I Shall Die For Love of a Maiden

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Christi

Cosmo.tif

9×12″ watercolor on paper
July 29, 2012

Inspired by the story of Cosmo in Phantastes by George MacDonald, specifically the following passage:

Meantime, how fared Cosmo?

As might be expected in one of his temperament, his interest had blossomed into love, and his love — shall I call it ripened, or — withered into passion?

But, alas! he loved a shadow. He could not come near her, could not hear a sound from those sweet lips, to which his longing eyes would cling like bees to their honey-founts.

Ever and anon he sang to himself:

“I shall die for love of the maiden,”

and ever he looked again, and died not, though his heart seemed ready to break with intensity of life and longing.

About Christi

I am a single mother with two young daughters who are the world to me. I am a philosophy professor, especially fond of Kierkegaard and Augustine. Presently, I teach as an adjunct at a plethora of colleges in the Houston area, trying to make ends meet. Creating art brings me immense joy, but only recently have I begun to venture into the arena of making my creations a consumer commodity. I'd rather my work be created as a good in itself, and given to those I love. But necessity breeds invention, they say, and human beings have to eat.
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