Re: Fun with amplifiers :) (GM)

"Lorelei"
"Beatrix"
"Persephone"
"Pandora (For Cindy)"
"Amelia"

Interestingly, almost every one of those names has some connection to girl love, either directly or symbolically. The exception is Lorelei, although I wouldn't doubt I could find some connection if I dug deep enough.

Beatrix is an alterate form of Beatrice, who was both Dante's paragon of beauty and virtue and a young photographic subject of Lewis Carroll's, Beatrice Hatch (one of his few surviving nude portraits is of her.) Also, he wrote a poem entitled "Beatrice" about a 5-year-old girl of the same name, which includes some of my favorite lines of poetry:

"For I think, if a grim wild beast
Were to come from his charnel-cave,
From his jungle-home in the East
Stealthily creeping with bated breath,
Stealthily creeping with eyes of death
He would all forget his dream of the feast,
And crouch at her feet, a slave."

The poem is one of the most difficult to find on the Internet, probaly because of its blatant girl love theme. Here's the whole poem:

In her eyes is the living light
Of a wanderer to earth
From a far celestial height:
Summers five are all the span
Summers five since Time began
To veil in mists of human night
A shining angel-birth.
Does an angel look from her eyes?
Will she suddenly spring away,
And soar to her home in the skies?
Beatrice! Blessing and blessed to be!
Beatrice! Still, as I gaze on thee,
Visions of two sweet maids arise,
Whose life was of yesterday:
Of a Beatrice pale and stern,
With the lips of a dumb despair,
With the innocent eyes that yearn
Yearn for the young sweet hours of life,
Far from sorrow and far from strife,
For the happy summers, that never return,
When the world seemed good and fair:
Of a Beatrice glorious, bright
Of a sainted, ethereal maid,
Whose blue eyes are deep fountains of light,
Cheering the poet that broodeth apart,
Filling with gladness his desolate heart,
Like the moon when she shines thro’ a cloudless night
On a world of silence and shade.
And the visions waver and faint,
And the visions vanish away
That my fancy delighted to paint
She is here at my side, a living child,
With the glowing cheek and the tresses wild,
Nor death-pale martyr, nor radiant saint,
Yet stainless and bright as they.
For I think, if a grim wild beast
Were to come from his charnel-cave,
From his jungle-home in the East
Stealthily creeping with bated breath,
Stealthily creeping with eyes of death
He would all forget his dream of the feast,
And crouch at her feet a slave.
She would twine her hand in his mane:
She would prattle in silvery tone,
Like the tinkle of summer-rain
Questioning him with her laughing eyes,
Questioning him with a glad surprise,
Till she caught from those fierce eyes again
The love that lit her own.
And be sure, if a savage heart,
In a mask of human guise,
Were to come on her here apart
Bound for a dark and a deadly deed,
Hurrying past with pitiless speed
He would suddenly falter and guiltily start
At the glance of her pure blue eyes.
Nay, be sure, if an angel fair,
A bright seraph undefiled,
Were to stoop from the trackless air,
Fain would she linger in glad amaze
Lovingly linger to ponder and gaze,
With a sister’s love and a sister’s care,
On the happy, innocent child.

***************************************************************

Persephone was the goddess of the underworld, captured by Hades when she was only fourteen and carried into hell to be his queen. Pandora, who existed before the world's troubles, can be considered an innocent. She is the Greek equivalent of Eve, the unfortunate scapegoat of her civilization. Supposedly she released all the world's problems from her box, but as with Eve, there is a conundrum, for how could one who existed in a perfect world have any idea about evil, and therefore how can she be blamed for her act? In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'A Wonder Book for Boys and Girls,' Pandora appears as a 12-year-old girl, which seems about right.

Amelia is the name of a character from a surprisingly sensitive treatment of father-daughter incest (with Ted Danson playing the father), called 'There's Something About Amelia.' I remember seeing this movie back in the 80s, when I was just beginning to realize and understand my own attractions. It was well done and not nearly as sensationalistic as the crappy made-for-TV movies of today. "Amelia" is also the name of a song by Mission UK about incest, probably inspired by the movie, but it is completely one-sided. Here are the lyrics:

Daddy says "Come and sit on my knee"
Daddy says "You're the only girl for me"
'Cos Amelia, "You're Daddy's favourite girl"
Amelia, "Daddy loves his little girl"

Daddy comes in the dark of night
Daddy say "Don't be scared, it'll be alright"
Amelia, "Daddy hates to see you cry"
Amelia, "You're the apple of Daddy's eye"

Daddy says "Dry your tears and give me a smile"
Daddy says "If you're good I'll hold you awhile"
'Cos Amelia, "You're daddy's precious girl"
Amelia, "Daddy loves to love his little girl"

"Daddy, tell me Daddy,
Is this really love?"

Daddy says "Don't tell Mama what I do to you"
Daddy says "If you do I'll beat you black and blue"
'Cos Amelia, "You make Daddy feel like a man"
Amelia, "Daddy loves you more than Mummy can"

"Daddy, tell me, Daddy,
How can you call this love?"

Amelia
Damn your Daddy to hell