This is the lovliest area I've seen in New York to date, and will become, is already, where my mind and heart lie and rest in this tumultuous city. It of course holds a special place in my heart as it is the setting for several scenes in Tony Kushner's play; Angles in America. This play has been riveted into my heart and psyche; it is the most beautifully told story of the AIDS epedemic I have ever read or scene enacted. It has several scenes which always make me weep, for those lost to us and for myself, if I'm honest, as so much of the play reflects in every way my life as a gay man who acquires AIDS,
The fountain was designed and sculpted by Emma Stebbins in 1868 and is made of solid bronze set upon a basin and columns of blue stone. It is an ethereal thing to me, despite it's visual (and real) weight, it seems almost to me as though at any moment it might disappear - or at leat Bethesda will suddenly lift herself up and shoot lke a star into the heavens as fast as an arrow on the wing.
Today is the first time I have actually gotten to be with Bethesda, and for about an hour I viewed her from all sides. The weather had turned cold and icy; the rain which swept through earlier seemed to be now falling in the tiniest bits, and was almost frozen, so that when it touched your face it felt as though you had been struck for a moment by a tiny bit of sharpest diamond ice cold and burning hot all at the same instance. That is the spell of her.
Should you visit New York City you must spend some time with Bethesda, she has become more than a statue in a park; she has become a legend. A legend, which may still be seen, and if you have the heart, felt. Deeply felt.
The Official Site for Central Park says this about Bethesda:
"In their 1858 Greensward plan, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux called the architectural heart of the Park "The Water Terrace," for its placement beside the Lake and the grand fountain in the center. Once the Angel of the Waters fountain was unveiled in 1873, however, the area became forever known as Bethesda Terrace. At the dedication, the artist's brochure quoted the Biblical verse from the Gospel of St. John 5:2-4: "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called… Bethesda…whoever then first after the troubling of the waters stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."
Do come and visit her. Bring whatever is magical and spiritual with you for she will find a way then, to speak to your heart!
FROM THE PLAY, the CLOSING VERSES:
"This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all,
And the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living
And WE are NOT going away,
We won't die secret deaths anymore,
The world only spins forward.
WE WILL BE CITIZENS>
THE TIME HAS COME.
Bye Now, You are FABULOUS CREATUREs, and I BLESS YOU;
MORE LIFE.
THE GREAT WORK BEGINS!>
The fountain was designed and sculpted by Emma Stebbins in 1868 and is made of solid bronze set upon a basin and columns of blue stone. It is an ethereal thing to me, despite it's visual (and real) weight, it seems almost to me as though at any moment it might disappear - or at leat Bethesda will suddenly lift herself up and shoot lke a star into the heavens as fast as an arrow on the wing.
Today is the first time I have actually gotten to be with Bethesda, and for about an hour I viewed her from all sides. The weather had turned cold and icy; the rain which swept through earlier seemed to be now falling in the tiniest bits, and was almost frozen, so that when it touched your face it felt as though you had been struck for a moment by a tiny bit of sharpest diamond ice cold and burning hot all at the same instance. That is the spell of her.
Should you visit New York City you must spend some time with Bethesda, she has become more than a statue in a park; she has become a legend. A legend, which may still be seen, and if you have the heart, felt. Deeply felt.
The Official Site for Central Park says this about Bethesda:
"In their 1858 Greensward plan, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux called the architectural heart of the Park "The Water Terrace," for its placement beside the Lake and the grand fountain in the center. Once the Angel of the Waters fountain was unveiled in 1873, however, the area became forever known as Bethesda Terrace. At the dedication, the artist's brochure quoted the Biblical verse from the Gospel of St. John 5:2-4: "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called… Bethesda…whoever then first after the troubling of the waters stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."
Do come and visit her. Bring whatever is magical and spiritual with you for she will find a way then, to speak to your heart!
FROM THE PLAY, the CLOSING VERSES:
"This disease will be the end of many of us, but not nearly all,
And the dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living
And WE are NOT going away,
We won't die secret deaths anymore,
The world only spins forward.
WE WILL BE CITIZENS>
THE TIME HAS COME.
Bye Now, You are FABULOUS CREATUREs, and I BLESS YOU;
MORE LIFE.
THE GREAT WORK BEGINS!>
2 comments:
Cette fontaine avec son ange est magnifique ,elle incarne le message d'espoir à tout les malades du SIDA laissé par Tony KUSHNER dans sa trés belle piéce de théatre "angels in America"
Serge de Bordeaux/FRANCE
Merci beaucoups, mon frere.
Post a Comment