LE RÊVE D'ICARE - ICARUS' DREAM

Le Rêve d'Icare - Icarus' Dream is a sculpture piece by the talented artist Yevkiné de Gréef.  It is a favorite of my life's most inspiring being, my wife, Datevik. She herself became a dream  on October 11, 2014. The sculpture symbolizes the themes in the poem. It has many fascinatingly unique features which are unlike the original myth. It depicts Icarus as a woman and it shows the dynamic transformation of her arm into a natural wing. The poem and the sculpture complement many mutual themes.  The poem is multi-layered in meaning.  To unlock all its secrets, you may wish to watch the film Wings of Desire by the great Wim Wenders.  The poem is also structured  as the lyrics of a song.  Its central theme is related to the origin of Datevik's name, which is the diminutive of Datev, the name of the legendary monastery of knowledge perched high on the mountains of Armenia.  Da-tev literally means to " Give Wing " in Armenian. According to its founding legend, as the final cross was being put on the cupola, the builder slipped and fell into the mountain chasm. As he fell, he prayed asking for wings; his wish was granted and he was saved.  The monastery was therefore called St. Datev, the "wing-giver".  The poem was originally written in English.  It was then rewritten from scratch  (not translated into) in Armenian.

You can learn more about Datevik through the brief biographical notes at the end of the Armenian version of the poem.

THE WING-GIVER

She comes in the night

        in silence tender,

She comes in your dreams,

         in beauty that’s slender

and gentle and kind and wise and loving.

She comes in the night, to give you the wings

        that raise you to the sky;

that make your heart and soul

       soar high.

She comes in the night

       when you can no longer think.

She comes in the night

       when you no longer have ink

to make your mind flow into words on paper.

She comes in the night

            and asks you to take her

to all the places you wanted to make her
              
            live in, while loving,

and love in, while living.

She comes in the night

          making your burdens as light

as petals of the flower

          she turns into with daylight.

She comes in the night

         to caress your brain,

She comes in the night

         to ease that pain

            that never stops gnawing;

that turns into tears
        
        that never stop flowing.

She comes in the night

        to give you her own wings,

to make you fly away

       when the sun springs

forth once again,

 Warming the land after the long cold rain

      which makes branches and leaves shiver;

        to deliver

            you away from the grave

               dampness.

Aah, the joy she brings 

        when she gives away, once again,

            her wings

to all those who dare cut away their strings

        to take off in flight.

 To chase away their darkness

       she comes in the night.

Not only to give wings,

      but because she is the light.

She comes

      In the night

                        … she comes.


                                                                                     *   *   *

Թեւընծան

Կու գայ ան մութին մէջ,

  Գեղութեամբ հեզասահ:

Երազով կու գայ ան,

  Բարութեամբ իր քնքուշ, սիրովն իր իմաստուն:

Թեւեր նուիրող՝ կու գայ մութին մէջ,

  Անոնցմով  որպէսզի

Սիրտը կամ թէ հոգին

  Բարձրանան անընդմէջ

    Միմիայն սաւառնի՜ն:

 Կու գայ ան մութին մէջ,

    Երբ միտքըդ է ծարաւ:

Կու գայ ան մութին մէջ,

   երբ գրիչդ է հարկաւ

    արդէն իսկ չորցած, անկարող

      հոսելու թուղթին վրայ, բառերով:

Կու գայ ան մութին մէջ

  խնդրելով,

Որ տանիս զինք այն տեղերն՝ ուր կ'ուզէիր

 հետն ապրիլ՝ սիրելով:

Որ տանիս զինք այն տեղերն՝ ուր կ'ուզէիր

 զինք սիրել՝ ապրելո'վ:

Կու գայ ան մութին մէջ

   Բեռերդ որ կրէ,

Որ փոխուին թերթերու փետրահիւս բուրաւէտ,

   Նման այն ծաղիկին

    որուն ի՜նք կը փոխուի

      շողին հետ արեւի:

Կու գայ ան մութին մէջ

     միտքերըդ շոյելու,

        Ցաւերըդ տանելու:

Այն ցաւերն անդադրում

    Որ կ'ուտեն քեզ հիմա,

Կը դառնան արտասուք

    Ե'ւ զեղում ե'ւ հոսք:

 Եւ ի՜նչ խօսք

    Որ կու գայ ան մութի'ն մէջ

     Ի'ր թեւերն իսկ տալու

Որ դո'ւն թռչիս, բարձրանա'ս,

 Արեւէն տաքութի'ւն եւ ո'յժ ստանաս,

Խոնաւ եւ ցուրտ գիշերուան անձրեւէն

     յետոյ, ջերմանա'ս:

 Տերեւներ ու շիւղեր դողացնող անձրեւէ'ն՝

    Հեռանա'ս:

Ա՜հ, ի՜նչ խինդ կը բերէ

   երբ կու տայ թեւերն ի'ր, բոլորին

     որ կ'երազեն թօթափել շղթաները

          կեանքին:

Մո'ւթը որ փախցնէ`

  Կու գայ ան մութի'ն մէջ

Ո'չ միայն թեւընծան

  Այլ ի'նքն իսկ լոյս, քեզի՝ պահապա'ն,

   Կեանքը'դ որ լուսցնէ:

Մութին մէջ

          Հիմա կու գայ... ա'ն:

Datevik, the beloved angel of both her families, was born in Beirut, Lebanon.

 

She was a graduate of the AGBU Tarouhi-Hagopian High School where she was an excellent student as well as an outstanding stage performer of music and poetry.  She was an active member of the AGBU Girl Guides for many years.

As a talented musician, she attended the Beirut Conservatory of Music in Violin Performance, as well as the École Normale de Musique in Paris. 

She attended Haigazian University in Beirut, where she studied the pure sciences and after her immigration to Canada she completed her studies and graduated from Concordia University with a double major in Biology and Chemistry. For several years afterwards she worked as a research biologist at the Lady Davis Institute.

In 1986, she decided to continue her studies in a professional healthcare field. She studied pharmacy at Université de Montréal and graduated in 1990. During her studies, she was an active board member of the UdeM Armenian Students’ Association and was elected its president.

After graduation, she successfully completed her licentiate examination for pharmacy practice all across Canada. Subsequently, she completed the residency requirements to become a clinical hospital pharmacist.  For many years, she was the chief oncology pharmacist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Westmount.

Datevik was modest in terms of publicising her achievements.  She always preferred doing the right thing rather than to talk about it.

For several years she was the exceptional biology laboratory researcher at the Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital, where her work on androgen receptors was acknowledged and published in the Canadian Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

After becoming a hospital pharmacist and chief oncology pharmacist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, she was one of the three coauthors of the monumental 300-page guide Receuil d’Information Pharmaceutique en Oncologie, which, to this day, is the principal manual used for patient treatment in Quebec hospitals.

As a Canadian-Armenian healthcare professional she was an active member of the AMAQ (Association Médicale Arménienne du Québec), where she served on its board for several years in multiple roles and organized numerous fundraising activities. But mainly, she distinguished herself during the war of liberation of Artsakh, when she organised and procured thousands of battlefront medical first-aid kits to be delivered to the front lines.  The delivery was accomplished by her childhood friend Hagop Angaladian.  This action alone, likely saved the lives of hundreds if not thousands.

Because she could not give up her love of music, she regularly performed as a violinist in the Serenade chamber ensemble at several church locations on the island and on the South Shore.

In 2004, she became the owner of a Montreal institution, the oldest continuously operating drugstore on the island, which henceforth became known as the Sumbulian Pharmacy.  She ran it for ten years as an entrepreneur with amazing passion with her beloved sister Lucy.

She took care of the most diverse group of patients, from all walks of life and from the most different backgrounds; from the Orthodox Hasidim to the newly arrived students from France; from the old Greek families to the numerous Portuguese neighbours; from the Armenians of all across Montreal and its suburbs to the Italians and the loyal multi-generational Québecois patients.

She took care of them because she really cared.  Besides their health dossiers, she knew their lives, their concerns, their families.  She cried with them in their moments of sadness and she brought smiles to them when they needed it.  She always took the time to listen and was always really and genuinely concerned about them.

Because of her background, she had excellent diagnostic and clinical skills which she often used, but she mostly treated her patients with true love.  The patients treated her back with their own expressions of sincere gratitude, with food and sweets and drinks and gifts and letters and smiles and jokes and news of health improvement and phone calls from near and far, whether they were next door or on the other side of the planet.

Her greatest joy was her immediate family. She always gave selflessly, without a single concern about herself; never complaining and always optimistic in the darkest of times; always first to express joy at everyone’s achievements.

And she always smiled; that all-curing, all-disarming, all-charming, all-caring, all-cleansing, all-nurturing smile which no one else has and no one else ever will.