‘“Damn it! Roared Good, ‘that black villain has got my trousers.’[1]

-King Solomon’s Mines

‘Thou didst put upon thine eyes the covering of him who would see his God. Well, thou hast seen thy God, Iokanaan, but me, me, thou didst never see.’[2]

-Salome

Let us begin this discussion of paradox, perversity and desire at the point where Salome, daughter of Herodias, Princess of Judea holds the severed head of a prophet in her hands, and whilst a Kukuana warrior makes off with the nautical man’s beloved trousers. Much like Allan Quatermain embarking into the desert, we have quite a daunting task ahead of us in discovering the essence of perverse beauty here. There is initially a gorge of difference between Haggard’s boys’ adventure, and Wilde’s aesthetic masterpiece, but I intend to argue that these two texts will converge at several points which will illustrate the paradox of fin de siècle decadence. To analyse the numerous tensions we will encounter, our model shall be Matthew Arnold’s ideas about Hellenism and Hebraism as we see that both Good and Salome fulfil a decadent manifesto of the triumph of artificiality over authority.

Let us begin with a very brief discussion of the decadence that frames both texts. It is easy to be flippant and romanticise decadence as a period of louche living, sex and Oscar Wilde, so before we do that, let us begin with a summary of the period from Bernard Bergonzi: ‘the conviction that all established forms of moral and social certainty were vanishing and that the new situation required new attitudes in life and art.’[3] As Dorian Gray was well aware, ‘life is a great disappointment,’[4] and the end of the Nineteenth Century was apparently so very self-consciously fin de siècle by valuing the merits of art over life. Here we have decadence as an artistic response to what was seen as a bland and moralizing society, but let us not forget that we also have a time of Empire and anthropology in our hands where seeking new territory meant exploring exotic terrain both inside and outside the text. An authority on the subject, Holbrook Jackson comments that decadence included ‘a demand for wider ranges, newer emotional and spiritual territories, fresh woods, and pastures new for the soul.’[5] King Solomon’s Mines certainly adheres to this ‘imperialism of the spirit’, quite literally, as Haggard’s intrepid men head off in search of ‘madder music, stronger wine’[6] in a very masculine outdoor environment. Indeed, as their journey begins, Quatermain notes how Umbopa breaks into ‘a Zulu chant about how some brave men tired of life and the tameness of things, started off into a great wilderness to find new things or die,’[7] quite a decadent objective.

Jackson also believed that ‘the chief characteristics of decadence were (1) Perversity, (2) Artificiality, (3) Egoism and (4) Curiosity’[8], and the aim as Symons stated was ‘to be a disembodied voice, and yet the voice of a human soul.’[9] These unorthodox tactics were in service of a profound point: to reclaim the sensation of humanity that had been lost through experiencing only uniform mass culture. As Symons states more explicitly, ‘for its very disease of form, this literature is typical of a civilisation grown over-luxurious, over inquiring, too languid for the relief of action’ and therefore in practice, ‘its very artificiality was a way of being true to nature.’[10] Here we have the first of our tensions; between sensation and mass culture, and therefore between artificiality and authority. Both our texts serve as expositions of Symons’ and Jackson’s hypotheses of decadence as a perverse yet profound subversion which involved embracing unusual echelons of art. Before we apply these tensions to our texts, we must pause with the idea of truth and the human soul and turn to Matthew Arnold.

In Culture and Anarchy, Arnold discusses the rival forces which lead man’s energy to divinity, those of Hellenism and Hebraism. His definition of these is as follows: ‘the uttermost idea with Hellenism is to see things as they really are; the uttermost idea with Hebraism is conduct and obedience’[11]. Hellenism is to strive to know beauty, with Hebraism being the need to be virtuous and moral. Perhaps most importantly, Arnold describes the energy we have as a nation which is channelled this way: ‘we may regard this energy driving at practice, this paramount sense of obligation of duty, self control and work, this earnestness in going manfully with the best light we have, as one force.’[12] Here we are introducing additional tensions to compliment those already mentioned. The relationship between light and darkness will become important, as will the battle that exists for our energy between beauty and morality.

In King Solomon’s Mines, Foulata is surprisingly calm as she relates her dying words: ‘the sun cannot mate with darkness, nor the white with the black.’[13] Quatermain is relieved at her death, due to the complications she would bring to Good upon their exit from this land. Despite Good’s wonderfully ‘susceptible nature’[14] as a sailor, Foulata is unsuitable for marriage because of the racial difference. However, her final words are extremely suitable for explaining the tensions which frame this novel; here between masculine and feminine beauty. One of Haggard’s first admissions is that ‘there is not a petticoat in the whole history,’[15] and the result could be seen as blatant homoeroticism. This is certainly a male orientated adventure, with the only other female presence being the androgynous ‘withered up monkey’[16] Gagool and her witchcraft. Instead, beauty in this novel is a male orientated concept, and as such can be quite barbaric. Twala states that ‘kisses and the tender words of women are sweet, but the clashing of men’s spears and the smell of men’s blood are sweeter far!’[17] Quatermain’s party stop during their journey to appreciate the rugged engineering of Solomon’s road, and one particular sculpture ‘which was exceedingly beautiful’ because it ‘represented a whole battle scene.’[18] Here we see that Kukuanaland is a space where beauty can be inverted. The presentation of a masculine beauty based on conflict highlights the merging tensions within the novel that will soon become apparent. If male beauty is what walks and colonises the landscape, then presumably feminine beauty exists underneath their feet.

Many critics have pointed out that the landscape crossed appears akin to a female body on the map which is illustrated, from the mouth of the diamond mine (where are adventurers are swallowed) to the mountains labelled ‘Sheba’s breasts’[19] (which they traverse). One critic notes that ‘Haggard understands human identity and its relation to nature in terms of a mother/mistress analogue in which birth and death are expressed by a female landscape, both generative and fatal.’[20] This is an astute observation, for the juxtaposition of terrain and desire highlights a complicated relationship between colonisation and beauty, or authority and aestheticism. The same critic embellishes on this by finding another symbol in the name Kukuanaland, separating it as ‘cuckoo anal land’, with the question of ‘will the British hatch themselves in Africa’s nest’?[21] Although the explanation is a valid question to ask, the disambiguation itself falls between tenuous and hilarious. Perhaps here we should take advice from Salome that ‘it is not wise to find symbols in everything one sees.’[22] Indeed, this critic amusingly falls victim to the aesthetic tactics of manipulation which we will soon see are employed. However, at least we are closer to understanding the main tension inherent in this text and the aspect of desire in Empire.

