Category Archives: books

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This Month’s Poem

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A Fairy Song
William Shakespeare

Over hill, over dale,
  Through bush, through briar,
Over park, over pale,
  Through blood, through fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moone’s sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I’ll be gone:
Our queen and all her elves come here anon.

Find this poem online at Poetry Lover’s Page

books, memes, quotes

This Month’s Poem

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The Hunting of the Snark (opening)
Lewis Carroll

“Just the place for a Snark!” the Bellman cried,
As he landed his crew with care;
Supporting each man on the top of the tide
By a finger entwined in his hair.
“Just the place for a Snark! I have said it twice:
That alone should encourage the crew.
Just the place for a Snark! I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.”

The crew was complete: it included a Boots –
A maker of Bonnets and Hoods –
A Barrister, brought to arrange their disputes –
And a Broker, to value their goods.

A Billiard-marker, whose skill was immense,
Might perhaps have won more than his share –
But a Banker, engaged at enormous expense,
Had the whole of their cash in his care.

There was also a Beaver, that paced on the deck,
Or would sit making lace in the bow:
And had often (the Bellman said) saved them from wreck
Though none of the sailors knew how.

Find this poem online at Poetry Foundation

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This Month’s Poem

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Ozymandias
Percy Bysshe Shelly

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: ‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed
And on the pedestal these word appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’

Find this poem online at Poetry Foundation

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This Month’s Poem

No Man Is An Island
John Donne

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

Find this poem online at All Poetry

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This Month’s Poem

Stopping by Woods On a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Find this poem online at Poetry Foundation

amusements, books, memes, words

September Quiz Answers

Literature

  1. What is Shakespeare’s shortest play?  The Comedy of Errors, with 1,787 lines and 14,369 words
  2. The Chronicles of Narnia is a children’s book series written by which author?  CS Lewis
  3. What German loanword means a novel that focuses on the psychological and personal growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood?  Bildungsroman
  4. Who is the author of the play The Importance of Being Earnest?  Oscar Wilde
  5. Who wrote the line “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker”?  Ogden Nash

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2023.

amusements, books, memes, words

September Quiz Questions

Each month we’re posing five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As before, they’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as having a bit of fun.

Literature

  1. What is Shakespeare’s shortest play?
  2. The Chronicles of Narnia is a children’s book series written by which author?
  3. What German loanword means a novel that focuses on the psychological and personal growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood?
  4. Who is the author of the play The Importance of Being Earnest?
  5. Who wrote the line “Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker”?

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.

amusements, books, words

May Quiz Answers

Here are the answers to this month’s five quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.

May Quiz Questions: Literature & Language

  1. What does the word conniption mean? A fit of rage or hysterics
  2. What is regarded as the world’s oldest language which is still spoken? Tamil
  3. Who wrote Songs of Innocence and Visions of the Daughters of Albion? William Blake
  4. Even with a small word list and simple structure it is possible to say almost anything in Basic English. How many words are in the lexicon of Basic English? 850
  5. In which play do the following lines occur?
    “A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
    And graves have yawn’d, and yielded up their dead”
    Shakespeare; Julius Caesar; Act 2, Scene 2

Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2022.

amusements, books, words

May Quiz Questions

Again this year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.

May Quiz Questions: Literature & Language

  1. What does the word conniption mean?
  2. What is regarded as the world’s oldest language which is still spoken?
  3. Who wrote Songs of Innocence and Visions of the Daughters of Albion?
  4. Even with a small word list and simple structure it is possible to say almost anything in Basic English. How many words are in the lexicon of Basic English?
  5. In which play do the following lines occur?
    “A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
    And graves have yawn’d, and yielded up their dead”

Answers will be posted in 2 weeks time.