The Infinite
Giacomo Leopardi

I always loved this solitary hill,
This ledge as well, which takes so large a share
Of the far-flung horizon from my view;
But seated here, in contemplation lost,
My thought discovers vaster space beyond,
Supernal silence and unfathomed peace;
Almost I am afraid; then, since I hear
The murmur of the wind among the leaves,
I match that infinite calm unto this sound
And with my mind embrace eternity,
The vivid, speaking present and dead past;
In such immensity my spirit drowns,
And sweet to me is shipwreck in this sea.

Congratulations to James and Top Gear on their National TV award.

Sorry James,

On the loss of Fusker
------------------------
Tiger bright

whiskers white
velvet paws
unsheathed claws
tongue-washed clean
obsidian sheen.
Mischievous lad
not all bad.
Tuxedo smart
grabbed a heart.
Of the night,

Bye, tiger bright.
---------------------------

Thought I'd bring this back up.

Ode to Fusker May
------------------
"There are two means of refuge from the
miseries of life: music and cats." - Albert Schweitzer

Calling Fusker May, did you know that here today,
Your person just called you a rubbish cat?
Well I thought he had good manners
And was good at playing pianos,
Not to mention using spanners,
But I never thought I'd see him writing that!

Now he knows that you originate from Hammond,
But still a docile creature he expects,
So!, you borrowed the new car,
Well, you didn't take it far,
(Fifi still thinks you're a star), Don't worry puss 'cos nobody suspects!

Big Tom, you're trusty sidekick, has really got him fooled,
Opposite his office window, in that tree,
His wood pigeon disguise,
Gives him cover while he spies,
(Think He needs to test his eyes!),
When He's out, it's up to mischief you can be!

Have you heard about the calendar he's sorting?
He asked Them if They thought it was a goer,
What the Posters had to say
Was that they wanted Fusker May,
Want to see YOU on display,
On their list, poor Him, He came out SO much lower!

You're oh so handsome in your tux; he says you're like a loaf!
And that the only thing you're good at is the jumping!
It's just jealousy I'm thinking,
You can see it when he's blinking,
And you're driving him to drinking,
Take no notice puss, of him, just interrupt him when he's... writing his column.

Elaine x
on March 16, 2010

Love hath so long possessed me for his own

Dante Alighieri

Love hath so long possessed me for his own
And made his lordship so familiar
That he, who at first irked me, is now grown
Unto my heart as its best secrets are.
And thus, when he in such sore wise doth mar
My life that all its strength seems gone from it,
Mine inmost being then feels thoroughly quit
Of anguish, and all evil keeps afar.
Love also gathers to such power in me
That my sighs speak, each one a grievous thing,
Always soliciting
My lady's salutation piteously.
Whenever she beholds me, it is so,
Who is more sweet than any words can show.

Tonight's sunset vapour trails

Forbear , Sir Knight!
Felix Dennis

Forbear Sir Knight! You quest too late,
  (Alas, alack for thee);
No damsels in distress now wait
   On shining chivalry.

Your courtly love, your sword and spur
   Bound Guinevere to woe-
And we have learned to much prefer
   The dragon to his foe.

Ride on to lands where maidens cower
  And revel in their plight:
I am the mistress of this tower -
   I  am my own heart's knight.

The Last Performance
Thomas Hardy

"I am playing my oldest tunes," declared she,
"All the old tunes I know, -
Those I learnt ever so long ago."
- Why she should think just then she'd play them
Silence cloaks like snow.

When I returned from the town at nightfall
Notes continued to pour
As when I had left two hours before:
It's the very last time," she said in closing;
"From now I play no more."

A few morns onward found her fading,
And, as her life outflew,
I thought of her playing her tunes right through;
And I felt she had known of what was coming,
And wondered how she knew.

New Year's Resolutions
------------------------------
I'm giving up, I'm giving up,
but now I'm thinking, what?
A tot of spirits now and then
does not make me a sot!

I gave up smoking years ago,
and my word, was that hard.
I'd smoked my dears for many years,
my insides were well charred!

I'm keeping up the exercise,
so I can keep on treating
myself to yummy chocolate,
besides the salad eating!

So, what is left, oh no, not that,
I couldn't that forgo.
(A man in a tuxedo always raises my libido.)
So that I think, is definitely no!

Well that's it for another year
Giving up's not the solution.
As usual I'll ignore it all,
Yes, that's my resolution!

(Sonnet 30)
William Shakespeare

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancelled woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanished sight:
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoanèd moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

Childhood (part only)
Henry Vaughan

Why should men love
A wolf more than a lamb or dove?
Or choose hell-fire and brimstone streams
Before bright stars and God's own beams?
Who kisseth thorns will hurt his face,
But flowers do both refresh and grace,
And sweetly living - fie on men! -
Are, when dead, medicinal then;
If seeing much should make staid eyes,
And long experience should make wise,
Since all that age doth teach is ill,
Why should I not love childhood still?
Why, if I see a rock or shelf,
Shall I from thence cast down myself?
Or by complying with the world,
From the same precipice be hurled?
Those observations are but foul
Which make me wise to lose my soul.

Do I live the high life, or what!

Just been doing a bit of light reading about this area, (Nottinghamshire). I am fascinated to find that the chap, a 'giant of Municipal Engineering', who was responsible for the building of many important projects in the area, including Trent Bridge and my personal favourite, Papplewick Pumping Station, was named, (Ooh, I love this!)...
MARRIOTT OGLE TARBOTTON.
What a fantastic name!

          
           At Tea
           Thomas Hardy

THE kettle descants in a cosy drone,

And the young wife looks in her husband's face,

And then in her guest's, and shows in her own

Her sense that she fills an envied place;

And the visiting lady is all abloom,

And says there was never so sweet a room.

 

And the happy young housewife does not know

That the woman beside her was his first choice,

Till the fates ordained it could not be so....

Betraying nothing in look or voice

The guest sits smiling and sips her tea,

And he throws her a stray glance yearningly.

Love

Abraham Cowley
-----------------------------

I'll sing of heroes, and of kings,
In mighty numbers, mighty things.
Begin, my Muse! but lo! the strings
To my great song rebellious prove;
The strings will sound of naught but love.
-I broke them all, and put on new;
-'Tis this or nothing now will do.
"These sure," said I, "will me obey;
These sure heroic notes will play."
Straight I began with thundering Jove
And all th' immortal powers but Love.
Love smil'd, and from my enfeebled lyre
Came gentle airs, such as inspire
Melting love, and soft desire.--
Farewell, then, heroes! farewell, kings!
And mighty numbers, mighty things!
Love tunes my heart just to my strings.

Happy New Year!