This tension between Empire and aestheticism is further constructed through Haggard’s protagonists. Firstly, in the character of Sir Henry we see the masculine idea of adventure personified. Quatermain says ‘I never saw a finer looking man, and somehow he reminded me of an ancient Dane.’[23] There certainly is something ancient and almost mythological about Sir Henry, much like the space they enter. Indeed, the entire expedition to the exotic Kukuanaland is Sir Henry’s plan, so it appears as if this ethereal character is returning to his natural panorama where he can relish battle and be with men of similar stature and strength. This mythological element of Sir Henry is further exposed when we see him attired in full native battle armour. Quatermain admits that he ‘never saw a finer sight’[24] than this gentleman in a timeless image of warrior. Indeed, one almost thinks of Dorian Gray posing for Basil Howard in all the historical costumes suitable for a narcissus[25]. As much as Henry is a symbol of masculinity, this is filtered through his existence as a very English gentleman. Indeed, Quatermain is the authentic adventurer, but he constantly reminds us that he is ‘timid’[26] in comparison. We should note that Quatermain’s Kafir name is ‘Macumazahn’ which translates as ‘he who keeps his eyes open.’[27] Quatermain is one who observes, as he narrates the tale, and Henry is the one who is gazed upon like a work of art.

This colonial beauty soon meets a native beauty, that of Umbopa (later Ignosi). Henry and Ignosi stand side by side with their similar physiques, believing ‘we are men, thou and I’[28] even though in colonial terms there is an element of difference between them; they are at least united in beauty. Here we see a tension, as although both are ‘magnificent’[29], it is only Ignosi who is sexualised. At least twice does he strip down and reveal his naked form to show the truth of his ancestry, which is tattooed around his waist as a phallus, or serpent. Indeed, as Ignosi raises the severed Kings head and presents it to his people, Quatermain can only describe the scene as ‘so beautiful, yet so utterly savage.’[30] The expedition to Kukuanaland is a process which awakens the implicit aestheticism in exploration and Empire, giving us an aspect of perverse beauty. Henry and Ignosi represent the tensions between Hebraism and Hellenism; English colonial authority and raw nature. In this space, both are beautiful.

However, the aesthetics of colonisation are more explicitly shown through Good. Quatermain’s first impression of the Navy man is that he is ‘so very neat’ that it is ‘curious’[31]. Good is several things in this novel; both an unwelcome presence and a necessity, and in many ways he is an anomaly who presents the tensions between Hellenism and Hebraism. Quatermain remarks on his incongruous presence in this man’s world of hunting: he was the ‘neatest man I ever had to do with in the wilderness.’[32] With his Grooming habits and eyeglass, Good is clearly a Dandy. He is therefore a symbol of decadence entering the novel in the form of artificiality. As Jackson states, dandyism is a ‘revolt against nature.’[33] As a being embracing the artificial over the natural world, Good is ultimately unwelcome in the wilderness. He tries to initiate himself by killing a giraffe with a fortunate shot, but this combines the natural world with the artificial artistic world in a dangerous way. He is quickly punished for his interference when he tries also to shoot an elephant. We learn that he ‘fell a victim to his passion for civilised dress’[34] because his ‘trousers cumbered him’[35] and he fell in the elephant’s path. Thankfully for Good, his servant Khiva throws himself in the way and Good remains alive. The symbol is obvious: had Good not been subject to his feminine aesthetic habits, he would not have been in danger. As Good has started a collision between two tensions, a sacrifice is made. Umbopa, the symbol for desire and masculine beauty looks at Khiva’s corpse and says: ‘he is dead, but he died like a man.’[36] Indeed, for Good’s feminine artistic presence, a masculine sacrifice is required and Khiva must fulfil it. Now that the opposing tensions are merging, Good’s punishment continues but now the effects are often more comical than sinister. For example, it is not long before more of the fauna antagonise the incongruous hunter. Next, Good falls onto the back of a ‘sleeping quagga’ but survives with his eyeglass still firmly fixed in his eye’.[37] In terms of empire and aestheticism, Good is a catalyst for the merging worlds of artificiality and authority.

Soon after they enter Kukuanaland, as Good is endeavouring in ‘an elaborate toilet’[38], the group are approached by some natives. Now that they have fully entered the space where the Hellenic and the Hebraic merge, Good’s role as a dandy can be completed. If we think of that role as bringing back sensation to mass culture by embracing the perverse and artificial, then that is what Good and his fellows achieve. His half shaven face, bare legs and eye glass may be the aesthetic inversion of a fin de siècle poser, but here they have the same effect; a form of defamiliarisation.  As Quatermain states: ‘Your “beautiful white legs” and your eyeglass are now the feature of the party.’[39] In many ways this is further punishment for the nautical man’s vanity, but he is also achieving the effect the dandy intended: fascination. Upon further examples from his removable false teeth, the tribesmen believe that they are ‘wizards, indeed’[40] and their lives are spared. Although the natives will soon become impressed by Henry’s strength, it is Good’s aesthetic that they are first to notice, and which gives the party its God-like, or as Arnold might say, ‘divine’ status. I would argue that here is the crux of the issue. It is Good’s legs which allow the party to be seen as Gods, so they are therefore the Hellenic path to divinity. Indeed, one critic notes that ‘leg lifting’ was nineteenth century slang for sexual intercourse, and also that in Solomon’s legends, ‘Sheba is lame in one foot.’[41] Good is therefore a sexual being who has merged the aesthetic with the colonial and has personified that ‘imperialism of the spirit’ that is vital to decadence. His legs are a work of art with a perverse beauty.

