"Forgive Us Our Trespasses" (1 Viewer)

[PolarBear]

A Confederate infantry officer has found 2 young Reb stragglers cooling their weary feet in a pond at the edge of town and has ordered them to quick march to the front where the rest of the regiment is preparing for its first encounter with Union troops.

 

[mikemiller1955]

That's a nice one Randy...crisp and clean...really vivid too...

 

[thebritfarmer]

Another nice setup Randy. You have such a variety of figures in matte & gloss. Is there a process to the figures you buy ?

 

[mestell]

Three of my favorite figures featured in a great looking photo. Very nice Randy.
Mike

 

[PolarBear]

Another nice setup Randy. You have such a variety of figures in matte & gloss. Is there a process to the figures you buy ?

It's potential to tell a story, uniform, pose, subject. sculpting are all factors that help me choose.

 

[PolarBear]

Three of my favorite figures featured in a great looking photo. Very nice Randy.
Mike

The 2 young Rebs always make me think of Whittier's "Barefoot Boy"


BLESSINGS on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan!
With thy turned-up pantaloons,
And thy merry whistled tunes;
With thy red lip, redder still 5
Kissed by strawberries on the hill;
With the sunshine on thy face,
Through thy torn brim’s jaunty grace;
From my heart I give thee joy,—
I was once a barefoot boy! 10
Prince thou art,—the grown-up man
Only is republican.
Let the million-dollared ride!
Barefoot, trudging at his side,
Thou hast more than he can buy 15
In the reach of ear and eye,—
Outward sunshine, inward joy:
Blessings on thee, barefoot boy!

Oh for boyhood’s painless play,
Sleep that wakes in laughing day, 20
Health that mocks the doctor’s rules,
Knowledge never learned of schools,
Of the wild bee’s morning chase,
Of the wild-flower’s time and place,
Flight of fowl and habitude 25
Of the tenants of the wood;
How the tortoise bears his shell,
How the woodchuck digs his cell,
And the ground-mole sinks his well;
How the robin feeds her young, 30
How the oriole’s nest is hung;
Where the whitest lilies blow,
Where the freshest berries grow,
Where the ground-nut trails its vine,
Where the wood-grape’s clusters shine; 35
Of the black wasp’s cunning way,
Mason of his walls of clay,
And the architectural plans
Of gray hornet artisans!
For, eschewing books and tasks, 40
Nature answers all he asks;
Hand in hand with her he walks,
Face to face with her he talks,
Part and parcel of her joy,—
Blessings on the barefoot boy! 45

Oh for boyhood’s time of June,
Crowding years in one brief moon,
When all things I heard or saw,
Me, their master, waited for.
I was rich in flowers and trees, 50
Humming-birds and honey-bees;
For my sport the squirrel played,
Plied the snouted mole his spade;
For my taste the blackberry cone
Purpled over hedge and stone; 55
Laughed the brook for my delight
Through the day and through the night,
Whispering at the garden wall,
Talked with me from fall to fall;
Mine the sand-rimmed pickerel pond, 60
Mine the walnut slopes beyond,
Mine, on bending orchard trees,
Apples of Hesperides!
Still as my horizon grew,
Larger grew my riches too; 65
All the world I saw or knew
Seemed a complex Chinese toy,
Fashioned for a barefoot boy!
Oh for festal dainties spread,
Like my bowl of milk and bread; 70
Pewter spoon and bowl of wood,
On the door-stone, gray and rude!
O’er me, like a regal tent,
Cloudy-ribbed, the sunset bent,
Purple-curtained, fringed with gold, 75
Looped in many a wind-swung fold;
While for music came the play
Of the pied frogs’ orchestra;
And, to light the noisy choir,
Lit the fly his lamp of fire. 80
I was monarch: pomp and joy
Waited on the barefoot boy!

Cheerily, then, my little man,
Live and laugh, as boyhood can!
Though the flinty slopes be hard, 85
Stubble-speared the new-mown sward,
Every morn shall lead thee through
Fresh baptisms of the dew;
Every evening from thy feet
Shall the cool wind kiss the heat: 90
All too soon these feet must hide
In the prison cells of pride,
Lose the freedom of the sod,
Like a colt’s for work be shod,
Made to treat the mills of toil, 95
Up and down in ceaseless moil:
Happy if their track be found
Never on forbidden ground;
Happy if they sink not in
Quick and treacherous sands of sin. 100
Ah! that thou couldst know thy joy,
Ere it passes, barefoot boy!

and Winslow Homer

 

[Russell]

This Winslow Homer is Wonderful Randy.



