Wednesday, February 14, 2007

MTLS CHOICE

MTL’S CHOICE
Aside
In  the previous post for Valentine’s Day, after my choice of poem there is a gap before the history of Valentine’s Day.  I apologise for this.  It was due to circumstances beyond my control.  Here is his choice:-

SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY
From ‘Hebrew Melodies’

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress
Or softly lightens o’er her face,
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek and o’er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.

GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON
1788. 1824

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Circumstances beyond my control' - I have a lot of them.

I can't read all the wording on the soldier's photo. What does it say?

Keep it up, by the way.

Pat said...

andrewm: 'You gave me a red, red rose, when the sad parting hour drew nigh,
And I sailed away on that bright June day with a fond goodbye;
You're still all the world to me, tho' between us the ocean flows,
Ever near my heart are the faded leaves of a red, red rose.'

Son#1 took me to the War Museum a couple of years ago and I sent it to MTL changing the date from June
to August.

Drama Queen said...

Lovely. I went for a poem theme too.

Nice to know love is in the air.

Pat said...

Thanks DQ: just coming over!

Nea said...

Thanks Pat, I'm off to bed now with a book of poems.

Pat said...

nea: that's what I like to hear. enjoy1

apprentice said...

Great piece and the photo and card are lovely too. My Great Aunt had the embroidered post cards she had sent to her fiance in France in WWI, he was killed and she never married. The cards had forget-me-nots on them.
I bet e-mail doesn't cut it the same.

Pat said...

apprentice:I'll bet there were many great aunts left like that certainly after WW1. We had great aunt Rose who waa a Red Cross nurse and went out to France , never married but was too much of a private person to ever tell her story,
They were beautiful those old cards.

FOUR DINNERS said...

Caz gets flowers a couple of days late so they're half price. Being half Scottish she wholeheartedly approves. Who said romance is dead??

Pat said...

4d: you don't fool me for a moment. I believe you are an ace Dad and husband if mad as a hatter! Your great enormous luck is you found Caz and then Jax came along.

Sam, Problem-Child-Bride said...

That's lovely, Pat. Nowt like a bit of Byron. Did YTL climb the balcony with the rose in his teeth, then? Did you have a nice Valentine's Day?

Pat said...

Sam: I won't let him climb a ladder eve these days (he still does when my back's turned!}
The day was good with the usual suspects; cards, champers, chocs and roses but to spread the fun we went out to dinner the next day - last night (see today's post.)

Sam, Problem-Child-Bride said...

I can't see today's post, Pat! I lifted the sidebar to see if it had slid under there, but nada, nuddin'!

justin said...

Well you and MTL are a couple of love-birds, aren't you ... lovely poems, cards, champers, etc. ... the full works.
I've been reading your comments on Zoe's site, about your worries about losing bits of your site when New Blogger is foisted on you, as it was on me. It might help to copy and paste the relevant bits of your site onto a Word document, as a back-up, so you could reinstate them later.
I've had no probs with NB so far, apart from difficulty in leaving comments on other people's blogs.... hopefully I've sorted that one now, by signing in at the bottom of the comments, for those of us who have a new Google account.

Pat said...

Sam; sorry dear I forget that I'm not writing it on the page, as it were, and that no-one can see it until I press publish. Hope you can see it now.

Pat said...

Hi Justin and welcome! We do tend to be romantic - making up for lost time I suppose.
Thank you for the helpful advice. At least i have discovered that I have a Google account. Will be over to see you after breakfast.