You are here: Home / poets “I suggest you reflect on the clearing of your debts and the avoidance of famine. First, a household… . The utilities in the house must all be got ready, lest you ask another, and he refuse, and you be lacking, and the right time go past, and your cultivation suffer. Do not put things off
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Late yesterday afternoon I thought I had finished The Companion Book. The Prairie voles were a struggle. Access to the Mississippi State Library requires that some algorithm sends Mr. Big Food’s phone a push– whatever that is… blah blah blah. The 1978 paper I needed and searched for is only in the stacks. That was
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Our pal, Andy, who has been enjoying the recent boy talk, commented on yesterday’s “What is a Boy?”. It took all day, but this post finally reminded me of a poem I wrote years ago for a friend … Tiny Giant I had a tiny body onceso often rapt with joy.It turned the wheels of tiny
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Today in the year 1793 Felicia Dorothea Hermans was born. That infallible source: Felicia Dorothea Hemans (25 September 1793 – 16 May 1835) was an English poet. Two of her opening lines, “The boy stood on the burning deck” and “The stately homes of England”, have acquired classic status. Her poetry was considered morally exemplary, and
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Garland for Queens, may be Garland for Queens, may be–Laurels– for rare degreeOf soul or sword.Ah– but remembering me–Ah– but remembering thee–Nature in chivalry–Nature in charity–Nature in equity–This Rose ordained! —Emily Dickinson (1830-1886; written 1858, first published 1945) Only seven of her poems were published in her life time. None were titled, thus the titles are
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Died this day in the year 1921, Austin Dobson. Huh. He was an engineer. “In December 1856 he entered the Board of Trade, gradually rising to the rank of principal in the harbour department, from which he retired in the autumn of 1901.” From that infallible source: His official career was uneventful, but as a poet
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Didacticism “Many will understand henceforward that when the old poets made some virtue their theme they were not teaching but adoring, and that what we take for the didactic is often the enchanted. –C.S. Lewis, A Preface to “Paradise Lost,” Dedication
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I found myself sitting on the foyer floor looking at a bookshelf. It’s an odd collection– grouped more for what it looks like than for true content. Except for the art books. All of the crappy old art books that are not those which Daughter C left in the Apartment are on these shelves. Heck–
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Today in the year 1822 Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned. Whoa buddy. That infallible source does not disappoint today. Here’s the skinny from the first paragraph: Percy Bysshe Shelley (/bɪʃ/ (listen) BISH;[1][2] 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was one of the major EnglishRomantic poets, widely regarded as one of the greatest lyric and philosophical poets in the English language.[3] A radical in his poetry as
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Now this is interesting. Edwin Markham was born in Oregon City, Oregon, and was the youngest of 10 children; his parents divorced shortly after his birth. that infallible source First of all, he was born in 1852. How common was divorce is 1852? A quick tour of the internet suggests five percent of marriages ended in
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Today in 1816, J.G. Saxe was born. Today in 1840, Thomas Hardy was born. My goodness! That infallible source really comes through for us today and that is not snark. John Godfrey Saxe I (June 2, 1816 – March 31, 1887) was an American poet known for his re-telling of the Indian parable “The Blind Men and the Elephant“,[1] which
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Today we turn the page. All the best experiences of humanity, folded, saved, freighted to us here! Some of these tiny ships we call Old and New Testaments, Homer, Æschylus, Plato, Juvenal, etc. Precious Minims! — Walt Whitman Born this day in 1779, Thomas Moore. Upon Byron’s death, Moore acquired all of Byron’s notes and
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Born this day in 1799, Thomas Hood. An English social protest poet, though one mention I came across yesterday (when I began this) said he wasn’t political. Can’t remember which one. Daily Readings May 23 “Flowers“ “I Remember, I remember“ “The Song of the Shirt“ “The Bridge of Sighs“ “The Dream of Eugene Aram“ “The
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On this day in 1828, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was born. Something a bit different and more up Daughter C’s alley than mine, but I’ll give it a go. DISPLAY CAPTION This work was executed while Rossetti and other artists were decorating the Oxford Union with medievalist murals. In Oxford, Rossetti saw Jane Burden, later Mrs
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If I were the curious sort, I would research how well Lowell fares in English Literature Class today. Thank God I have no curiosity this fine day. Daily Readings May 2nd Lowell’s “To the Dandelion“ Lamb’s “A Farewell to Tobacco“ “She is Going“ “To the Dandelion” (James Russell Lowell) comes to us from Volume XIV
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On this day in 1841, E.R. Sill was born. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, “He was a modest and charming man, a graceful essayist, a sure critic. His contribution to American poetry is small but of fine quality. His best poems, such as The Venus of Milo, The Fool’s Prayer and Opportunity, gave him a high place among the
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On this day in 1917 the French celebrated United States Day. [FYI. From that infallible source: “Frog (pejorative), ethnic slur for French or French-Canadian people.” See also this.] Sidebar– though not in the GDR, Kant was born on this day in 1724, and I found my little orange notebook– had apparently used it as a
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[Updated ever so slightly. There were two more readings on the next page.] Born this day in 1770, William Wordsworth. Daily Readings: Landor’s “To Wordsworth” (Can’t find it. Here’s Landor’s bio. “To the Cuckoo” “Daffodils” “Tintern Abbey“ “Lucy Gray” Arnold’s “Memorial verses” Daffodils [I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud] I wander’d lonely as a cloud
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