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Poetry Friday: Apple Pie and Cheese by Eugene Field

Sep20

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Full many a sinful notion
Conceived of foreign powers
Has come across the ocean
To harm this land of ours;
And heresies called fashions
Have modesty effaced,
And baleful, morbid passions
Corrupt our native taste.
O tempora! O mores!
What profanations these
That seek to dim the glories
Of apple-pie and cheese!

I’m glad my education
Enables me to stand
Against the vile temptation
Held out on every hand;
Eschewing all the tittles
With vanity replete,
I’m loyal to the victuals
Our grandsires used to eat!
I’m glad I’ve got three willing boys
To hang around and tease
Their mother for the filling joys
Of apple-pie and cheese!

Your flavored creams and ices
And your dainty angel-food
Are mighty fine devices
To regale the dainty dude;
Your terrapin and oysters,
With wine to wash ’em down,
Are just the thing for roisters
When painting of the town;
No flippant, sugared notion
Shall my appetite appease,
Or bate my soul’s devotion
To apple-pie and cheese!

The pie my Julia makes me
(God bless her Yankee ways!)
On memory’s pinions takes me
To dear Green Mountain days;
And seems like I see Mother
Lean on the window-sill,
A-handin’ me and brother
What she knows ‘ll keep us still;
And these feelings are so grateful,
Says I, “Julia, if you please,
I’ll take another plateful
Of that apple-pie and cheese!”

And cheese! No alien it, sir,
That’s brought across the sea,–
No Dutch antique, nor Switzer,
Nor glutinous de Brie;
There’s nothing I abhor so
As mawmets of this ilk–
Give me the harmless morceau
That’s made of true-blue milk!
No matter what conditions
Dyspeptic come to feaze,
The best of all physicians
Is apple-pie and cheese!

Though ribalds may decry ’em,
For these twin boons we stand,
Partaking thrice per diem
Of their fulness out of hand;
No enervating fashion
Shall cheat us of our right
To gratify our passion
With a mouthful at a bite!
We’ll cut it square or bias,
Or any way we please,
And faith shall justify us
When we carve our pie and cheese!

De gustibus, ‘t is stated,
Non disputandum est.
Which meaneth, when translated,
That all is for the best.
So let the foolish choose ’em
The vapid sweets of sin,
I will not disabuse ’em
Of the heresy they’re in;
But I, when I undress me
Each night, upon my knees
Will ask the Lord to bless me
With apple-pie and cheese!

What do you eat on top of your apple pie?

If you have an apple-y post to share —a picture, a story, a book, a recipe, anything about apples— leave a link, and we’ll celebrate apples together in the month of September.

Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Sara Lewis Holmes at Read Write Believe.

Anne Bradstreet Day: September 16

Sep16

Anne Bradstreet, a 17th century Puritan, is widely considered to be the first American poet. Her exact birth date is not known; September 16th marks the day of her death in 1672.

I posted this part of a poem by Anne Bradstreet last September, but no one has volunteered to set it to music yet.

As for this poem, I imagine many authors may feel this way when sending forth a book into the world:

The Author To Her Book by Anne Bradstreet

Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth did’st by my side remain,
Till snatcht from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad exposed to public view,
Made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call.
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
The visage was so irksome in my sight,
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could.
I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw.
I stretcht thy joints to make thee even feet,
Yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet.
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save home-spun cloth, i’ th’ house I find.
In this array, ‘mongst vulgars may’st thou roam.
In critic’s hands, beware thou dost not come,
And take thy way where yet thou art not known.
If for thy father askt, say, thou hadst none;
And for thy mother, she alas is poor,
Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.

Poetry Friday: Indwelling by T.E. Brown

Sep14

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Although Madeleine L’Engle was a fine poet, her works are most likely still protected by copyright. So instead of one of her poems, I give you a poem by Thomas Brown that formed a significant anchoring thematic element in the book A Ring of Endless Light.

