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