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Dance Me to the End of Love

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Classic paintings accompany this love poem by the Canadian poet/songwriter

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

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616 people want to read

About the author

Henry Matisse

13 books

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5 stars
221 (60%)
4 stars
89 (24%)
3 stars
43 (11%)
2 stars
9 (2%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for David.
1,013 reviews164 followers
December 1, 2022
This dancing poem matches the dancing paintings by Matisse perfectly. Vibrant color, on big pages spacing the poem at 1-2 lines per page. Perfect!

Dance me to your beauty
with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic
till I'm gathered safely in
Touch me with you naked hand
touch me with your glove
Dance me to the end of love


Entire poem here:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/...
Profile Image for Donna.
1,377 reviews
August 23, 2011
Being a huge Leonard Cohen fan this book was for me. I found it by accident at the library. Every now and then something really wonderful falls into your hands and this is one of those somethings. Leonard and Matisse doing it together. Beautiful. I will check out other books in this series.
Profile Image for Utti.
517 reviews35 followers
January 3, 2019
Il primo libro del 2019 non può che essere questo. L'ho ricevuto come regalo di Natale da Niccolò e mi ha profondamente emozionato.
La scelta di accostare le opere di Matisse alla poesia di Cohen è estremamente riuscita.
Potrebbe essere una trovata commerciale, ma è comunque una trovata emozionante e delicata, Cohen stesso faceva un sacco di disegni accanto ai suoi testi. Anche solo a leggere il testo della canzone sento la sua voce, che brividi (https://youtu.be/NGorjBVag0I).

Perché tutti meritano di incontrare la persona che gli permetta di dire "dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in".
Profile Image for Gabriella.
348 reviews
March 11, 2020
A fine pairing. I learned something too, about Henri Matisse:
"At twenty, while working as a law clerk, he was stricken with acute appendicitis and, during his convalescence, was given a box of paints by his mother. " The moment I had this box of colors in my hands," he later remembered, "I had the feeling that my life was there."
Profile Image for Doha.
2 reviews
March 5, 2013
To me, this book is about the passion in a lifetime with your love.
Let us dance...
Profile Image for CJ.
136 reviews
September 12, 2018
Leonard Cohen and Henri Matisse together - need I say more? The most gorgeous book. I love to gift it to others.
Profile Image for June.
665 reviews18 followers
December 11, 2018
A novel I just read prompted me to dig this old publication out. Complementary perfectly to each other, awestruck after I had stored both artists at the back of mind.
Profile Image for Rena Sherwood.
Author 2 books51 followers
July 16, 2024
This is a review of the first Welcome hardback edition.

I was just about to write this review and Mom saw me holding this large but slim book. "WHAT'S THAT?" she yelled, since she's hard of hearing. It was the same tone of voice she uses when she sees me eating something and suspects that I'm trying to hide tasty food from her.

I showed her the book cover. I didn't mind sharing this. "It's the lyrics to a Leonard Cohen song paired with paintings and drawings by Henri Matisse."

She looked interested, but frowned and asked, "What's it called?"

"Dance Me To the End of Love. Do you want to look at it?"

"No."

Sorry, Leonard. Everyone's a critic. Personally, I loved the title. I also enjoyed the book, even though I'm not a fan of Matisse. However, the book opened my eyes to some incredibly elegant images I wasn't familiar with. Some of the best works are emotional figures done with just one or two flowing lines.

There was great thought put into pairing images with specific references in the song's lyrics. My favorite was "Dance me very long" where the accompanying image is of a very elongated female nude.

Perhaps Mom will come around and want to look at the book as avidly as she does for Van Gogh, Monet, and the Wyeths ... even if there are words like "Dance me to the end of love."

I bought this book years ago from a popular online used book seller (and I'll be darned if I can remember which one). The book came with a big UPC sticker smack-dab in the middle of the cover. I was too tired to complain or send the book back.

Knock it off with the damn stickers ruining the covers, used booksellers, will you please?
Profile Image for Catherine Brissette.
49 reviews5 followers
August 14, 2022
Ma-gni-fi-que. Grande chanson, grand poème de Leonard Cohen, dont les vers sont parfaitement accompagnés par des tableaux de Henri Matisse pour en faire un tout harmonieux et complémentaire. Les paroles permettent de voir certains tableaux sous un angle nouveau. Inspirant, planant, magnifique album.
Profile Image for Luis.
179 reviews9 followers
April 30, 2023
Dance me to your beauty
with a burning violin
Dance me through the panic
till I'm gathered safely in
Lift me like an olive branch
and be my homeward dove
Dance me to the end of love

Lindísimo pequeño gran libro objeto. Junta la letra de la archiconocida canción de Leonard Cohen con la obra de Matisse. Resultado: ganan todos.
Profile Image for mal.
107 reviews45 followers
September 17, 2023
une fois de plus c’est bien évidemment un livre que j’utilise psq la fanfic est pas sur goodreads

dance me to the end of love - solmussa
tbh un peu déçue psq on m’avait vendu ça comme une ballroom/royal fic sur wolfstar et jegulus et c’était littéralement que du jegulus smut, wolfstar was nowhere to be found donc bon moyen mais +1 étoile pr trans reg
Profile Image for M..
2,476 reviews
July 20, 2017
Beautiful art to match the beautiful lyrics.
Profile Image for Tamara.
11 reviews3 followers
November 2, 2008
What I learned from this book.. Besides that I fall more & more in love with the work of Leonard Cohen & Henri Mattise from their union in this graphic-novel of sorts.. Love Life. And this book is far to artsy to read to a room of 3rd graders as a 20 year old student teacher.. cause there are far too many drawings of "boobies" for the youngins to handle!
Profile Image for Shauli Chaudhuri.
37 reviews5 followers
January 26, 2013
This is a piece of art to be owned. One of the treasures in my personal library. If you are a fan of Cohen, buy it. Matisse and Leonard weaving a wonderful piece together.
Profile Image for Felicia.
70 reviews
October 11, 2016
Simply beautiful. I was feeling so down, so lonely today. This book really helped me feel better.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

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