As a dandy who is subversive to mass culture, Good is in danger during the battle for the throne. A soldier appearing to be dead jumps up and ‘began to spear him,’[42] but Good survives thanks to the ‘capital armour’ that he had been given by the tribe. Of course, it is ironic that it is his attire that saves his life, showing once again the ambiguous relationship between aesthetics and nature. However, it is Good’s penultimate punishment which serves the larger symbol; his relationship with Foulata. As we have previously examined, Foulata cannot remain alive due to the aggressive masculinity in place. In fact, Good’s femininity is a factor in her death. Here we have the opposing tensions in symbolic form, and due to the colonial aspect and the impossibility of marriage, one must be lost. This is seen in quite stark sexual terms as Good and his friends soon find themselves in darkness trapped inside the body of the cave. As darkness has overwhelmed the light, Good’s final trial is to fall into the river that runs through the cavern, and to be nearly consumed by the female landscape. He survives these ordeals with his eyeglass till fixed in place showing the strength of aesthetics, but the amalgamation he brings will unfortunately not allow Foulata to live. As Good leaves Kukuanaland, his parting gesture to Infadoos is a spare eyeglass, even though ‘eyeglasses don’t go well with leopard skin cloaks and black ostrich plumes.’[43] As the party leaves, this act of aesthetic colonisation confirms the amalgamation of conflicting factors which was made possible in Kukuanaland. They have achieved the aim of decadence in art, and in effect, colonised the paradox.

Now let us examine the same tensions in Salome. Donohue believes that these conflicts are inherent in the theme: ‘the play is about illicit but overwhelming desire and its fateful clash with ultimate authority.’[44] Ironically, the first clash is between Beardsley and Wilde for despite his illustrations, Beardsley did not actually like the play’s author. Jackson notes that ‘his designs overpower the text—not because they are greater but because they are inappropriate, sometimes even impertinent… the Salome drawings sneer at Oscar Wilde rather than interpret the play.’[45] As we shall see, the key features of Salome in relation to our quest are the idea of sensation, the spectacle and eventually the collision of rhetoric and beauty, all of which are shown by Beardsley’s illustrations mocking the author. The ambiguity of intent in Beardsley’s illustrations gives the play an appropriate undercurrent of ambivalence in our discussion.

With our analysis of King Solomon’s Mines in mind, perhaps the most germane aspect of Salome is that of the decadent search for sensation. Donohue also observes that Salome has an ‘unbridled curiosity and insatiable thirst for experience.’[46] This thirst forms a paradox though, between absolute sensuality and an absence of such. For example, Salome lusts after Iokanaan and demands to quench her capricious thirst through different parts of his body; ‘I will kiss thy mouth.’[47] At the same time however, she refuses to satisfy Herod’s lust for her. He wishes for ‘ripe fruits’ for Salomé to gnaw, so the flavour is enhanced for him by her lips: ‘Bite but a little of the fruit, that I may eat what is left’,[48] but she refutes his desire because her own hunger for Iokanaan is insatiable. She needs a sensation outside the boundaries of conformity. This is akin to the trials faced by Quatermain’s men as they travel through the barren desert devoid of sustenance before they reach their exotic goal. Salome presents a variety of symbols to warn of the coming danger stirred by Salome’s sensual paradox, such as the threatening wind ‘that is like the beating of vast wings.’[49] King Solomon’s Mines also has a nature based symbol in the form of a lion and an antelope intertwined in a predatory dance which killed them both.[50] The idea of paradox is key to Salome.

This sensual desire is linked to the idea of the gaze. The tension here is between things that can and cannot be seen, and the danger of exposing them. This is shown in theological terms as soldiers argue over the logic in believing in a God that is not visible[51] with the echo of Iokanaan’s prophecies behind them, hidden. Herodias frequently reprimands her husband for his lascivious glances at her daughter, and her page often warns the young Syrian that it is ’dangerous to look at people in such fashion. Something terrible may happen.’[52] Salome’s beauty elevates her as an artwork to be admired, and as such, her interest is in seeking a sensation which is contrary to her nature and therefore cannot be seen. Her first step to acquiring Iokanaan is to seduce the page with a visual trade. She wishes to gaze upon Iokanaan because Herod does not; he is afraid of the sight of the prophet because of the religious rhetoric he hears and dare not silence. Her contract is thus: ‘And on the morrow… I shall look at thee, Narraboth, it may be I will smile at thee.’[53] Salome has an incongruous presence like Good’s, bringing artificiality into a world of authority. Hence a sacrifice must also be made here in the form of the young Syrian. He must die like Foulata, because light cannot blend with darkness, and like Khiva because an inversion of beauty is required. Donohue states that ‘Narraboth is thus both visually and actually a sacrifice to the opposing forces of Herod’s authority and Salome’s will, and as such, a sign of the crisis yet to come.’[54] It is worth noting how in sacrifice, Khiva’s masculinity is noted, and here the Syrian’s femininity is showcased.[55] Salome is no dandy, but she does initiate a spectacle to locate divinity.

This spectacle is a symbol of the collision that is to follow. Salome offers herself as a work of art to Herod to manipulate him through the lure of aesthetics, but the ultimate irony is that in reading the play, we will never see the dance of the seven veils. In both texts, the spectacle merges morality and image. Donohue believes that ‘the unavoidable conclusion is that what she does is a striptease’[56] to present what is desired, but also forbidden. Here we see a parallel with Ignosi’s disrobing, as his naked body is a sign of ancestry and strength even though by this act in this space, he becomes sexualised. The ‘great dance’[57] in King Solomon’s Mines takes the form of a witch hunt where Gagool selects those for death. In many ways, Gagool resembles Salome, both encapsulating expressions that are ‘cruel and sensual to a degree.’[58] However, Gagool has numerous agents working under her who refer to her as ‘mother.’[59] If we were to analyses the Biblical account of Salome, we could see her as a pawn for her mother’s desire.[60] However, outside the text of authority she is the opposite, a sexualised being acting of her own free will. Rewriting the Biblical version is the first act of volition. The spectacles on display both rely on visuality, with Gagool’s slaughter embracing the previously stated barbaric beauty of violence. Quatermain admits: ‘I tried to keep my eyes shut, but they would open at the wrong time.’[61] The spectacles are aesthetic traps which conjure all the power of decadent art. They are grotesque, sexualised, and intrinsically linked to death, but this is as a mode of practice to reclaim authority from sterility.

