Poems For A Rainy Day

“
THE WHITE KNIGHT'S SONG

I'll tell thee everything I can;
There's little to relate.
I saw an aged, aged man,
A-sitting on a gate.
"Who are you, aged man?" I said.
"And how is it you live?"
And his answer trickled through my head
Like water through a sieve.

He said "I look for butterflies
That sleep among the wheat;
I make them into mutton-pies,
And sell them in the street.
I sell them unto men," he said,
"Who sail on stormy seas;
And that's the way I get my bread--
A trifle, if you please."

But I was thinking of a plan
To dye one's whiskers green,
And always use so large a fan
That it could not be seen.
So, having no reply to give
To what the old man said,
I cried, "Come, tell me how you live!"
And thumped him on the head.

His accents mild took up the tale;
He said, "I go my ways,
And when I find a mountain-rill,
I set it in a blaze.
And thence they make a stuff they call
Rowland's Macassar Oil--
Yet twopence-halfpenny is all
They give me for my toil."

But I was thinking of a way
To feed oneself on batter,
And so go on from day to day
Getting a little fatter.
I shook him well from side to side,
Until his face was blue;
"Come, tell me how you live," I cried
"And what it is you do!"
He said, "I hunt for haddocks' eyes
Among the heather bright,
And work them into waistcoat-buttons
In the silent night.
And these I do not sell for gold
Or coin of silvery shine,
But for a copper halfpenny,
And that will purchase nine.

"I sometimes dig for buttered rolls,
Or set limed twigs for crabs;
I sometimes search the grassy knolls
For wheels of hansom-cabs.
And that's the way" (he gave a wink)
"By which I get my wealth--
And very gladly will I drink
Your Honor's noble health."

I heard him then, for I had just
Completed my design
To keep the Menai bridge from rust
By boiling it in wine.
I thanked him much for telling me
The way he got his wealth,
But chiefly for his wish that he
Might drink my noble health.

And now, if e'er by chance I put
My fingers into glue,
Or madly squeeze a right-hand foot
Into a left-hand shoe,
Or if I drop upon my toe
A very heavy weight,
I weep, for it reminds me so
Of that old man I used to know--
Whose look was mild, whose speech was slow,
Whose hair was whiter than the snow,
Whose face was very like a crow
With eyes, like cinders, all aglow,
Who seemed distracted with his woe,
Who rocked his body to and fro,
And muttered mumblingly and low,
As if his mouth were full of dough,

Who snorted like a buffalo--
That summer evening long ago
A-sitting on a gate



from Through the Looking-Glass: And What Alice Found There
by the Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898)
(a.k.a. 'Lewis Carroll')
”

“Hey Tilt, who actually recorded that song? I remember I heard it on a (gasp!) record when I was a kid. I used to have that song memorized.”

“"Long have I wandered, long, he sang,
Bound by the chains through lives and pains
Innumerable, and felt the fangs
Of self on fire, of fierce desire.

Found, it is found, the Cause, he sang,
Of self on fire, of wild desire.
No house, O Architect, for me
Again can ever builded be.

Shattered are thy rafters, scattered
Are thy roof timbers utterly;
No house thou buildest more for me.
Mine is Nirvana, mine; it lies
Within my reach, before mine eyes.
Now, if I will it, now, I may
Pass now eternally away
To bliss eternal, LEAVE NO TRACE
Of me in this or other place.

But love I bear thee, love; and stay,
Humanity, for thy sole sake,
With mine own hands the bridge to make,
Which, if thou cross, thou too shall'st gain
Freedom from birth and death and pain,
And thus eternal bliss attain."

--Douglas Grant Duff Ainslie (1865-1952) English statesman, poet, and philosopher; delegate to International Congress of Philosophy, Harvard University

This excerpt from the poem "John of Damascus" is found in the Preface of The Science of Religion by Paramahansa Yogananda

its raining here in sunny florida...good day to scrooch up and read.”

“the above post was by OM....
jerbear long gone, but not forgotten or logged out of tt...LOL”

“A rainy day in the middle of February? I hope not, that would make a mess, a big snow storm, now we're talking.”

“february is a very rainy month in sunny florida”

“Pretty rainy in Sunny Georgia, too, LOL


Recorded as an Actual Song, Treebait? I've only seen it in print. I wonder where they came up with a melody?

I did find a link a while ago with some of Dodgson's poems --- along with the originals they parodied...

http://home.earthlink.net/~lfdean/carroll/parody/index.html



Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky
”

“It's been drizzling all week here in NE Fl.

Yes, it was on a record I had as a child. It had all kinds of songs on it, including every poem from Carroll's stuff that could become a song.”

“Alabama is expecting snow!!!”

“Cool beans! I wish we'd get snow here, it'd help kill off all those moquitos and roaches!”

“I'm wondering if they were from a Disney animation or something...?

Hmmmm.


The Weather Dudes are saying there might be some frozen precipitation up north toward the mountains, but nothing this far south. I think we've had our fun for the season.”

“My Poem

It's Sunday

a rainy day

no time to play

because I must

prepare my taxes

for people I don't trust

Republicans

who will spend it on

tax cuts

for the filthy rich.”

“One thing more

to make it clear

no tax break here

I must write a check

for one thousand more.”