Concholigia Iconica, 1843-1878

If thou could’st empty all thyself of self
Like unto a shell dishabited
Then might He find thee on the ocean shelf
And say, ‘This is not dead,’
And fill thee with Himself instead.

But thou art all replete with very thou
And has such shrewd activity
That when He comes He says, ‘This is enou
Unto itself–’twere better let it be.
It is so small and full, there is no room for me.”
–Thomas Brown

The poem was written, by the way, by Thomas Edward Brown, b. 1830, not by the Sir Thomas Browne, b. 1605, who wrote Religio Medici and Urn Burial.

A Madeleine L’Engle Annotated Bibliography

Sep9

l'engle books
1. 18 Washington Square South: A Comedy in One Act, 1944. Ms. L’Engle actually wrote several plays and was an actress herself before her marriage, but this is one of the few that appears in the bibliography at her website.
2. The Small Rain, 1945. Madeleine L’Engle’s first published novel tells the story of young Katherine Forrester, daughter of two famous musicians, who discovers in herself her own musical talent. This one is a beautifully realized coming-of-age novel set in Europe and New York City in the years before World War II. Semicolon review here.
3. Ilsa, 1946. Has anyone read this? Is it a novel or a play?
4. And Both Were Young, 1949, is another boarding school story starring artist Philippa Hunter who is miserable until she meets Paul and learns from him how to confront the past and overcome her self-doubt. I read this book a few months ago as a part of my Madeleine L’Engle project, but I never got around to writing about it here on the blog, maybe because I didn’t like it as much as I do her other books.
5. Camilla Dickinson, 1951. Republished in 1965 as simply Camilla, probably reworked to some extent. Semicolon review here.
6. A Winter’s Love, 1957. Semicolon review here.
7. Meet the Austins, 1960. The first in the Austin family series of books.
8. A Wrinkle in Time, 1962. Madeleine L’Engle’s most famous book, winner of the Newbery Award in 1963, is deserving of the praise it gets. Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace the genius, and her friend Calvin “tesser” through space and time to rescue Meg’s father from IT.
9. The Moon By Night, 1963. The Austin family goes on a cross-country camping trip, and Vicky, age 15, meets some interesting characters, including Zachary, a poor little rich boy who is alternately fascinating and alarming. This one moves into Young Adult territory with romance, but nothing salacious.
10. The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas, 1964. Christmas with the Austins.
11. The Arm of the Starfish, 1965. Polyhymnia (Polly) O’Keefe is the daughter of Meg (Murry) and Calvin O’Keefe from A Wrinkle in TIme. She becomes involved, along with a young student, Adam Eddington, in a complicated episode of scientific espionage.
12. Camilla, 1965. Semicolon review here.  
13. The Love Letters, 1966. The story of a woman who is running away from a difficult marriage. She runs to Portugal, of all places, where she learns about love and responsibility and commitment from a 17th century Portuguese nun who broke her vows for the sake of a handsome French soldier. My favorite Madeleine L’Engle novel. (Adult) Semicolon review here.
14. A Journey With Jonah (a play), 1967.
15. The Young Unicorns, 1968. The Austin family is living in New York City; however, the story focuses on a couple of new friends of the Austins, pianist Emily Gregory and former gang member Dave Davidson. It’s a very sixties YA novel, featuring street gangs, lasers, and mad scientists.
16. Dance in the Desert, 1969.
17. Lines Scribbled on an Envelope and Other Poems, 1969
18. The Other Side of the Sun, 1971. The setting is early twentieth century South Carolina. English bride Stella Renier must come to live with her new husband’s famiy while he goes travelling on business. Sort of Gothic in good way with spiritual/Christian themes. (Young adult or adult)
19. A Circle of Quiet, 1972. Autobiography about Ms. L’Engle’s life in a village, her familly and her early writing life.
20. The Wind in the Door, 1973. The second of the Time Quartet books. Instead of travelling through time and space, Meg must travel inside Charles Wallace to diagnose and cure a problem with Charles Wallace’s mitochondria. Semicolon review here.