In Culture and Anarchy, Arnold states that Christianity defeated Hellenism.[62] In Salome, the figure of Iokanaan clearly represents the new religious rhetoric that echoes with such power that Herod will not silence it, merely hide it away. Salome’s lust for the prophet is initially for the exotic; that which she is not allowed to possess. Iokanaan’s beauty exists at first because of his opposition to the Tetrarch and his status as forbidden. However, it is his discourse with enthrals Salome. She takes pleasure in the sensation of the taboo and all she receives is religious diatribe. She is offering an aesthetic principle, and through conversation it conflicts with his rhetoric. He offers her the Son of Man, a symbol of virtuousness and morality, but she refutes this sermon in favour of beauty: ‘who is he, the Son of Man? Is he as beautiful as thou art, Iokanaan?’[63] It is this collision of his spirituality and her blasphemous artificiality that she finds perversely beautiful. Her desire is to defeat blossoming forces of Hebraism, as Hebraism first defeated Hellenism. By having the prophet decapitated, she has achieved the triumph of artificially over morality. This is shown in decadent terms as she uses the severed head to satisfy her senses: ‘I will kiss it now. I will bite it with my teeth as one bites a ripe fruit.’[64] She was not interested in Herod’s ripe fruit, which would have acknowledged her slavery to mass culture, instead she chooses the fruit of the prophet’s lips to subvert it and crush the system. Her destruction of his sermon is shown in perversely sexual terms as she compares his holy tongue to a phallic serpent: ‘thy tongue, that was like a red snake darting poison, it moves no more, it speaks no words.’[65] Although she appears to have corrupted his purity through death, she curiously remarks that ‘thou dist take my virginity from me. I was chaste and thou didst fill my veins with fire.’[66] Although Iokanaan did not use her sexually, he did take her innocence. She was natural and comfortable with her chastity before Iokanaan’s dialogue of law aroused in her the prospect of sexual insurgence. She offered the light of beauty, but he oppressed her.

Jackson states this more eloquently by returning to his four aspects of decadence. We can certainly see Salome’s victory as one of the principles of decadence: ‘what after all, is human conscience when compared with nature but a perversity—the self turning from nature to contemplate itself? And is not civilisation artifice’s conspiracy against what is uncivilised and natural? As for egoism… it is not sufficient for a being to say “I am”. He is not a factor in life until he can add to that primal affirmation a consummating “I will”.’[67] If we see ‘I am’ as Jesus’ affirmation of divinity, quite possibly as related by Iokanaan, then Salome is certainly attacking this and turning an ‘I am’ into a decadent ‘I will’ by kissing Iokanaan’s dead lips. Once again, this is the tension between Hellenism and Hebraism; between sensation and beauty, and moral rhetoric. Much like Good, Salome shows the triumph of Hellenism through this act of blasphemy. Instead of taking moral pleasure in Iokanaan’s words, she takes sensual pleasure through his lifeless features. In a certainly perverse way, one could argue that this is her path to divinity, both through Hellenistic beauty, but also through the relish with which she ravishes his severed head; this is her way of actually seeing the hidden God; kissing the corpse of His prophet. This is a truly perverse beauty.

The symbol for this is the moon. Herod remarks earlier that the moon resembles a ‘mad woman’ who is ‘looking for lovers’[68]. Indeed, the moon is a parallel presence to Salome. This symbol also shows the paradoxical nature of perverse beauty as the page of Herodias and the young Syrian argue whether the moon is like ‘a dead woman… looking for dead things’ or like a ‘princess who has white doves for feet.’[69] This is the first of several metaphors which show the ambiguities of description to this aesthetic. Salome is both a cruel figure of decay, as well as a chaste girl who dances without shoes. It is her encounter with Iokanaan when she enters the paradoxical space of decadent tensions that she moves freely between the two. Perverse beauty therefore can be best described through contradictory metaphor.

Another example would be when some soldiers are discussing wine. One is suggested to be ‘yellow as gold’ whereas the other is ‘red as blood.’[70] Blood suggests a sinister wine, and gold one of pleasant taste, but as the soldiers observe, both blood and gold are each favoured by some. The description therefore has no effect on the qualities, only on the strength of the sensation or the lengths of beauty. As Herod predicts danger, he comments on this aesthetic which will soon defeat him: ‘it makes life too full of terrors. It were better to say that stains of blood are as lovely as rose petals.’[71] This effect also governs the savage masculine beauty of King Solomon’s Mines. Here, perverse beauty is illustrated to be a paradoxical aesthetic, and an aspect of fin de siècle decadent technique.

Whereas Haggard’s men escape Kukuanaland with their colonial act of aestheticism completed, Salome’s success will have to remain symbolic. Donohue suggests that ‘when the moonlight falls upon Salome, it illuminates her as the ultimate interpreter of what the moon means: it means no less than herself, and all that her Self comprehends.’[72] She becomes a triumph of the aesthetic over society, but also a victim of its distaste for artistic form. As Salome completes her perverse objective, Herod decries to hide away and be unseen by the claws of aestheticism, and as such the moon is covered. Upon its return it illuminates Salome as a success, and seeing her true form, Herod has her destroyed. It is worth comparing the transition of moonlight in Salome to the act of the eclipse in King Solomon’s Mines. Good manages to turn this into an act of blasphemy as well, for while Henry quotes the Old Testament to appear with divine powers, Good ‘addressed the king of day in a volume of the most classical bad language that he could think of.’[73] Their trick is complete, and they achieve divine status in the minds of their audience. The contrasting symbols of blocking the sun and hiding the moon lead us to a conclusion of our argument.

