I've had a stainless steel exhaust put on the old Celica today,
Cor Blimey! It sounds like a proper boy-racer's car now!

Soul's Beauty
Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Under the arch of Life, where love and death,
Terror and mystery, guard her shrine, I saw
Beauty enthroned; and though her gaze struck awe,
I drew it in as simply as my breath.
Hers are the eyes which, over and beneath,
The sky and sea bend on thee, - which can draw,
By sea or sky or woman, to one law,
The allotted bondman of her palm and wreath.

This is that Lady Beauty, in whose praise
Thy voice and hand shake still, - long known to thee
By flying hair and fluttering hem, - the beat
Following her daily of thy heart and feet,
How passionately and irretrievably,
In what fond flight, how many ways and days!

To----
Percy Bysshe Shelley

One word is too often profaned
For me to profane it;
One feeling too falsely disdained
For thee to disdain it;
One hope is too like despair
For prudence to smother;
And pity from thee more dear
Than that from another.

I can give not what men call love;
But wilt thou accept not
The worship the heart lifts above
And the heavens reject not, -
The desire of the moth for the star,
Of the night for the morrow,
The devotion to something afar
From the sphere of our sorrow?

I met Col down at the pub on Friday dinnertime. Hadn't seen him for ages. Sad to say, he has really gone downhill recently. The fact is that he just can't hold his liquor! (He has always suffered with a perforated base.) I tried to take his mind off his troubles by suggesting he take up beer-mat collecting. I started him off with these... 

Speak!
William Wordsworth

WHY art thou silent! Is thy love a plant
   Of such weak fibre that the treacherous air
   Of absence withers what was once so fair?
Is there no debt to pay, no boon to grant?
Yet have my thoughts for thee been vigilant--
   Bound to thy service with unceasing care,
The mind's least generous wish a mendicant
   For nought but what thy happiness could spare.
Speak--though this soft warm heart, once free to hold
   A thousand tender pleasures, thine and mine,
Be left more desolate, more dreary cold
   Than a forsaken bird's-nest filled with snow
   'Mid its own bush of leafless eglantine--
   Speak, that my torturing doubts their end may know!

Superman, Supercar?
-------------------------
At Number One, is the true petrolhead,
Too classy to buy a Ferrari in red.
Perhaps Number Two, midlife crises thing,
With the need to experience a certain fizzing,
At Three is the, selfmade millowner 'up north',
Who needs a sleek Aston to go back and forth.
At Four there's the popstars and those who kick balls,
Who need to off-load as the share index falls.
At Five are the rest, all loaded, some ginger,
Even buying the classics their fortunes dont injure.

You'll be glad to know, I think you're number one,
And/or possibly two, (that's my brownie points gone!).
Still, a man of discernment, and yet you like toys,
Are supercars for men then, or Peter Pan boys?
James the answers you want, you have had all along,
You're just enjoying reading, the views of the throng!
So, please, end the debate by telling us why
If the supercar is pointless then, why did you buy?

As a joke someone hid Aleksandr's clothes while he went skinny-dipping.

Here he is, trying hard to look nonchalant, whilst preserving his modesty!

I may be absolutely barmy, but am taking the inclusion of my name in the Telegraph, as balm to soothe the former hurt.
All is well with the world once more. x

"100 per cent chance of life' on Earth-like planet
called Gliese 581g found 20 light years away."
Ooh er! Can you believe it?

Suspiria
Anon

O would I were where I would be!
There would I be where I am not:
For where I am would I not be
And where I would be I can not.

Come Share
(Mine)

I need to recall memories of when I was young,
As I listen to how much my ageing mother has forgotten,
Remembering growing up in a countryside idyll,
Picking cowslips in a dress of gingham cotton.

Aged five, I saw a dragonfly, a monster of the air,
With a wooden rake I made the iridescent sheaves of hay,
One day the front field flooded, so I paddled in the sea,
There were hours and hours and hours to every day.

