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The Sleeping Gypsy 1897, Henri Rousseau —Wiki |
THE SLEEPING GYPSY
La Bohémienne endormie
—after Rousseau
La Bohémienne endormie
—after Rousseau
Under a full desert moon
a lion stands guard
over a sleeping woman
dressed in a striped tunic
with a jug of wine
and a mandolin at her side.
Her walking stick dreams of snakes.
The Big Dipper holds its water.
The green sky is a lake
feeding the mangrove swamps.
Tonight the lion isn't hungry
because the moonlight is a song
dressed in ceremonial robes
floating on a star-studded horizon.
6/23/1986
added/rev. 2/17
Rousseau described his painting as follows: "A wandering Negress, a mandolin player, lies with her jar beside her (a vase with drinking water), overcome by fatigue in a deep sleep. A lion chances to pass by, picks up her scent yet does not devour her. There is a moonlight effect, very poetic."
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