In both King Solomon’s Mines and Salome we see the opposing tensions collide and Hellenism triumph over Hebraism. This comes in the form of an individual using decadent art and artificially to the purpose of subverting authority, which in both texts is seen as incestuous and malignant. The first example is Good’s legs, giving the party a divine presence so they can overthrow the vile ruler of the land, and aesthetically colonise the territory by seeking new experience. As Monsman states, ‘Haggard’s assertion [is] that neither social conventions nor literary art can or should suppress passion and beauty’[74]. The second is Salome’s blasphemous treatment of Iokanaan and her juxtaposition of beauty with rhetoric. She overthrows the dominance of religious dogma with the pure light of Hellenism, but her quest has a penalty. As Donohue notes, she is ‘an emblem of sensuality, of unhealthy curiousity, and of that terrible fate reserved for searchers after a nameless ideal’.[75] In both texts a treasure is supplied, be it diamonds or Herod’s ridiculous peacocks[76], but in both instances it is refused on grounds of simply achieving sensation. This is the perverse beauty in these texts: the success of decadence in probing unusual echelons of art to recover sensation, and the triumph of artificiality over authority.

5209 words

Bibliography:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%2014:6;%20Mark%206:17,%2019,%2022;%20Luke%203:19&version=49 (last accessed 12/01/08)

Arnold, Matthew, Culture and Anarchy and other writings, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993)

Bergonzi, Bernard, The Turn of a Century, (London: Macmillan, 1973)

Donohue, Joseph, ‘Distance, Death and Desire in Salome’, in The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde, ed. Peter Raby, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997)

Haggard, H. Rider, King Solomon’s Mines, (London: Headline Review, 2007)

Jackson, Holbrook, The Eighteen Nineties, (London: Harvester Press, 1976)

Monsman, Gerald, ‘Of Diamonds and Deities: Social Anthropology in H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines’, English Literature in Transition (1880-1920), 2000, Issue 43:3

Rodensky, Lisa, ed. Decadent Poetry from Wilde to Naidu, (London: Penguin, 2006)

Symons, Arthur, ‘The Decadent Movement in Literature’, in Arthur Symons: Selected Writings, ed. Roger Holdsworth, (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1989)

Wilde, Oscar, Salome, (New York: Dover, 1967)

Wilde, Oscar, The Picture of Dorian Gray, (London: Penguin, 2003)

[2] Oscar Wilde, Salome, (New York: Dover, 1967) p.65

[3] Bernard Bergonzi, The Turn of a Century, (London: Macmillan, 1973) p.19

[4] Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, (London: Penguin, 2003) p.171

[5] Holbrook Jackson, The Eighteen Nineties, (London: Harvester Press, 1976) p.64

[6] Ernest Dowson’s decadent search for new experience, ‘Non Sum Qualis Eram Bonae sub Regno Cynarae’ in Lisa Rodensky, ed. Decadent Poetry from Wilde to Naidu, (London: Penguin, 2006) p.86

[7] King Solomon’s Mines p.42

[8] The Eighteen Nineties p.64

[9] The Eighteen Nineties p.64

[10] Arthur Symons, ‘The Decadent Movement in Literature’, in Arthur Symons: Selected Writings, ed. Roger Holdsworth, (Manchester: Carcanet Press, 1989) p.73

[11] Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy and other writings, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993) p.127

[12] Culture and Anarchy p.126

[13] King Solomon’s Mines p.151

[14] King Solomon’s Mines p.156

[15] King Solomon’s Mines p.3

[16] King Solomon’s Mines p.124

[17] King Solomon’s Mines p.156

[18] King Solomon’s Mines p.94

[19] King Solomon’s Mines p.19

[20] Gerald Monsman, ‘Of Diamonds and Deities: Social Anthropology in H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines’, English Literature in Transition (1880-1920), 2000, Issue 43:3

[21] Gerald Monsman

[22] Salome p.51

[23] King Solomon’s Mines p.4

[24] King Solomon’s Mines p.176

[25] The Picture of Dorian Gray p.13

[26] King Solomon’s Mines p.1

[27] King Solomon’s Mines pp.38-39

[28] King Solomon’s Mines p.40

[29] King Solomon’s Mines p.110

[30] King Solomon’s Mines p.210

[31] King Solomon’s Mines p.4

[32] King Solomon’s Mines p.45

[33] The Eighteen Nineties p.111

[34] King Solomon’s Mines p.51

[35] King Solomon’s Mines p.51

[36] King Solomon’s Mines p.52

[37] King Solomon’s Mines p.64

[38] King Solomon’s Mines p.95

[39] King Solomon’s Mines p.104

[40] King Solomon’s Mines p.102

[41] Gerald Monsman

[42] King Solomon’s Mines p.203

[43] King Solomon’s Mines p.277

[44] Joseph Donohue, ‘Distance, Death and Desire in Salome’, in The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde, ed. Peter Raby, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997) p.121

[45] The Eighteen Nineties p.64

[46] Joseph Donohue p.126

[47] Salome p.24

[48] Salome p.32

[49] Salome p.31

[50] King Solomon’s Mines P.47

[51] Salome p.5

[52] Salome p.3

[53] Salome p.16

[54] Joseph Donohue p.127

[55] ‘He was my brother, and nearer to me than a brother. I gave him a little box of perfumes…’ Salome p.27

[56] Joseph Donohue p.131

[57] King Solomon’s Mines p.132

[58] King Solomon’s Mines p.124

[59] King Solomon’s Mines p.143

[60]http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%2014:6;%20Mark%206:17,%2019,%2022;%20Luke%203:19&version=49

[61] King Solomon’s Mines p.148

[62] Culture and Anarchy p.136

[63] Salome p.21

[64] Salome p.64

[65] Salome p.64

[66] Salome p.65

[67] The Eighteen Nineties p.64

[68] Salome p.28

[69] Salome p.1

[70] Salome pp.4-5

[71] Salome p.51

[72] Distance death

[73] King Solomon’s Mines p.162

[74] Gerald Monsman

[75] Joseph Donohue p.128

[76] Salome p.59

Yeah, I don’t know who they are. But everything with Andrew Bird is fine to me So this is straight copied from pitchfork.

The Preservation Hall is a 48-year-old French Quarter mainstay known for its deep New Orleans jazz legacy. In honor of the venue and its music outreach program, an impressive group of artists recorded tracks with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for a benefit album called Preservation (what an original title!), due February 16 via RED.

