tiompan
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Edited Mar 30, 2007, 11:02
John Keats - Hyperion
Feb 24, 2007, 23:00
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Scarce images of life , one here , one there ,
Lay vast and edgeways ;like a dismal cirque
Of druid stones , upon a forlorn moor ,
John Keats , Hyperion .
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Littlestone
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Re: Megalithic Poems:- Alexander Thom: Ancient Mon
Feb 25, 2007, 07:59
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Thanks tiompan - got a feeling that's on here somewhere; it's on http://megalithicpoems.blogspot.com/ in the July archives of 2006 (preceeded by a bit from Tess of the d'Urbervilles which is also worth a read).
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tiompan
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Re: Megalithic Poems:- Alexander Thom: Ancient Mon
Feb 25, 2007, 08:38
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Littlestone wrote: Thanks tiompan - got a feeling that's on here somewhere; it's on http://megalithicpoems.blogspot.com/ in the July archives of 2006 (preceeded by a bit from Tess of the d'Urbervilles which is also worth a read).
ooops , thought I had gone through them all , must have missed it .
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Littlestone
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Gilbert West: Order of the Garter
Feb 25, 2007, 22:36
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Mysterious rows
Of rude enormous obelisks, that rise
Orb within orb, stupendous monuments
Of artless architecture, such as now
Oft-times amaze the wandering traveller,
By the pale moon discerned on Sarum's plain.
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Littlestone
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Philip Sidney: Stonehenge
Feb 26, 2007, 19:01
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Near Wilton sweet, huge stones are found,
But so confused, that neither any eye
Can count them just, nor Reason reason try,
What force brought them to so unlikely ground.
To stranger weights my mind's waste soil is bound,
Of passion-hills, reaching to Reason's sky,
From fancy's earth, passing all number's bound,
Passing all guess, whence into me should fly
So mazed a mass; or, if in me it grows,
A simple soul should breed so mixed woes
Philip Sidney (1554-1586)
From his, The Seven Wonders of England.
This puzzle about not being able to count the number of stones in a circle or the number of trees on a barrow without coming up with the same number twice (or if you do come with the same number the devil or something unpleasant is going to appear) is a reoccurring theme. Wonder what's going on with that and why...?
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nigelswift
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Henry James on Stonehenge
Feb 27, 2007, 09:20
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"You may put a hundred questions to these rough-hewn giants as they bend in grim contemplation of their fallen companions; but your curiosity falls dead in the vast sunny stillness that enshrouds them, and the strange monument, with all its unspoken memories, becomes simply a heart-stirring picture in a land of pictures … "
and
""It is indeed immensely picturesque. I can fancy sitting all a summer's day watching its shadows shorten and lengthen again, and drawing a delicious contrast between the world's duration and the feeble span of individual experience. There is something in Stonehenge almost reassuring; and if you are disposed to feel that life is rather a superficial matter, and that we soon get to the bottom of things, the immemorial gray pillars may serve to remind you of the enormous background of time."
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Littlestone
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Re: Henry James on Stonehenge
Feb 27, 2007, 10:07
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Mm... Good stuff. Thanks.
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Littlestone
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Edgar Allan Poe: Stonehenge
Feb 27, 2007, 18:43
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From its singularity, and the mystery attending its origin and appropriation, it has excited more surprise and curiosity than any other relic of antiquity in Great Britain. It is situated about two miles directly west of Amesbury, and seven north of Salisbury, in Wiltshire. When viewed at a distance it appears but a small and trifling object, for its bulk and character are lost in the extensive space which surrounds it; and even on a near examination it fails to fulfil the expectations of the stranger who visits it with exaggerated prepossessions. To behold this "wonder of Britain" it should be viewed with an artist's eye, and contemplated by an intellect stored with antiquarian and historical knowledge. Stonehenge, notwithstanding much that has been said to the contrary, is utterly unlike any monument now remaining in Europe.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
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Littlestone
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Thomas Gray: The Bard
Mar 15, 2007, 20:42
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"The following Ode is founded on a Tradition current in Wales, that Edward the First, when he completed the conquest of his country, ordered all the Bards, that fell into his hands, to be put to death."*
Thanks to moss for pointing me in the direction of this one.
Weave the warp, and weave the woof,
The winding-sheet of Edward's race.
Give ample room, and verge enough
The characters of hell to trace.
Mark the year, and mark the night,
When Severn shall re-eccho with affright
The shrieks of death, thro' Berkley's roofs that ring,
Shrieks of an agonizing King!
She-Wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,
That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled Mate,
From thee be born, who o'er thy country hangs
The scourge of Heav'n. What Terrors round him wait!
Amazement in his van, with Flight combined,
And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind.
Thomas Gray (1716-1771)
* http://www.english.upenn.edu/~mgamer/Etexts/gray.bard.html
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Littlestone
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Yvonne Aburrow: Song of Amairgen
Mar 21, 2007, 06:06
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Equinox greetings to one and all.
Thought the following had the right feel to it for the day. Image of Amairgen himself at - http://megalithicpoems.blogspot.com/
Song of Amairgen
I am a wind upon the sea
I am a sea-wave on the land
I am the sound of breaking waves
Encompassing all that I see.
Erin is my lady love
Erin is my heart of gold
Erin is all my joy
And who but my lady Erin?
I am a stag of seven tines
I am a hawk upon a cliff
I am a tear-drop of the sun
Encompassing all that I see.
Fairer than I there is no plant,
I am a battle-hardened boar,
I am a salmon in a pool,
Encompassing all that I see.
A silver lake set in a plain,
The excellence of all the arts,
A battle-waging spear am I
Encompassing all that I see.
Amairgen Glungel son of Mil,
A god who sets the head afire,
The secret of the mountain stones,
Encompassing all that I see.
I invoke the ages of the moon,
And steer the course of the setting sun
Bearing cattle from Tethra's house,
Encompassing all that I see.
The sea is bursting forth of fish,
The skies are full with flights of birds,
Manannan's cattle under wave,
And the land is broad of beasts.
Yvonne Aburrow
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