The wine-drinkers sit on the porte cochère in the sun.
Their lack of success in love has made them torpid.
They move their fans with a motion that stirs no feather,
the glare of the sun has darkened their complexions.
This text remains under copyright and is therefore not fully reproduced herein.
[ 6 pages, circa 5'15" ]
Text from Collected Poems by Tennessee Williams, published by New Directions. Copyright © 2002 by the University of the South.
Tennessee Williams
For more on Tennessee Williams, see notes on the song cycle, Blue Mountain Ballads.
Williams tells us that these unsuccessful people face an afternoon which "must be prolonged forever, because the night will be impossible for them." Therefore a languid tempo must carry the long lines, as these characters in such a simple vignette " dream of lust and they long for violent action but none occurs." The hint of jazz chords and progressions anchors the text as distinctly American.
And yet, as the moderato blues-like ballad progresses, the accompaniment's details become highly detailed and busy, reflecting their emotional turmoil hidden beneath the still scene as if just below the surface an continuing urge to "violent action" was being physically suppressed.
