Friday Poetry: Edwin Arnold

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has exciting plans for the Easter Weekend.

My chosen poem this week is by another new poet for me. Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) was born in Kent but spent most of life in India, where he worked as a schoolmaster. He became the editor of The Daily Telegraph on his return to England.

April

Blossom of the almond-trees,
April's gift to April's bees,
Birthday ornament of spring,
Flora's fairest daughterling! -
Coming when no flow'rets dare
Trust the cruel outer air;
When the royal king-cup bold
Will not don his coat of gold;
And the sturdy blackthorn spray
Keeps its silver for the May; -
Coming when no flow-rets would,
Save the lowly sisterhood
Early violets, blue and white,
Dying for their love of light.
Almond blossom, sent to teach us
That the spring-days soon will reach us,
Lest, with longing over-tried,
We die as the violets died.
Blossom, clouding all the tree
With thy crimson 'broidery,
Long before a leaf of green
On the bravest bough is seen;
Ah! when wintry winds are swinging
All thy red bells into ringing,
With a bee in every bell,
Almond bloom, we greet thee well! 

Edwin Arnold

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Edith Nesbit

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week and has some fun plans for the weekend.

My chosen poem this week is by the poet and author Edith Nesbit (1858-1924).

Spring Song

All winter through I sat alone,
Doors barred and windows shuttered fast,
And listened to the wind's faint moan moan,
And ghostly mutterings of the past;
And in the pauses of the rain,
Mid whispers of dead sorrow and sin,
Love tapped upon the window pane:
I had no heart to let him in.

But now, with spring, my doors stand wide;
My windows let delight creep through;
I hear the skylark sing outside;
I see the crocus, golden new.
The pigeons on my window-sill,
Winging and wooing, flirt and flout,-
Now Love must enter if he will,
I have no heart to keep him out. 

Edith Nesbit

Happy Reading!

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Anon

Hello Eveyone!

Apologies for the lack of posting but this week has not been a good week. For this reason I am posting an old favourite to cheer myself up.

Bobby Shaftoe

Bobby Shaftoe's gone to sea, 
Silver buckles on his knee;
He'll come back and marry me,
Bonny Bobby Shaftoe. 

Bobby Shaftoe's bright and fair,
Combing down his yellow hair,
He's my ain for evermair,
Bonny Bobby Shaftoe.

Bobby Shaftoe's tall and slim,
Always dressed so neat and trim,
The ladies they all keek at him,
Bonny Bobby Shaftoe. 

Bobby Shaftoe's getten a bairn
For to dandle in his arms;
In his arm and on his knee,
Bonny Bobby Shaftoe. 

Anon

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Anon

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has some fab plans for the weekend.

My chosen poem this week is one that my students sing and play regularly as it is a great beginner piece.

Lavender's Blue

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,
When I am king, dilly dilly, you shall be queen;
Call up your men, dilly dilly, set them to work,
Some to the plough, dilly dilly, some to the cart;
Some to make hay, dilly dilly, some to thresh corn,
Whilst you and I, dilly dilly, keep ourselves warm. 

Anon

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Eugene Field

Hello!

My chosen poem today is by the poet Eugene Field (1850-1895). Field was an American writer, best known for his children’s poetry and humorous essays.

Wynken, Blynken and Nod

Wynken. Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden show, -
Sailed on a river of crystal light
Into a sea of dew. 
'Where are you going, and what do you wish?'
The old moon asked the three.
'We have come to fish for the herring-fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we,'
Said Wynken,
Blynken
And Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe;
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew;
The little stars were the herring-fish
That lived in the beautiful sea. 
'Now cast your nets wherever you wish, -
Never afraid are we!'
So cried the stars to the fishermen three,
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod. 

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam, -
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fishermen home:
'Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed
As if it could not be;
And some folk thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea;
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
And Nod is a little heard, 
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle-bed;
So shut your eyes while Mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:-
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod. 

Eugene Field

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Carolyn Wells

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has some fab plans for the weekend.

My chosen poem this week is by another new poet for me. Carolyn Wells (1862-1942) was an American author and children’s poet.

A Bicycle Built for Two

There was an ambitious young eel
Who determined to ride on a wheel;
But try as he might,
He couldn't ride right, 
In spite of his ardor and zeal.

If he sat on the saddle to ride
His tail only pedalled one side;
And I'm sure you'll admit
That an eel couldn't sit
On a bicycle saddle astride.

Or if he hung over the top, 
He could go, but he never could stop;
For of course it is clear
He had no way to steer,
And under the wheel he would flop.

His neighbour, observing the fun,
Said, 'I think that the thing can be done, 
If you'll listen to me,
You'll quickly agree
That two heads are better than one. 

'And this is my project, old chap,
Around our two waists I will wrap
This beautiful belt
Of bottle-green felt
And fasten it firm with a strap.'

This done, with a dignified mien
The two squirmed up on the machine,
And rode gayly away,
Or at least, so they say,
Who witnessed the wonderful scene. 

Carolyn Wells

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Henry Normal

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week so far.

My chosen poem this week is by the writer, poet, TV and film producer, founder of the Manchester Poetry Festival and co-founder of the Nottingham Poetry Festival Henry Normal (1956).

Three Lies and One Truth about the Moon

1. The moon only exists at night, and occasionally during the day, in summer.

2. No one has ever landed on the moon, and the Russian President knows this but promised his mum he wouldn't say anything.

3. The moon is a hollow spaceship inhabited by nazi rabbits that turn men into werewolves.

4. If my heart was as big as the moon I couldn't love you more.

Henry Normal

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Li Po

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has some fun plans for the weekend.

My chosen poem today is by a Chinese poet Li Po (701-762).

Poem is translated by Shigeyoshi Obata.

Addressed Humorously to Tu Fu

Here! is this you on the top of Fan-ko Mountain,
Wearing a huge hat in the noon-day sun?
How thin, how wretchedly thin, you have grown!
You must have been suffering from poetry again. 

Li Po

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Charles Causley

Happy Friday!

I hope you all have some fab plans for the weekend.

My chosen poem for this week is by the English poet, school teacher and writer Charles Causley (1917-2003).

I am the Song

I am the song that sings the bird.
I am the leaf that grows the land.
I am the tide that moves the moon.
I am the stream that halts the sand.
I am the cloud that drives the storm.
I am the earth that lights the sun.
I am the fire that strikes the stone.
I am the clay that shapes the hand.
I am the word that speaks the man.

Charles Causley

Happy Reading

Etsy

First Lines Friday: 27/01/2023

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week so far. I started a new book this evening so I thought I would feature it on First Lines Friday.

“Zak Choudary was sitting alone by the window inside a late-night kebab shop on Great Horton Road. It was midnight.

Freedom

After four years of prison”
Get Guessing

Detective Inspector Harry Virdee has a lot on his plate. His team is facing government cuts, tensions are building between Bradford’s two rival drugs gangs and his wife Saima is due to give birth any day now.

So when bodies start turning up in the old industrial district, the pressure is on to get the case wrapped up as quickly as possible, or risk a full-scale gang war.

But the man behind the murders is ruthless and pushy. And things are getting personal. Harry must think fast and bend the rules if he wants to keep his city, and his family, safe . . .

Did anybody guess correctly?

Please drop me a comment with your First Line Friday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading