Medieval Music

Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant

So live, 
that when thy summons comes to join The innumerable caravan which moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death, Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. ~William Cullen Bryant~

For the Love of The Wind in the Willows

Bill Whittle: The Struggle for Stupidity

Studebaker

There is a new bookshelf in the house

Reading The Little Duke with the cat.

The Gods of the Copybook Heading




AS I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,

I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.

Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.




We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn.

That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:

But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breath of Mind,

So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.




We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,

Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place;

But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come

That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.




With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch.

They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch.

They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.

So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.




When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.

They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.

But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."




On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life

(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)

Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,

And the Gods of the Copybook Heading said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."




In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,

By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;

But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,

And the Gods of the Copybook Heading said: "If you don't work you die."




Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,

And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true

That All is not God that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four-

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.




As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man-

There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:-

That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,




And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins

When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,




As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,

The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!




Rudyard Kipling

Little Britches: The Home Ranch

Rag making #4

O Loving Lord

Luke 9 for Bible Study today.



O loving Lord, who art forever seeking
Those of thy mind, intent to do thy will,
Strong in thy strength, thy power and grace bespeaking,
Faithful to thee, through good report and ill -

To thee we come, and humbly make confession,
Faithless so oft, in thought and word and deed,
Asking that we may have, in true possession,
Thy free forgiveness in the hour of need.

In duties small be thou our inspiration,
In large affairs endue us with thy might;
Through faithful service cometh full salvation;
So may we serve, thy will our chief delight.

Not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
Faithful in all things, seeking not reward;
Then, following thee, may we fulfil our mission,

True to ourselves, our neighbours, and our Lord.

Watching The Hope: The Rebirth of Israel

 More information Here on this remarkable video

AO Medieval Music Playlist