21. Everyday Prayers, 1974
22. Prayers for Sunday, 1974
23. The Risk of Birth, 1974
24. The Summer of the Great Grandmother, 1974. Nonfiction counterpart to the fictional A Ring of Endless Light, the two books deal with the task of dying with dignity and role of families in the process of death and dying.
25. Dragons in the Waters, 1976. Murder, smuggling, and blackmail in Venezuela. This YA novel features Polly O’Keefe.
26. The Irrational Season, 1977. A follow-up to Circle of Quiet and Summer of the Great-Grandmother.
27. A Swiftly Tilting Planet, 1978. The third book in the so-called TIme Quartet, this novel is one part science fiction, one part historical fiction, and another part just plain weird —in a wonderful sort of way.
28. The Weather of the Heart, 1978
29. Ladder of Angels, 1979
30. The Anti-Muffins, 1980. A short book about the Austins and nonconformism.
31. A Ring of Endless Light, 1980. Vicky Austin and her family must come to terms with the impending death of Vicky’s garndfather, and Vicky must decide who she is and whom she can trust.
32. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art, 1980. These essays on the intersection of faith and art are quite helpful and thought-provoking for Christian artists in particular. JR at brokenstainedglass has been blogging about the insights he has gleaned from this book for last couple of months (August-September, 2007).
33. A Severed Wasp, 1982. Katherine Forrester from A Small Rain returns as an elderly retired concert pianist who becomes entangled in the life of the characters who ive in and around the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
34. And It Was Good: Reflections on Beginnings, 1983.
35. A House Like a Lotus, 1984. Polly O’Keefe, nearly seventeen years old in this novel, travels to Cyprus and learns both discernment and acceptance in her relationships.
36. Trailing Clouds of Glory: Spiritual Values in Children’s Literature, 1985 (with Avery Brooke). Another excellent book about the art of writing particularly for Christian writers.
37. Many Waters, 1986. A fictionalization of the Biblical story of Noah and the ark, with time travel, unicorns, and nephilim thrown in. The main characters are Meg Murry’s twin brothers, Sandy and Dennys.
38. A Stone for a Pillow: Journeys with Jacob, 1986
39. A Cry Like a Bell, 1987
40. Two-Part Invention, 1988. The story of Madeleine’s marriage to actor Hugh Franklin.
41. An Acceptable Time, 1989. Polly O’Keefe returns in her fourth story, and the plot and themes hark back to those of Time Quartet: time travel, peoples and cultures of the past, healing, the power of love.
42. Sold Into Egypt: Joseph’s Journey into Human Being, 1989.
43. The Glorious Impossible, 1990.
44. Certain Women, 1992 is an adult novel about the Biblical King David and about a modern-day David, an actor who engages in serial polygamy in about the same way that David of the Bible loved many women and had many wives. Semicolon review here.
45. The Rock That is Higher, 1993
46. Anytime Prayers, 1994
47. Troubling a Star, 1994. Vicky Austin and Adam Eddington are in Antarctica where they resist those who are trying to exploit the continent’s natural resources. YA.
48. Glimpses of Grace, 1996 (with Carole Chase)
49. A Live Coal in the Sea, 1996. This adult novel returns to the character Camilla from the book of the same name and tells the story of her famiy, especially her son Taxi and granddaughter Raffi.
50. Penguins and Golden Calves: Icons and Idols, 1996
51. Wintersong, 1996 (with Luci Shaw). Poetry.
52. Bright Evening Star, 1997
53. Friends for the Journey, 1997 (with Luci Shaw). Reviewed here by Carol of Magistramater.
54. Mothers and Daughters, 1997 (with Maria Rooney). Maria Rooney is Madeleine L’Engle’s daughter.
55. Miracle on 10th Street, 1998
56. A Full House, 1999. A Christmas story about the Austin family and an unexpected Christmas baby.
57. Mothers and Sons, 1999 (with Maria Rooney)
58. Prayerbook for Spiritual Friends, 1999 (with Luci Shaw)
59. The Other Dog, 2001
60. Madeleine L’Engle Herself: Reflections on a Writing Life, 2001 (with Carole Chase)
61. The Ordering of Love: The New and Collected Poems of Madeleine L’Engle, 2005.

