In my post about Herbert Hoover (see here) I said that when he was only two years old he nearly suffocated from a croup attack (a severe breathing difficulty caused by acute obstruction of the larynx and trachea).His aunt Agnes wrote: “ We all thought he was dead. … The eyes of the infant were… Read More Those Two Pennies (for Charon?)
Yesterday I spoke about Housman’s poem “With rue my heart is laden”, belonging to his 1896 collection “A Shropshire Lad”.The “rue” appearing in the first line , which is also used as the title of the poem, does not only express a feeling of sorrow and bitter regret, as in that poem, but can also… Read More Ophelia’s Rue /2
During the Tudor period the four weeks leading up to Christmas, known as Advent, required fasting and a limited range of allowed foods.However when Christmas day came around, people were permitted to cast off the food restrictions and enjoy a lavish feast, of course if they were rich. One of the typical dishes for the… Read More Tudor Christmas Pie 🥧
November 2 is All Souls’ Day or the Day of the Dead, a day of prayer and remembrance for the souls of those who have died, observed by Roman Catholics and other Christian denominations On November 2, 1912 David Herbert Lawrence was in Italy, where he had the opportunity to observe the Italian celebrations on… Read More Giorno dei Morti
Yesterday’s full moon, the closest to the September equinox, was the Harvest Moon. Our friend Pat / e-Quips published a wonderful post about it: you can read it here , and also Lara Ferri wrote about it in the post you can find here In the Northern Hemisphere the Harvest Moon is astronomically significant because… Read More Under the Harvest Moon
“We Three Kings”, is a Christmas carol whose lyrics and music were written by John Henry Hopkins, Jr. in 1857. (Here you can find lyrics and video)At the time Hopkins was an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, and while serving as music director of the General Theological Seminary in New York City he composed… Read More “We Three Kings” (2. Commentary)
“Auld Lang Syne” is a traditional Scottish song with words attributed to the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns, traditionally used to celebrate the start of the New Year.In 1788 Burns restored this song based on fragments of an old ballad and adding a few verses. He said he had transcribed it from “an old… Read More Auld Lang Syne
Hogmanay, the Scots word for the last day of the year, is a celebration that is sometimes considered even more important than Christmas in Scotland, and it is followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year’s Day and, in some cases, on 2 January, which is a bank holiday in Scotland.In the rest… Read More First Footer
11 November is Saint Martin’s day, also known as the Funeral of Saint Martin, because Saint Martin of Tours, who died on 8 November 397, was buried three days later. According to tradition, he cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save him from the cold harsh winter.In… Read More Estate di San Martino/Indian Summer
Il “Fenomeno celeste di Basilea”, di cui ho scritto ieri (vedi qui: Guerre stellari) e avvenuto il 7 agosto 1566 venne interpretato al tempo in chiave in chiave mistico-teologica. Incisione di Samuel Koch che apparve sulla “Volantino di Basilea” – conservata presso la Biblioteca Centrale di Zurigo e che è stata oggetto di speculazioni nell’ambito… Read More Oggetti non identificati nella “Madonna della Neve” di Masolino da Panicale?
words and music and stories 