#for reference. i used every stanza except for two

[nikofortuna]

Poem: The Fox's Affection

This poem was specifically written for a side-challenge of the event, where we were encouraged to make an offering to Gumiho in the form of a piece of art. The nine-tailed fox drawing I made was paired with this one. This poem also netted me the win for this challenge, which I am very proud of!

The Fox’s Affection

Her eyes reflect the sky’s and seas’ blues,

Her fur’s a great many red and yellow hues.

She decorates herself with gold jewellery bright,

Though her fox marble she keeps safe inside,

Yet from the public her splendid self she does not hide

For the sight of people brings her ample delight.

Her tails look soft-

Her claws are sheathed-

Her tails look soft, but you best not touch.

Her claws are sheathed, but she can still scratch.

With her coat touched by the sun,

She prances around having her fun.

Peaches are her most favourite of all time,

As sure as the number of her tails is nine.

A nine-tailed fox once a cub has not forgotten her roots.

Under her soft gaze little foxes play in the woods.

At the bundles of fur quietly she coos,

Every foolish predator away she shoos.

Early spring brings a new begin’,

Little cubs fill the dens to the brim.

This family of foxes, are they her true kin?

It does not matter, filial piety to all she will bring.

There behind branches and leaves,

Hidden where precious life grows,

Where no human is dropping eaves,

Her true heart and temper she shows.

This kind yao, her we now beseech.

A vixen people can no longer relegate to infamy,

For who cannot relate to the love for one’s family.

The little red fox, gift her a peach!

Don’t expect much in return just do her this kindness,

For a happy little fox is a sight that can cure blindness.

So let’s get into the analysis for this really long poem!

The title becomes self-explanatory around the midpoint. The ‘affection’ is referring to Gumiho’s love for peaches and her kin with a little bit of her people watching hobby sprinkled in for good measure. It is intentionally misleading and meant to make the reader think it will be about a lover when it is about family. (Intentional on my part at least. On my character’s though? Not so much, in world it is just an amusing little coincidence.)

This time the number of stanzas and verses has little meaning except that seven can be a good number for relationships in Chinese numerology. That the first and last stanza each having six verses while the remaining ones only have four merely has an aesthetically value.

With how long this poem is there are basically two parts to it. The first part focuses on Gumiho’s appearance, identity as a yaoguai and apparent personality. Meanwhile the second one revolves around her past and love for her fellow foxes as well as her softer side. Of course I am also referencing her visiting the woods to see the foxes living there.

The fox marble or fox bead of a gumiho is said to consist of knowledge and the gumiho usually keeps it inside of her. It can be used by her to steal a human’s soul and is very valuable to the gumiho as it is providing her with power. If a human manages to swallow it they will gain special abilities/preternatural knowledge if they manage to observe the sky, the land and the people.

There is a bit of a parallel at the end of the first and last stanza with the reference to watching a creature bringing the observer joy, showing in a more subtle way that the yaoguai in question and humans are not so different in what can make them happy.

Now let me share with you a rejected verse that would have gone into the first stanza right after the jewellery verse: ‘Glistening under her fox fire’s light.’ I ultimately decided to take this one out for two reasons. Both because I wanted to keep the number of verses even for the flow and because I was not sure if fox fire is even a part of her set of powers as that is an ability more in line with kitsune rather than gumiho.

In the second stanza consist once more of two pairs of verses in line with a classic Chinese style of poetry. One of these will likely show up in most poems of mine as I really enjoy this style personally. Either way the topic of her tails and claws is connected to her fur and jewellery mentioned in the first stanza. It is the fur of her tails that is soft and she wears golden nail guards matching her gold jewellery. Additionally ‘touch’ and ‘scratch’ both refer to a manner of physical interaction and are mentioned in succession as the first action described would result in the second.

The following stanza not only addresses her personality, but also acts as a transition to the second part of the poem starting on what she likes to do. The line about Gumiho’s coat being touched by the sun has a dual meaning here. For one it is the colouration of course, but it can also refer to her playing in the sun and enjoying its warmth similarly how foxes like to do.

The next two stanzas are a pair, the first one focusing on the cubs and the second one bringing up the parents with both being about her familial connection to foxes. Both also carry the same rhyme scheme.

The sixth stanza mostly came about because I wanted to implement a cross rhyme as well and not just couplet and mono rhymes and evolved further meaning. Branches and leaves of a tree are often used allegorically for family trees not to mention that they are living plants as well, so they are equally symbolic of the growing nature, growing cubs and growing fox families.

There is also a slight juxtaposition of the outer world revolving around nature and animals like these foxes and the inner world of here specifically Gumiho. This is also mirrored in the mention of humans who are heavily focused on the mind so the inner world, something that Gumiho has achieved through cultivating into sapience as well, while the outer world is more focused on the body.

Additionally in the first and last verse two things are mentioned each with ‘branches and leaves’ and ‘heart and temper’, while ‘where’ is present both in the second and third. The cross rhyme also shows how intertwined the outer and inner world is for Gumiho.

The last stanza is mostly flattery towards Gumiho, which is also sprinkled in throughout the poem, but it also reflects the two part nature of the poem and by extension Gumiho with its first half equally referring to Gumiho as a yao and the second focusing once more on her fox kin nature. Also in character the author definitely thought of the adorable sight of an actual little fox enjoying fruit when writing the last three verses, hence the ‘little’.

[libidomechanica]

Untitled Composition # 9183

A ballad sequence

               First Stanza

With a shawl of late took your trunk.     Horse forty; anon, that, lightingald and even inflame,     Katinka; I am long links Love each for the streams and     what tale, his Saint it kings, now, that which passion, and thus! Which     all of their old him forth

the seraph’s skie. Of charme, for feet     friend, my old grieve, Dear, nor each state, laid to her get over-     warmth an again vowed. Which is ashamefull of this violets     throne outside thy to you left our hands on most sublime,     nor state, unless strange fits

own life I come blocking to the     charms and laboured. But, right best of grand men dumb one, sir,     it is a heroic ladies’ robes they are lying Hymen     could haue pyped erst them clad, and pool our dreams, so t     is but for excess done,

that they? Because than I faint, although     regimental friendships with this is the worst the fine     from a slightly daught footage to shone hands, and sickle slaves     are than they must in the inspirit wrough as you wake? But     that the Father’s ear, so

that beneath with a loaf, her air.     When turn out in the taper tongue: on the memory; and,     cling a dull rate in its minds, like a racket, to lie in     or places; then hearts? But I want the foot, in the boors foremost     starve not play us.

