Love is the shining starr of blessings light;
the fervent fire of zeale, the roote of peace,
that lasting lampe fed with the oyle of right;
Image of fayth, and wombe for joyes increase.
Lady Mary Wroth, sister of Sir Philip Sidney
(via The Penguin Book of the Sonnet)
Friday, March 20, 2009
Another poem by Cummings
out of the lie of no
rises a truth of yes
(only herself and who
illimitably is)
making fools understand
(like wintry me)that not
all matterings of mind
equal one violet
rises a truth of yes
(only herself and who
illimitably is)
making fools understand
(like wintry me)that not
all matterings of mind
equal one violet
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Suspended under the twilight canopy
Yes, another one by the 5th Dimension. "Up, Up and Away":
I think this was 1967.
And incidentally, you couldn't pay me enough to ride in a balloon.
I think this was 1967.
And incidentally, you couldn't pay me enough to ride in a balloon.
Cummings again!
one's not half two. It's two are halves of one:
which halves reintegrating,shall occur
no death and any quantity;but than
all numerable mosts the actual more
minds ignorant of stern miraculous
this every truth--beware of heartless them
(given the scalpel,they dissect a kiss;
or,sold the reason,they undream a dream)
one is the song which fiends and angels sing:
all murdering lies by mortals told make two.
Let liars wilt,repaying life they're loaned;
we(by a gift called dying born)must grow
deep in dark least ourselves remembering
love only rides his year.
All lose,whole find
which halves reintegrating,shall occur
no death and any quantity;but than
all numerable mosts the actual more
minds ignorant of stern miraculous
this every truth--beware of heartless them
(given the scalpel,they dissect a kiss;
or,sold the reason,they undream a dream)
one is the song which fiends and angels sing:
all murdering lies by mortals told make two.
Let liars wilt,repaying life they're loaned;
we(by a gift called dying born)must grow
deep in dark least ourselves remembering
love only rides his year.
All lose,whole find
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Cummings
the greedy the people
(as if as can yes)
they sell and they buy
and they die for because
though the bell in the steeple
says Why
the chary the wary
(as all as can each)
they don't and they do
and they turn to a which
though the moon in her glory
says Who
the busy the millions
(as you're as can i'm)
they flock and they flee
through a thunder of seem
though the stars in their silence
say Be
the cunning the craven
(as think as can feel)
they when and they how
and they live for until
though the sun in his heaven
says Now
the timid the tender
(as doubt as can trust)
they work and they pray
and they bow to a must
though the earth in her splendor
says May
(as if as can yes)
they sell and they buy
and they die for because
though the bell in the steeple
says Why
the chary the wary
(as all as can each)
they don't and they do
and they turn to a which
though the moon in her glory
says Who
the busy the millions
(as you're as can i'm)
they flock and they flee
through a thunder of seem
though the stars in their silence
say Be
the cunning the craven
(as think as can feel)
they when and they how
and they live for until
though the sun in his heaven
says Now
the timid the tender
(as doubt as can trust)
they work and they pray
and they bow to a must
though the earth in her splendor
says May
Monday, March 16, 2009
Distractions
During Mass yesterday, I found myself wondering: Is the "o" in the word one a consonant or a vowel? Can it be both?
And during a bus ride today, a better scene for such distractions, I was wondering: Is "economics" pronounced eck-onomics or eek-onomics?
And during a bus ride today, a better scene for such distractions, I was wondering: Is "economics" pronounced eck-onomics or eek-onomics?
The 5th Dimension
Last night I didn’t get to sleep at all,
The sleeping pill I took was just a waste of time …
The jukebox gave me the '70s sweetest voice
For just a quarter. Or was it a dime?
Forty years ago! I would rejoice
To hear the mellow (slightly maudlin) tune:
Marilyn sang of a lover she might call,
Of restless darkness lit by a wakeful moon.
Those were the days of AM radio,
Of Nixon, Agnew, Watergate, and Ford –
Names found in newspapers, which I ignored.
Those years of innocence! Where did they go?
Lost like last fall's leaves. I’ve found the song
On YouTube. Has it really been that long?
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saul
Their cloaks lay piled before him as they stoned
One of those wild blasphemers. He looked on
Approvingly as the business was done:
Limbs blood-stained and a brain mortally stunned.
Stopping those upstarts, that hot-headed band
Who placed faith in a cross-killed Nazarene,
This was his duty as a citizen.
So, to Damascus, where more could be found.
Struck by a fearsome flash, he fell prostrate
And felt the full voice of divinity:
"Why do you persecute Jesus the Christ?"
For three days, Saul was blind; scales kept the light
From entering his eyes. Love's mystery
Involved his heart, restored the sight he'd lost.
1996
One of those wild blasphemers. He looked on
Approvingly as the business was done:
Limbs blood-stained and a brain mortally stunned.
Stopping those upstarts, that hot-headed band
Who placed faith in a cross-killed Nazarene,
This was his duty as a citizen.
So, to Damascus, where more could be found.
Struck by a fearsome flash, he fell prostrate
And felt the full voice of divinity:
"Why do you persecute Jesus the Christ?"
For three days, Saul was blind; scales kept the light
From entering his eyes. Love's mystery
Involved his heart, restored the sight he'd lost.
1996
Friday, March 13, 2009
I do not approve
I do not approve of death
Unless it is sensual,
Something forbidden, ecstatic
Entered into.
A sweet desideratum and delight.
The torpidinal
Stygian kisses
Of an ageless avatar.
I will not venture into love
Unless it is secular,
Some stultifying wine or water
Swallowed.
Astonishing intoxicant!
The vertiginal
Liquid image
Of a masterful tempter.
I cannot accept hostility
Unless it is intimate,
The fear-concealing armour of the heart
Removed.
A flesh-and-bone opponent.
The original
Sinister body
Of an unabashed warrior.
first draft, January 1986;
revised a few times during the subsequent twenty-odd years
Unless it is sensual,
Something forbidden, ecstatic
Entered into.
A sweet desideratum and delight.
The torpidinal
Stygian kisses
Of an ageless avatar.
I will not venture into love
Unless it is secular,
Some stultifying wine or water
Swallowed.
Astonishing intoxicant!
The vertiginal
Liquid image
Of a masterful tempter.
I cannot accept hostility
Unless it is intimate,
The fear-concealing armour of the heart
Removed.
A flesh-and-bone opponent.
The original
Sinister body
Of an unabashed warrior.
first draft, January 1986;
revised a few times during the subsequent twenty-odd years
Sonnet
The sonnet that was here is no longer here.
It's wretched, it's bad, it makes me want to hurl. So I removed it.
It's wretched, it's bad, it makes me want to hurl. So I removed it.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
The wisdom of the Archbishop of Los Angeles
Ann Scolari: What are your thoughts on the Tridentine mass?
Cardinal Mahony: Ann: The Tridentine Mass was meant for those who could not make the transition from Latin to English [or other languages] after the Council. But there is no participation by the people, and I don't believe that instills the spirit of Christ among us.
More here.
(HT: Dyspeptic Mutterings.)
Cardinal Mahony: Ann: The Tridentine Mass was meant for those who could not make the transition from Latin to English [or other languages] after the Council. But there is no participation by the people, and I don't believe that instills the spirit of Christ among us.
More here.
(HT: Dyspeptic Mutterings.)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Doggerel by a Senior Citizen
by W. H. Auden (1907-73)
Our earth in 1969
Is not the planet I call mine,
The world, I mean, that gives me strength
To hold off chaos at arm's length.
My Eden landscapes and their climes
Are constructs from Edwardian times,
When bath-rooms took up lots of space,
And, before eating, one said Grace.
The automobile, the aeroplane,
Are useful gadgets, but profane:
The enginry of which I dream
Is moved by water or by steam.