Playing the kazoo in the Sunday School procession,
Following the village band, sun glinting off the brass,
Proud I was to sing, with my father in the choir,
Weaving round the maypole, egg sandwich picnics on cropped grass.

Singing 'Mary's Boy Child' for a close friend of my gran',
Getting sixpence for it, a fortune to me, thank you,
Wind howling down the hillside, snow drifts heralding, 'no school',
Making ice caves, going sledging, going home soaked through.

Given a ride on a huge charger, a dappled, white horse,
So momentous, his 'Shining Tanner' name I still recall,
Meadow Avenue, still fronted by a wavy field of green,
Playing house, swinging on joists as new buildings rose, tall.

Hanging upside down from the bars on the local 'rec',
Biking miles and miles through limestone dales, alone,
'Telecommunication', the word picked for charades at school!
Good Heavens! That's what I thought!
Thank goodness I am grown.

So Mother, please dont worry, share my memories with me,

As yours fade, I have enough for both of us, you know,

You were always there, contained, and waiting patiently for me,

That's why the bond will never break, and I will always love you so.

I envy anyone who is 'in love' today.
Also, anyone who doesn't have to go to work in the morning!

The Bargain
Sir Philip Sidney

MY true love hath my heart, and I have his,
By just exchange one for another given:
I hold his dear, and mine he cannot miss,
There never was a better bargain driven:
My true love hath my heart, and I have his.

His heart in me keeps him and me in one,
My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides:
He loves my heart, for once it was his own,
I cherish his because in me it bides:
My true love hath my heart, and I have his.

A Divine Rapture
Francis Quarles

E'EN like two little bank-dividing brooks,
That wash the pebbles with their wanton streams,
And having ranged and search'd a thousand nooks,
Meet both at length in silver-breasted Thames,
Where in a greater current they conjoin:
So I my Best-beloved's am; so He is mine.

E'en so we met; and after long pursuit,
E'en so we joined; we both became entire;
No need for either to renew a suit,
For I was flax, and He was flames of fire:
Our firm-united souls did more than twine;
So I my Best-beloved's am; so He is mine.

If all those glittering Monarchs, that command
The servile quarters of this earthly ball,
Should tender in exchange their shares of land,
I would not change my fortunes for them all:
Their wealth is but a counter to my coin:
The world 's but theirs; but my Beloved's mine.

To Ladies of a Certain Age (part only)
John Trumbull

Contented tread the vale of years,
Devoid of malice, guilt and fears;
Let soft good humour, mildly gay,
Gild the calm evening of your day,
And virtue, cheerful and serene,
In every word and act be seen.
Virtue alone with lasting grace,
Embalms the beauties of the face,
Instructs the speaking eye to glow,
Illumes the cheek and smooths the brow,
Bids every look the heart engage,
Nor fears the wane of wasting age.

A White Rose
John Boyle O'Reilly

THE red rose whispers of passion,
And the white rose breathes of love;
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.

But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips;
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips

Against Indifference
Charles Webbe

More love or more disdain I crave,
Sweet, be not still indifferent:
O send me quickly to my grave,
Or else afford me more content!
Or love or hate me more or less,
For love abhors all lukewarmness.

Give me a tempest if 'twill drive
Me to the place where I would be;
Or if you'll have me still alive,
Confess you will be kind to me.
Give hopes of bliss or dig my grave:
More love or more disdain I crave.

Finis
Walter Savage Landor

I strove with none, for none was worth my strife.
Nature I loved and, next to Nature, Art:
I warm'd both hands before the fire of Life;
It sinks, and I am ready to depart.

Kiss my 911 x

Ah! it was a goodbye kiss x.

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Hebridean holiday
"Tha gaol agam ort."

Desolate moonscape grabs my heart,
matching my mood. It starts
to rain, the mist descending on
stark, bare mountains, hidden, pretending
they don't exist.
Breaking sun insists
they stand their ground to the eagle's sound,
reflected in lochs, so still, as if ancient glaciers fill,
my heart, lifted by a lamb's faint cry,
and a hint of a blue Hebridean sky.