Performers on the record include Tom Waits (who does a version of the Mardi Gras song “Tootie Ma Is a Big Fine Thing”), Andrew Bird, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Pete Seeger, Dr. John, Steve Earle, Blind Boys of Alabama, Merle Haggard, Richie Havens, Jason Isbell, and more.

There is nothing as sinful or disgusting as homosexuality.

Two people touching each other with the reckless abandon that can only come from knowing exactly how the “equipment” of the other works. That desire overriding all the pleading prayers you have made. It is perverse and wrong.

Women are a mystery to me, and my wife knows that is how God intended it.

So then nothing is worse than a pastor who falls into that “lifestyle,” gets caught, and then refuses to leave. The sight of him ignites in us a reminder of the fall and all its sordid details. It creates an unnatural curiosity that leads us to a sinful place that we have worked so hard to avoid.

That is why I am praising God for H.B. London. On his Heart of a Pastor blog, he justly takes Ted Haggard to task for his sins, and casts him out! But like a bad penny from sodom, Mr. Haggard just won’t go away:

And so, it is nearly three years to the day from Mr. Haggard’s admission to indiscrete behavior — that resulted in his resignation as senior pastor of New Life Church — that a new congregation begins, located just one mile from the church he once pastored.

The irony of all of this is that, from the very beginning, Mr. Haggard had been counseled to go to another city, complete his restoration program, experience healing in his family and with his addiction, and only then begin again. But, he has made a choice not to do that.

That’s right! It is ironic that we should try to heal him of his affliction (in a very non-public way, that mostly involved showing him a map of all roads leading out of Colorado Springs), and yet he insists on not accepting this healing and failing his restoration.

Now we all know that Ted knows the way out of Colorado Springs since he went to Denver to buy drugs and a massage with a “happy ending” (at least that is what I heard it is called); but Ted insists on being a beacon of homosexual failure in a city that has previously been a triumphant example hetero-piety. If God had wanted Ted to live and minister in Colorado Springs, He would have put male hookers there; which He hasn’t as I have found no sign of them.

Ted just go away, and don’t remind us of what we already know.

So there i was having a wee scoot aboot the net revisiting some info on night terrors that I previously posted about.

Came up with some freaky shit but I’d like to bring your attention to this piece … Give it a read through but pay particular attention to the last paragraph …

Folklore from around the world tells us there are a number of entities that prey on us when we are at our most defenseless. The common theme in all these stories is an entity that visits the victim during sleep and usually attempts to crush, smother, or strangle them.

From Scotland comes stories of the Old Hag or Night Hag. The Old Hag is a malevolent spirit that visits people in the middle of the night while they sleep. Those who survive this nocturnal visit report being awoken with a feeling of dread or unease but unable to move or speak. They often feel a great pressure on their chest making it difficult to breath and sometimes see an old hag before them or near them in the room. In other incidents the victim will awaken screaming or believe they are screaming, again, unable to move, and have the sensation that they are being bitten or having the life sucked out of them.

Sometimes instead of an Old Hag the victim will have the sensation that there are dark figures with glowing eyes present in the room or will hear footsteps approaching their bed.

In most instances, the attack continues until the victim feels like they are about to pass out or succumb. The victim then feels weakened or drained for a prolonged period of time. This feeling of weakness is where we get the term hagridden and the more common haggard to describe feelings of being rundown.

Really!!!

So all that time I’ve been saying “Yer lookin a wee bit haggard the day doll” that’s where it’s came from?!

I doubt it.

“Hagridden” or “Haggard” can’t have came from that.

SURELY!

Charisma magazine is reporting today that embattled former pastor Ted Haggard, who was forced to resign for sexual misconduct, is wanting to start a new church…..  would anyone in their right mind go there????

The first meeting will be held Nov. 12. at Haggard’s Colorado Springs home and could evolve into a church, though Haggard said that is not his aim. He said he and his wife, Gayle, have been traveling almost weekly since the HBO documentary The Trials of Ted Haggard debuted in January, and they thought they needed prayer support.

Complete story here

The groundhog knows what love is.  It holds him all winter and wakes him in the spring.  He may look thin and haggard and hungry, but so do I and what is my excuse?  And the hawk understands a little more of love than I could ever bear.  If he seized me now, I’d only scream a little.  Lovers talk about the moon and the sea, but they should talk instead about the humming-bird.  It lives on sweetness only.  And when its heart slows down it’s as if it weren’t alive.  But let me be like the ant, always busy.  Either walking crisscross through the desert of the ceiling or moving my antenna back and forth to warn my queen danger is near.

Bir kaç gündür bloguma günün şarkısını eklemiyordum. Bugün kardeşim Volkanı kıramadım. Bu arada bu şarkı benim de favorilerimden biridir.

Rosie O’Donnel and her partner Kelli Carpenter have really broken up and already don’t live together for months. Kelli and their youngest daughter Vivienne(who Carpenter carried) live in a New York condo, while Rosie lives with other three adopted kids in Nyack. According to Rosie they will stay a family though and still love each other very much. Hope they patch things up. I like Rosie but living with her seems very difficult. 

I just saw some new pictures from Lindsay Lohan and the girl looks at least 15 years older than she is. The wrinkles the receding hairline, fake lips and the tired eyes. Same goes for her sister, that girl is 16 but looking 30. I think that all the partying and having a set of awful parents is catching up with those two. I bet both will use botox before they hit 25, they already could use it now!

After the funeral and good-bye parties everyone was waiting for the results of Stephen Gately’s will. His boyfriend will get 11 million now that he Stephen passed away!. Giorgi, the Bulgarian student both men took back to their hotel room says he is on-the-run for the press, but not before leaving a cryptic message. According to him the circumstances surrounding Gately’s death were a little bizarre. First they were partying , then they went back to the hotel, did not have sex, but what happened after that he can’t say except that is wasn’t normal. Mmmmm?

Only Tim Burton’s movie characters can look like this and be considered cute And even the corpse bride looked more alive than this one

(Lindsay Lohan)

Ehh, I’ve seen worse.