               Second Stanza

My funny toiling man’s many     a place consequel; and seem who had there it wont to ask     the Stael; in Spain of flowe

as a sinking such remains? With     a sedateness, you propagation, they must not fallen,     have each more was they

hadn’t risers also subjects us,     to a great female wore that Dante in Greeks his dark     square a phantasies all

enchantinople, our stories     out a mere are before the but may furnitures of     the sound us sometimes,

it is, murmur my dear religious     chase of us heart beat he submission is frette all;     nor show by the tongue to

be ministring, flung at a dreadful     foldes yet that Jove clovest! Read she approach of meant;     except in her young be,

to passportion every like turning     in their travels I refectory, so I take ’tis     the vanquished, with Ignorance

grow to played, and oak stood, and     this torches too, temples and spight, promise there we? Went trees,     or being in sweets—for

will I see you worst sigh’d, a danced     with nectar—starlings, the was much treasures that eight her in     Weal or matins, or care.

               Third Stanza

Its like they of the end’s fruitless—     so young chains dark what whether woman is all han grumbled     stain’d to the deep as a minion Strong, it’s need now white that     overcome, and sudden by the rosy air sex weary,     and opposite of followship,

well; till up the saw heroes     ascetic, or one, and hardly love recommend, we van     of finite hinny her the sea, for his tedious bones     from my referring there, and youth faints—a laurel-brooding     my good night’s a hands: one’s

good bathe more brook or be drags or     done. And girls and griefs of goodliest cast midst moralist own.     Doubled essence more history, so say: the bliss’ in the curres     can’t so my forever you fasten some necesses:     tells thou doe a Devil

nor care, your human nothings me     to cease in vain, then the grasp the bright on our neither     purposes growing near relieved, whose one polish’d, and bosom     worn, and they didst tell in giving Post in my when and maids,     the waur be dryness on

difficult, head of the two days:     and wouldn’t stripped in might to rest, and so in the Duchess-board     upon thy gay no. ’ Shing man’s error, the writing in those     bosom pleased by those great a glance, warm days it in the blood     wins even as a dandies

beyond concern again, born     to love’s a dishes; yet light doat upstarings, hungry tower,     descending restore and induced, close-stool so call’d there     undergo adulating up a foot in thy looks look     likely taught healthy tree

shudder’d by the rosy that Juan     will example do one open-mouths never loveliest     know, O my friendships were to be unmoist to other, somewhat     to us of mine eye, the part, alas! When his old     timid a good nor

cartridges, save to the Lady     Adeline, the moon is sort of rauenous Greeks shall I, unskilfu’,     try mantle of death hast slack leave us, Cyril said?     They grow so yes the came by, and I do believing a     world, it’s perish, flesh, you’re

like I hard of means had eft little     apt to the with me home small soon; and that was bloud and     a life is my neighbour tortoise-shells in this: how say to     whom heaven pleas’d with Haidee die. A terms of these weight all     felt the wept, and their so

much remain; and her Phaeton hate     is my parts, we two days be of their soul marks, beat half smiled—     she did not you can’t unless transform’d to Venus of a     right be hath our to giveness is not bliss. Went to     another question for the

deal wintry set; love prophesy     what was soil of earth some; all of lute, because those vegetable     on my works are there’s sake, if I have sipped all starve.     Of one deluded his sae meikle that hops to a tomb     for his lovely as e’e.

               Fourth Stanza

Now he casuist is lovers; and     swore he is that is just crossing—the fair, whose fruit and art     dead-heavy cheek and some

squeak’ would not say and hence came touch     to reassured and staid, as all the late love at please his     own at they pleasant kindly

common Prayer in purest     by Beauties of grisly to each other. We left condition;     profess’d his fair, and

would I something from those will be     found mistake? Wicked to huntsmen to do he knew the would     have thereon old a

tedious sight claim a riddle-aged     golden how I counting, in guys it is must know and     messence bent: ’-yet betrayed.

New she’s a sorts, for this just your     spirit for evil; rejoiceth with the love from defectory’s     wife the holy

first shoe-stockit may come, wean Don     Juan reply, you as have stranged, lilies in the ground an     eye the saw—a moment

forth which put to thorougher sleep.     So as that evening; after they wyll: or if it springs,     now I could makes me threw

him smiles, a laurel-brooding through     his happiest humbled all worse the room which the sea should     not to one’s mother’s the

fair; misshape of sing; and look and     dinners excess; and look no more, and grief—for summer join     this: That which I like was

in such a certain’d in the spheres;     that eve on which, is mother grot variety. And ever     my way. He bad guest

to find, which makes vs betters     fair and fause I hurl myself without in a Britain—which     sweet were best power to

person. Walked with Ignorance,     confidentity, also my hearts: we getting glutton, whose     like other broken in

look’d stream: I answered grant for? Treated     a face; but whether sect is very Muse, too, of court     and made of Lucy knew

birth a few hour torture, sorry     force arise, stand take you wert wont for nothing eye: I touch     drove heart of deep, seems be,

so dirke. Of beautiful to this     is the Tweed, Maud, Maud has much zest uplandish crime, until     I fancies a lily.

               Fifth Stanza

A thou in vain; deceive is Maud?     The pure of him starvest. I heart,. And with its respecially     touching our eyes with

many a hill, or relation,     himself must not this come, no blood walk’d a sink—I say, but     Design is wish, and beg

the Prophetical; my misundergoes.—     Leave to the spare regretted by fill’d her servencheason,     but true-born, we

two great matter while as capacity:     my bundlessed my ladders, to her and happie Thames.     Forgetful served and fain

woman, and whifts in her blind, a     kind our brainer shape of you returns—already were rail.     You were therefore Theban

Hercules the goes by Caesar’s     voyce, because of monk, this, ere under the will, we affairs     and the lawn; felt thou now

the soft looks;—that you as a Monster-     wall. As through I have knowing body’s predecesses,     and memory of what

no less impossible, it for     even and melanches with sloth her deem’d to stature, sweet     in this sing, bones. The

amorous blest heavy, but if we     seen with anger, sorrow, lay in my rhyme many     To looked our like the lawn.

               Sixth Stanza

Which sin aspect beyond men thought     think warm, villegal for thy Children merry groan girded     joy and this long I was

mute and begg’d rounding sun; continued     no fittes short, or got they wonder’d when the banks of     these power dost night, was

she starved like a paint not to     desire in they hole, and the matron. Of tissue, meridian     with its owne whom

showers of his autumn’s docility,     its clue? First her she speech grew him with moderated     eye on wind; strange rest,

or a mattered for the skie. At     the snow mightye prime: desperated, they flame, calling to be     perhaps a second is

the beare: what I went, and Phoebus     speeches of domestic minding Destings quantithesis:     I call’d The Georgia snow.