Mine
 

The Parting
Michael Drayton

SINCE there 's no help, come let us kiss and part--
Nay, I have done, you get no more of me;
And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart,
That thus so cleanly I myself can free.
Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,
And when we meet at any time again,
Be it not seen in either of our brows
That we one jot of former love retain.
Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath,
When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies,
When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death,
And Innocence is closing up his eyes,
--Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,
From death to life thou might'st him yet recover.

The Mill
William Allingham

Two leaps the water from it's race
Made to the brook below;
The first leap it was curving glass,
The second bounding snow.

I've just listened to the rest of the Airbus cd,


Moonlight -  The 'Moonlight' sonata does nothing for me but other pieces ooh, they so do! I think that here James, although meaning well, you might have undone all the good work, built up in the rest of the book. You see, even if the tasks you have formerly set, aren't actually performed by your pupils, they could, at a pinch pretend to have done them having recalled your instructions, However, stick a bloke at a party, in front of the woman of his dreams and have him attempt to play this soulful piece? I'm sorry love, that would be on a par with him imbibing a bucketload of booze and then attempting the kareoke rendition of
 'I Wanna Know What Love Is'. x

p.s. I wish you every success with this new outpouring. As for making men more manly...
flogging a dead horse there mister!

Invictus
William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Not Drowning

You helped me - I was drowning,
in dark waters of despair.
Panicking, floundering,
How did I get there?
I looked at my reflection in the beguiling pool,
Could that be me, pathetic clown, narcissistic fool?
You helped me - threw a lifeline,
and dragged me up and up.
You cared enough to save me,
passed the loving cup.
So I'm forever grateful,
to you, the one who found me,
For your love, I strive to breathe,
when, the waters now surround me.

Mine

I gave you my favourite word, so I think that
I should also give you the one that I dislike the most.
It's CAVEAT. It's a thug of a word, blunt and unmelodic.
Reminds me too much of cadaver, too!
     - postscript - Wrote the above before listening to Airbus.
How many times did you mention that damn word on your CD!

To See a World in a Grain of Sand
William Blake

To See a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

Love is enough
William Morris

LOVE is enough: though the World be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds pass'd over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.

William Morris

Meet Sahara, who's interests are poetry and James May. Honestly!

Would like to meet, strong, intelligent, male gerbil, capable of annihilating

a toilet roll inner, in less than 60 seconds. x

To Oenone
Robert Herrick

WHAT conscience, say, is it in thee,
When I a heart had one,
To take away that heart from me,
And to retain thy own?

For shame or pity now incline
To play a loving part;
Either to send me kindly thine,
Or give me back my heart.

Covet not both; but if thou dost
Resolve to part with neither,
Why, yet to show that thou art just,
Take me and mine together!

To Night
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Swiftly walk o'er the western wave,
Spirit of Night!
Out of the misty eastern cave,
Where, all the long and lone daylight,
Thou wovest dreams of joy and fear,
Which make thee terrible and dear, --
Swift be thy flight!

Wrap thy form in a mantle gray,
Star-inwrought!
Blind with thine hair the eyes of Day;
Kiss her until she be wearied out,
Then wander o'er city, and sea, and land,
Touching all with thine opiate wand --
Come, long-sought!

When I arose and saw the dawn,
I sighed for thee;
When light rode high, and the dew was gone,
And noon lay heavy on flower and tree,
And the weary Day turned to his rest,
Lingering like an unloved guest,
I sighed for thee.

Thy brother Death came, and cried,
Wouldst thou me?
Thy sweet child Sleep, the filmy-eyed,
Murmured like a noontide bee,
Shall I nestle near thy side?
Wouldst thou me? -- And I replied,
No, not thee!

Death will come when thou art dead,
Soon, too soon --
Sleep will come when thou art fled;
Of neither would I ask the boon
I ask of thee, belovèd Night --
Swift be thine approaching flight,
Come soon, soon!

There are no words.
postscript - found some words...
"Evil often triumphs, but never conquers."