Picture by: dunno source Caption by: Earendil7 via Advanced Lol Builder

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1. Giacomo Lubrano (1619-1693), da La febbre contagiosa della lascivia, in Prediche quaresimali (posth., 1702). Cit. in Prosatori e narratori barocchi, scelta e introduzione di Giorgio Bàrberi-Squarotti, apparati di Fulvio Pevere, “100 libri per 1000 anni”, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma 2002, pp. 809-810.

Che lagrimevole istoria si legge negli annali di Francia! Carlo Magno, gloriosa idea de’ prencipi, invittissimo negli eserciti, giustissimo ne’ tribunali, zelantissimo ne’ santuari, da che fu preso dalla febbre pestifera del senso diede in uno sbalordimento d’indegnissime turpitudini. Mortagli la concubina, non volle che gli uscisse di camera, disfacendosi in lagrime alla vista di quelle diffigurate bellezze. Già tutto gonfia, tutto annerita, tutto fracida ammorbava col puzzo la reggia, né, per quanto gli suggerissero le consulte de’ satrapi, le prediche de’ religiosi, le censure de’ vescovi, mai fu che mandasse a sotterrare quella reliquia di succidumi. Carlo, che pretendi con ostinatezza tanto contumeliosa al tuo nome? Ti han vedute le nazioni incoronar di trionfi la Chiesa e piantar sulle ruine della barbarie sconfitta i labari della croce: ora ti piangono adultero di un’estinta e da primogenito della fede degenerato in cadetto della lascivia. Minor male sarebbe che incrudelissi da superbo. Screditò gli Ercoli la conocchia di un’Onfale, i Sansoni il pettine di una Dalida: quanto più vergognose son le tue smanie, che amoreggiano con una fantasima di putredini? La Francia sta per toglierti di mano gli scettri della grandezza e publicarti il minimo della vilezza. Così tramonta il sole de’ cristianissimi nell’ombra di una dannata? Così finiscono le conquiste della tua spada in uno sterquilinio di biasimi? Che razza di sceleragini, abbominevoli fin nelle bestie che si sfamano di cadaveri? Dove ti precipitano le passioni, a perdere in un colpo la fortuna di re, la fama di magno, la natura di uomo? Guarda ben l’orridezza della tua donna disfatta in uno scolatoio di marce, guarda le trecce che si sfilano in vermini, gli occhi che spaventano. Guarda, Dio buono! Ciò che dovrebbe riconsigliarti ti accieca. Che più ti aspetti da uno scheletro? Peggio de’ Mezenzi, condanni te stesso agli abbracciamenti di una carogna: sì, sì, va, stringiti a quell’avanzo di polveri, bacia quel vomito di fetidezze, consolati con quella larva insepolta, restati scandalo de’ regni, ludibrio de’ popoli, demonio d’incontinenza in un concubinato d’inferno. A tale sprofondamento d’infamie spinse la febbre pestilente del senso un Carlo Magno, celebratissimo ne’ fasti vaticani per le vittorie di gran guerriero e per le virtù di gran Cesare, e vi sarebbe annegato se, scoperta la stregheria di un maleficio, non avesse detestata con umiliata contrizione l’enormità de’ suoi cadaverosi amoracci.

2. Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925), da La donna eterna [“She”, 1887], trad. Wanda Puggioni, “Compagnia del Fantastico” n° 9, Gruppo Newton, Roma 1994, pp. 54-55.

Poi, cedendo ad un improvviso bisogno, mi raccontò come un tempo, quando era giovane, quasi un ragazzo, la mia stanza attuale servisse da tomba ad una donna giovane e bella, miracolosamente conservata grazie ad un sapiente processo in uso fra gli antichi. Il suo aspetto era dolce e calmo come di chi dorme tranquillamente, e lui amava recarsi a contemplarla in segreto, perduto in vaghe fantasticherie, finché giunse a concepire una strana passione per quell’essere morto da secoli, ma che ancora pareva sorridergli dal suo letto di marmo, come se il soffio della vita palpitasse sotto la pelle rimasta morbida e liscia. E, mentre sedeva per ore ed ore accanto a lei e le baciava la fronte gelata, apprendeva nelle lunghe meditazioni e nel quotidiano contatto con la morte, la vera saggezza.

Senonché, un giorno, sua madre, accortasi del cambiamento avvenuto in lui, lo seguì e, credendolo stregato, presa insieme da collera e da spavento, avvicinò la lampada ai capelli dell’estinta, il cui corpo bruciò come cera, come avviene di tutti quelli conservati nello stesso modo.

–Ecco, figliuolo, il fumo lassù… visibile ancora dopo tanti anni – aggiunse, accennandomi una macchia scura sulla volta. — Lei bruciò, ma io riuscii a conservare uno dei suoi piedi, strappandolo con un colpo dall’osso intaccato dalla fiamma, e lo deposi qui, avvolto in un lino. Ignoro se vi sia ancora, perché da quel giorno non ho più rimesso piede in questo luogo.

Così dicendo, si chinò sotto il banco di pietra che mi serviva da letto e ne trasse un oggetto informe, il quale, liberato dal denso strato di polvere e dai brandelli di tela che ancora lo coprivano, si rivelò al mio sguardo attonito come un piedino femminile dal contorno squisito. Era quasi bianco, e la carne appariva tuttavia morbida e fresca come doveva essere al momento della morte: un vero trionfo dell’arte dell’imbalsamazione. Mentre fissavo lo sguardo su quel freddo avanzo di un lontano passato, i più strani pensieri mi si affollavano in mente, ed avrei voluto penetrare il mistero di quella vita, sollevare un lembo del velo che ricopre l’impenetrabile…

Avvolsi con reverenza la strana reliquia nella vecchia stoffa che l’aveva protetta per tanti anni e la racchiusi nella mia valigia (…).

no – that’s all.
IJS

Martin Denny - Harlem Nocturn – Famous one this one.  Smooth cocktail jazz continuing from my previous random play.  It speeds up a bit towards the end, but the opening theme on the vibes is a justifiable classic. Never knew it was called this.