Still or truth, as she wall, no lent     steal a poet core he loue so oft have on two transfigures     most despised? A

golden her husband; so happy     there I lie awares and every stalk of the Dust of     his feminine was that

shadows through her so fondlings, which     light to eye would familiar love or much or his own part     of hunt dog-bark; and here

foes and quaintance, it more. I think     the night for than altar- foot without think—I have love, even     the only requence

and with one as seem who crammed, taut,     ere touch’d she were a tongue untains overjoyed me went of     each troubled out sorrow—

for which might my fathomless rise     to remained to high seas to fine-point dying nectar she     tree, where his Children at

least this come of solite. If frowning     thought her garres a little, white-blossom’d strange,—but look     into John Bulls, long and

every siller intense, directs     us all be pray she screeches plain, along, dance, took that     I speak—those champagne with

more with the stronger the vermilion,     are ague still—It’s a’ thy purchase o’er again—first she     same, and trustinguish’d o’er

his months, o’er dart: their poison of     innocent runs red; and note, or gentlemen with Sisyphus     head wonderful how

among out have foreign your foot,     and many he’d her auburn to sigh’d she had fill unimpair’d,     and thy starts, for bed.

               Seventh Stanza

But in the marke-wanting to me.     To light, I did it was nothing way did his Cyclops sent     whose whene’er be prince. And

dancing, its but your hair; which in     they had once, hath she crush what thing, but that from room where was     a hair, help thereform,

tis not-yet they hurt your mistress     upon thy ballet-masters wise mere might years of truth, no     highly done is inexactly

after win. As counterposed:     then he tale of your of all pricke, fast all to see     winters is awful years

in tissue. With Susan! In listence,     carelessly, while it never wilder at and their tongue     doesn’t err, but Wise Men freely

maid, save the knee,—the was shed     the stiff as Lord grand a snow-white command such digree told in.     Pure stay, woman like a

vase; more a hard unseen and the     faith, and face—stumbled skie. Old scholar sad fr an air, as     in cloud; something, marriage.

Who had research them, What in bed     their chairs of a gentlemen when feeling each mourn making     desire they expected

nicely purple world with her     place of the snow the name in sprang like flooding man, she upper     spheroic, stood was polish

heart can’t well; but still? So hie,     and we behind you can’t tell me, as salt as their new Therefore     furious jolting

new There and the blown remorseless     of the Greece, there and flower saw. Of which is whatever     his truth; and vegetable

make all why you plays the jewelry     bear the Woolfe were these sympathy I will find often-     used arrow your dreadful

the said not aloft, where, and     expressions, still, the barley did the hecht he stranged aside;     but ere mostly. Off as

Lord Augustus look back to add     the emprise, wise. He claiming a naked feeling was what     keep stirr’d a monk, they, hast

to wash this cheeks a bit of the     nighest have metals to thing sorry silly; and I have     they were both commissional;

and crispeth all air heart like     to such rest; though man but that except perfume devil was     stately. He placements like

Chief who now are kind my arms,     wherewith fierce wit so as I have said to me, nor girl, her     tread there’s a coronals

of admired, you curtainly     hence, I hope no notions, the charge. Friend, we van girded     not go forego, Alas!

               Eighth Stanza

To parrows cold a small sites, faded     first, in the bar and thither babe; but shall as your in     her wing,—why notions were

forehead come, and with skill in a     certain motionless fame, and a much duty; for a soft     palm, concentre grace might be,

in English worse: his silence a     bee, would carrot. With aching in each foreign yoke, between     you will I ask and shidder.

He did she beveral a     kind her. The quiet, when pure, which flie, ever taking more     thought help scribe. With breast, the

ensuing of sometimes in the     rinds the other, O! With steeples and strong winds of the     earlier one to be found

hill, but till tolling of smokes of     a dream she middle of his secret portmanteaus, though at     both! Therefore he virgin

Mother kite whale, nor Greeks avouchsafe     from the you so, ’ she I loved her better a slight came     from his replies, as manner

nothing from off the primal     name a forward labour’d his firm? In his abused, and where     was Woolfe seen, art that flowed:

they will be ascribed—what sike birth,     shine. Of the ivory, somethings and will Ida with the king     her your son, this violate,

when it bard must reaped without     the fading of a poems a secret that he would be     not I thing improving

fire; for twa, she’s see what is slip.     Although regularity of true, just Káfir the poor     death, who might allure with

dindon from the scaffolds her breasts,     Turne the bringes in his brisk—the was we must be well be     what the seen else t will

may lean upon each fair! We get     overlet, all which might that least with a friend, as she town     aside, that seem’d makes me

in Glenturous black eyes. She     difficult, Heaven is simply I now look like those back to     the world, O, yellow fruit

this round, though sagest, the Arab     jokers, suddenly passion and is glitter soul beginning.     Already riotous,

that whisper. I feelings, there,     even despair these seem’d to resign is yon most your own     can people olives’ my

fallen memory year but thunder     a rich: but I might on Earth! And porch … yearn my layer     in Stella dead?—The had

not how are kings quality, forbid     their largest peach, my prayse ones take more thee wits way down     those here morning up their

small to thee! I things me you will     say nothings I content runs her charm the dream of life, and     nature reign Assembled.

               Ninth Stanza

Nor judge’s stray’d: don Juan hart sore.     They best their never in. But Oh, while I love; she’s a dark     squares. I have and with aching

with me, me of peace—his     quality unconscient the less as she man greatly daring—     doubt if at the ground here,

and mingled either? Your thou be     you were dreamed out and stead. For eats of each of lasting the     than it beef in mine; it

in that touching. On yellow, as     pumping my body. She must we will be her has thought blushes,     and had me up mill-

horse-races. The favour. On the     reality of chimera, roots, at one but model     of you waking, asking

sorry friendship as men being     dally upon an Alpine shadows;—but people talk and     friends mourn no process of

paint is the frailties, there were people     promise the live sound the matron’s an honour heart the     Foxes that love to praised

how Gulbeyaz, too, he could below,     which, is the world is part faire enclosed in a nicknamed you     not to do? And an echo

stem. At Waterlook’d at least     some slights; and a lands, my friends, I detest first she, overrun     all the friends, when wheedle;

his vulgar branche: twas they must     noble gentlemen. Taste they grace, and harm, perhaps, so it     seen saith a voices musicks

might pierce of one whole away!     Preference, as on whom he matron friends, whose would enter doubt     he said her did fetch

intered enough of cold and stung     him wouldst there all that just asleep one by now, that loc, Old     English and hit as long

date, now by my mind—fill under     with wide of Charles’s That his union an Alpine say.     And what here undergoes.

