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Guide to Daily Reading | May 11

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Born today in the year 1855, George Edward Woodberry.

That infallible source never ceases to amaze. This is one of the strangest biographical sketches I have ever read. The DDG search results are odd, too. DDG returned nine sites on the first page. That infallible source was #1, but one-third of the hits are quotation sites. The Wikipedia article has as its final section, “Quotations.” (Lazy Wikipedia.) But Woodberry (Woodbury) is not included in either the fourth or the eleventh edition of Barrett’s. All I can find is a single reference in The Harper Book of Quotations 3rd Edition (1993):

A Bostonian– an American, broadly speaking.

[The only vaguely Bostonian person I know is an Irish Libertarian, so I thought this was uproariously funny.]

Interestingly, he apparently wrote the definitive biography of Poe. Not that you’d know it from searching. Under the initials, G.E.W. he also authored a bunch of Britannica entries.

Daily Reading May 11

The Green Linnet

Beneath these fruit-tree boughs that shed
Their snow-white blossoms on my head,
With brightest sunshine round me spread
Of spring's unclouded weather,
In this sequestered nook how sweet
To sit upon my orchard-seat!
And birds and flowers once more to greet,
My last year's friends together.

Read the rest.

Stay well and keep reading!

8 Responses

  1. My brother married into an arguably Bostonian family. They’re certainly American, but they’re all very thin. And if you called his mother in law a broad, she’d poison your quahog.

    (I just googled to verify spelling, and that infallible source tells me that the name for the quahog is beautifully thus: Mercenaria, mercenaria. I will forever call it the mercenary clam. Should come in handy the 2 or 3 times I’ll have the chance in my life.)

    1. Whereupon I consult my Field Guide to Shells (1947, 1973) and learn that purple wampum was made from the colored edge of the shell, and hence may explain ‘mercenaria’. You may also be interested to know that M. Mercenaria is its new name, the old being Venus mercenaria.

      1. “Whereupon I consult my Field Guide to Shells (1947, 1973)…”

        Of course you did, of course you have.

      2. Was that admiration or /snark? I’m going with admiration. B/c I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life to preserving Western Culture on crappy old book at a time, and of course, Field Guides count!

      4. ~3430 crappy old books. It’s a hobby. Preserving Western Culture & all. The Guides are all on the shelves by the back patio door.

        I saw you were looking for new reading material. May I recommend Goldsmith? The Deserted Village is lovely in a sad sort of way. Also, The Venerable Bebe. (sp?) And of course, Pilgrim’s Progress.

        Did you see the Hillsale online course about children’s lit? The Girls are excited.

        *The Girls are excited.* I did something right as a mom, years ago.

        Looking forward to our posts 20 years from now when we hear about what The Boy and Your Daughter have to say about things.

  2. I like the sound of “lovely in a sad sort of way.” It’s like rain.

    I want to say it’s “Bede.” I wonder if there’s any kind of technology available to look that up? I guess I’ll just have to wait until I’m allowed in a library again, and can consult the Britannica.

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