In silent night when rest I took,
For sorrow near I did not look,
I waken’d was with thund’ring noise
And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.
That fearful sound of “fire” and “fire,”
Let no man know is my Desire.
I starting up, the light did spy,
And to my God my heart did cry
To straighten me in my Distress
And not to leave me succourless.
Then coming out, behold a space
The flame consume my dwelling place.
And when I could no longer look,
I blest his grace that gave and took,
That laid my goods now in the dust.
Yea, so it was, and so ’twas just. Continue reading “Verses upon the Burning of our House” by Anne Bradstreet
All posts by Phil
Risk and Triumph
“Who never lost, are unprepared
A Coronet to find!
Who never thirsted
Flagons, and Cooling Tamarind!”
Read the rest – “Who Never Lost” by Emily Dickenson
Douglas Wilson on Deep Reading
The men I am most indebted to philosophically are: C.S. Lewis, Cornelius Van Til, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Calvin, Richard Weaver, the early Rushdoony, Augustine, John Knox, Gary North, J.I. Packer, Francis Schaeffer, G.K. Chesterton, Paul Johnson, John Stott, Christopher Dawson, H.L. Mencken, William Buckley, David Wells, R.L. Dabney, E. Michael Jones, P.G. Wodehouse, Greg Bahnsen, and Peter Leithart. And after a diet of such books for twenty-six years, I have to say that reading an emergent book by Brian McLaren is like watching a six-year-old do card tricks.
Where Are the Conservatives?
Science writer Erick Vance asks why conservatives aren’t in favor of or proposing solutions to deal with climate change. Isn’t it an issue right up their alley? Conversation ensued.
Save Us from the Critics
A.N. Wilson says he can tell Sherlock Holmes was a homosexual drug-addict, even if Conan Doyle didn’t know it. Can we agree that fictional characters are not as constant as live people? So an author might reimagine his character in a way different than originally written, making arguments that “this guy was really . . . ” irrelevant. (via Book Trib)
Screwtape in Chattanooga
I plan to see Max McLean’s production of The Screwtape Letters this weekend in Chattanooga. It should be terrific, probably even convicting.
Despair: New and Improved
Looking for that perfect Christmas gift? Look no further. Despair.com offers gifts “for the person who has everything, but still isn’t very happy about it.” Here’s a great suggestion for the business executive or the corporate stooge in your life. Get him the Demotivation lithograph, which says, “Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people.” Or the Worth lithograph: “Just because you’re necessary doesn’t mean you’re important.”
Priceless.
Ask Me Another Question
Last night, I was talking about sex with some guys . . . wait, that doesn’t sound right. I was talking . . . I was minding my own business when suddenly someone asked me what ‘the birds and the bees” had to do with . . . the subject at hand.
Today I have an answer from our Etymology Desk: We don’t know. The phrases appears to have developed last century, but note this article from The Phrase Finder on suggested origins. None of them actually use “the birds and the bees” in reference to the act of marriage. There’s a 1927 newspaper article, but it couldn’t have been the coining of the phrase. Perhaps this is the influence of teachers whose oral instruction permeated the culture.
As for a related phrase, The Word Detective tells us that we don’t know the origin of “naked as a jay bird.” Why pick on jays when they aren’t unclothed any more than any other animal? Evan Morris says maybe it’s because blue jays are stand out among birds, obnoxiously so, in color and volume. On a discussion forum, someone says the folk wisdom he was told has to do with baby jays being pushed out of their nests before they have any feathers. Still, the printed evidence of this fails.
Harping with Bells On
I wondered today how the word harp came to mean “talking tediously or nagging.” Is that meaning of the word related to the instrument by the same name? Are they different words which have developed into the same one over the years? Apparently, they are the same word, and the phrase “to harp on one string” was used in print as far back as 1513. I have no doubt that this phrase has something to do with bar patrons whistling for their beer at one time, but that story has yet to be concocted.
The stories are being concocted for the origin of the phrase “with bells on,” because there isn’t enough print material to argue well for any of them. Have you ever used this phrase or had it used on you? Why would anyone go to a party with bells on, or the British variation, “with brass knobs on”? How did the phrase develop to mean not only enthusiasm but also intensity, such as “He retaliated with bells on”?
Lynn Vincent on Conservative Politics
Here’s a great lecture with Q&A by World Magazine’s Lynn Vincent on political dialogue today and where conservatives stand. This is very interesting and not at all exaggerated as some political speeches are.