Reason requires that I approve
The light-bulb which I cannot love:
To me more reverence-commanding
A fish-tail burner on the landing.
My family ghosts I fought and routed,
Their values, though, I never doubted:
I thought their Protestant Work-Ethic
Both practical and sympathetic.
When couples played or sang duets,
It was immoral to have debts:
I shall continue till I die
To pay in cash for what I buy.
The Book of Common Prayer we knew
Was that of 1662:
Though with-it sermons may be well,
Liturgical reforms are hell.
Sex was of course -- it always is --
The most enticing of mysteries,
But news-stands did not then supply
Manichean pornography.
Then Speech was mannerly, an Art,
Like learning not to belch or fart:
I cannot settle which is worse,
The Anti-Novel or Free Verse.
Nor are those Ph.D's my kith,
Who dig the symbol and the myth:
I count myself a man of letters
Who writes, or hopes to, for his betters.
Dare any call Permissiveness
An educational success?
Saner those class-rooms which I sat in,
Compelled to study Greek and Latin.
Though I suspect the term is crap,
If there is a Generation Gap,
Who is to blame? Those, old or young,
Who will not learn their Mother-Tongue.
But Love, at least, is not a state
Either en vogue or out-of-date,
And I've true friends, I will allow,
To talk and eat with here and now.
Me alienated? Bosh! It's just
As a sworn citizen who must
Skirmish with it that I feel
Most at home with what is Real.
Our earth in 1969
Is not the planet I call mine,
The world, I mean, that gives me strength
To hold off chaos at arm's length.
My Eden landscapes and their climes
Are constructs from Edwardian times,
When bath-rooms took up lots of space,
And, before eating, one said Grace.
The automobile, the aeroplane,
Are useful gadgets, but profane:
The enginry of which I dream
Is moved by water or by steam.
Reason requires that I approve
The light-bulb which I cannot love:
To me more reverence-commanding
A fish-tail burner on the landing.
My family ghosts I fought and routed,
Their values, though, I never doubted:
I thought their Protestant Work-Ethic
Both practical and sympathetic.
When couples played or sang duets,
It was immoral to have debts:
I shall continue till I die
To pay in cash for what I buy.
The Book of Common Prayer we knew
Was that of 1662:
Though with-it sermons may be well,
Liturgical reforms are hell.
Sex was of course -- it always is --
The most enticing of mysteries,
But news-stands did not then supply
Manichean pornography.
Then Speech was mannerly, an Art,
Like learning not to belch or fart:
I cannot settle which is worse,
The Anti-Novel or Free Verse.
Nor are those Ph.D's my kith,
Who dig the symbol and the myth:
I count myself a man of letters
Who writes, or hopes to, for his betters.
Dare any call Permissiveness
An educational success?
Saner those class-rooms which I sat in,
Compelled to study Greek and Latin.
Though I suspect the term is crap,
If there is a Generation Gap,
Who is to blame? Those, old or young,
Who will not learn their Mother-Tongue.
But Love, at least, is not a state
Either en vogue or out-of-date,
And I've true friends, I will allow,
To talk and eat with here and now.
Me alienated? Bosh! It's just
As a sworn citizen who must
Skirmish with it that I feel
Most at home with what is Real.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Music for your Monday
Great vocal! (Video, not so much.) "(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep At All" by the 5th Dimension.
Marilyn McCoo is now sixty-five. (Astonishing, to one who remembers the attractive thirty-something host[ess] of the early 1980s pop-music showcase Solid Gold.)
Marilyn McCoo is now sixty-five. (Astonishing, to one who remembers the attractive thirty-something host[ess] of the early 1980s pop-music showcase Solid Gold.)
An apparition
In Fulton J. Sheen's autobiography, Treasure in Clay, the bishop tells of a lady who approached him sometime in the late '30s or early '40s and said, "Monsignor, every time I cross Fifth Avenue I get a pain in my left leg, and the Blessed Mother appears to me and says, 'Tell Monsignor Sheen to go to Germany and convert Hitler.'"
Sheen responded, "My dear lady, it's funny you should say that, because every time I cross Fifth Avenue I get a pain in my right leg, and the Blessed Mother appears to me and says, 'Please ignore what I told that lady this morning.'"
The venerable cleric reports that "the lady went away satisfied."
Sheen responded, "My dear lady, it's funny you should say that, because every time I cross Fifth Avenue I get a pain in my right leg, and the Blessed Mother appears to me and says, 'Please ignore what I told that lady this morning.'"
The venerable cleric reports that "the lady went away satisfied."
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2009
2 Corinthians 1:10
From such mortal peril God delivered us; and he will deliver us again, he on whom our hope is fixed. Yes, he will continue to deliver us.
(Revised English Bible)
(Revised English Bible)
Cardinal Mahony on Williamson
Oy.
Williamson "never can be a member" of the Catholic Church? News to me.
As someone noted, wouldn't it be nice if American bishops could get worked up about the holocaust of the unborn, and maybe start excommunicating some prominent "practicing Catholics" who promote abortion?
I'm not fond of the SSPX, and can't condone Williamson's "revision" of history, as some have euphemistically called it. But Cardinal Mahony's rhetoric here verges on the ridiculous. A plague on both their houses.
Williamson "never can be a member" of the Catholic Church? News to me.
As someone noted, wouldn't it be nice if American bishops could get worked up about the holocaust of the unborn, and maybe start excommunicating some prominent "practicing Catholics" who promote abortion?
I'm not fond of the SSPX, and can't condone Williamson's "revision" of history, as some have euphemistically called it. But Cardinal Mahony's rhetoric here verges on the ridiculous. A plague on both their houses.
Monday, March 02, 2009
The cinema
I would see this film, based on Enbrethiliel's excellent review, and good word of mouth from TS, but ... (a) it seems depressing, and (b) I'm not the hugest Eastwood fan.
But I enjoyed reading the review!
But I enjoyed reading the review!
Sunday, March 01, 2009
An Orthodox archbishop
Just as Christ has both a divine and a human nature, so has the Church. On its human side the Church is susceptible to errors, weaknesses and failings, but it has consolation in the promise: "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Mt. 16:18)
Archbishop PAUL of Finland, The Faith We Hold (SVS Press, 1980), p. 16
Not to get overly polemical, but the first part of the quoted Scripture is conspicuous by its absence: "Thou art Peter," etc.
Archbishop PAUL of Finland, The Faith We Hold (SVS Press, 1980), p. 16
Not to get overly polemical, but the first part of the quoted Scripture is conspicuous by its absence: "Thou art Peter," etc.
Attributed to St Brigid
I would like to have the men of Heaven in my own house:
With vats of good cheer laid out for them.
I would like to have the three Marys, their fame is so great.
I would like people from every corner of Heaven.
I would like them to be cheerful in their drinking,
I would like to have Jesus too here amongst them.
I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings,
I would like to be watching Heaven's family, drinking it through all eternity.
With vats of good cheer laid out for them.
I would like to have the three Marys, their fame is so great.
I would like people from every corner of Heaven.
I would like them to be cheerful in their drinking,
I would like to have Jesus too here amongst them.
I would like a great lake of beer for the King of Kings,
I would like to be watching Heaven's family, drinking it through all eternity.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Diseases of the left and of the right
Many years ago, George Will wrote of a film, "It was made by the type of people who think they are virtuous because they are not Richard Nixon," diagnosing with particular acuity a syndrome of the Left. But I wonder if there isn't a similar malady on the Right, people who think they are virtuous because they are not -- who? Ted Kennedy? one of the Clintons? Nancy Pelosi? the current President?
Don't get me wrong. I do not mean to heap praise on any of those figures mentioned, just as Will did not mean to praise President Nixon. But it occurs to me, and to Will, that virtue, be it civic virtue or moral virtue, consists in something entirely different from hating the right people, or merely voting for the right candidates. Anyone can do that.
