An Observation by Henry David Thoreau on 28 October 1853

On this day in 1853, Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) wrote the following observation in his journal:

For a year or two past, my publisher, falsely so called, has been writing from time to time to ask what disposition should be made of the copies of "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" still on hand, and at last suggesting that he had use for the room they occupied in his cellar. So I had them all sent to me here, and they have arrived to-day by express, filling the man's wagon, -- 706 copies out of an edition of 1000. . . . I have now a library of nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which I wrote myself. Is it not well that the author should behold the fruits of his labor?

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau

An Anonymous Thought from the Mountains: A Bit of Poetry

Well, early in autumn, at first winter-warning,
When the stag had to break with his foot, of a morning,
A drinking-hole out of the fresh tender ice
That covered the pond till the sun, in a trice,
Loosening it, let out a ripple of gold,
And another and another, and faster and faster . . .

Source: Thoughts from the Mountains (Heartland Samplers, Inc., 1992)

Prayer of Columbus

On this day in 1492 (according to the Old Style Calendar), Christopher Columbus's expedition arrived in the present-day Bahamas. Here is the poem that Walt Whitman wrote, in the first person, about Christopher Columbus. To read an article about this poem, click here.


PRAYER OF COLUMBUS
from Leaves of Grass (1892)
by Walt Whitman

A batter'd, wreck'd old man,
Thrown on this savage shore, far, far from home,
Pent by the sea and dark rebellious brows, twelve dreary months,
Sore, stiff with many toils, sicken'd and nigh to death,
I take my way along the island's edge,
Venting a heavy heart.

I am too full of woe!
Haply I may not live another day;
I cannot rest O God, I cannot eat or drink or sleep,
Till I put forth myself, my prayer, once more to Thee,
Breathe, bathe myself once more in Thee, commune with Thee,
Report myself once more to Thee.

Thou knowest my years entire, my life,
My long and crowded life of active work, not adoration merely;
Thou knowest the prayers and vigils of my youth,
Thou knowest my manhood's solemn and visionary meditations,
Thou knowest how before I commenced I devoted all to come to Thee,
Thou knowest I have in age ratified all those vows and strictly kept them,
Thou knowest I have not once lost nor faith nor ecstasy in Thee,
In shackles, prison'd, in disgrace, repining not,
Accepting all from Thee, as duly come from Thee.

All my emprises have been fill'd with Thee,
My speculations, plans, begun and carried on in thoughts of Thee,
Sailing the deep or journeying the land for Thee;
Intentions, purports, aspirations mine, leaving results to Thee.

O I am sure they really came from Thee,
The urge, the ardor, the unconquerable will,
The potent, felt, interior command, stronger than words,
A message from the Heavens whispering to me even in sleep,
These sped me on.

By me and these the work so far accomplish'd,
By me earth's elder cloy'd and stifled lands uncloy'd, unloos'd,
By me the hemispheres rounded and tied, the unknown to the known.

The end I know not, it is all in Thee,
Or small or great I know not -- haply what broad fields, what lands,
Haply the brutish measureless human undergrowth I know,
Transplanted there may rise to stature, knowledge worthy Thee,
Haply the swords I know may there indeed be turn'd to reaping-tools,
Haply the lifeless cross I know, Europe's dead cross, may bud and blossom there.

One effort more, my altar this bleak sand;
That Thou O God my life hast lighted,
With ray of light, steady, ineffable, vouchsafed of Thee,
Light rare untellable, lighting the very light,
Beyond all signs, descriptions, languages;
For that O God, be it my latest word, here on my knees,
Old, poor, and paralyzed, I thank Thee.

My terminus near,
The clouds already closing in upon me,
The voyage balk'd the course disputed, lost,
I yield my ships to Thee.

My hands, my limbs grow nerveless,
My brain feels rack'd, bewilder'd,
Let the old timbers part, I will not part,
I will cling fast to Thee, O God, though the waves buffet me,
Thee, Thee at least I know.

