There is sweet music here that softer falls
Than petals from blown roses on the grass,
Or night-dews on still waters between walls
Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass;
Music that gentler on the spirit lies
Than tir'd eyelids upon tir'd eyes;
Music that brings sweet sleep
Down from the blissful skies.
Here are cool mosses deep
And through the moss the ivies creep
And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.
~ From "The Lotos-eaters", Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)
[Photo: Tiffany Falls, Niagara Escarpment Ancaster]
"Happy Thanksgiving"
"We need time to dream, time to remember and time to reach the infinite. Time to be."
~ Gladys Taber (1889 - 1980) American writer, professor
[Photo: Courtesy Krista Schaus]
This is the weather the cuckoo likes and so do I;
When showers betumble the chestnut spikes and nestlings fly;
And little brown nightingale bills his best.
And they sit outside "The Traveller's Rest."
And maids come forth sprig ~ muslin drest
And citizens dream of the South and West,
and so do I.
~ Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928) English novelist, poet.
[Photo: The Village Green Cayuga, October, 2014]
Word Watching ~ Why we say it!
Canary. How did the inmate of a jail come to be called a 'canary'?
A person placed in jail was called a 'jail bird' because the bars of the jail were similar to the bars of a bird's cage. He was called a 'canary' because at one time English convicts sent to Australia arrived there dressed in yellow.
Calamity Jane. What is the origin of the name 'Calamity Jane'?
The original Calamity Jane, Mrs. Martha Burke, was a famous western character who said she got her name because she carried two guns and any man who trifled with her invited calamity.
Church Mouse. How did a 'church mouse' come to be the symbol of poverty--as in the expression, 'poor as a church mouse'?
There is no cupboard or larder in a church to produce crumbs for a mouse to feed upon.
~ Why Do We Say It? The Stories behind the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use, CASTLE BOOKS, 1985.
"...But I look up high to see only the light,
And never look down to see my shadow.
This is wisdom which man must learn."
~ Song of the Flower
~Kahlil Gibran, Tears and Laughter, 1949 The Philosophical Library, Inc.
English journalist, critic, poet, and lexicographer, SAMUEL JOHNSON*
"Andrew Millar, the bookseller who published Johnson's Dictionary, had great difficulty in extracting the copy for this work from the author. At last a messenger was dispatched to Millar with the final page. Upon the messenger's return Johnson asked, 'Well, what did he say?'
'Sir,' replied the messenger, 'he said, 'Thank God I have done with him'
'I am glad,' said Johnson, 'that he thanks God for anything.' "
"Dr. Johnson was taken to task by a lady who asked why he had defined 'pastern' as 'the knee of a horse' in his dictionary. She expected an elaborate defense. He replied, 'Ignorance, madam, pure ignorance.' "
[Johnson's dictionary took eleven years to complete.]
~ THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF Anecdotes, Clifton Fadiman, General Editor.
* (1709 - 1784)