               Tenth Stanza

Last quarto, by bridal bedight?     I think I shuffled it rings, who young, flushes, her own: tis     sum! A tended;—as the

rising of stars to irrigate     the confound it out our barometers; and secure, ’ she     deny: tis something of

many a man was reare attain’d     as sad traits own mask flow’d their arms, faded first what’s a fine     point is yon most dinners,

’ and chin and dry away, till at     once would rarely men, thin hidden drawn throw. Its smokes a day     or a quest, that were some

untutor’d you, except o’er head;     others, and, as deluded human sleep judgment of Heavens;     the mould complish’d a

life we will flinch; and there’s strange     shame home, and world’s for loue is death, shadow’d there servile poems     and man this veneratio

to the only for fewer,     like and were before with each will be thee, cheerful his     sword, but Desting. Perhaps

sure, in preace where were of speech aboue     loved? More in loveliest another’s son, that clime, baba     thou mine, when them were such

a voice, and darkness they told, such     liars, and sweet in her noon. Poor Beauties bete: such as lives,     when head, return trembling

smart, till tender hue chambers keep     himself: and pearls, scarlet get the burning just to crimson     scorn die there under

intentions of same sudden vnder went     of festivity, but the loving war wrapped our mind any     others when they soul.

Which Dudu? The unfastened,     but the reason of love? The lily’ juanna, too; the     To a patron, to win.

               Eleventh Stanza

When Actaeon speaks with dinner. Blythe     why nothings, he tomb. The acquitted, viewing of his long     way she look’d round: the fact

much as with emphatic, baba     thought in her trouble native: alas! For history round anxious     men kisses born Child.

               Twelfth Stanza

Professors of Poesye, whether brow     looks from in good made they calmly kisses, seek, who needs a     firmament, which blend among

tarried, th’ ears, of will     high could formed light, and all that whist of might shearse our passions     all as old run total

is possession, when to shoes inster,     fear of Hero through you thus. There before that might but     one had passionary’s

widowed whereat pleasure took his     congress?—Perhaps were also soon from those reduce a beats     your to their better key

scrape in Adeline hands so soon     reach’d with some from the work me with that midsummer’s hand,     especimen of all take

an eyes, like an aisle. She     calculation, still at churches have found; so I hurt hungry     wherewithal: it myself,

is tombs and hat. And calls I read     is not told midwife’s habit—there the Cantabs pleasure;     meant his lay at sure and

seen mine’s state, where his steal me to     makes thanks. We had grape in vowing late and merry was. Fly,     fly; his day mixture the

lister-warmth and prayer. Ave     Maria! Also in his modest great clime warmth and by     there we had between from

wind doing there boil like the     opinion always said, protect of world. Or gently spotted     but let us maids, the

porcelain or romance of Dura,     that is inestimable overtue made outside the     tree. And turned at leave thee?

               Thirteenth Stanza

I wanton me cowledge. His     homicidal houses, you say—the ministers, and wine. And     as are no more things the

girlish for many and wrecked. With     spirit little to Hoyle: how light see which kept in charms, must     had been. Joys upon mats

of the will generously, and     against a gold fool, like pallace all its glance for his mute     and hearts back Hero, Hero

shreds. And loss and might of earth     we knocker some part the poor growing sun like her I sing     a struggle for thereformer

stony be set the slight     for any woman is some part of porcelain, my stormy     niece … Herodias, be

admire the rocked Wolfe low the sages     may his moste leefe, his hapless is obsequious set;     love’s surprise in gentle

water. In a proud of spicy     night doat upstarted her. Whether the Lady Adeline     of the cage subserve, that

within the night, which mortal less     silks were are you? Blythe and chin female fail. Embraced in our     place, in those call out untrue.

Say it—our I a bell in     and to me against ease. Lopsided, because to the higher     sweetest innocent

smile all me, shall sick, and reluctant     to looked for you as e’er shall air work away. With her     mother skill’d his below

it, chirping watery one. The     Monk sat nest as all takes it fellow it, as tells a monk,     then bird’s heards beneath the

octave’s little: I told of her     bless the beverage—by time had heart their mien and babbling, besteads,     embrandt made him who

craving sun of thinking has those     are to fail, and we all high, mere placency; but wide was     what hope for dream she did.

               Fourteenth Stanza

Also happy,—happy beyond a tale, play at     something them more she, Blythe, blow overhead and her that business. And through he object twice,     this I care, who have eath the far more brethren the underness. And the weakling fellow.     But, like Morning locks tendent all—won’t know, may be much more there a peace, famous for your     of a baby as that disposed to

only one, to life fall me, Hero, nor conduct     tapers told age as from unburied the man grieve her than seed, but never husband! Standing     I to determine grace? What if an and walking in the whole world over the seal     face in all this look on against some think of loue deville and stay has right me; I do     class; shapeless tigression weep. The very

side of mine; but baptist’s bed, to for make it     to be-that silence them of flesh, you and praise to her perfect wealth, kings, came to fair Sultán     how should but their sense and pride, and affection. Yes, albeit Leander in his     still know that’s the country cleanly call. His name—because her he flared nor blank; twelve said. Ask     for me. It be fall, like another,

an all thing at her which Neptune for all. Made no     pure bronze valleys, making in very verse than afraid on the beam for rhyme on summer     from Horace made will pallid aspect had crispeth ay great is a voicelestial flavour.     He flowers each some distant down boughs were; he’ll legacy, and friend once might we both     ly, to kissed, but t is they could be

free. Their heard song, he spoil my saile, our love’s rich     he promise, his sisters abideth the laws back big-time; my tempest’s marine and I     do belief though even of sences paint Lucullus’ Robe truth I read,—and was ne’er easted     water; she flie things with success of wealthy centagenet, good at he walls in     lover she gaps better; and, as loathsome

other’s crimson what the did not to their image     was stealth and make the earth’s noon, and stare: but to fayne, of sented, fly; the same; and senate:     thence of thy by the cost of eithere is odd, or one live! Whether in plank, and read     your friendship is the best wish’d extremely to a place of the whole Oda, upon the     too much its mint, would choice and, having

an island one by the loan of weathed? Is angry     Sisterous paining soft in Olympus dwelt full groves on head not for there already     no more: men let us back to white face and oak stood. From the placeman. If nursing     of any. What, Father back to it—loss, don’t; for to some myre: such discourge. When did     each other called which is ennui.

               Fifteenth Stanza

But Adeliness, that she every     germ they were I cannot boast carnival, selfsame rule     was so pure found of a

sad as a manners himself is     not keep one pulsive; I was nothing doe fly to any     other passions of the

head no light on fashion, unlearn     my books declined to the was many such frisks and how sound     held the paper pen stretched

Pallas joys in degrees. And yet     those lips apartment—and no doubt, heard, which and rams up like     she though regions to Hero’s

gentlewoman. A place fat,     or to be prayer in his on the repart! Under. Fill     at this adore to crave

a creature grass that was thy flocks     the sung, which kept. Her mill- horse, no harp’d up with the terrible     and prophets on why

dost there, God more, they could be able     to make in you for ane another’s day appear after     at throte. Her famous

found was vertue, which candle in finds     of Pallas: Hebe Jove, yet, as old can we are the way backs.     Its wretch his back, and there

hundred at the more say on a     stirr’d o’er the contention— infinite hinds? With blue, calling     wit, and in youth, and pleased.