Is it the prophet's thought I speak, or am I raving?
What do I know of life? what of myself?
I know not even my own work past or present,
Dim ever-shifting guesses of it spread before me,
Of newer better worlds, their mighty parturition,
Mocking, perplexing me.

And these things I see suddenly, what mean they?
As if some miracle, some hand divine unseal'd my eyes,
Shadowy vast shapes smile through the air and sky,
And on the distant waves sail countless ships,
And anthems in new tongues I hear saluting me.

Giraffe: Two Quotations

In his Dictionary (1755) Samuel Johnson identified a camelopard (a giraffe) as "An Abyssinian animal, taller than an elephant, but not so thick. He is so named, because he has a neck and head like a camel; he is spotted like a pard, but his spots are white upon a red ground. The Italians call him giraffa. Trevoux." (In his Dictionary Johnson defined a pard as "The leopard . . . ")

On March 23, 1842, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following rhetorical question in his journal: "What could be more dignified than to browse the tree-tops with the camelopard?"

Giraffe

"Tanka" by Sadakichi Hartmann : Poets.org

"Tanka" by Sadakichi Hartmann is a group of six poems of five lines each containing five, seven, five, seven, and seven syllables respectively. Carl Sadakichi Hartmann, born in the late 1860s in Japan, was a dramatist, fiction writer, and art critic. His poetry collections include Naked Ghosts: Four Poems (Fantasia, 1925), Tanka and Haiku: 14 Japanese Rhythms (G. Bruno, 1915), and My Rubaiyat (Mangan, 1913). He died in November 1944.

Read "Tanka" by Sadakichi Hartmann >>

"Remnants" by Jim Handlin : Poets.org

"Everything gets slow, stops. / I reread the telegram." So begins Jim Handlin's poem "Remnants," which first appeared in the May 1981 issue of Poetry. Jim Handlin earned an MA in Classics from Fordham University and a PhD in Educational Administration from Columbia University. To read more about him, click here.

Read "Remnants" by Jim Handlin >>

Red azalea

Photo credit: Monty Gilmer

(Photo copyright 2018 Monty Gilmer.

All rights reserved.)

Prayer of Saint Francis (Author Unknown): "Peace Prayer"

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; . . . " So begins the anonymous Prayer of Saint Francis, which is often associated with Saint Francis of Assisi (1181[or 1182]-1226). The prayer in its entirety reads:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.


Listen to John Michael Talbot singing "Peace Prayer" in the music video below.

"Jesus the Bread of Life": A Poem of Jesus Christ

JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE
A Poem of Jesus Christ
from the Bible: John 6:35-39 (King James Version)

I am the bread of life:
He that cometh to me shall never hunger;
And he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you,
That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me;
And him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven,
Not to do mine own will,
But the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me,
That of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing,
But should raise it up again at the last day.

"The Tally Stick" by Jarold Ramsey

"Here from the start, from our first of days, look; / I have carved our lives in secret on this stick / of mountain mahogany the length of your arms / outstretched, the wood clear red, so hard and rare. / It is time to touch and handle what we know we share." So reads the first stanza of Jarold Ramsey's poem "The Tally Stick" in his book Thinking Like a Canyon: New and Selected Poems, 1973-2010 (Antrim House, 2012).

Read "The Tally Stick" by Jarold Ramsey >>

To read about Jarold Ramsey and his book Thinking Like a Canyon, click on the link to Antrim House at the end of my introduction above.

Biography of James Baldwin (1924-1987) : Poets.org

On this day in 1924, American writer James Baldwin was born in Harlem. To read a biography of him, click here.

An Observation by Henry David Thoreau on 2 August 1854

On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

I must cultivate privacy. It is very dissipating to be with people too much. As C. says, it takes the edge off a man's thoughts to have been much in society -- I can not spare my moonlight & my mts for the best of man I am likely to get in exchange --
     I am inclined now for a pensive evening walk.

