By a route obscure and lonely,Haunted by ill angels only,Where an Eidolon, named Night,On a black throne reigns upright,I have reached these lands but newlyFrom an ultimate dim Thule—From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime,Out of Space—out of Time. Bottomless vales and boundless floods,And chasms, and caves, and Titan woods,With forms that no man … Continue reading “Dream Land”
Poetry
Christmas Bells
(I used this poem as the basis for today's Catholic Match post. It seems especially fitting for this year, so I offer you the whole thing) I heard the bells on Christmas DayTheir old, familiar carols play, And wild and sweet The words repeatOf peace on earth, good-will to men! And thought how, as the day had … Continue reading Christmas Bells
The Bad Season Makes the Poet Sad
Dull to myself, and almost dead to theseMy many fresh and fragrant mistresses:Lost to all music now; since every thingPuts on the semblance here of sorrowing.Sick is the land to' th' heart; and doth endureMore dangerous faintings by her desp'rate cure.But if that golden age would come again,And Charles here rule, as he before did … Continue reading The Bad Season Makes the Poet Sad
Locksley Hall
I'm not writing on the election. What would be the point? There are enough people talking about it to satiate anyone's appetite for politics and predictions of victory by this side or the other. Right now, I just don't want to bother thinking about it. So today is a poetry day. Alfred Lord Tennyson Comrades, … Continue reading Locksley Hall
Norman and Saxon
(Posted this one before, but it seems timely. Everyone in a leadership position should be made to memorize this one) “MY son,” said the Norman Baron, “I am dying, and you will be heirTo all the broad acres in England that William gave me for my shareWhen we conquered the Saxon at Hastings, and a … Continue reading Norman and Saxon
Lepanto
White founts falling in the courts of the sun,And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard,It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips,For the inmost sea of all the earth … Continue reading Lepanto
Gunga Din at ‘The Everyman’
A new 'Everyman' post went up yesterday, talking about Rudyard Kipling's Gunga Din and what it reveals about both his perspective and ours: Now, you cannot think sense about morality unless you get this idea of principles clear, and you cannot get it clear until you can identify what is and is not an equivalent case. The … Continue reading Gunga Din at ‘The Everyman’
“Norman and Saxon”
“MY son,” said the Norman Baron, “I am dying, and you will be heir To all the broad acres in England that William gave me for my share When we conquered the Saxon at Hastings, and a nice little handful it is. But before you go over to rule it I want you to understand … Continue reading “Norman and Saxon”
Ballade of Moderns
(Meant to have a post today, but ran into last-minute problems with my coding project, so instead here's a Chesterton poem:) On deserts red and deserts grey The temples into sand have slid; Go search that splendour of decay To find the final secret hid In mummies' painted coffin-lid In hieroglyphs of hunt and play. … Continue reading Ballade of Moderns
“Mock On, Mock On, Voltaire, Rousseau”
Mock on, Mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau, Mock on, Mock on! tis all in vain! You throw the san against the wind And the wind blows it back again And every sand becomes a Gem Reflected in the beams divine Blown back they blind the mocking Eye But still in Israel's paths they shine The Atoms … Continue reading “Mock On, Mock On, Voltaire, Rousseau”
Serpent's Den 