Venice masks

Sunday 30 October 2011

The Happy Man - G. K. Chesterton

To teach the grey earth like a child,
   To bid the heavens repent,
I only ask from Fate the gift
   Of one man well content.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Afternoon On A Hill - Edna St. Vincent Millay

I will be the gladdest thing
   Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
   And not pick one.

Friday 28 October 2011

To a Sea Shell - Hubert Church

Friend of my chamber—O thou spiral shell
That murmurest of the ever-murmuring sea!

Thursday 27 October 2011

Flesh - Mary Eliza Fullerton

I have seen a gum-tree,
Scarred by the blaze
Of the pioneer axe,
Mend after long days;
Lip to lip shut
Of the separate bark,
Till the gape of the wound
Was a vanishing mark.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Why I Love Them - Mary Alice Walton

I would tell thee of Stella, how she made glad the hours,
So oft calling mother with strewn wreaths and flowers,
Blue eyes fondly glancing, and gleefully dance,
While singing so gayly or skipping, perchance.

Thursday 13 October 2011

A Silent Mouth - Cathal O’Byrne

O little green leaf on the bough, you hear the lark in morn,
You hear the grey feet of the wind stir in the shimmering corn,
You hear, low down in the grass,
The Singing Sidhe as they pass,
Do you ever hear, O little green flame,
My loved one calling, whispering my name?

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Fluffy, A Cat - R. C. Lehmann

So now your tale of years is done,
Old Fluff, my friend, and you have won,
Beyond our land of mist and rain,
Your way to the Elysian plain,
Where through the shining hours of heat
A cat may bask and lap and eat;
Where goldfish glitter in the streams,
And mice refresh your waking dreams,
And all, in fact, is planned—and that’s
Its great delight—to please the cats.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Monday 10 October 2011

Thanks - Henrik Johan Ibsen

Her griefs were the hours
When my struggle was sore,--
Her joys were the powers
That the climber upbore.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Friday 7 October 2011

The personal, grown-up song of Ynurti Yantune - Lyubov Nenyang

Never in my life have I taken anything
Without asking
Nor have I stolen the tiniest little thing
From anybody

Thursday 6 October 2011

Bridal Eve - E. Nesbit

Good-night, my Heart, my Heart, good-night—
Oh, good and dear and fair,
With lips of life and eyes of light
And roses in your hair.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

As Long As We Are Not Alone - Israel Emiot

As long as we are not alone,
as long as we have a partner.
Perhaps a stone also hears,
we shall rejoice,

Monday 3 October 2011

Sunday 2 October 2011

A Word To The 'Elect' - Anne Brontë

You may rejoice to think YOURSELVES secure;
You may be grateful for the gift divine--
That grace unsought, which made your black hearts pure,
And fits your earth-born souls in Heaven to shine.

Saturday 1 October 2011

Brer Rabbit, You’s De Cutes’ Of ’Em All - James Weldon Johnson

Once der was a meetin’ in de wilderness,
All de critters of creation dey was dar;
Brer Rabbit, Brer ‘Possum, Brer Wolf, Brer Fox,
King Lion, Mister Terrapin, Mister B’ar.
De question fu’ discussion was, “Who is de bigges’ man?”
Dey ‘pinted ole Jedge Owl to decide;
He polished up his spectacles an’ put ’em on his nose,
An’ to the question slowly he replied: