“What is the real good?’
I asked in musing mood.
Order, said the law court;
Knowledge, said the school;
Truth, said the wise man;
Pleasure, said the fool;
Love, said the maiden;
Beauty, said the page;
Freedom, said the dreamer;
Home, said the sage;
Fame, said the soldier;
Equity, the seer;—
Spake my heart full sadly:
‘The answer is not here.’
Then within my bosom
Softly this I heard:
‘Each heart holds the secret:
Kindness is the word.’
— John Boyle O’Reilly, What is Good
Posted by daddybear71 on April 18, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/18/a-year-of-poetry-day-360/
“Pack it up in brown paper!” the old man cried,
“And seal it with olive-and-dove.
“I command you to do it!” he added with pride,
“Nor forget, my good fellow to send her beside
“Easter Greetings, and give her my love.”
Posted by daddybear71 on April 17, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/17/a-year-of-poetry-day-359/
MOST glorious Lord of Lyfe! that, on this day,
Didst make Thy triumph over death and sin;
And, having harrowd hell, didst bring away
Captivity thence captive, us to win:
This joyous day, deare Lord, with joy begin;
And grant that we, for whom thou diddest dye,
Being with Thy deare blood clene washt from sin,
May live for ever in felicity!
And that Thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love Thee for the same againe;
And for Thy sake, that all lyke deare didst buy,
With love may one another entertayne!
So let us love, deare Love, lyke as we ought,
–Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.
— Edmund Spenser, Easter
Posted by daddybear71 on April 16, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/16/a-year-of-poetry-day-358/
Posted by daddybear71 on April 15, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/15/a-year-of-poetry-day-357/
The old man lifted his bundle onto his shoulder after stooping over and picking up his walking stick. Next to him, his son bent over with his own burden of food and water. He had sprouted up that spring, and had the gangly look all boys get just before they start to fill out into manhood.
“Heavy?” Abraham asked.
“No, father,” Isaac said stoically.
Abraham smiled sadly at that. Isaac had his mother’s eyes and laughter, but his stubbornness was wholly from him. He marveled at how much joy their son brought to him, even now.
Sarah, her long silver hair pulled back and covered with a linen cloth, leaned down and kissed her son, smoothing down the unruly mop of dark curls on his head. She turned and smiled at her husband.
“Be safe,” she said, “and come home quickly.”
“I will, love,” he said quietly, reaching out to…
View original post 3,373 more words
Posted by daddybear71 on April 14, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/14/sacrifice-2/
Great big lolloping lovable things!
Rolling and tumbling on every lawn,
Tearing at slippers and bones and wings-
Wonderful loot from the ash-heap drawn:
Foxhound puppies
Contented puppies
Dipping your ears in the dews of dawn!
Lapping your porridge at farm-house doors,
Cracking a biscuit, robbing a nest
Printing your tracks upon kitchen floors,
Dodging a broom when the cooks protest;
Foxhound puppies,
Delinquent puppies,
Cursed for a moment and then caressed!
Wandering out where the spaniels walk,
Following slow when the guns go by,
Streaking for home when the twelve-bores talk,
Clumsy and puzzled and suddenly shy;
Foxhound puppies
Bewildered puppies
Lone and unwanted and wondering why!
Never mind puppies, your day will come;
By distant coverts your kingdoms wait,
When the spaniels doze and the guns are dumb
And hoofs are loud by the bridle gate;
Foxhound puppies,
Yet scarcely puppies,
Raised as you are to a hound’s estate.
Lost will your lolloping ways be then,
Your timid glance and your shrinking pose,
As you shoulder the gorse in glade and glen,
Lifting the line that your tongues disclose;
Foxhound puppies,
No longer puppies,
But trusted names that the huntsman knows!
— William Henry Ogilvie, Foxhound Puppies
Posted by daddybear71 on April 14, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/14/a-year-of-poetry-day-356/
Posted by daddybear71 on April 13, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/13/a-year-of-poetry-day-355/
The path runs straight between the flowering rows,
A moonlit path, hemmed in by beds of bloom,
Where phlox and marigolds dispute for room
With tall, red dahlias and the briar rose.
‘T is reckless prodigality which throws
Into the night these wafts of rich perfume
Which sweep across the garden like a plume.
Over the trees a single bright star glows.
Dear garden of my childhood, here my years
Have run away like little grains of sand;
The moments of my life, its hopes and fears
Have all found utterance here, where now I stand;
My eyes ache with the weight of unshed tears,
You are my home, do you not understand?
— Amy Powell, The Fruit Garden Path
Posted by daddybear71 on April 12, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/12/a-year-of-poetry-day-354/
From April 9 to April 12, 1917, the Canadian Expeditionary Force conducted its first battle in which all four of its divisions were engaged at once. As part of the larger Arras offensive, the Canadians captured Vimy Ridge and the surrounding countryside.
Key to this victory was preparation at all levels. An immense collection of artillery, comprised of almost 1000 guns, mortars, and howitzers, was allotted 1.6 million shells for the battle. Extensive reconnaissance gave commanders a good picture of the battlefield, which was passed all the way down to platoon leaders. Canadian soldiers were extensively trained for the battle, and lower-echelon commanders were given information and freedom of command unheard of in other World War I offensives.
The Germans facing the Canadians were outnumbered almost four to one, and their commander had not yet implemented the new “defense in depth” concept the German army had developed the previous year. Where the Canadians were able to provide relatively safe approaches to the front for their soldiers through the use of extensive tunnels, the Germans kept their reserves 24 miles behind the lines. While the Germans fought valiantly to defend their positions, lack of resupply and reinforcement contributed to their defeat.
The Canadians reached all of their objectives by the end of April 12, and established control of the high ground at the far left of the Arras battlefield. This victory cost them 3,598 dead and 7,004 wounded. While this is a horrid butcher’s bill to our modern sensibilities, it is light when compared to the casualties of other First World War battles, and the Canadians had actually succeeded.
Posted by daddybear71 on April 11, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/11/100-years-on-vimy-ridge/
Posted by daddybear71 on April 11, 2017
https://daddybearsden.com/2017/04/11/rules-for-waking-up-your-husband/
DaddyBear’s Den 