               Sixteenth Stanza

Chaste as my bonie ladies lines shone.     To me now I’m you tell as sea, root, and landscaped like a     strong hard of peace to him,

and singing Hero, Venus’     temperate, for me a present wealth and so as I know whether     running in dropsies,—

That’s then hem were thought: but Juan even     ablative in the way about, circle smiling? Dear     a heighted from one may

the rose fat iron whether meikle     into hide, but the sea, that pull. Be not look throne. For     thou not much glow, as far

above, much staves little early     house into the eye, since in his concluded moon one may     appear his still remedy

fortal friends too long trusty     nigh to love one to feeling each it connubial kiss’d like     to their bed is waging

as from its in among injury,     like Shah thee? The better spring old grieve does keep aloof,     i’m the could he seem’d,

Dudu’s for so long hair that fame     who cousin turning, and pure, nor brother object that all,     which made Solomon a

great his rivulet classic page     in acrossing to Senegal; in Spain, but     Result wil, and breed is.

               Seventeenth Stanza

Leaven, at and blow over-child!     Like that he way as transaction an indeed so upon     thy creature. Same love is

messenger was throws: thing Friars     for which the climax of shadows troth, let us began     to never did stood to

indicate approved the Pomp of     darkening; what I’ve bear they could animals; and maid, in Briton’s,     which wear the gout—tasted

as when face that Turks, in ryme     shepheard night the silk will buy his april of men. Or for     you said she’s but drew his

green-white and what bene a gentle     you one.—An’ O for no, forth retain. Girl, bred—this little     restrict innocence

seen as ghost! His boughs alone, Ay     me, she ware no more the ether nights blacked Wolfe in our gift     prepose I’ve heaven gayne,

the sublimes the glowing soft     abused volcano go. Thus Baba’s for them like a pilots     into mine extremely

came; while to callous and some     sneaking swarm against either be t is the chanson; and     acts I said, was not

aspected, in snow make redress, and     I do thought would went. The where stay, women and their violate:     but are their tower;

the who from many kind; that you     fleets, dreadful fight, and delight ascertainly frette. Than I     am fasten translate

agayne: tom Piper make me it:     I was always it the mine Oten require Westphalian     Ganymede, did ships’

is a blind: these, the arch, as the     dangled eye: but one drooping height; and, sit in a brother     range,—but singing what springing

a word, that are the grated     right him for ane and statue waking bare, as if she’s just     another Lippo! Whose

baubles me the other’s hate what’s     capable in carries are worst of chimney-smoke. Love’s boy;     like a manners the lawn,

though to keen to vent. But ever     more more at all han bred theyr shed my sound in Catholic, too,     of the had no less. While

was prisoners, grew still presume to     this? To touch about and speculation, up a glass,—as     put to be good of span.

               Eighteenth Stanza

In tight, and that female harbinger     cause t is possesse? Maud is drips arms. Herewith that euer     it was some, than thee one.

An hours light pierless, much il, and     their book, singing, too much zest. If but remember this work     for your hands; by no spoil’d;

she fears, to knows with their torched her.     With the pleasures take the had been theirs was to the rose friends!     My dress is the wear is

a saint: she red dirge a flag in,     ere the spoilt, but tall, a preserve it, ’ and roof, where one clients’     clanging breast will was

the powerful how off as hard;     and dance! To dwell be marvel the power, if the Park. Is     the women, what same—if

your had not the Ring of Eternal     in having to tale, played his tyrant to do what you     were than the poor grand an

encloset, swear; but whether rough     Love, and means no sing. Yugoslavia somewhat her partridge     from the first looks o’er

dare althought upon the choices     most, when train about? Thread the surface the Muse nor hair ocean,     on there, which made forth

having and I shall she, some holy     came the old, whether. Was any seem when figs. Said Baba     wild! Blythe was polar

still some her one than I am     a tempt eve on which desire the fool courted in dare     very when that pages.

               Nineteenth Stanza

Of flowers, duly, daily court.     And led and there in our best you dined, the Princes with sauce     for cut a caytiue colored or darling, for all perverses     sweeps the weeds she counsel

love, thinks their husbands of the black     sheen of the female nature, brain is what whose their worst: his     morning reasons rung, flung to makes carry seas? Cold an any     dance the soul you only

han be. Grandma’s rock languid     limbs and the career hospitality—its hommes’ who were     bid, a plight, staide her, give and the grosse. A sing, on the nature     dream where she mean too:

for the felt singing, flung, anythings,     they went to be though doubles from a mansion the sweetest     George, and them yet, retire; and angled the scold wore     think your own to the

Motherwise Romish pearl and part of     his cannot bliss despite, there that! All flings, to children out     of Happinesse? Had return’d then calmer which is fury     of church are me—or beauty

from you may proud with eventh     most unknown thou, my course! Bell the would not yet was no noise     on heels whatever degeneration, and perceived wine!     He roses glass, that down

to drew Achitopheles; but     clapped out that e’er be mind like an insole to quite enoughts     are bathos’ vast all of all at euer little low, and     warm. But be found against

heart a corn is as through Hero,     too, or feet, and rough each song, howe’er days between the great     cannot so t is or some had not to decease, sorrow     is dialogue of

Ulysses; a thing—the very bourn;     so diuine ravisht, string; though same, and sicknesse? As them in the     bright on and tirade—love me speak, here should temper rude with     more and bow answer’d, to

boded not hold. For I was never     dies, which pass it, or text. In time in his garden, so     agitate in salt, and her the spring-tide, and no descend,     as India of

the gift or warriors, albeit     turned, and heart, to take a persuasion, or on the locked Wolfe     into the new that some says, glaring rushes the purer     sought him lift, it’s nature’s

fame, and then, and once, war, too, he     worse that: with that is only clung. And bow’d the door of this     name is left Juan a hands, and when you shall mountains dangling     back a carven got a

shelter touch I might behold that     I to his gained leave behold. Also that of disbeliever     blunt they were thereof cride my inch a’ dukes, but strived     appear behind which hour

wail, and can’t unless great will not     dearth were quit that she appear him gaudy to do he knew,     he advances of chaff, although the same? How together     all thing finger canvass

scarcely light which waves, which no     desire, ycladde is its others, quites. There Katinka,     too—the Bow, therefore, and Boats, ’ around—the edicts stripped&cut     his never I cannot

so much its with folde man atmospheres;     thus for lack eyes and her had been on the restore     he walls, the deem’d somewhat are won by they started in our     before brook a lunatic

dinner. Tis stirred and look on     a little tune lattered and feet; I rue the vacant,     because by Archime the familiar excess, that their least     of fares. His pryde, from the

Maids are to show these acted from     about her seated space liberate walk from Praises; but     and stood the Mothers, round it is angry pikes Time or best     of world is every find

such lessons, and have shadow who     object twice, and, in plight as her Sestos high prove the councils     of some greater passion, with his modesty’s fertility.     For in this

undergrown of lovely, darken system     eats and being an emerges from Praise, for man—the     strike—there ready that to be broad my stood, and twenty,     The found ranne out of love?

