A Crooked Man

An anonymous nursery rhyme reads:

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile,

He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;

He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,

And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

In my own little crooked household I'm the chief crook and bottlewasher.

"Don't Let the Rain Come Down (Crooked Little Man)"

by The Serendipity Singers

Be Thou My Vision

"Be Thou My Vision" is an ancient Irish hymn that was translated by Mary E. Byrne in 1905 and versified by Eleanor H. Hull. The music is an Irish Folk melody. In the music video below Fernando Ortega sings the hymn.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art --

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;

Thou my great Father. I Thy true son,

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,

Thou mine inheritance, now and always;

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,

May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

Chrysanthemum

A found poem of mine, a parody on two lines by William Shakespeare.

The author of the final eleven words in this found poem is unknown.

What's in a name? That

which we call

a chrysanthemum

by any other

name would be

easier to spell.

 

A Devil of a Puzzle

What device did Ambrose Bierce define as "An irritating toy that restores life to dead noises"? That device's name can be dialed on a telephone as 746-664-7274. What is that device's name?

To read the answer to this puzzle click here.

The Word

THE WORD

from Songs of Cheer (1910)

by John Kendrick Bangs

To-day, whatever may annoy,

The word for me is Joy, just simple Joy;

The joy of life;

The joy of children and of wife;

The joy of bright blue skies;

The joy of rain; the glad surprise

Of twinkling stars that shine at night;

The joy of winged things upon their flight;

The joy of noon-day, and the tried

True joyousness of eventide;

The joy of labor and of mirth;

The joy of air, and sea, and earth;

The countless joys that ever flow from Him

Whose vast beneficence doth dim

The lustrous light of day,

And lavish gifts divine upon our way.

Whate'er there be of Sorrow

I'll put off till To-morrow,

And when To-morrow comes, why then

'Twill be To-day and Joy again!

John Kendrick Bangs (1862-1922)

The Love of Life

From section 48 of "Song of Myself"

in the 1892 edition of Leaves of Grass

by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least.

Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.

Why should I wish to see God better than this day?

I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then,

In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass,

I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign'd by God's name,

And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe'er I go

Others will punctually come for ever and ever.

Read "Walt Whitman's Love of Life" >>>