Blizzards of the inner eye - Ian Crockatt

The Commission "Shape me a suite of voluptuous chairs framed with Beech and Walnut exceedingly Richly Carved in the Antich manner and Gilt in oiled Gold, the whole stuff'd and cover'd with glibbest Crimson Damask. Let the Castors on their gold-shagged feet be strong, fit to carry a Tassled and Ermine-cloaked King and sundry stiff-wigged Lordships should He and They so deign. Be sure to make each wide as the Royal Buttocks, and to spare, all amply squabb'd and curlicu'd with Gesso and Goldleaf patterns - incorporating Pegasae with young girls' curl-hung heads - so Artfully and Costlily arranged as to assure Ten Generations there are none Lovelier or more Rare -" And still we could not match, despite his Lavished Millions, the living pinks and goldens of his chambemaid's cheeks and hair. NOTE: The original commission of 1794, and invoice dated 7th July 1765, of Lord Dundas' order for 8 large Armchairs and 4 large Sophas designed by Robert Adam and made by Chippendale - total [pound]510.4.0 - are still extant. Some of the Chairs and a Sopha can be seen at Duff House, Banff. Other were recently sold, each of the chairs making in excess of 1 million pounds.;Emily Dickinson in Love I see it like this - a rock arrives on her front porch and puts on a display of pyrotechnics as stupendous as the Northern Lights then rolls on its way, having first contrived a trail of poppers and fizzers as its finale. Or some snake trances new patterns in the grass on a day so still a spinster can hear her heart making boom down the valley. How many times must she hear it before night arrives with the chloroform, or the snake unstraps its chainmail and heads off home? How can she bear it when that plank in Reason gives way and plummets her 10 floors down into poetry?