Naomi and Ruth

I just put up a post at my other blog about Naomi and Ruth as depicted in art over the centuries (a search inspired by recent posts at Monkey Mind and Jesus in Love), and remembered the poem by John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale, that mentions Ruth.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

I particularly liked this painting, from a blogpost entitled Ruth and Naomi: The Bible on Lesbians. I like the pinky desert landscape. It looks as if they are just going to kiss...

Ruth and Naomi, Orpah departing
by Philip Hermogenes Calderon (1833-1898)

And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.

Ruth 1:16-17