Quote of the Week

Today’s quote is not exactly a quote. It’s The Vagabond, a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson. Timothy’s character Morgan Morgan recites parts of it in John CassavetesMinnie and Moskowitz (1971). It also turns up in Fiore (1982), the screenplay that Tim wrote with his wife Doris. I think it expresses a side of his psyche that he rarely got to indulge. I truly believe Timothy was a gypsy at heart.

The Vagabond

Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
Bed in the bush with stars to see,
Bread I dip in the river –
There’s the life for a man like me,
There’s the life for ever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o’er me;
Give the face of earth around
And the road before me.
Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me
Where afield I linger,
Silencing the bird on tree,
Biting the blue finger.
White as meal the frosty field –
Warm the fireside haven –
Not to autumn will I yield,
Not to winter even!

Let the blow fall soon or late,
Let what will be o’er me;
Give the face of earth around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven above
And the road below me.

Minnie and Moskowitz

As Morgan Morgan, Minnie and Moskowitz

Gypsy Traders (1953)

In the Cowboy G-Men episode “Gypsy Traders” (1953), with Charlita

2 responses to “Quote of the Week

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