A caring farewell …

… Good-by and Keep Cold (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Literary tunes …

… Five Best: On Classical Music in Fiction (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for this morning …

… Mosab Abu Toha — My Library

New York, New York …

… When We Were Young (Hat tio, Dave Lull.)

After almost nine months …

… Leaving Philadelphia

Two For D-Day …

… A Pure Miracle: Ernie Pyle's D-Day Column … Revealed: Ian Fleming’s Orders To D-Day Spies

Encouraging news …

… The doctor said 'be happy.' Music therapy can help cancer patients do that (Hat tip. Dave Lull.)

They would never make the same mistake again …

… They would never make the same mistake again

Something to think ob …

Quotes To Inspire You - Quotes To Inspire You

Leopold’s adventures …

… An ordinary day in Dublin in 1904

Something to think on …

… Quotes To Inspire You

A poem for this morning …

… George Mackay Brown — The Twelve Piers of Hamnavoe

Celebrating haiku master …

… Birthday of Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa

Appreciation …

… Jane Austen’s Detective Novels

Haiku

Light dispels darkness.
The latest day has arrived
Surely cause for hope

A wise fellow …

… Nigel Jones: The Frederick Forsyth I knew: Forsyth had a fully justified scorn for the inanities and dangers of the contemporary left (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Appreciation …

… Whit Stillman’s comedies of manners ( Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for this morning …

… Joyce Mansour — “I stole the yellow bird …”

Appreciation …

… Brian Wilson was made for these times (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Brilliant and nice ……

… A gentle man in New York. Harry Cluff salutes ​Robert Benchley (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for this morning …

… Robert Greenwood — Explication

William Blake at Harper’s Pond

… A little black thing among the snow

A poem for this morning …

… Monica Youn — Winged Ignatz

Portait of a great storyteller …

… The Explosive Imagination of Dickens ( Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Something to think on …

… Quotes To Inspire You

On second thought …

… A man of letters on the power of words ( Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Tennyson at Harper’s Pond …

… Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me!

A poem for this morning …

… Peter Gizz _— Pretty Sweety

John Adams at Harper’s Pond …

… Important date in American military history

Appreciation …}

… The Classical Dylan, Again (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Today

Light dispels darkness
The latest day has arrived..
He offers God thanks.

Words of wisdom …

…Morality Private and Public

Anne Bronte

 

On a recent visit to a bookstore, I happened upon Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey -- not a book I was familiar with, but one that tempted me all the same. And I have to say, I'm glad that I've now read it: because this is a solid, enviable piece of writing. 

Published in 1847, Agnes Grey takes as its primary subject the experience of being a governess. That position -- part teacher, part caretaker -- cannot have been easy: in Bronte's rendering, the children are distracted, coddled, and harsh. The caretaker can only accomplish so much -- which seems, in some ways, to be Bronte's point: that nature can, and will, overwhelm the tendency to nurture. 

But more than that, Agnes Grey seems to be about the random nature of social interaction, and the very good fortunate Agnes Grey has of meeting the curate, Mr Weston, as part of her second position with the Murray family. It is that relationship with sustains Grey, and which serves as the basis for the novel's matrimonial culmination. The phrase -- "silver lining" -- would not be entirely appropriate here, but there is certainly a degree to which Bronte suggest that, even in the most unpleasant of circumstances, unexpected positivity may result. From struggle with the wealthy came a meaningful marriage for two of the middling classes. 

Agnes Grey offers quiet commentary, even critique; and it functions, today, as a piece of the historical record. It is a fictional "document," providing an unobstructed view into the lives of unmarried women in the middle nineteenth century. The novel is perfectly crafted, with language both accessible and balanced. That refreshing quality -- of excellent prose, delivered with striking style -- is in itself worth the read. For my part, I throughly enjoyed Agnes Grey (and won't say a thing about how it compares with the work Anne's sisters)! 

Appreciation …

… On Marianne Moore, Unexpected Celebrity Poet of Midcentury America (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for this morning …

…Stephen A. Canada — Rain Rain

Emily Dickinson at the pond …

… Banish Air from Air

Something to think on …

… Quotes To Inspire You

Listen in …

… Episode 641 – Peter Stothard (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Charles Dickens at Harper’s …

… Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green

A poem for this morning …

… Erica Jong — Jubilate Canis

A poem for this morning …

… James Schuyler — The Dog Wants His Dinner

Appreciation well deserved …

… Art and Life in the Criticism of Henry James (Hat tip, Dave Lull)

