2026-07-14 14:06 UTC
Cinquevalli in sepia
looks at me from an old postcard: bundle of enigmas.
Half faun, half military man…
—Edwin Morgan, “Cinquevalli”
published in COLLECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 1990)
Paul Cinquevalli (1859–1918) died #OTD, 14 July
https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781857541885/collected-poems/
#Scottish #literature #EdwinMorgan #poem #poetry #19thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian #circus #juggling #Cinquevalli
Replies (1)
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@scotlit@mastodon.scot 2026-07-14 14:08
“As a byword for virtuosity, Cinquevalli’s name is attached to French aviators, Scots soccer players, cricketers W.G. Grace & Ranjitsinhji, the pianist Paderewski, hospital pathologists, aeroplane engineers, a Covent Garden basket-carrier in a Pathé news clip of 1925, college girls exercising good posture in another of 1930, & dozens more.” —David Hayes, “In Search of Cinquevalli” (Inside Story, 2018) https://insidestory.org.au/in-search-of-cinquevalli/ #19thcentury #Victorian #Edwardian #circus #juggling #Cinquevalli