Poetry and Fine Art Friday: Underneath an Apple Tree

Sep7

Apple Tree by Z-baby

Apple Blossoms by Will Carleton

Underneath an apple-tree
Sat a maiden and her lover;
And the thoughts within her he
Yearned, in silence, to discover.
Round them danced the sunbeams bright,
Green the grass-lawn stretched before them
While the apple blossoms white
Hung in rich profusion o’er them.

Naught within her eyes he read.
That would tell her mind unto him;
Though their light, he after said,
Quivered swiftly through and through him;
Till at last his heart burst free
From the prayer with which ’twas laden,
And he said, “When wilt thou be,
Mine forevermore, fair maiden?”

“When,” said she, “the breeze of May
With white flakes our heads shall cover,
I will be thy brideling gay—
Thou shalt be my husband-lover.”
“How,” said he, in sorrow bowed,
“Can I hope such hopeful weather?
Breeze of May and Winter’s cloud
Do not often fly together.”

Quickly as the words he said
From the west a wind came sighing,
And on each uncovered head
Sent the apple-blossoms flying;
“Flakes of white! Thou’rt mine,” said he,
“Sooner than thy wish or knowing.”
“Nay, I heard the breeze,” quoth she,
“When in yonder forest blowing.”

Will Carleton was a popular poet in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was known as the first poet laureate of Michigan, and in 1919, according to WIkipedia, the Michigan legislature passed a law that said that Michigan teachers had to teach at least one of Mr. Carleton’s poems in school. (Do they still teach the poetry of Will Carleton in Michigan?)

The artwork, which doesn’t exactly mirror the poem, is nevertheless a product of that fine artist, Z-Baby, whose painting should be, and probably will be, world renowned. She’s the Artist Laureate of the Semicolon Household.

To this Great Stage of Fools: Born August 17th

Aug17

Poet and anthologist Myra Cohn Livingston was born August 17, 1926. Here’s a list of SOME of the books she edited or wrote before her death in August, 1996.

