Trees
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
– Joyce Kilmer
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5th August – On This Day In History
Born:
1930 Neil Armstrong (astronaut, first man to walk on the moon)
Died:
1962 Marilyn Monroe (actress)
On This Day:
1957 “Andy Capp” – comic strip, first makes an appearance.
Have a good Wednesday, 5th August.
Prayer Of A Soldier In France
1 My shoulders ache beneath my pack
2 (Lie easier, Cross, upon His back).
3 I march with feet that burn and smart
4 (Tread, Holy Feet, upon my heart).
5 Men shout at me who may not speak
6 (They scourged Thy back and smote Thy cheek).
7 I may not lift a hand to clear
8 My eyes of salty drops that sear.
9 (Then shall my fickle soul forget
10 Thy agony of Bloody Sweat?)
11 My rifle hand is stiff and numb
12 (From Thy pierced palm red rivers come).
13 Lord, Thou didst suffer more for me
14 Than all the hosts of land and sea.
15 So let me render back again
16 This millionth of Thy gift. Amen.
– Joyce Kilmer
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4th August – On This Day In History
Born:
1901 Louis Armstrong (musician)
Died:
1875 Hans Christian Andersen (writer of fairy tales)
On This Day:
1914 Germany declares war on Belgium, and Britain declares war on Germany
Have a good Tuesday, 4th August
Roses
I went to gather roses and twine them in a ring,
For I would make a posy, a posy for the King.
I got an hundred roses, the loveliest there be,
From the white rose vine and the pink rose bush and from the red
rose tree.
But when I took my posy and laid it at His feet
I found He had His roses a million times more sweet.
There was a scarlet blossom upon each foot and hand,
And a great pink rose bloomed from His side for the healing of the
land.
Now of this fair and awful King there is this marvel told,
That He wears a crown of linked thorns instead of one of gold.
Where there are thorns are roses, and I saw a line of red,
A little wreath of roses around His radiant head.
A red rose is His Sacred Heart, a white rose is His face,
And His breath has turned the barren world to a rich and flowery
place.
He is the Rose of Sharon, His gardener am I,
And I shall drink His fragrance in Heaven when I die.
– Joyce Kilmer
http://www.aromaticcoffees.co.uk
3rd August – On This Day In History
Born:
1940 Martin Sheen (actor)
Died:
1924 Joseph Conrad (author – Heart of Darkness)
On This Day:
1881 The Convention of Pretoria signed by the Boer leaders, making Transvaal Republic semi autonomous
Have a good Monday, 3rd August
A Child’s Evening Prayer
Ere on my bed my limbs I lay,
God grant me grace my prayers to say:
O God! preserve my mother dear
In strength and health for many a year;
And, O! preserve my father too,
And may I pay him reverence due;
And may I my best thoughts employ
To be my parents’ hope and joy;
And, O! preserve my brothers both
From evil doings and from sloth,
And may we always love each other,
Our friends, our father, and our mother,
And still, O Lord, to me impart
An innocent and grateful heart,
That after my last steep I may
Awake to thy eternal day! Amen.
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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2nd August – On This Day In History
Born:
1932 Peter O’ Toole (actor – Lawrence of Arabia)
Died:
1876 Wild Bill Hickok (legendary frontiersman)
On This Day:
1610 Henry Hudson enters the bay that eventually will be named after him
Have a good Sunday, 2nd August.
Lines To A Beautiful Spring In A Village
Once more, sweet stream! with slow foot wand’ring near,
I bless thy milky waters cold and clear.
Escaped the flashing of the noontide hours,
With one fresh garland of Pierian flowers
(Ere from thy zephyr-haunted brink I turn)
My languid hand shall wreath thy mossy urn.
For not thro’ pathless grove with murmur rude
Then soothest the sad wood-nymph, solitude:
Nor thine unseen in cavern depths to well,
The hermit-fountain of some dripping cell!
Pride of the vale! thy useful streams supply
The scattered cots and peaceful hamlet nigh.
The elfin tribe around thy friendly banks
With infant uproar and soul-soothing pranks,
Released from school, their little hearts at rest,
Launch paper navies on thy waveless breast.
The rustic here at eve with pensive look
Whistling lorn ditties leans upon his crook,
Or starting pauses with hope-mingled dread
To list the much-loved maid’s accustom’d tread:
She, vainly mindful of her dame’s command,
Loiters, the long-filled pitcher in her hand.
Unboastful stream! thy fount with pebbled falls
The faded form of past delight recalls,
What time the morning sun of hope arose,
And all was joy; save when another’s woes
A transient gloom upon my soul imprest,
Like passing clouds impictured on thy breast.
Life’s current then ran sparkling to the noon,
Or silvery stole beneath the pensive moon:
Ah! now it works rude brakes and thorns among,
Or o’er the rough rock bursts and foams along!
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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1st August – On This Day In History
Born:
1819 Herman Melville (author – Moby Dick)
Died:
2005 King Fahd (Saudi Arabia)
On This Day:
Battle of the Nile
Have a good Saturday, 1st August
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