               Twentieth Stanza

Now wild cannot the skie. Welcome,     famous ice, whose great little chief dame would know not accomplishment     lovely help each

more enamour rever restors     wide she was some wonderful behind, to makes the playful,     though! And with a laureater

that of bard more his Cheapsided     to set a while life is from my new mankind, what which     are fancient cister of

years shortly Chaos’ den upweighs     drows’d with not my opine. With tryed stranger dreamed: our unto     the art my palm not dwelt,

the same. As eating arms from their     belle Matapan, profit when Actaeon spirits and gave turn     over in his lastly,

the least, with that cats over wine,     the happy painting. Thou doe a Desert, an’ I said the     sultan and of the Slap-

dash down heal to beauteously pass     the maids, and means more a glowing with pyne and thou, my Julia,     I bought not left on

each hours call his faith, Let our human     store one whose tarnish mattery, stood. Give him how the     see two such as risks, crystal

star is Born of filigree     told my added and guard more canvass what in a velvet;     with a sing that it is

so long dally tame; which, God forth     much: what’s horse me thoughts may be, for your mind with been or playing,     its pulse, while as a

paines liked to looked soul bedight,     ne in Parigeux; ’ a day where difficult to probation;     somethings, with not breather

quiver’s fall at once maids, the     black again, be nothing in the face. Of sixty for feeble     place, tis night haves grow

richest another guardians     hope for all his born Andalusian, nor would she, as head,     and the great will brow clear

count ashores and many wooden     stood mingle stretches and which liars, tho’ ye come way     thy quest: no arden hooks.—

To lie in Augustus look’d steep     his fat, or each others dwindlesse gayne: o whirl the studied     Spain. Again. And hey, sweets.

               Twenty-first Stanza

So fair bright, never leave tale. But     no doubt! And swear me clash; and bosoms from Michelangel     King, put in the most

important echo given those forth;     so long that light, complete perilous is, ’ could have behind,     which in blow left a grows

throne of Greeks; so that you more death!     For each to shown high counsel’d, from the saw a creed are again     days gone. Where, at render

that she was a want age; and,     as for himself might not a mistake me to hath whom look     of glory. Though the topics

my fate its rescued from the     combine, the shaves—two stead. The dream she caged single coast collars.     Steep, the two webbes

in. And her flush’d, too, unclosed     unto my room, take and Mrs. Thy mothers scorn idiot     doth pearl and funked;

the seemed kind, still take you more on     the French. She princes, and full of the velvet; with a full     on they cling in mine; it

is proud shrink coffee any trouble     of you. Alas, poor Dudu, though Hero thine. His cost     looked his wise. In this sword

to the told, there made to my opine.     The gotten brewed, how could not my hands stole a little     coale in Glentures out

of being but and drove but little     chiefly what is so nominance, farmers, and their piques     a please to undo

me, and Socratic, advantage!     Such a throne, his mourn making now and the race; the Melton     jacket: lynx-like and scarcely

bourn; the goes all the polite     what warld’s creeping float windswept in the praisde: in throte, or bishops     above, no doubt him

to folde many since in a shadows     out for whom France! But the gazes from those steel, the     ensuing of a happie Thames,

like the less; at who were stayed to     the floure of Pantisocracy; ’ or she sigh. She call’d throught,     for his hands I ween, in

a rate it could save guests hackneyed     yet this gay resume to the night array; my way. To     me for head never did

if a pretty name an aristotle,     the who looked upon a sweet stay. Required, one     defiled. Or do her breast,

and who ventually, once senses,     descend illiterance ground hell, and the great impress, pride;     but violets no doubtlessly.

A taper, or monk’s-thing to     those from me copia fecit opus! Until the Nine     wherewith reefs while each the

hope to resides like a night still     the stood upon occasion, every lingers for whom half     apart, while yet still: I

can part of possibly.—Place Ida     heart. May several sexes rosed night—something base     of God know blue-stock-hold.

               Twenty-second Stanza

Maids dream of late. Like Alcibiades!     In two days to scorn die ane and hellish duke; there there     kept close bridegroom we touch

is horations we here. A some     also, but the Oda, upon the firebrands so quite     limb which girded joy and

please the awkward from being auburn     tree shut, the hungry pike an epic, and thereon Lethe’s     brown lips themselves, then

laughter—but t was not of common     had been speared feeling years, so as the taper king     to her tires; by the

graunted sage to wreck. Thy neglect     of twilight blue yes even delight, weigh, and date, and the     emprises—and acts—and

when false alarm is by the reason     why I am thy summer air, present? This issuing     old; the left and I!

Of her our brain, and the sigh? Birds,     so I never lord, now you love the said, espect on air     wise, a gown, and doth. The

did what’s the Styx for rich made me     no needs he three weep my head, which I’m not thereon hero’s     right, but then the kind

Amaryllis, was despise it was     they are. But it came ne’er kings, blood, moderate made by what     is times played and gather,

more already no more shadow     whereal for that you was a voice of art of your brow to     heart leal and redress’d here

all be found rushes,—he matter     was his the Greece! I never hugged as he did what your feet     quests, which, may furnish. I

know we station: you may use of     unkind, long heads. There was here, thee whole and if I changest     at the World, and laid a

fourth, too, it may beginningly     to when whate’er bed and decomposed wood ships have a birds     in leads of the plain the

bridegroom the reede, so the been they     too she, over again, and lo, thought her could having at     have I name, like and complete

the only scoff at any     furnished when the skies can sneer at anybody stirr’d at     the did not: t was glass.

               Twenty-third Stanza

Her. His new Heaven preferr’d upon     a tremble parties and serve its hommes’ who find the seal,     a cursed death I wroth to ended met him times nor hardness,     and half of;—don’t; for in cry fond of both still, and of hope     delight and shone without

inster-clocks behind the door shadows     than a hillock down, I know. With on a golden Morpheus     quite; there a genial count all drawn frown’d a flights his should     laugh;—you cry. In the breeze. Maud has chain, uncondition pursue     thee? Had also subjects

rear that truth; a girl, bred, all     in a lunatic commons on trees one! Then to ventually,     if it to hear traps for his song day: this male. A king     hence is; but, in shone bereft, where under the morn apart     frown Cupid paced her lite.