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

An Observation by Henry David Thoreau on 4 July 1858

On this day, Independence Day, in 1858, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

It is far more independent to travel on foot.

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

"Hymn to the Belly" by Ben Jonson : The Writer's Almanac

Today on "The Writer's Almanac" with Garrison Keillor, the poem is "Hymn to the Belly" by English dramatist Ben Jonson (1572-1637), whose birthday it is.

Read The Writer's Almanac for June 11, 2018 >>

"The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe : The Writer's Almanac

Today on "The Writer's Almanac" with Garrison Keillor, the poem is "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by English dramatist Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).

Read The Writer's Almanac for June 10, 2018 >>

"Oh the gallant Fishers life, . . . " by Izaak Walton, from The Compleat Angler

"The Writer's Almanac" for June 9, 2018

And here is "The Writer's Almanac," with Garrison Keillor, for Saturday, June 9, 2018. It's the birthday of novelist Charles Webb, author of The Graduate, and the birthday of composer Cole Porter. The poem for today is "Oh the gallant Fishers life, . . . " by Izaak Walton, from The Compleat Angler.

Read more >>

"A Voice from Death" by Walt Whitman

On this day in 1889, according to the Associated Press, "some 2,200 people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, perished when the South Fork Dam collapsed, sending 20 million tons of water rushing through the town." To read the poem that Walt Whitman, who was born on this day in 1819, wrote about that cataclysm, click here.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

An Observation by Henry David Thoreau on 28 May 1854

On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

It would be worth the while to ask ourselves weekly -- Is our life innocent enough? Do we live inhumanely -- toward man or beast -- in thought or act? To be serene & successful we must be at one with the universe. The least conscious & needless injury inflicted on any creature -- is to its extent a suicide. What peace -- or life -- can a murderer have?

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Quotation from Shane Claiborne on the teachings of Jesus

"Only Jesus would declare God's blessing on the poor rather than on the rich and would insist that it's not enough to just love your friends. I just began to wonder if anybody still believed Jesus meant those things he said." -- Shane Claiborne, quoted in The Sun magazine (May 2018)

Source of the screenshot above: The Sun magazine on Twitter (May 18, 2018, tweet)

The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor: Archives

Good news! As American Public Media says, "The historic archives for The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor are once again available online. You may now access past shows at www.writersalmanac.org."

Casey Jones (1863-1900)

On this day in 1900, according to the Associated Press, "engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a train wreck near Vaughan, Mississippi, after staying at the controls in a successful effort to save the passengers."

To read more about Casey Jones, click here.

John Luther "Casey" Jones

(1863-1900)

THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON POST: THE COUNTRY PARSON

Read THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON POST: THE COUNTRY PARSON: "Recently, while paging through some old, old newspapers I had saved, I had the pleasure to rediscover a simple, one panel comic strip I used to follow during the mid to late 1960s in my local newspaper called 'The Country Parson.'" So begins Jack Jodell's commentary on the syndicated, daily cartoon for which Frank A. Clark wrote all the captions. To continue reading that commentary, click on the link above.

Found Poem from Two Letters by Emily Dickinson

Here is a found poem from two letters by Emily Dickinson in Letters of Emily Dickinson, edited by Mabel Loomis Todd. The original edition of that book was first published by Roberts Brothers, Boston, in 1894.


How can one be fatherless
who has a father's friend
within confiding reach?

Who could be motherless
who has a mother's grave
within confiding reach?

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

American poet

"Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats

On this day in 1934, according to the Associated Press, "Tender Is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was first published in book form after being serialized in Scribner's Magazine." Fitzgerald borrowed the title of that novel from the fifth line in the fourth stanza of the poem "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats.

To read more about F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel Tender Is the Night, click here.

To read the poem "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats, click here.

John Keats (1795-1821)

English poet

About The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

So begins American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby. On this day in 1925, according to the Associated Press, "the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel The Great Gatsby was first published by Scribner's of New York." To read more about that novel, click here.

