CHINESE GIRL
1950
Vladimir Tretchikoff
1913-2006
Nationality - Russian
-o0o-
THE FAITHFUL SWALLOW
When summer shone
Its sweetest on
An August day,
"Here evermore,"
I said, "I'll stay;
Not go away
To another shore
As fickle they!"
December came:
'Twas not the same!
I did not know
Fidelity
Would serve me so.
Frost, hunger, snow;
And now, ah me,
Too late to go!
-o0o-
I LOOKED UP FROM MY WRITING
I looked up from my writing,
And gave a start to see,
As if rapt in my inditing,
The moon's full gaze on me.
Her meditative misty head
Was spectral in its air,
And I involuntarily said,
"What are you doing there?"
"Oh, I've been scanning pond and hole
And waterway hereabout
For the body of one with a sunken soul
Who has put his life-light out.
"Did you hear his frenzied tattle?
It was sorrow for his son
Who is slain in brutish battle,
Though he has injured none.
"And now I am curious to look
Into the blinkered mind
Of one who wants to write a book
In a world of such a kind."
Her temper overwrought me,
And I edged to shun her view,
For I felt assured she thought me
One who should drown him too.
-o0o-
A STROLL ON THE BEACH
1896
Michael Ancher
1849-1927
Nationality - Danish
-o0o-
SOLILOQUY OF A MAIDEN AUNT
Dollie Radford
1858-1920
The ladies bow, and partners set,
And turn around and pirouette
And trip the Lancers.
But no one seeks my ample chair,
Or asks me with persuasive air
To join the dancers.
They greet me, as I sit alone
Upon my solitary throne,
And pass politely.
Yet mine could keep the measured beat,
As surely as the youngest feet,
And tread as lightly.
No other maiden had my skill
In our old homestead on the hill -
That merry Maytime.
When Allan closed the flagging ball,
And danced with me before them all,
Until the daytime.
Again I laugh, and step alone,
And curtsey low as on my own
His strong hand closes.
But Allan now seeks staid delight,
His son there, brought my niece tonight
These early roses.
Time orders well, we have our Spring,
Our songs, our Mayflower gathering,
Our love and laughter.
And children chatter all the while,
And leap the brook and climb the stile
And follow after.
And yet - the step of Allan's son
Is not as light as was the one
That went before it.
And that old lace, I think, falls down
Less softly on Priscilla's gown
Than when I wore it.
-o0o-
Two Photos of
NIAGARA FALLS
completely frozen over in
1911
-o0o-
QUOTES FROM THE WISE AND THE WITTY
Alexander Pope - He who tells a lie is not sensible of how great a task he undertakes; for he must be forced to invent twenty more to maintain that one.
Lily Tomlin - For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.
Audrey Hepburn - The best thing to hold on to in life is each other.
Lennon and McCartney - All you need is love.
-o0o-
LADY LILITH
1867
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1828-82
Nationality - British
Lady Lilith is described in Judaic literature as the first wife of Adam. She is associated with the seduction of men and the murder of children.
-o0o-
UPDATED EVERY FRIDAY
-o=0=o-
Three Poems by Thomas Hardy
THE FAITHFUL SWALLOW
When summer shone
Its sweetest on
An August day,
"Here evermore,"
I said, "I'll stay;
Not go away
To another shore
As fickle they!"
December came:
'Twas not the same!
I did not know
Fidelity
Would serve me so.
Frost, hunger, snow;
And now, ah me,
Too late to go!
-o0o-
I LOOKED UP FROM MY WRITING
I looked up from my writing,
And gave a start to see,
As if rapt in my inditing,
The moon's full gaze on me.
Her meditative misty head
Was spectral in its air,
And I involuntarily said,
"What are you doing there?"
"Oh, I've been scanning pond and hole
And waterway hereabout
For the body of one with a sunken soul
Who has put his life-light out.
"Did you hear his frenzied tattle?
It was sorrow for his son
Who is slain in brutish battle,
Though he has injured none.
"And now I am curious to look
Into the blinkered mind
Of one who wants to write a book
In a world of such a kind."
Her temper overwrought me,
And I edged to shun her view,
For I felt assured she thought me
One who should drown him too.
-o0o-
A NIGHT IN NOVEMBER
I marked when the weather changed,
I marked when the weather changed,
And the panes began to quake,
And the winds rose up and ranged,
That night, lying half-awake.
And the winds rose up and ranged,
That night, lying half-awake.
Dead leaves blew into my room,
And alighted upon my bed,
And a tree declared to the gloom
Its sorrow that they were shed.
One leaf of them touched my hand,
And I thought that it was you
There stood as you used to stand,
And saying at last you knew!
-o0o-
A STROLL ON THE BEACH
1896
Michael Ancher
1849-1927
Nationality - Danish
-o0o-
SOLILOQUY OF A MAIDEN AUNT
Dollie Radford
1858-1920
The ladies bow, and partners set,
And turn around and pirouette
And trip the Lancers.
But no one seeks my ample chair,
Or asks me with persuasive air
To join the dancers.
They greet me, as I sit alone
Upon my solitary throne,
And pass politely.
Yet mine could keep the measured beat,
As surely as the youngest feet,
And tread as lightly.
No other maiden had my skill
In our old homestead on the hill -
That merry Maytime.
When Allan closed the flagging ball,
And danced with me before them all,
Until the daytime.
Again I laugh, and step alone,
And curtsey low as on my own
His strong hand closes.
But Allan now seeks staid delight,
His son there, brought my niece tonight
These early roses.
Time orders well, we have our Spring,
Our songs, our Mayflower gathering,
Our love and laughter.
And children chatter all the while,
And leap the brook and climb the stile
And follow after.
And yet - the step of Allan's son
Is not as light as was the one
That went before it.
And that old lace, I think, falls down
Less softly on Priscilla's gown
Than when I wore it.
-o0o-
Two Photos of
NIAGARA FALLS
completely frozen over in
1911
-o0o-
Alexander Pope - He who tells a lie is not sensible of how great a task he undertakes; for he must be forced to invent twenty more to maintain that one.
Lily Tomlin - For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.
Audrey Hepburn - The best thing to hold on to in life is each other.
Lennon and McCartney - All you need is love.
-o0o-
LADY LILITH
1867
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1828-82
Nationality - British
Lady Lilith is described in Judaic literature as the first wife of Adam. She is associated with the seduction of men and the murder of children.
-o0o-
UPDATED EVERY FRIDAY
-o=0=o-
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