1. I am shamefully behindhand when it comes to the work of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki; so far Spirited Away is the only one I'd seen. A week or so ago, I took a step to remedying this by seeing Whisper of the Heart, an intensely charming, thoughtful little film about adolescent love blossoming … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Miyazaki, Shakespeare, and Lame Pulps
Lovecraft
Poem – “Nemesis”
Thro’ the ghoul-guarded gateways of slumber,Past the wan-moon’d abysses of night,I have liv’d o’er my lives without number,I have sounded all things with my sight;And I struggle and shriek ere the daybreak, being driven to madness with fright. I have whirl’d with the earth at the dawning,When the sky was a vaporous flame;I have seen … Continue reading Poem – “Nemesis”
Poem – “Christmas”
The cottage hearth beams warm and bright,The candles gaily glow;The stars emit a kinder lightAbove the drifted snow. Down from the sky a magic stealsTo glad the passing year,And belfries sing with joyous peals,For Christmastide is here!-H.P. Lovecraft
Poem – “October” (Repost)
Note: I posted this one about this time last year, but it is so fitting for the month that I think I'll make it an annual thing. 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 … Continue reading Poem – “October” (Repost)
Poem – “Background”
I never can be tied to raw, new things,For I first saw the light in an old town,Where from my window huddled roofs sloped downTo a quaint harbour rich with visionings.Streets with carved doorways where the sunset beamsFlooded old fanlights and small window-panes,And Georgian steeples topped with gilded vanes—These were the sights that shaped my … Continue reading Poem – “Background”
Poem – “Ode for July Fourth 1917”
As Columbia’s brave scions, in anger array’d,Once defy’d a proud monarch and built a new nation;’Gainst their brothers of Britain unsheath’d the sharp bladeThat hath ne’er met defeat nor endur’d desecration;So must we in this hourShow our valour and pow’r,And dispel the black perils that over us low’r:Whilst the sons of Britannia, no longer our … Continue reading Poem – “Ode for July Fourth 1917”
Poem – “Providence”
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”
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:
Serpent's Den 