Month: June 2017
Work And Contemplation
The woman singeth at her spinning-wheel
A pleasant chant, ballad or barcarole;
She thinketh of her song, upon the whole,
Far more than of her flax; and yet the reel
Is full, and artfully her fingers feel
With quick adjustment, provident control,
The lines–too subtly twisted to unroll–
Out to a perfect thread. I hence appeal
To the dear Christian Church–that we may do
Our Father’s business in these temples mirk,
Thus swift and steadfast, thus intent and strong;
While thus, apart from toil, our souls pursue
Some high calm spheric tune, and prove our work
The better for the sweetness of our song.
– Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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30th June – On This Day In History
Born:
1941 Peter Pollock (South African cricketer)
Died:
2012 Yitzhak Shamir (Israeli Prime Minister)
On This Day:
1894 Tower Bridge (London) opens
Have a good Friday, 30th June
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The Landing Of The Pilgrim Fathers
The breaking waves dashed high
On a stern and rock-bound coast,
And the woods, against a stormy sky,
Their giant branches tost;
And the heavy night hung dark
The hills and water o’er,
When a band of exiles moored their bark
On the wild New England shore.
Not as the conqueror comes,
They, the true-hearted, came;
Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
And the trumpet that sings of fame;
Not as the flying come,
In silence and in fear, –
They shook the depths of the desert’s gloom
With their hymns of lofty cheer.
Amidst the storm they sang,
And the stars heard and the sea;
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
To the anthem of the free.
The ocean-eagle soared
From his nest by the white wave’s foam,
And the rocking pines of the forest roared –
This was their welcome home!
There were men with hoary hair
Amidst that pilgrim band:
Why had they come to wither there,
Away from their childhood’s land?
There was woman’s fearless eye,
Lit by her deep love’s truth;
There was manhood’s brow serenely high,
And the fiery heart of youth.
What sought they thus afar?
Bright jewels of the mine?
The wealth of the seas? the spoils of war? –
They sought a faith’s pure shrine!
Ay, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod!
They have left unstained what there they found –
Freedom to worship God!
– Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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29th June – On This Day In History
Born:
1930 Robert Evans (director – The Godfather)
Died:
1861 Elizabeth Barrett Browning (poet)
On This Day:
1916 The first Boeing aircraft flies
Have a good Thursday, 29th June
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28th June – On This Day In History
Born:
1491 Henry VII (King of England, founder of the Church of England)
Died:
1914 Franz Ferdinand (assassination sparked the start of World War 1)
On This Day:
1820 tomatoes are proven to not be poisonous
Have a good Wednesday, 28th June
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26th June – On This Day In History
Born:
1956 Chris Isaak (singer & songwriter)
Died:
2003 Denis Thatcher, MBE (husband of Margaret)
On This Day:
1857 First recipients of the Victoria Cross are awarded by Queen Victoria (Crimean War)
Have a good Monday, 26th June
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