Followed by a profanity laden Tool song Hush from Opiate.  This got the blood going.  I remember people telling me years ago of the wonders of Tool, but I took a while to catch on.  Bill Hicks was a big fan or they were fans of his – I forget which.

Next is a bizarre one – someone lent me a Chris Whitely album years ago, but I’ve never got around to checking it out.  He seemed a bit clean and commercial to my ears (although not in his private life from memory), but this is a Jesus and Mary Chain cover Some Candy Talking – not bad, guitar wigs out a bit and there’s some distortion as a tribute maybe.

Ah Merle Haggard – Branded Man.  I had not heard this one before either, something about a poor boy who’s done time.  Nice country tune – would go down a treat in St Kilda among the country fans their.

Oval – Gabba Nation – glitchy, scratchy electronica from Germany I think.  Not the best thing for the treadmill, but interesting nonetheless.  I left it on even though I’ve given myself the option to skip if it is unbearable. This one has a nice ambient feel though, even if the scritchetee-scratchetee gets in the way.

Angelo Badalamenti – Love Theme From Twin Peaks – I thought this one was going to be more ambient stuff like Burial or something, but the low bass deceived me.  Great sounds and eery as with all the stuff from David Lynch and his collaborator.  What interesting movies that man makes – I haven’t been able to work out much of what is going on in the latest ones, but always worth seeing I think. (reminds me I have to see the last one Empire something)

Next one starts with weird arabic flute, then Prince kicks in with Around the World in a Day.  An album intro track really, not a very famous one, from what’s considered to be one of his minor albums I suppose, but one with Rasberry Beret on it I think.  This was a Beatelsy album but this song sounds like Prince playing with his flute – ooooerrrr.

Last one is Brian Eno – Golden Hours from Another Green World, which is one of his less ambient albums – well he sings on this one. Not a bad way to finish the wind-down on the mill, and my 1st post here. Nice oompah oompah keyboards, but didnt really pay attention to what he was singing about.

I should probably put something here about my current weight, since the reduction thereof is one of the aims of this experiment. Let’s say it is about 125 kg, since my scales are faulty anyway and that’s probably a bit over what I am, so I’ll feel a lot better when the weight starts flying off… BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Martin Denny - Harlem Nocturn – Famous one this one.  Smooth cocktail jazz continuing from my previous random play.  It speeds up a bit towards the end, but the opening theme on the vibes is a justifiable classic. Never knew it was called this.

Followed by a profanity laden Tool song Hush from Opiate.  This got the blood going.  I remember people telling me years ago of the wonders of Tool, but I took a while to catch on.  Bill Hicks was a big fan or they were fans of his – I forget which.

Next is a bizarre one – someone lent me a Chris Whitely album years ago, but I’ve never got around to checking it out.  He seemed a bit clean and commercial to my ears (although not in his private life from memory), but this is a Jesus and Mary Chain cover Some Candy Talking – not bad, guitar wigs out a bit and there’s some distortion as a tribute maybe.

Ah Merle Haggard – Branded Man.  I had not heard this one before either, something about a poor boy who’s done time.  Nice country tune – would go down a treat in St Kilda among the country fans their.

Oval – Gabba Nation – glitchy, scratchy electronica from Germany I think.  Not the best thing for the treadmill, but interesting nonetheless.  I left it on even though I’ve given myself the option to skip if it is unbearable. This one has a nice ambient feel though, even if the scritchetee-scratchetee gets in the way.

Angelo Badalamenti – Love Theme From Twin Peaks – I thought this one was going to be more ambient stuff like Burial or something, but the low bass deceived me.  Great sounds and eery as with all the stuff from David Lynch and his collaborator.  What interesting movies that man makes – I haven’t been able to work out much of what is going on in the latest ones, but always worth seeing I think. (reminds me I have to see the last one Empire something)

Next one starts with weird arabic flute, then Prince kicks in with Around the World in a Day.  An album intro track really, not a very famous one, from what’s considered to be one of his minor albums I suppose, but one with Rasberry Beret on it I think.  This was a Beatelsy album but this song sounds like Prince playing with his flute – ooooerrrr.

Last one is Brian Eno – Golden Hours from Another Green World, which is one of his less ambient albums – well he sings on this one. Not a bad way to finish the wind-down on the mill, and my 1st post here. Nice oompah oompah keyboards, but didnt really pay attention to what he was singing about.

I should probably put something here about my current weight, since the reduction thereof is one of the aims of this experiment. Let’s say it is about 125 kg, since my scales are faulty anyway and that’s probably a bit over what I am, so I’ll feel a lot better when the weight starts flying off… BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Reseña de la celebración de los 15 años del festival de rock, gratuito, más grande de América Latina, este año con más de 52 bandas en vivo, con invitados internacionales de Estados Unidos, Alemania, España, Francia, México, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panamá y Argentina, y además las mejores bandas colombianas. Para leer más ver Festival: Rock Al Parque, 15 Años

www.elpasacintas.blogspot.com

¡ Viva México !
(a pesar de sus torpes, miopes, egoistas y descerebrados políticos y sus no participativos ciudadanos)

video encontrado en el blog de ok mikke

Hokum with a capital “shite”, director Robert Day’s wobbly adaptation of H Rider Haggard’s supernatural adventure was one of Hammer’s rare incursions into family matinee territory, a ripping yarn starring Ursula Andress as Ayesha, the “She who must be obeyed” of the title, immortal goddess of Persia and all-round flash chick. Naturally, the plot is ridiculous (some drivel about the alluring yet actually “quite psycho” Ayesha reuniting with the reincarnation of her dead lover Callicrates, played with all the grace of a spoon by pretty boy John Richardson) but with Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing on board as a fopppish adventurer and eye-candy aplenty, She just about gets away with it’s own particular brand of high-camp, paranormal nonsense. Add to the mix a fairly buffed-up Bernard Cribbins (Bernard Cribbins!) and the legendary Christopher Lee as Ayesha’s conniving high priest Billali (he is, of course, amazing, albeit in a “just stepped off the set of a gay porn movie” kind of way) and you’ve got yourself a night-in.