F. Scott Fitzgerald circa 1921 

"A Storm in April" by Richard Wilbur

Read the poem "A Storm in April" by the great American poet Richard Wilbur.

Watch a video of Richard Wilbur introducing and reading his poem "A Storm in April."

Richard Wilbur (1921-2017)

Richard Wilbur - Poetry readings: 'A Storm in April' (71/83)

Anonymous Japanese poem: "If only when one heard"

On my birthday this year I turned sixty-seven. I remember how I looked forward to birthdays when I was a child; how I counted the months, the weeks, the days, the hours until I was finally another year older. What the heck was I thinking? Here is an anonymous, untitled, twentieth-century Japanese poem about the coming of Old Age.

If only when one heard
That Old Age was coming,
One could bolt the door,
Answer "Not at home,"
And refuse to meet him!

Source of poem: Great Short Poems from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century (Dover Publications, 2011), edited by Dorothy Belle Pollack

"The Garden" by Belle F. Owens : Christ in Poetry

The final song in Jesus Christ Superstar (1970), a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, is "John Nineteen: Forty-One." In the Bible, John 19:41-42 (Good News Translation) reads: "There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus' body there." Here is a poem by Belle F. Owens about resurrection, a subject that Jesus Christ Superstar does not deal with.


THE GARDEN

The garden now is sealed and dead,
But, lo! a crocus lifts its head;
This is the tomb of Love, we feel,
But here an iris breaks the seal.
This is not death but wonted birth,
But resurrection of the frost-bound earth;
The silver rain unseals the crust
And through the sod green spears will thrust
Returning spring, renew our faith,
For he is risen as he saith.


Source of poem: Christ in Poetry (1952), an anthology compiled and edited by Thomas Curtis Clark and Hazel Davis Clark

"Good Friday" by Christina G. Rossetti

Today is Good Friday, the Friday before Easter observed in churches as the anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ. Read the poem "Good Friday" by Christina G. Rossetti.

Christina G. Rossetti (1830-1894)

English poet

"The Upper Room" by Belle F. Owens : Christ in Poetry

     Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?"
     And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?" Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."

-- The Bible: Mark 14:12-15 (New King James Version)

THE UPPER ROOM

by Belle F. Owens

Oh, had it been mine, that upper room,

To make all fair with oil and bloom!

I'd spread clean rushes on the floor,

Put water jug and towel by the door;

A linen cloth as white as May,

A runner, on the table lay.

I have no incense, only bread and wine;

The grapes and winepress, they are mine;

My bread, as spikenard redolent,

Is of all wholesome odors blent.

Then, having made all fresh and fair,

I would give thanks for this my share.

Source of poem: Christ in Poetry (1952), an anthology compiled and edited by Thomas Curtis Clark and Hazel Davis Clark

A Pair of Observations by Henry David Thoreau on 27 and 28 March 1853

On 27 March 1853, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

Tried to see the faint-croaking frogs at J. P. Browns pond in the woods --  They are remarkably timid & shy -- had their noses & eyes out -- croaking -- but all ceased dove & concealed themselves before I got within a rod of the shore. Stood perfectly still amid the bushes on the shore -- before one showed himself -- finally 5 or 6 & all eyed me -- gradually approached me within 3 feet to reconnoitre and though I waited about 1/2 hour would not utter a sound nor take their eyes off me --  Were plainly affected by curiosity.


On this day in 1853, Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

My Aunt Maria asked me to read the life of Dr. Chalmers -- which however I did not promise to do. Yesterday, Sunday, she was heard through the partition shouting to my Aunt Jane who is deaf --  "Think of it, he stood haf an hour today to hear the frogs croak, and he would'nt read the life of Chalmers -- "


Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) 

From the Bible: Words of the Lord

In the King James Version of the Bible, II Chronicles 7:14 reads:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

In the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, 2 Chronicles 7:14 reads:

. . . if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.


(Photo credit: Monty Gilmer. Copyright 2020 Monty Gilmer. All rights reserved.)

