All Purls. No Swine.
I don't know if I'd want to adjudicate a competition for "most quoted man in English literature" between William Shakespeare and Samuel Johnson, but I thought I'd celebrate the 314th anniversary of the great man's birth with a few of his bon-mots. (Or should that be bons-mot? There is a rule about such things, but… Continue reading Happy Birthday, Dr. Johnson!
Nessun maggior dolore Che ricordarsi del tempo felice Ne la miseria--Dante Alighieri, The Inferno It's been translated six ways from Sunday over the years. A few examples: Oh! how grievous to relate Past joys, and tread again the paths of fate--tr. Henry Boyd, 1802 There is no greater pain than to recall a happy… Continue reading Unlike Francesca, I Always Remember the Happy Hours with Gladness
I'm piggybacking on a Ricochet post from today which has made it to the main feed and is--therefore--on the public Internet. It's a great post, and one which has generated considerable discussion. The meat of the post is a quote from the American Abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, as follows: I prefer to be true to myself,… Continue reading “I prefer to be true to myself….”
One of the favorite novelists of my youth, born Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, better known by his pen name, C.S. Forester, was born 124 years ago, on August 27, 1899. His best known works, the twelve-volume Horatio Hornblower series, probably aren't all that commonly in the wheelhouse of adolescent girls, but--thanks to my dad--I loved… Continue reading Ms. Midshipman Rightwingknitjob
August 26, 2023, is the 148th anniversary of the birth of John Buchan. Born in Perth in 1875, the son of a Free Church of Scotland minister and his wife, Buchan attended the University of Glasgow as a scholarship student, then moving on to Oxford where--according to Wikipedia (which can sometimes be trusted to get… Continue reading Celebrating John Buchan
There have been a few. Always hard to live with. On occasion, totally worth it. Sometimes, not: I offer this magnificent poem, courtesy of Douglas Murray's weekly column--Things Worth Remembering--on The Free Press: You said: “I’ll go to another country, go to another shore, find another city better than this one. Whatever I try to… Continue reading To All The Bulls In My Life Who’ve Taken Their China Shop With Them, Wherever They Go
Well, here's an oldie but goodie. I was reminded of it by a recent post on Ricochet about Euripides's play, Medea (speaking of oldies but goodies). That post has to do with the retelling of the story of the figure with her roots firmly in Greek mythology who marries Jason of Golden Fleece and Argonauts… Continue reading Revisiting “Patient Griselda,” 2023: Was She a Perfect Wife, or a Credulous Fool?
It's been eighty-four years since The Wizard of Oz opened at the Loews Capital Theater in New York City on August 17, 1939. It wasn't the first attempt to capitalize on the L. Frank Baum novel. In fact, by the time 1939 rolled around, there had been a Broadway musical and at least three silent… Continue reading “We’re off to see the wizard!”
She was born 121 years ago today, on August 16, 1902, the daughter of a British Army officer and a classically-trained musician. She grew up in Paris and London and--when her sickly brother was bed-bound in 1919--began to tell him stories set in Georgian (eighteenth century) England. Those stories were, with the encouragement of her… Continue reading Happy Birthday, Georgette Heyer: And Many Thanks
I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. What is the best way to handle disagreements? Between friends? Between foes? William Blake, eccentric and brilliant man, early Romantic Poet, Biblical scholar, anti-establishmentarian, advocate for the Free Love movement (who once asked his devoted wife Catherine if it would be alright… Continue reading William Blake: When Friends Fall Out