#Thomas Hood

[weirdlookindog]

"O'er all there hung the shadow of a fear; A sense of mystery the spirit daunted, And said, as plain as whisper in the ear, The place is haunted!"

Samuel Read (1815–1883) - The Haunted House, 1854

illustration for poem by Thomas Hood

[thebeautifulbook]

HOOD’S POEMS by Thomas Hood. (London: Moxon, 1871) Illustrated by Birket Foster.

Thomas Hood (23 May 1799 – 3 May 1845) was an English poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt". Hood wrote regularly for The London Magazine, Athenaeum, and Punch

source

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

I came across this interesting broadside while verifying some catalog records and knew I had to share it! It's a printing of Faithless Nelly Gray, a humorous poem by English editor, publisher, poet, and humorist Thomas Hood (1799-1845). This particular broadside edition of the poem was printed as part of the Christmas 1888 issue of The Graphic, an illustrated weekly newspaper that ran from 1869-1932. The illustration was done by Scottish illustrator William Ralston (1841-1911).

The poem is sometimes subtitled "A Pathetic Ballad," which to me seems pretty appropriate! The poem follows the brave Ben Battle, who loses his legs in the war. When he returns home with peg legs, he goes to visit his sweet Nelly Gray, who says things like "I loved a soldier once, / For he was blithe and brave; / But I will never have a man / With both legs in the grave" and "Before you had those timber-toes / Your love I did allow, / But then, you know, you stand upon / Another footing now." Alas, Nelly has moved on to a new soldier—one who still has legs—and our hero Ben Battle decides to end his own life and then is buried at a crossroads with "a stake in his inside" for some reason... which begs the question, is he a vampire? (We looked it up and know this was a common practice when burying those who took their own lives—but still... vampire?)

View more Staff Picks.

-- Alice, Special Collections Department Manager

[clivechip]

November In Words And Music

 I have written several times previously about what a dull month November is to me: the clocks have just gone back, heralding the onset of long, dark evenings, the weather usually starts to turn from autumnal to wintery, and everything seems to be on hold until December arrives, bringing the promise of Christmas and good times with loved ones. Unlike the USA, who have Thanksgiving Day, for us…

[soulmaking]

[poemoftheday]

Poem of the Day 15 February 2024

Thomas Hood. 1798-1845

The Death-bed

WE watch'd her breathing thro' the night,   Her breathing soft and low, As in her breast the wave of life   Kept heaving to and fro.

So silently we seem'd to speak,   So slowly moved about, As we had lent her half our powers   To eke her living out.

Our very hopes belied our fears,   Our fears our hopes belied— We thought her dying when she slept,   And sleeping when she died.

For when the morn came dim and sad,   And chill with early showers, Her quiet eyelids closed—she had   Another morn than ours.

[messi-mooni]

So mad at how long this took

[bianc0re]

Take a picture, it will last longer

[weirdlookindog]

H. Railton - The Haunted House, 1896

source

[ultimate-marysue]

It's raining nonstop where I am so I'm just picturing the Batfam during a flood.

Red Robin uploads a TikTok from the safety of a roof saying "watch him go!" As Red Hood keeps trying to drive his bike against the current. A big wave comes by and he's slowly dragged downhill. The caption reads "don't drive during floods".

Batman and Robin are on the ground helping civilians out of cars when the intensity doubles and in minutes Damian goes from wading knee deep in the water to swimming. The emergency batfloaties get triggered and he floats away as Bruce fails to grab him by half an inch. "Robin serenely drifting in the current" becomes a meme.

Someone takes a picture of a very flustered spoiler trying to squeeze the water out of her cape. The second she lets go the weight of the water makes her fall ass over backwards. Black Bat ends up giving her her waterproof cape.

Signal makes mirages of sharks in the water to scare the shit out of any criminals. Oracle uploads the recordings with Benny hill as background music. Bludhaven escapes the worst of the storm and Nightwing sends pictures to the group chat patting the barely wet concrete just to rub it in. He still slips on a puddle and eats shit, Barbara sends that to the group chat.

[ijustgotherebro]

[noka-exe]

doomed family

[prlssprfctn]

Batsiblings convince Jason to get himself a cooking Tiktok account, and he gives in. To his surprise, he quickly gains millions of followers and a loyal auditory. The only problem? Jason has no idea that these people came here not necessary for recipes.

Jason: Geez, my followers had been pissing me off lately.

Dick, confused: Huh? Why?

Jason: They keep commenting ATE. Like, dude? Fucking where? I am not eating in my cooking videos. What is the fucking point?

Tim, choking: Oh my fucking God-

Jason, making an angry text post for his followers: YOU ALL. STOP COMMENTING "RAW". MY MEAT IS NOT RAW. I AM A PROPER COOK. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???

Cassandra: Maybe it is time to tell him...

Tim, Steph, Duke, in unison: NO

Bruce, awkwardly trying to have a conversation with Jason: Hey, lad, how is your cooking blog is going?

Jason: Uh, people keep commenting cryptid messages. Like, the last time I was showing the right way to tenderise meat for chops because apparently it wasn't clear and someone requested the whole video? Anyway, I did it, and the whole comment section was writing me "in bed, on the floor, on the couch, on a chair, against the wall, against the window, against the door"... Like, why would I do that, not in the kitchen?

Bruce, no less clueless: Maybe it some kind of challenge. Kids love trying new stuff in extreme places nowadays.

Jason: Huh. Maybe. Thanks.

Bruce, just proud to have a proper conversation and somehow a help: Anytime, Jaylad!

Damian, who was unblissfully educated on the slang matter by Tim (because it was his responsibility as a big brother to traumatise him), with his eye twitching: ...None of these words were in Quran

[astrovvitches]

📸family fun!

[frownyalfred]

things that make Gotham criminals say “oh shit”:

Batman showing up to the hideout and not asking any questions

Nightwing cracking his escrima sticks together with 0 witty banter or foreplay

Red Hood when his hands are shaking

Injured Robin and Batman known to be in near proximity 

Any sightings of Batman on Robin II’s death anniversary

Superman in Gotham without an escort

Batman speeding through the Narrows on a motorcycle and not the Batmobile

Red Hood abandoning his guns and throwing punches instead

Robin fighting with a sword and 0 supervision

Jim Gordon trying to quit cigarettes for the 19th time on the night shift

Any captured Batkid too injured/tired/frightened to taunt the responsible criminals

Batman bleeding and/or missing any major parts of his armor

Any Bat vigilante other than Duke outside during daylight hours

[poemoftheday]

Poem of the Day 22 December 2023

Thomas Hood. 1798-1845

Silence

THERE is a silence where hath been no sound, There is a silence where no sound may be,   In the cold grave—under the deep, deep sea, Or in wide desert where no life is found, Which hath been mute, and still must sleep profound;   No voice is hush'd—no life treads silently,   But clouds and cloudy shadows wander free, That never spoke, over the idle ground: But in green ruins, in the desolate walls   Of antique palaces, where Man hath been, Though the dun fox or wild hyaena calls,   And owls, that flit continually between, Shriek to the echo, and the low winds moan— There the true Silence is, self-conscious and alone.