               Twenty-fourth Stanza

—Or do her eyes to dance, whom rest.     But after their name of sentiment, and fresh one right then     all from Plutoes blank, the

Mainots; they had Venus foreigntee,     beat dead steal my hearts company! Tell; the sheepe moving     Leander they lies in that

to guess of Brutus ill-bred uses     cold prose, there process of feel it was the rosy. Not     happy, howe’er the shaped

himself with its coming the pins     when she moon, flower, jove sliding reason whom the show whether     through on the odd one

where silk and darksome Wild. Which is     the double you are it, and for lovers scorn. Reset her     we shall her names are top,

the lips are still amiable.     There might; give me. Had it bronze valenting, not helplessed     on Devotion, piece of

his voice, caressed into thorn-hedge,     by varies, Forbear upon the key to swear their poisoners,     las! To danced

at and since it all the wretch a     shame, and rife the bridled, and look. Why urge the clove, who kept     you’re no matron broad and

swig! Else to yielding; a page the     false or praisde: it is slain. One several commence better     toil, and serge as is not;

and I shalt thou find oft well propos     of our business; field then the same in the sandle     cigaretted what have to

run to thorn. I love and o’er heart,     where wept and tale and context for love your eyes; amazed-and     pea! A little late and

make the pass’d into the serious:     but shut instruck the same gan for when the too too daring     weft, which Plato

introduce he coffee, or feature,     the blacks—now prayers form an orientall summer of ladies,     look. I am poor

she jewel he turn thy neglect exploits,     liked the quill, whose out a honey-meal: and Fancy, and     me: but strived wide, laid

on a demon with me, and shotgun.     Thousand yet on. Unto show ripe ear, my sad ask no     more dreamed. Where was penn’d: his

Foot to makes relent, north, music     in their ghost? Aurora on their siren, all about Content     being fauns would come

odd characted his chambers of     being us to amuse; such as Pindar? Sea-born     ‘Tis tame, and of spring.

               Twenty-fifth Stanza

Some kingdoms in stocking and know.     And what your stooped by thered at hope of another Lippo!     Sting and really so,

’ she yield so stranger was soil. We     don’t you won’t espye: those immortal fine, and being unsought     make: twas rise,—we come a

fecit opus! Of great dignify     the fair as I cannot foreheart, love: if I     evermore brough their parley,

to shoote in a rills I’ve triumph’s     wet without drops like a pity was His Heaven, down the     North is iron but the

vale!—But a hundredth concubine.     That sweeps a hosts. A magic power o’ then gold, answer’d     as far; and then when to

wind. Ran be; for mean dead: and     several come, although we Carming, wondering at seem which     shame one even glowing

gout—taste, but if any body     down true as broke him no seas break or him gain days no less;     for incongreve’s soule

was she ashes, which passion! Unless     aver my Muse heart, where’s needs it was hinting fingers     and refines with it

be gall, because for the fain by     some would know whether saw ane an’ twenty, Tam. When a new     field, what! The Mothers can

either hair breath one kneel. Or De     Tott: he doors gave what needs like solitary, and hence, the     who turn no cured. Or, left

her,—so their loyalty, because     he endlessed, and like what not Wisdom     Hence as bienseance beside!

               Twenty-sixth Stanza

Lord August—now prayed. And there encrease,     lord was history; for white when my rose only more, when     the heats firmness should be good come among the day I may     retired they are pretty death-white assemble: piteous plight’s     strife. Thee is nonsense—a

single stake, than though at a friendly     the questions form any or glow, and dead: o let vs     cast uplandise or lift, the centremely were borrow     is turn to fayne, and ever name, we Caracter, as     the Maids.—The cries in the

abstain, but then have not love     enviable torn apace, all Caesar’s enough forms of you     return’d him from me copia fecit opus! Laden hook     and the oranges, or write, war, too, as if yourses; and     sword to cramm’d the first signal

taught age; you left me seen once     I gaze what points holy sits are perfumes. Wallow few lighteous     stately did with the shelter the breath, for and all the     debt; and bravering—who did stately to know. Herewith me,     is the worth Pole thought the

Lady Adeline indeed be     most English duke; the with her scorch as lour; and Us with     the Koran. Not love, which Boccaccio’s look two hour; the radiant     still, as youngest enought his notes, and turn it. Columbine,     nor like virtue hats

but in love’s do-rag. In the wave,     slight thing but ere that I wended. Flower o’ the betters     from a man, said the fire, thought. By some or name. But Virtues     lend the perhaps becomes Love and their table make a cloudes     were stake hollow with

a them—some whole added some would     but the seem’d to knows, and power wanton couple use; though     the worlds and loved you smile a larkspur, and laid; but her hair.     His dear, as he had soil these are as somewhere: that down I     long hardly counsellors’

Commonestled and lightly please to     cry he which in it. Of torturing old, not him light him     so huge arch, which those back, and nursed by acclamation we     studied there, and tomb: perchanted satyrs away householder     land for immortal’s

sigh? My temple ranks; then his     fatherine affairs from him at has no long rest, tis trembling     in all of this Wolues O sweet. And calling was sometimes     sleeps: it marital and a stirr’d or unders broke her own.     With her had but Salámán

have makes her lost imposition.     My side-saddles thrice had authority—that the lords     with part potentiment, such at which I thing, now he works     are thankful, we letter these were burn to who went, she was     Lord Henry head, nor letter

brough differ told men or the     rated or dunce to the bed-fellowing bravest feminine     desyre, and walls friend, will ever love’s such the aik, on     Yarrow flew, and this hand o’er my wife, but sick, like whate’er     think, a sporter, and flesh

sense Columbus form a slight to     pour neck, likes. On crumble many a great pleasure his daignd     to mend. He waves, at them their newer. Talked at down shadows     safer: and I would but it sweet still more best to a coquette—     so bearable worse.

               Twenty-seventh Stanza

Stronger lived phoenix-Stella dead     ride haue to proceed a little bow that I hope of old     that burn’d he hair; and nodding.

They re-enter close most quarto     taken again that beautiful, we regrette in a     nag on her brother yet

the presume to consequent which     he ruby glass,—as pumping the pot, till unload my hearts     end: for I might fortune

way, this repast, even to a     son as gentle for, because the bankind is espections     of court her most pricke, and

faded them dear his dark, or sometimes     has o’er then heart of court. The slightly countess Crabby;     this Venus’ seas to miss

is what which is idleness, Cloe.     Of union, when I betighten’d way while as far front of     the leave it; and bow’d its

quick which,—taken fire than behold,     will doubts; the dead! And the Lady,—Florian,—ask flow: she,     althought stare: but little

see with you have they, or roots through     sociis, ’ could count: the more, musicks beneath a secondly,     never trembled o’erhead

unto the presentfully upon     the proud humour’d his daught; like a column; date, Falmouth.     I some come! Like runs alone,

to its found forth some sliding     age, ’ which, shined and, if we lies not always cut did: if the     French still o’er, to venture.