An Observation by Henry David Thoreau on 22 March 1861

On this day in 1861, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

A seed, which is a plant or tree in embryo, which has the principle of growth, of life, in it, is more important in my eyes, and in the economy of Nature, than the diamond of Kohinoor.

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

An Observation by Henry David Thoreau on 20 March 1855

On this day in 1855, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

Trying the other day to imitate the honking of geese, I found myself flapping my sides with my elbows, as with wings, and uttering something like the syllables mow-ack with a nasal twang and twist in my head; and I produced their note so perfectly in the opinion of the hearers that I thought I might possibly draw a flock down.

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

"The Golden Rule": A Poem of Jesus Christ

Here is a poem of Jesus Christ about the Golden Rule, a rule of ethical conduct referring to Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31. As Edwin Markham wrote, "We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; now let us commit it to life."

THE GOLDEN RULE

A Poem of Jesus Christ

from the Bible, New International Version (2011)

In everything, do to others

What you would have them do to you,

For this sums up the Law

And the Prophets. Do to others

As you would have them do to you.

An Observation by Henry David Thoreau on 8 March 1859

Here where I live in Virginia it has been snowing off and on all day. On this day in 1859 Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

To us snow and cold seem a mere delaying of the spring. How far we are from understanding the value of these things in the economy of Nature!

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

"To the Supreme Being" by Michelangelo

On this day in 1475, according to the Associated Press, "Italian artist and poet Michelangelo was born in Caprese in the Republic of Florence." Here is a sonnet that he wrote, a sonnet translated, from the Italian, by English poet William Wordsworth.


TO THE SUPREME BEING

The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed,
If Thou the spirit give by which I pray:
My unassisted heart is barren clay,
Which of its native self can nothing feed:
Of good and pious works Thou art the seed,
Which quickens only where Thou say'st it may;
Unless Thou show to us Thine own true way,
No man can find it: Father! Thou must lead.
Do Thou, then, breathe those thoughts into my mind
By which such virtue may in me be bred
That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread;
The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind,
That I may have the power to sing of Thee,
And sound Thy praises everlastingly.

Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Quotation: Vincent van Gogh on Normality

"Normality is a paved road;

it's comfortable to walk,

but no flowers grow on it."

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890),

Dutch painter

Vincent van Gogh

An Observation by Henry David Thoreau: "We too have our thaws. . . . "

On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau wrote the following observation in his journal:

We too have our thaws. They come to our January moods, when our ice cracks, and our sluices break loose. Thought that was frozen up under stern experience gushes forth in feeling and expression.

Source: Daily Observations: Thoreau on the Days of the Year (2005), edited by Steve Grant

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe

On this day in 1845, according to the Associated Press, "Edgar Allan Poe's famous narrative poem 'The Raven' ('Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary . . . ') was first published in the New York Evening Mirror."

Read "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe >>

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

"Eldorado" by Edgar Allan Poe

Here is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) about a knight's search for the legendary place named Eldorado.


ELDORADO

   Gaily bedight,
   A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
   Had journeyed long,
   Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

   But he grew old --
   This knight so bold --
And o'er his heart a shadow
   Fell as he found
   No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

   And, as his strength
   Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow --
   "Shadow," said he,
   "Where can it be --
This land of Eldorado?"

   "Over the mountains
   Of the moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
   Ride, boldly ride,"
   The shade replied, --
"If you seek for Eldorado."

Illustration by

William Heath Robinson

Dreams and Deeds

Here is a poem about the continuing Christ. It is a prayer of hope.


DREAMS AND DEEDS
by John Hunter

Dear Master, in Whose life I see
All that I long and fail to be;
Let Thy clear light forever shine
To shame and guide this life of mine.

Though what I dream and what I do
In my poor days are always two,
Help me, oppressed by things undone,
O Thou, Whose dreams and deeds were one.


Source of this poem, which is in the public domain: Christ in Poetry (1952), an anthology compiled and edited by Thomas Curtis Clark and Hazel Davis Clark