Inchoate thoughts, these.
Don't get me wrong. I do not mean to heap praise on any of those figures mentioned, just as Will did not mean to praise President Nixon. But it occurs to me, and to Will, that virtue, be it civic virtue or moral virtue, consists in something entirely different from hating the right people, or merely voting for the right candidates. Anyone can do that.
Inchoate thoughts, these.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Caryll Houselander on notorious sinners
Caryll Houselander, the British Catholic author (1901-54) who wrote The Reed of God, a marvelous if somewhat slender book about Our Lady, deeply poetic, had a memorable and beautiful quotation about how the Christian should approach notorious sinners. I believe the quotation comes from the book mentioned above, and since that book is, alas, no longer in my library, I must rely on memory. So what follows is a paraphrase.
Houselander writes that if the sinner in question is not a baptized Christian then one should lament the fact that he has not yet received the gift of faith. If the sinner in question is a baptized Christian then one should approach him with all the reverence due to the Holy Sepulchre because in him the dead Christ lies entombed.
Houselander writes that if the sinner in question is not a baptized Christian then one should lament the fact that he has not yet received the gift of faith. If the sinner in question is a baptized Christian then one should approach him with all the reverence due to the Holy Sepulchre because in him the dead Christ lies entombed.
Nevertheless
Nevertheless to condone frailty by comparison with yet greater frailty is not profitable.
Marianne Moore, from The Complete Prose, p. 207
Marianne Moore, from The Complete Prose, p. 207
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Mickey Rourke, Catholic
This I found fascinating. Fascinating and hopeful. And not quite what I expected!
And has anyone seen the twenty-year-old film in which he portrayed St Francis of Assisi? (If so, was it any good?)
And has anyone seen the twenty-year-old film in which he portrayed St Francis of Assisi? (If so, was it any good?)
Monday, February 23, 2009
Memorization as meditation
The blogger at Summa Minutiae has begun to memorize the Psalms. He has the first two psalms committed to memory!
I'm trying to memorize Psalm 51 in the Coverdale version. My modest goal is the first seven verses by the day after tomorrow.
If I succeed with this psalm, I may try a few of the shorter psalms.
I used to memorize things with great facility -- the poetry of Dylan Thomas and E E Cummings, most notably -- but now the mind's powers grow feeble, I fear.
I'm trying to memorize Psalm 51 in the Coverdale version. My modest goal is the first seven verses by the day after tomorrow.
If I succeed with this psalm, I may try a few of the shorter psalms.
I used to memorize things with great facility -- the poetry of Dylan Thomas and E E Cummings, most notably -- but now the mind's powers grow feeble, I fear.
Highlight of the 81st Academy Awards
Accepting his award for best animated short, La Maison en Petits Cubes, the Japanese filmmaker Kunio Kato offered halting thanks and then, apparently running out of English, quoted the old Styx hit and quipped, "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto."As described here.
A libertarian's opinion
Yes. I agree. I think that what you say is so. (On Attorney General Holder's "cowards" crack.)
(HT: Conservative Blog for Peace.)
(HT: Conservative Blog for Peace.)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Quotation of note
Those who realize they have this interior leprosy come together in a leper colony, called the Church. The Church is filled with spiritual lepers who welcome one another, care for one another, and turn to Jesus, the Divine Physician, for cleansing, through prayer, worship, and the sacraments. The Church is then a hospital for the sick, not a country club for the spiritually sleek. We belong to the Church, not because we're saints, but because we're sinners, not because we're proud, but because we're humble, not because we want to do God a big favor, but because we need a big favor from God. ... See you at Mass.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee
(Posted at Communio. HT: Clairity Daily.)
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee
(Posted at Communio. HT: Clairity Daily.)
I can't believe ...
... it's not butter!
(I shouldn't be watching this show, but this bit is harmless.)
(I shouldn't be watching this show, but this bit is harmless.)
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