"Never make a defence or an apology
until you are accused." King Charles I

It seems that I have to apologise,
You're not as tight as... a duck's derriere,
And suggesting that someone was meaning that,
Was definitely, not at all, fair!

If it's not flippin' health and safety,
It's that other most annoying lady 'Sue',
Who, if you unintentionally cross her,
Is quite prepared to crucify you.

Ah! The Cub, so you're actually getting rid (hooray, oops!)
What a shame, it's such an interesting topic!
Just kidding! Well, about you being mean, James.
Knew your middle names were really Phil - an'-Thropic.

Elaine x

To Music, to becalm his Fever.
Robert Herrick

Charm me asleep, and melt me so
With thy delicious numbers;
That being ravish'd, hence I go
Away in easy slumbers.
Ease my sick head,
And make my bed,
Thou Power that canst sever
From me this ill;--
And quickly still,
Though thou not kill
My fever.

Thou sweetly canst convert the same
From a consuming fire,
Into a gentle-licking flame,
And make it thus expire.
Then make me weep
My pains asleep,
And give me such reposes,
That I, poor I,
May think, thereby,
I live and die
'Mongst roses.

Fall on me like a silent dew,
Or like those maiden showers,
Which, by the peep of day, do strew
A baptism o'er the flowers.
Melt, melt my pains
With thy soft strains;
That having ease me given,
With full delight,
I leave this light,
And take my flight
For Heaven.

To Music
Robert Herrick

Begin to charm, and as thou strok'st mine ears
With thine enchantment, melt me into tears.
Then let thy active hand scud o'er thy lyre,
And make my spirits frantic with the fire;
That done, sink down into a silvery strain,
And make me smooth as balm and oil again.

Favourite word at the moment, 'HAPPENSTANCE'.
First noted in the poem, Interlude by Felix Dennis and sure that I heard James use it in one of his many interviews last week.

My daughter, Jess, is off to America in the morning,
so I'm babysitting gerbils!

70 years   At 4:56pm on 7 September 1940, the air raid sirens wailed as the German Air Force, the luftwaffe, launched a massive raid on London. Over 350 bombers flew across the Channel from airfields in France and dropped 300 tonnes of bombs on the docks and streets of the East End of London.

Song
William Browne

For her gait, if she be walking;
Be she sitting, I desire her
For her state's sake; and admire her
For her wit if she be talking;
Gait and state and wit approve her;
For which all and each I love her.

Be she sullen, I commend her
For a modest. Be she merry,
For a kind one her prefer I.
Briefly, everything doth lend her
So much grace, and so approve her,
That for everything I love her.

A poem as promised - (Lordy! The unveiling of The Stig is a totally boring subject!)

The Man Who Sucked Ducks!...or
Much Ado About Nothing
---------------------------------------
Everyone remembers, Armstrong and Aldrin,
Stepping down onto the moon,
But who recalls Columbia's Mike Collins,
Alone up there, facing his private 'High Noon'?

And now there's another such Collins,
Who came out and said, "I'm The Stig",
And the whole world was heard to say, "Bothered!",
Same as, if James had said, he is wearing a wig!

Now some say that The Stig sucks the moisture from ducks,
And allegedly has a webbed bum,
You'll be telling me next that my Santa's not real,
And like Stig ain't believed in by some.

Not content to be a superhero,
An unfathomable legend in white,
Who drove supercars, and taught superstars,
to drive fast. He wanted to... write?

So like Dr Who, he will morph now,
And maybe his book will be big,
Perhaps in the future, all that we'll know is
For certain, he once was, The Stig.

Elaine x

Up at six for a trip to London - seen the man - seen the city - just got back  - ten thirty.

The Moon is Up
Alfred Noyes

The moon is up, the stars are bright.
the wind is fresh and free!
We're out to seek the gold tonight
across the silver sea!
The world is growing grey and old:
break out the sails again!
We're out to see a Realm of Gold
beyond the Spanish Main.