4-Way Stop, and Other Poems (ISBN: 0689500408)
Abraham Lincoln : A Man for All the People A Ballad (ISBN: 0823410498)
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral : Poems About Small Things (ISBN: 0060230096)
B Is for Baby : An Alphabet of Verses (ISBN: 0689809506)
Birthday Poems (ISBN: 0823407837)
Calendar (ISBN: 0823417255)
Call Down the Moon : Poems of Music (ISBN: 0689804164)
Cat Poems (ISBN: 0823406318)
Celebrations (ISBN: 0823405508)
The Child As Poet : Myth or Reality (ISBN: 0876752873)
Christmas Poems (ISBN: 0823405087)
A Circle of Seasons (ISBN: 0823404528)
Climb into the Bell Tower : Essays on Poetry (ISBN: 0064461009)
Come Away (ISBN: 0689304285)
Dilly Dilly Piccalilli : Poems for the Very Young (ISBN: 0689504667)
Dog Poems (ISBN: 0823407764)
Easter Poems (ISBN: 082340546X)
Festivals (ISBN: 0823412172)
Flights of Fancy : And Other Poems (ISBN: 0689506139)
Halloween Poems (ISBN: 0823407624)
Higgledy-Piggledy Verses and Pictures (ISBN: 0689504071)
How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear! : Edward Lear’s Selected Works (ISBN: 0823404625)
I Am Writing a Poem About…a Game of Poetry : Edited by Myra Cohn Livingston (ISBN: 068981156X)
I Like You, If You Like Me : Poems of Friendship (ISBN: 068950408X)
I Never Told : And Other Poems (ISBN: 0689505442)
If You Ever Meet a Whale (ISBN: 0823409406)
If the Owl Calls Again : A Collection of Owl Poems (ISBN: 0689505019)
Keep on Singing : A Ballad of Marian Anderson (ISBN: 0823410986)
Let Freedom Ring : A Ballad of Martin Luther King, Jr. (ISBN: 0823409570)
Light and Shadow (ISBN: 0823409317)
Listen, Children, Listen; An Anthology of Poems for the Very Young. : An Anthology of Poems for the Very Young (ISBN: 0152455701)
A Lollygag of Limericks (ISBN: 0689501048)
Lots of Limericks (ISBN: 0689505310)
The Malibu and Other Poems (ISBN: 0689303084)
Monkey Puzzle and Other Poems (ISBN: 0689503105)
My Head Is Red and Other Riddle Rhymes (ISBN: 082340806X)
New Year’s Poems (ISBN: 0823406415)
O Frabjous Day : Poetry for Holidays and Special Occasions (ISBN: 0689500769)
O Sliver of Liver (ISBN: 0689501331)
One Little Room, an Everywhere : Poems of Love (ISBN: 0689500327)
Poem-Making : Ways to Begin Writing Poetry (ISBN: 0060240199)
Poems for Brothers, Poems for Sisters (ISBN: 0823408612)
Poems for Fathers (ISBN: 0823407292)
Poems for Grandmothers (ISBN: 0823408302)
Poems for Jewish Holidays (ISBN: 0823406067)
Poems for Mothers (ISBN: 0823406784)
Poems of Christmas (ISBN: 0689501803)
Poems of Lewis Carroll (ISBN: 0690045409)
Remembering : And Other Poems (ISBN: 0689504896)
Riddle-Me Rhymes (ISBN: 0689506023)
Roll Along : Poems on Wheels (ISBN: 068950585X)
Sea Songs (ISBN: 0823405915)
Sky Songs (ISBN: 0823405028)
A Song I Sang to You (ISBN: 0152771050)
Space Songs (ISBN: 082340675X)
Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy; A Collection of Parodies and Burlesques, Together With the Original Poems, Chosen and Annotated for Young People. (ISBN: 0152778594)
Thanksgiving Poems (ISBN: 0823405702)
There Was a Place and Other Poems (ISBN: 0689504640)
These Small Stones (ISBN: 006024013X)
A Time to Talk : Poems of Friendship (ISBN: 0689505582)
Tune Beyond Us a Collection of Poetry (ISBN: 0152910980)
Up in the Air (ISBN: 0823407365)
Valentine Poems (ISBN: 0823405877)
The Way Things Are, and Other Poems (ISBN: 0689500084)
What a Wonderful Bird the Frog Are : An Assortment of Humorous Poetry and Verse (ISBN: 0152954007)
Why Am I Grown So Cold? : Poems of the Unknowable (ISBN: 0689502427)
Worlds I Know : And Other Poems (ISBN: 0689503326)

As a descriptor, prolific doesn’t quite seem big enough, does it? Ms. Livingston’s poems tend to be deceptively simple and accessible, but they stick. For example:

I Don’t Know Why
by Myra Cohn Livingston

I don’t know why
the sky is blue
or why the raindrops splatter through

or why the grass
is wet with dew . . . do you?

I don’t know why
the sun is round
or why a seed grows
in the ground

or why the thunder
makes a sound . . . do you?

I don’t know why
the clouds are white
or why the moon
shines very bright

or why the air
turns black at night…..do you?

Teacher resources on Myra Cohn Livingston.
The Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry.

Poetry Friday Roundup is at Kelly Fineman’s LiveJournal blog today.

Poetry and Fine Art Friday: The Great American Poem

Aug10

What this country needs is a great poem. John Brown’s Body was a step in the right direction. I’ve read it once, and I’m reading it again. But it’s too long to do what I mean. You can’t thrill people in 300 pages. The limit is about 300 words. Kipling’s “Recessional” really did something to England when it was published. It helped them through a bad time. Let me know if you find any great poems lying around.
Herbert Hoover, b. August 10, 1874

So, what is The Great American Poem, or who is the Great American Poet? Sandburg and Frost, I think, are too much tied to one area of the country, Sandburg to Chicago and the Midwest and Frost to New England. Emily Dickinson is too detailed and sometimes obscure. The British nowadays might not want to put Kipling in such a grand position, might prefer Yeats or Eliot or even Tennyson, but Kipling is inspirational.

Recessional
God of our fathers, known of old–
Lord of our far-flung battle line
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine–
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart:
Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

Far-called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe–
Such boasting as the Gentiles use
Or lesser breeds without the law–
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget – lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard–
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding, calls not Thee to guard–
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on Thy people, Lord!

So Herbert Hoover and I are taking nominations for the quintessential American poem, a poem that captures the American spirit and inspires us to live up to what is best about the United States of America. Maybe if we’re trying to mirror Kipling’s British poem, we should call it the Great American Hymn. Any suggestions?

As for art, I’m not sure who the Great American Artist is either. But I nominate Norman Rockwell. His best work is both inspirational and challenging.

Poetry and Fine Art Friday: To This Great Stage of Fools on July 27th

Jul27

Today is the birthdate of poet, essayist, novelist, politician and humorist Joseph Hilaire Pierre Rene Belloc (b.1870, d.1953).

A Trinity

Of three in One and One in three
My narrow mind would doubting be
Till Beauty, Grace and Kindness met
And all at once were Juliet.

Belloc was a close friend of G.K. Chesterton. George Bernard Shaw wrote a famous essay in which he called Chesterton and Belloc together “the Chesterbelloc,” implying that Belloc did the thinking for the pair and led Chesterton astray.

The Pacifist

Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to fight,
But Roaring Bill (who killed him) thought it right.

The Frog
Be kind and tender to the Frog,
And do not call him names,
As “Slimy skin,” or “Polly-wog,”
Or likewise “Ugly James,”
Or “Gap-a-grin,” or “Toad-gone-wrong,”
Or “Bill Bandy-knees”:
The Frog is justly sensitive
To epithets like these.

No animal will more repay
A treatment kind and fair;
At least so lonely people say
Who keep a frog (and, by the way,
They are extremely rare).

Edward Gorey illustrated Belloc’s book of (somewhat grisly) poems, Cautionary Tales for Children. I love this picture, especially the way the cattails extend up out of the frame.

Belloc quotes:
Of all fatiguing, futile, empty trades, the worst, I suppose, is writing about writing.

Every major question in history is a religious question. It has more effect in molding life than nationalism or a common language.

When I am dead, I hope it may be said:
‘His sins were scarlet, But his books were read.’

H.G. Wells once said, “Debating Mr. Belloc is like arguing with a hailstorm.”

Monsignor Ronald Knox observed at Belloc’s funeral, “No man of his time fought so hard for the good things.” Not a bad epitaph.

Poetry and Fine Art Friday: Riddle

Jul6

The Martyrdom of Jan Hus

The author of the following riddle poem, often attributed to Lord Byron, was Catherine Maria Fanshawe, born on this date in 1765.

‘Twas whispered in Heaven, ’twas muttered in Hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell;
On the confines of Earth, ’twas permitted to rest,
And in the depths of the ocean its presence confessed;
‘Twill be found in the sphere when ’tis riven asunder,
Be seen in the lightning and heard in the thunder;
‘Twas allotted to man with his earliest breath,
Attends him at birth and awaits him at death,
Presides o’er his happiness, honor and health,
Is the prop of his house and the end of his wealth.
In the heaps of the miser, ’tis hoarded with care,
But is sure to be lost on his prodigal heir;
It begins every hope, every wish it must bound;
With the husbandman toils, and with monarchs is crowned;
Without it the soldier and seaman may roam,
But woe to the wretch who expels it from home!
In the whispers of conscience its voice will be found,
Nor e’er in the whirlwind of passion be drowned;
‘Twill soften the heart; but though deaf be the ear,
It will make him acutely and instantly hear.
Set in shade, let it rest like a delicate flower;
Ah! Breath on it softly, it dies in an hour.

(The picture hints at the answer to the riddle.)