All Purls. No Swine.
"If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” — Rudyard Kipling In the days before it was fashionable for entire generations of people to believe that the world came into being on the day that they were born, and ended on the day that they died, and that it… Continue reading Regarding Stories
“I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.” — Lucy Maud Montgomery Eventually, quite boring, I expect. But I do understand the sentiment. Even though we’re sweltering here in the mid-90s at the moment, with humidity almost as high, and I’ve assumed my English “summer privilege,” which… Continue reading Summer Daze
The medieval ideal brought together two things which have no natural tendency to gravitate towards one another. It brought them together for that very reason. It taught humility and forbearance to the great warrior because everyone knew by experience how much he usually needed that lesson. It demanded valour of the urbane and modest man… Continue reading Chivalry as “Art” Rather Than “Nature”
Longfellow called it "Retribution" Though the mills of God grind slowly, Yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stands waiting, With exactness grinds he all. I've seen this play out more times than can could possibly be accounted for by chance. As someone else--Thomas Fuller, maybe--said: As virtue is its own reward, so… Continue reading On Karma
Into each life, some rain must fall. But not into ours. Our lives are where the garbage is delivered. — Jenny Today (June 10) is Jenny's birthday. And so I repost this, in her honor, and that of the occasion. Ever have one of those days, weeks, months, years, decades, when it seems as though… Continue reading Family Matters: On Life’s Vicissitudes
Commemorating the Battle of Belleau Wood, 102 years ago this month, and Sergeant Daniel Joseph Daly, who is credited with shouting these words to his men, just before charging the Germans. It is reputed that Daly was twice offered a commission, and that he responded, on both occasions, that he would “rather be an outstanding… Continue reading “Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?”
She’s the ultimate femme fatale. And it’s one of the oldest stories in the world. The Beautiful Lady Without Pity. (No, for those of you with only rudimentary French, the title doesn't mean The Beautiful Lady Who Never Says Thank You.) The subject of my second-favorite poem by John Keats, which was written in 1819, when Keats was… Continue reading La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Let’s face it, no one really knows exactly when (or even if) Queen Victoria uttered her famous line. Some say that it was in response to an indelicate joke told to Her Majesty and her ladies-in-waiting by a male equerry; others say that it was her reaction to a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. … Continue reading “We Are Not Amused”
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And… Continue reading Paean To A Plain Woman
And today, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Earl of Merioneth and Baron Greenwich, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Member of the Order of Merit, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order; upon whom had been conferred the Royal… Continue reading “Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor”