Where bay and river tranquil blend,And leafy hillsides rise,The spires of Providence ascendAgainst the ancient skies. Here centuried domes of shining goldSalute the morning’s glare,While slanting gables, odd and old,Are scatter’d here and there. And in the narrow winding waysThat climb o’er slope and crest,The magic of forgotten daysMay still be found to rest. A … Continue reading Poem – “Providence”
Lovecraft
Poem – “An American to Mother England”
England! My England! Can the surging seaThat lies between us tear my heart from thee?Can distant birth and distant dwelling drainTh’ ancestral blood that warms the loyal vein?Isle of my Fathers! hear the filial songOf him whose sources but to thee belong!World-conquering Mother! by thy mighty handWas carv’d from savage wilds my native land:Thy matchless … Continue reading Poem – “An American to Mother England”
Lovecraft at C365
Just posted another essay at Catholic365, this one about why Catholics should read H.P. Lovecraft: There is no question in my mind that Mr. H.P. Lovecraft is one of the great American writers. Certainly he is one of the most influential; there has hardly been a horror or science-fiction tale since that has not owed … Continue reading Lovecraft at C365
Two Completely Unrelated Things
Septuagesima Sunday, meaning we're now in pre-Lent and it's time to start settling our penances and easing off the things we're going to give up or cut back on. The other thing...well, I just find this funny:
Poem – “Halloween in a Suburb”
The steeples are white in the wild moonlight,And the trees have a silver glare;Past the chimneys high see the vampires fly,And the harpies of upper air,That flutter and laugh and stare. For the village dead to the moon outspreadNever shone in the sunset’s gleam,But grew out of the deep that the dead years keepWhere the … Continue reading Poem – “Halloween in a Suburb”
Poem-“October”
Mellow-faced, with eyes of faery, wistful clad in tinted leaves,See the brown October tarry by the golden rows of sheaves;Oak & acorn in his garland, fruit & wineskin in his hands,Mystic pilgrim from a far land down the road to farther lands. Softly treading, gently breathing, casting spells on wood & wold,Vines with purple clusters … Continue reading Poem-“October”
Thought of the Day: Most Important Authors
My preliminary picks for the five most important authors of the 20th Century: -J.R.R. Tolkien-Edgar Rice Burroughs-Agatha Christie-Raymond Chandler-H.P. Lovecraft (A case could be made for H.G. Wells, except that his most important works were almost all written at the tail-end of the 19th century)
Poetry: “Lines on General Robert E. Lee”
“Si veris magna paraturFama bonis, et si successu nuda remotoInspicitur virtus, quicquid laudamus in ulloMajorum, fortuna fuit.”—Lucan.Whilst martial echoes o’er the wave resound,And Europe’s gore incarnadines the ground;Today no foreign hero we bemoan,But count the glowing virtues of our own!Illustrious LEE! around whose honour’d nameEntwines a patriot’s and a Christian’s fame;With whose just praise admiring … Continue reading Poetry: “Lines on General Robert E. Lee”
When H.P. Lovecraft Met Samuel Johnson
Well, this is a find: it isn't often you encounter two of your favorite writers meeting face to face, especially when the one (supposedly) was born over a century after the other died. A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson is one of Mr. Lovecraft's earlier works (published in 1917, the same year as Dagon), in … Continue reading When H.P. Lovecraft Met Samuel Johnson
Flirty Lovecraft
Since it's still Shrove Tuesday, a bit of last-minute humor
Serpent's Den 