We're sick of all the cringing knees,
the courtly smiles and lies
God, let Thy singing channel breeze
lighten our hearts and eyes!
Let love no more be bought and sold
for earthly loss or gain;
We're out to seek an Age of Gold
beyond the Spanish Main.

Beyond the light of far Cathay,
beyond all mortal dreams,
Beyond the reach of night and day
Our El Dorado gleams,
Revealing - as the skies unfold -
A star without a stain,
The Glory of the Gates of Gold
beyond the Spanish Main.

The James May Thinking and Drinking Gentlemen's Club.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you're posh it's a modern-day gentlemen's club,
If you're not it's an, 'everything blokey', themed pub.
Oh yes it's Nirvana, a haven for men,
Gathering like ten year olds, building a den.
All of your interests will be catered for,
No Sir! It ain't Soho, you have the wrong door!
Hate DIY? You can practise it here,
Learn tiling and grouting whilst quaffing a beer.
There's chainsaws and powersaws, but please use them early,
As after a few beers the room goes all twirly.
There's James who can help if you need a mechanic,
If your car sets on fire there's no need to panic,
Colin is teaching him basic firefighting,
Want to get published? He's quite good at writing.
You can be one of five when a light bulb needs changing,
Or cushions or beer bottles need rearranging
Fix a tap washer? They will show you how,
There's more than just plumbing, like, milking a cow!
For the addicts a darkened room, austere and smelly,
Set aside if you HAVE to watch football on tele.
You'll learn lots of skills, be a Jack of all trades,
From splitting the atom to making lampshades.
Once you have entered the gentlemen's club,
You'll never again want to visit the pub!
They have whisky stills and they brew their own beer,
If you ask for a cocktail, you're out on your ear!
Well, what do you think? Do you fancy a dabble?
Can you see yourself joining this MEN ONLY rabble?
They'll be there for you, least that's till they're too drunk,
Then who cares about getting your screw countersunk!

He'd ask you himself, our leader, James May,
But his Woman wont let him play out late today!

Bad Women
Anon

Oh, the gladness of a woman when she's glad,
And oh the sadness of a woman when she's sad!
But the gladness of her gladness
And the sadness of her sadness
Are as nothing to her badness when she's bad!

Richard Cory
Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good Morning!" and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich, yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine -- we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without the meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head.

Feeling a bit naughty today!

Shakespeare

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head
To work my mind, when body's work's expired:
For then my thoughts--from far where I abide--
Intend a zealous pilgrimage to thee,
And keep my drooping eyelids open wide,
Looking on darkness which the blind do see:
Save that my soul's imaginary sight
Presents thy shadow to my sightless view,
Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night,
Makes black night beauteous, and her old face new.
Lo! thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.

Desire
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Where true Love burns Desire is Love's pure flame ;
It is the reflex of our earthly frame,
That takes its meaning from the nobler part,
And but translates the language of the heart.

Song.  Earl of Rochester

Leave this gaudy guilded stage,
From custom more than use frequented,
Where fools of either sex and age
Crowd to see themselves presented.


To Love's theatre, the bed,
Youth and beauty fly together,
And act so well it may be said
The laurel there was due to either.

Twixt strifes of love and war, the difference lies in this:
When neither overcomes, love's triumph greater is.

Wow! It's not raining this morning.
The sun is actually shining.

Carpe Diem
Robert Frost

Age saw two quiet children
Go loving by at twilight,
He knew not whether homeward,
Or outward from the village,
Or (chimes were ringing) churchward,
He waited, (they were strangers)
Till they were out of hearing
To bid them both be happy.
'Be happy, happy, happy,
And seize the day of pleasure.'
The age-long theme is Age's.
'Twas Age imposed on poems
Their gather-roses burden
To warn against the danger
That overtaken lovers
From being overflooded
With happiness should have it.
And yet not know they have it.
But bid life seize the present?
It lives less in the present
Than in the future always,
And less in both together
Than in the past. The present
Is too much for the senses,
Too crowding, too confusing-
Too present to imagine.