THe boys are sitting there, unconscious of all they possess, in a magic present. And one suspects that their minds are on the future.

Is Britain the maker of all three figures in the original post?

Cheers Russell

 

[mestell]

This Winslow Homer is Wonderful Randy.

The boys are sitting there, unconscious of all they possess, in a magic present. And one suspects that their minds are on the future.

Is Britain the maker of all three figures in the original post?

Cheers Russell

Yes Russell, all three figures are Wm Britian ACW; #31009 Confederate Marching Set #2, and #31013 Confederate Officer Advancing #2
Mike

 

[PolarBear]

This Winslow Homer is Wonderful Randy.



THe boys are sitting there, unconscious of all they possess, in a magic present. And one suspects that their minds are on the future.

Is Britain the maker of all three figures in the original post?

Cheers Russell

Hi Russell

Yes WB made all 3 figures.

Homer's Boys in a Pasture is very typical of post Civil War America's obsession with children and innocence after the death and horrors of the Civil War. Homer's boys are contemporary with Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and Homer's paintings often appear on book covers.

 

[Russell]

You wrote;

Homer's Boys in a Pasture is very typical of post Civil War America's obsession with children and innocence after the death and horrors of the Civil War. Homer's boys are contemporary with Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn

Thanks for this Randy, Learning these details in little bits is fun. We all know what it's like when we're ill, other than not feeling so good, it is often at such moments that we realize how wonderful it was to just be well, no extras needed. It's unfortunate that it takes ills of all kinds, like the American CW, to realize how good it was.
There's a bitter sweet element in all of this, the element of wisdom come too late. I read somewhere that this is what we call regret. Of course this "obsession with children and innocence" might also be a healing.
On another thread, 'The Road,' these issues are touched on.

Wishing you a nice day in your neck of the woods. Russell

 

[PolarBear]

You wrote;
Thanks for this Randy, Learning these details in little bits is fun. We all know what it's like when we're ill, other than not feeling so good, it is often at such moments that we realize how wonderful it was to just be well, no extras needed. It's unfortunate that it takes ills of all kinds, like the American CW, to realize how good it was.
There's a bitter sweet element in all of this, the element of wisdom come too late. I read somewhere that this is what we call regret. Of course this "obsession with children and innocence" might also be a healing.
On another thread, 'The Road,' these issues are touched on.

Wishing you a nice day in your neck of the woods. Russell

Russell

Your spot on. This was all about the birth of a new generation in the wake of all those who died. This theme appeared in scenes of farming as well. The best known example is Homer's Veteran in A New Field of 1865 The title is a pun. The soldier is now home from the war, working in a new field of labor. In the lower right hand corner you will see his Union tunic and ACW canteen on the ground. His cutting the growing hay with a scythe is meant to evoke the grim reaper who left all those dead on the battlefields of the Civil War. Indeed Timothy O'Sullivan's 1863 photograph of the dead on the Gettysburg battlefield was entitled A Harvest of Death. The act of farming and creating new life has replaced the years of killing and dying. Homer's painting is also meant to evoke the idea of "beating swords into plowshares" in post-bellum America. There were fears that the veterans might not be wiling to lay down their arms and return to peaceful pursuits. Therefore, there is an element of propaganda in the painting.

 

[rharry]

A Confederate infantry officer has found 2 young Reb stragglers cooling their weary feet in a pond at the edge of town and has ordered them to quick march to the front where the rest of the regiment is preparing for its first encounter with Union troops.

This is really inspiring, and a great example of story telling using figures intended for other concepts. Imigination at it's best...thanks for sharing........

 

[PolarBear]

This is really inspiring, and a great example of story telling using figures intended for other concepts. Imigination at it's best...thanks for sharing........

Thank you RH. Telling stories that show another side of war and life in the military is my favorite way of playing with my collection.

Randy