Ralph Waldo Emerson at Harper’s Pond …

… Sung at the completion of the battle monument

Remembering D-Day -

… 'We had a job' to do: Humble veteran, 100, recalls D-Day 81 years later

Something to think on …

… Quotes To Inspire You

Appreciation …

… Christian Lamb, Oldie D-Day Mastermind (Hat tip, Dave Lull)

A poem for this morning …

… Bill Berkson — Pulsing

Emily Dickinson at Harper’s Pond …

… First — Chill — then Stupor — then the letting go —

A choice selection …

… June Poetry at North of Oxford

A poem for this morning …

… Agha Shahid Ali — A History of Paisley

Something else to beware of …

… Cerfentanil, Fentanyl's More Deadly Cousin

A cautionary tale …

… Pope Leo XIV Is Right About AI. We Must Be Vigilant and Prepare Now

Worrisome indeed …

… Antisemitism and the Politics of the Chant ( Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Appreciation …

… 'Cooler Than Cool’ Review: Elmore Leonard’s Life of Crime (Hat tip, Dave Lull) i knew Elmore. well enough to call him by his nickname, Dutch. and he was indeed cool.

Something to think on …

… Quotes to inspire you.

A poem for this morning …

… Lewis Meyers — Summer Letters

Wednesday at Harper’s Pond …

… Night in the Mountains

Something to think on …

… Quotes To Inspire You

Remembering Murray Kempton …

… ‘Going Around’ Review: A Midcentury Witness ( Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A sad tale …

… Remembering Jackson C. Frank { Hat tip, Dave lull,)

Once upon a time at Harper’s …

… Stepping out at 120 miles above the Earth in 1965

A poem for this morning …

… James Richardson —/Any Evening

Something to think on …

… Quotes To Inspire You

Worth remembering …

… When Presidents Are Right and Courts Are Wrong: Defying the Bench to Save the Nation

Once upon a time at Harper’s Pond …

… Communists infiltrated the CIA?

Portrait of a nice guy …

… A Smiling Public Man (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for this morning …

… Carol Frost — Ardors

Virtual Memories …

… Episode 640 – Cecile Wajsbrot

Yes it was …

… Choosing to be with my father when he died was a hard decision. It was also a good one.

A poem for this morning …

… Pussy Days — Frederick Seidel

The butterfly effect …

… Elif Batuman on Vladimir Nabokov’s “The Perfect Past” ( Hat tip, Dave Lull)

Getting to know Horace …

… Poet on a Volcano (Hat tip, Dave Lull)

Looking back at a lifetime on Harper’s Pond …

… Superstars release their eighth album

Something to think on …

… A quote To Inspire You

Just so you know …

… Why going nuclear is humanity’s only hope ( Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

In memoriam …

… “…when everything that dies shall rise.” ( Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

It happened up the road from Harper’s Pond …

… Disaster in Pennsylvania

Something to think on …

Quotes To Inspire You - Quotes To Inspire You

A poem for this morning …

… Rachel Mannheimer — New Haven

Something to think on …

Quotes To Inspire You - Quotes To Inspire You

Thursday’s poem at Harper’s …

… The Want of Peace

A poem for this morning …

… Alberto Caeiro — 1

I’ve used it myself …

… Using form: Villanelle: Rachel Hadas, ‘However Cool’ (Hat tip, Dave Lull,)

For a good reason …

… They Were Every Student’s Worst Nightmare. Now Blue Books Are Back (Hat tip, Dave lull)

In case you wondered …

… Why we must save the semicolon from extinction (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

A poem for this morning …

… Michael Benedikt — The Chest of Energy

A stone’s throw from Harper’s Pond …

… A stone’s throw from Harper’s Pond

Tuesday’s poem at Harper’s Pond …

… How to Regain Your Soul

A poem for this morning …

… Deborah Landau — Dear Someone

Surprise, surprise …

… Jeffrey Epstein Exploited the U.S. Virgin Islands for a Reason

Something to think on …

… Quotes To Inspire You - Quotes To Inspire You

Decoration Day …

… 1st “Memorial Day” held on May 30, 1868

Wise words — from Bill Valicella …

… Carl Schmitt on Compassion

The morning cloak …

… The Conception of Life As an Enchanted State (Hat tip, Dave Lull)

A poem for this morning …

… Marjorie Welish —+6

Big step for the future…

… Delegates begin work on new U.S. constitution

Seems that way …

… The Supreme Court is putting Venezuelan child killers ahead of the law

Something to think on …

Quotes To Inspire You - Quotes To Inspire You

A poem for this morning …

… Alice Notley — The Answer Is Awe

Our media in decline …

… We Did NAZI This Coming! WaPo Asks the Burning Question: 'Where Do Jews Belong?'