Marvell's Home
But at my back I alwaies hear
Times winged Charriot hurrying near
General Quotation of the Day
Friday, June 26, 2009
Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.
— Robert Orben
Literary Quotation
Friday, June 26, 2009
by Richard Jones
In the desert, a traveler
returning to his family
is surprised
by a wild beast.
To save himself
from the fierce animal,
he leaps into a deep well
empty of water.
But at the bottom
is a dragon, waiting
with open mouth
to devour him.
The unhappy man,
not daring to go out
lest he should be
the prey of the beast,
not daring to jump
to the bottom
lest he should be
devoured by the dragon,
clings to the branch
of a bush growing
in the cracks of the well.
Hanging upon the bough,
he feels his hands
weaken, yet still
he clings, afraid
of his certain fate.
Then he sees two mice,
one white, the other black,
moving about the bush,
gnawing the roots.
The traveler sees this
and knows that he must
inevitably perish, that he will
never see his sons again.
But while thus hanging
he looks about and sees
on the leaves of the bush
some drops of honey.
These leaves
he reaches with his tongue
and licks the honey off,
with rapture.
“Rapture” by Richard Jones, from The Blessing: New and Selected Poems.
© Copper Canyon Press, 2000.
Pictorial Selection
June 24, 2009
Sun and Shadow
A picture taken years ago by my Beloved Babs with her old Nikon n65. She also developed the print, as she did most of her pictures taken back then.
Some of those are posted on my gallery page, here.
Looking out into the bright sunlit barnyard.
Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day
The Word of the Day for July 02, 2009 is:
abject • \AB-jekt\ • adjective
1 : sunk to or existing in a low state or condition
*2 : very low in spirit or hope : wretched
3 : expressing or offered in a humble and often ingratiating spirit
Felix’s Example Sentence:
The abject apologies of public figures ring false when their calculation of political damage control is obvious.
Did you know?
“Abject” comes from “abjectus,” the past participle of the Latin verb “abicere,” meaning “to cast off.” Its original meaning in English was “cast off” or “rejected,” but it is now used to refer more broadly to things in a low state or condition. “Abject” shares with “mean,” “ignoble,” and “sordid” the sense of being below the normal standards of human decency and dignity. “Abject” may imply degradation, debasement, or servility (”abject poverty”). “Mean” suggests having such repellent characteristics as small-mindedness, ill temper, or cupidity (”mean and petty satire”). “Ignoble” suggests a loss or lack of some essential high quality of mind or spirit (”an ignoble scramble after material possessions”). “Sordid” is stronger than all of these in stressing physical or spiritual degradation and lowness (”a sordid story of murder and revenge”).
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
Music Pick
June 15, 2009
Sarah Jarosz
Just graduated from high school, this young singer/songwriter is releasing her first CD this week. Enjoy
