the studio

The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when
the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden,
there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or
the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.

From the corner of the divan of Persian saddle-bags
on which he was lying, smoking, as was his custom,
innumerable cigarettes,
The Lord could just catch the gleam
of the honey-sweet and honey-coloured blossoms of a laburnum,
whose tremulous branches seemed hardly able to bear
the burden of a beauty so flamelike as theirs;

and now and then the fantastic shadows of birds in flight
flitted across the long tussore-silk curtains
that were stretched in front of the huge window,
producing a kind of momentary Japanese effect,
and making him think of those pallid,
jade-faced painters of Tokyo
who, through the medium of an art
that is necessarily immobile, seek
to convey the sense of swiftness and motion.

The sullen murmur of the bees
shouldering their way through the long unmown grass,
or circling with monotonous insistence
round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine,
seemed to make the stillness more oppressive.

The dim roar of London
was like the bourdon note of a distant organ.

In the centre of the room,
clamped to an upright easel,
stood the full-length portrait of a young man
of extraordinary personal beauty,
and in front of it, some little distance away,
was sitting the artist himself, whose sudden disappearance
some years ago caused, at the time, such public excitement
gave rise to so many strange conjectures.

if you havent recognised it, this is the begining of one of my favourite novels, the picture of dorian grey, put into poetry form. this is what we did the past two or so english lessons, along with a nice and fluffy interpretation, all along the lines of homosexuality, drug abuse and victorian society.
Im noticing that my interpretation skills arent what they used to be. i dont seem to be able to dive into a text and pick up on everything noteworthy. but i listen and hopefully learn. all i can do is try, and ill do lots of that...

my first german interpretation essay gave me my worst grade so far. a 5. pretty much the same with history, if not worse. probably my bio lab im supposed to write right now is going to follow the pattern.