My Blogomania Continues

I've started a blog to document my findings about my family history and such. Here it be!

www.historyofmeandmine.blogspot.com

Not much happening there yet, but I have lots and lots of info to update it with!

Amelia Jane Murray (1800-1896)

What lovely images.

A bithday present

My brother, Gabriel, brought me a rather lovely old copy of Emily Dickinson's poems for my 24th birthday last week. One of my big senior English projects in college for American Lit I was to do extensive research on her and her poetry, write a paper, and then take over a session of discussion/class time (all of this was bestowed upon me because the last couple of weeks of the class were going to be on Hawthorne, and Dr. Harris decided I already knew enough about him). Anyways, I love her and I loved doing the project.

Here's a poem that I love every time I read it. It's how I feel in the Fall (even though it says 'Summer').


XX

I TASTE a liquor never brewed,
From tankards scooped in pearl;
Not all the vats upon the Rhine
Yield such an alcohol!

Inebriate of air am I, 5
And debauchee of dew,
Reeling, through endless summer days,
From inns of molten blue.

When landlords turn the drunken bee
Out of the foxglove’s door, 10
When butterflies renounce their drams,
I shall but drink the more!

Till seraphs swing their snowy hats,
And saints to windows run,
To see the little tippler 15
Leaning against the sun!

Sigh No More

Serve God, love me, and mend
This is not the end
Lived unbruised we are friends
And I'm sorry
I'm sorry

Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
And you know me
And you know me

And man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing

Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment of the cry
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

*Mumford & Sons

What a great song, from a great album, by a great band. One of the rare times I've bought an album, with no notions of what it's like, and absolutely loved it the first time through. I had never heard of them at the time. I bought it based on their name, their album art, and the fact that their songs had names like, "Sigh No More" and "Thistles and Weeds." These reasons have proved to be good ones.

Amazingly enough, the people/person who broke into my car last week forgot to push eject on the cd player and left this album in my car, but they took the empty case (they left Frank Sinatra on purpose though, for some strange reason). Theirs is the music of the soul in transit from deep sadness to a golden opportunity to live - it isn't sad, but it isn't downright optimistic either. It is perfectly real life and honest. And beautiful. It is the moment when you've been crying for what seems like forever and just there at what is almost the end of the despair is the quavering breath and realization of "I'm getting ready to move on with my life now," as scary and exciting as that thought is. Thrilling. Terrifying. Wonderful.

Happy Birthday Sloshua!

Today is Sir Joshua Reynolds' birthday. I hope he isn't too upset about the whole "Pre-Raphaelites hating you' thing.

As much as I want to take up an offense for the P.R.B., I love his portraits of women. But I think it's my love of 18th Century decadence more than anything.