of Suichuan county, Jiangxi Province, China: photo by China Daily/Reuters, 7 April 2016

A farmer walks through rice fields in Qiantang village of Suichuan county...A farmer walks through rice fields in Qiantang village of Suichuan county, Jiangxi Province, China, April 6, 2016. Picture taken April 6, 2016.  REUTERS/China Daily ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA.

A farmer walks through rice fields in Qiantang village of Suichuan county, Jiangxi Province, China: photo by China Daily/Reuters, 7 April 2016 

 A Ground crew member from the United States Navy VFA-115 squadron inspects the tail of a FA/18E Super Hornet
 
A Ground crew member from the United States Navy VFA-115 squadron inspects the tail of a FA/18E Super Hornet in its hangar at the Townsville airport in Australia. Exercise Black Dagger is a field training exercise held at RAAF Base Townsville and surrounding airspace from 1 to 15 April.: photo by Ian Hitchcock via FT Photo Diary, 7 April 2016

 A Ground crew member from the United States Navy VFA-115 squadron inspects the tail of a FA/18E Super Hornet

A Ground crew member from the United States Navy VFA-115 squadron inspects the tail of a FA/18E Super Hornet in its hangar at the Townsville airport in Australia. Exercise Black Dagger is a field training exercise held at RAAF Base Townsville and surrounding airspace from 1 to 15 April.: photo by Ian Hitchcock via FT Photo Diary, 7 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 7, 2016

A Ground crew member from the United States Navy VFA-115 squadron inspects the tail of a FA/18E Super Hornet in its hangar at the Townsville airport in Townsville, Australia. Exercise Black Dagger is a field training exercise held at RAAF Base Townsville that aims to further enhance military cooperation with coalition partners and provides essential training to ensure Army and Air Force personnel are capable of coordinating close air support to soldiers on the ground.
: photo by
Ian Hitchcock, 7 April 2016
 
World in focus – best photos for April 7, 2016

Workers clean used cooking oil tins in a recycling workshop in Mumbai, India
: photo by
Shailesh Andrade / Reuters, 7 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 7, 2016

A paramilitary policeman attends a training session in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
: photo by Reuters / China Daily, 7 April 2016



“You can sip it, you can shoot it, you can pour it over ice in a martini glass if you wanted to,” said Harley Bauer, who co-founded LIQS in 2013
: photo by
Krista Schlueter for The New York Times, 6 April 2016



 “You can sip it, you can shoot it, you can pour it over ice in a martini glass if you wanted to,” said Harley Bauer, who co-founded LIQS in 2013: photo by Krista Schlueter for The New York Times, 6 April 2016



A server, at center, offering LIQS to a crowd at New York’s Webster Hall last mont
h: photo by Krista Schlueter for The New York Times, 6 April 2016



 

A server, at center, offering LIQS to a crowd at New York’s Webster Hall last month: photo by Krista Schlueter for The New York Times, 6 April 2016


 
By 2020, the maker of LIQS shots expects to be in more than 30 markets in the United States: photo by Krista Schlueter for The New York Times, 6 April 2016
 
World in focus – best photos for April 7, 2016

Giant panda Ai Bao eats bamboo at Everland amusement park in Yongin, South Korea. South Korean amusement park Samsung Everlan introduced their new panda couple, a present given from China to South Korea. The area with the panda couple will be open to the public on April 8.
: photo by
Chung Sung-Jun, 7 April 2016

World in focus – best photos for April 7, 2016

A group of women take a selfie beneath cherry blossoms on Yeouido island in Seoul. The annual cherry blossom festival on Yeouido island in central Seoul runs from April 1-10.
: photo by Ed Jones / AFP, 7 April 2016



Smartphones at the ready, from left, Andrew Warren, Barron Hilton and Ezra J. William with friends at Vandal in Manhattan: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 6 April 2016



Smartphones at the ready, from left, Andrew Warren, Barron Hilton and Ezra J. William with friends at Vandal in Manhattan: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 6 April 2016


 Mr. William, Kyra Kennedy, Mr. Hilton, Gaia Matisse, Mr. Warren, Reya Benitez and Alexandre Assouline at Vandal
: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 7 April 2016


 

Mr. William, Kyra Kennedy, Mr. Hilton, Gaia Matisse, Mr. Warren, Reya Benitez and Alexandre Assouline at Vandal: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 7 April 2016


From left, Ms. Benitez, the daughter of the D.J. Jellybean Benitez; Ms. Matisse, the great-great-granddaughter of Henri Matisse; and Ms. Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at Vandal
: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 7 April 2016  

 

From left, Ms. Benitez, the daughter of the D.J. Jellybean Benitez; Ms. Matisse, the great-great-granddaughter of Henri Matisse; and Ms. Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at Vandal: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 7 April 2016  


Ms. Benitez models an outfit designed by Mr. Warren as he is interviewed by Greg Kelly and Rosanna Scotto on “Good Day New York”
: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 7 April 2016

 

Ms. Benitez models an outfit designed by Mr. Warren as he is interviewed by Greg Kelly and Rosanna Scotto on “Good Day New York”: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 7 April 2016  


Ms. Matisse models an Andrew Warren design on “Good Day New York”: photo by Deidre Schoo for The New York Times, 7 April 2016
 
4H member | by efo

4-H member [Greenfield, California]: photo by efo, 2 April 2016
 
Norwalk Service Nº 1 | by efo

Norwalk No.2 [Dean, California]
: photo by efo, 2 April 2016

Gonzales Nº 3 | by efo

Gonzales #3 [Gonzales, California]: photo by efo, 3 April 2016

3 comments:

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

It may be good like it who list
..but I do dowbt . . .

..for dred to fall I stond not fast


Tom, what a way to end the saga of this post, with efo's photos of Dean and Gonzales (Wyatt had it figured out a long time ago) . . .

TC said...

Thanks very much, Steve. The old "native" broken-back line, with its teeter-totter, see-saw feeling of doubt, indecisiveness, prevarication, and a precarious balancing of contraries, works in Wyatt's hands as a perfect medium for expressing a rigid, tense instability which, under stress, holds itself so tightly in control it can't help toppling over and losing everything. The feeling lends itself to endless reiteration -- a sort of purgatorial metric suited to the always vulnerable personal situation of a man whose life was in danger throughout his career at court and as a diplomat, and who never made it to the age of 40.

Now if only the same could be said of those snap-packs of drunken vain millennial celebrity mega-rich Gothamite party-animal idiots...

STEPHEN RATCLIFFE said...

Tom,

Thanks for this excellently precise precis of the great and weighty Wyatt (who certainly deserves his "Sir"), and yes, "Now if only the same could be said of those snap-packs of drunken vain millennial celebrity mega-rich Gothamite party-animal idiots..." -- so celebrated on p.1 of the Thursday Styles section (perhaps it's time to recall Moon Zappa's "gag me with a spoon") . . .