#michael field

[butchfemmesisters-archive]

[solstice-love]

Her hand the thigh's tense surface leaves, Falling inward. Not even sleep Dare invalidate the deep, Universal pleasure sex Must unto itself annex— Even the stillest sleep; at peace, More profound with rest's increase, She enjoys the good Of delicious womanhood.

Giorgione, Sleeping Venus (c. 1510). Oil on canvas. 108 x 175 cm. Gemäldegalerie, Dresden x Field, Michael. "The Sleeping Venus", Sight and Song, 1892. London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane.

[virgoantendencies7]

Two Poems by Michael Field

AN APPLE-FLOWER.

I FELT my leaves fall free,

I felt the wind and sun,

At my heart a honey-bee:

And life was done.

POPPY SONG.

DO you see the poppies coming?

Do you see the poppies come?

Do you see the poppies coming

Do you hear their seedy hum?—

Large poppies of the night

In their bands of blue and white,

Poppies fading from my sight

As they come.

—Underneath the Bough (1898)

[bxbyaphrodite]

Αύτὰρ ὀραῖαι στεφανηπλόκευν·

THEY plaited garlands in their time;

They knew the joy of youth’s sweet prime,

Quick breath and rapture:

Theirs was the violet-weaving bliss,

And theirs the white, wreathed brow to kiss,

Kiss, and recapture.

They plaited garlands, even these;

They learnt Love’s golden mysteries

Of young Apollo;

The lyre unloosed their souls; they lay

Under the trembling leaves at play,

Bright dreams to follow.

They plaited garlands—heavenly twine!

They crowned the cup, they drank the wine

Of youth’s deep pleasure.

Now, lingering for the lyreless god—

Oh yet, once in their time, they trod

A choric measure.

They plaited garlands in their time, by Michael Field. 1889

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

by Michael Field

It was deep April, and the morn Shakspear was born; The world was on us, pressing sore; My Love and I took hands and swore, Against the world, to be Poets and lovers ever more, To laugh and dream on Lethe’s shore, To sing to Charon in his boat, Heartening the timid souls afloat; Of judgment never to take heed, But to those fast-locked souls to speed, Who never from Apollo fled, Who spent no hour among the dead; Continually With them to dwell, Indifferent to heaven and hell

[h/t Paul Corby]

[keepthisholykiss]

Want to Help a Lesbian Scholar?

Looking for scholars that could possibly help me please share this: Hi! I'm a master's student preparing to start my thesis next semester. I'm in need of 1 or 2 people that I can consult and possibly sit on my committee for my thesis on lesbian literature. My work is incredibly important to me and will help me down the line with my dissertation on queer writing. Put briefly it is on lesbian literature in the 19th to early 20th century and the expression of identity in writing. I'm looking for folks who study sexuality, literature of the era, or lesbian history to help. Ideally people who study lesbian writing at all. I believe you have to be in your Ph.D., a graduate of a master’s program, a professor, or a librarian. I can check depending on your own criteria. I recently moved (and had a million things implode in my life + research process) so I have had a hell of a time getting anyone to respond to an email. The commitment would be 12 months approximately and it would be to sit on my committee. I can provide more details to the right person! I'm lucky enough to do this research at all but I'm first-gen and new to academia as a whole so I'd appreciate any help at all. You can message me or comment on this and I can reach out.  Tumblr helped me a ton with a piece of research I did in early 2022 so I’m hoping I can manage to find the right stuff again. I don’t want to have to delay my thesis so I would love to find someone!

[shipcestuous-two]

I was reading the Michael Field wikipedia after anon told us about Katherine Bradley+Edith Cooper, and Katherine (15 yr older than her niece) became her legal guardian after her sister became an invalid. When Edith was in college, she and Katherine began living together again, and they were lovers for the next FORTY YEARS!! Described as having a "close marriage" despite not being married, writing each other love poems, sharing a pen name as a sign of their "oneness," died less than a year apart.

2/2 They also seem to have been together very openly, despite both the incestuous and sapphic aspects of their relationship being taboo for their time. The way they speak of each other, and the way their peers speak about them, makes it seem like they were inseparably and madly, truly, deeply in love throughout their decades-long relationship, until Edith died of cancer. The two were buried together. They just seem really loving and sweet, and I'm so glad anon introduced us to them!!

[x]

Quite the story. Very rare.

Thanks for sharing more details with us, Anon!

[lisareadsthings]

There is love Of women unto women, in its fibre Stronger than knits a mother to her child. There is no lack in it, and no defect. It looks nor up nor down. But loves from plenitude to plenitude. With level eyes, as in the Trinity God looks across and worships.

Michael Field (psudonym for Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper), The Tragedy of Pardon, quoted in Chloe Plus Olivia: An Anthology of Lesbian Literature from the Seventeenth Century to the Present, Lillian Faderman, ed.