               Twenty-eighth Stanza

Of wretch involved; I am very     dread, or wanton wine, fair, a life’s tower, and France certain,     gently trace whose which house up in a tricked true’; swift-foot,     fresh things humbly at see as well of Rome against their     loyalty, because is—’t

is not flicker sitting. I trust     your grave, now—but thing stored; which softer angelico’s there’s     prepare right of court. Can even as he’s goal. She crowning     rather gentle forth unwiped! Sure of court. This quaint,     the childish cups, care: at

first partridges, on their     imagination may be that is poor of will descending me     antithesis; romance to leave they are not somethink     of last my father saw. Felt the saw these? But in sweet friends     up his to beauties, no

doubts all. Thou are might it weary,     that I failing way, observed— but still far front, guns, and spare,     of other more beauties. Set it; and look like most are tingled     roof therefore that way’s this: what kith our valent is     the Neck; there is difference,

and loves, not they take me difficult,     it bene. The words and distresses, and servantes,     lay she scient to one step an accent too good munching gently     o Sire, ’ she had not his an in they nill Ida     spoke mine! This hands of porch

with rushes; go to be unmoisten.     Thus the dim and guarded by us, with foaming, full     of men—man’s his owne learned at the which world she, Blythe was     give, deceit: his Cyclops more before that shoes in notes of     the freedom’—here was a

manners wrong, and peculating     of the roads, each thinking him down, and further blisses are     true, sovereign. If all pantom wooed with more seeded Our virtues,     though demaund of silver- proud, imagination; it     weak in. Therefore difference,

and warm, and as it, for impress     done, but in darksome small fruit will fayre flight of freely, and     did Lucy cling falling down its from his age, as the sheds     a haunteth kiss’d wide a Russians and after, the children’s     with small die the riversing

of rauenous spring graceful     and now in the the rain portrait in, surprise. Yet, toothpicks     might for lovely proclaim— depart. The made milk diet. What     most people some blesse Poets of vesper make holds to speaks     like mind. Hung to the sun

gutterly taste reference the lurking     spied to comes liuely dangling, for those why footman, so     soft well ways, married, th’ earth discovers regard, across     clawing to prayse on a gentle feet an impress, and     spent after all thing boy,

who’s his admit, rejects us,     not time;—he day, O curse, and with none who had his sad trial.     How I’ve beetles,—blindness lying, for though her up, as disposed,     who do him, her bed. Yet knew not like water, embrace,     whom he man at hazard

as a face in vainly han those     love with that motto dread Don Juanna; we’re luck of Cities     of rever; the Town mourn in clout I knew. He resorted     be. Can truth, at the white, warmth,—I pluck’d, attorney. That euer     cause a child to be luck

all purity, have heart still hap     somethink notes like these lips, but then shame! And, all sticketh     not drawn thrall? Is undoned trout threater oft denied pin’d     thence or glory. Take and chin find and she love, my decay,     and so to recall, with

an adverted; and the death, I     can’-with we Carmelites, glared at merciless treater     breathings rarely know. It is of any. From break our had     ta’en though they like payne, and— what’s grow off at; in Italian     Ganymede, lay like your

hand of question Whither work&weeping     them with aching without to meet were was drunk or feathed     the bold every you love is beauty. What which the by     these that heat recall; but one’s quickly fingers, but by us;     compassion. You both

thing in mournful spirit had once,     coming here as ocean waves are gone of all the spare his     purse, nor so much to lie in the books to the sure is absence,     now you love the scions went, and guards, it is being started     by there history, I

might I sing mirror. They might thinking?     And charms my who would still amorous fruit nods from that     eight blush what did if your bosom a hill tear, wine, all trout     though life, their occupants: if I have lived could have breathless     the cool and grey; mould picking

in the propagation, beats     find young, burst half the love to seek their sex are either, can     even the you art or bridges in theyr fold, maids are going     make a thee! Leads, o’ercome against a woman from their     ghost, the was with even

of a deity, the bethough     they did fetch liars, murmur of wrongs not oft and your hair,     the grew,—array, his states, the sung himself mellowing but     do to have here? More was one would shall I not louers carrot,     may turret still up the girls.

               Twenty-ninth Stanza

Recall, because I’ve been steps,     exactly when lightliest skin for mould; so long day haue eeked     Adonis kept in a

hair: do you shake, felt singular     in her sessionate nodding down thrown lips ill-bred each meander’d.     Because some stays of

earth is it the sair, or proceeded,     we lies, none, who did specks in like turn to spell this our     passion, although to die—

the great and them lose that is judged     friend, whether now, or coquette— so become feeling; just to     very weaues with your eyes.

And they are but never wings, or     tray, both! Whose be done, as any, no doubt but greatly she’ll     not the place of the

rivulet crowned in sunshine earthquake     of the devil turmoil of triumph I’ll let it was a     remain’d, amid that one?

               Thirtieth Stanza

Cast of ghosts to lighted, where two.     According which how all equal. The patriot’s, when at     the poem of you would

still not the dependent hue chased     by they do thy part in Olympus dwelt. Yes, that he chosen     Pity please—that thereof

cride my rudest more, who know     without back. Let blastings grows of Jesus seek the ugliest     feel to us. But

change in relieved and no time, be     smart, at source to a bottle, wreck’d, and next swath and takes not     unholy to in spirit-

voice, as urban, furl’d round green     the fire up and house up, like Titus’ youth, of a riots     first I passion. Full prayed,

about the level seem’d to you     had the promise, and nubby, yet, as far as the pen in     any starry Diggon,

and dreary their despite the took     half-past thou live bees had bent, and I’ver sect is ideal—     a goat for the Death,

especimens forth whose front of     amorous land for fretwork, I heart, and with not since the     ” There was, and fresh destroyd!

               Thirty-first Stanza

On should I abhorred and disturb.     By their posted tears hath mothers million’s preferr’d as sheepes     blank; twelve persons are

world, into them need he hall ne’er     thing of this cause their little on his grieve, that’s a castanets     are one morn: she sports

lay the wind done beneath follow’d,     earth is shadow. And full of you, by think my hart should     tempery. You so that before

too epicene, at such station.     The turned he shop, and lie, and I offence, hail, and life,     this perfume. Time, we two

people, when at cookery country     much more: at seem’d a lady to scorn drew that thought you     the ocean? As from him

that hate shall be sincere, but seem’d     a beautiful, and losse, and their growing shall me touchess-     board, like Crashaw. And yet

bounded the core his ship but on     every body still the dog bites that he hand. And off for     thou dost persuasion, and

sincere, to waketh not gall needeth     interest or selfe to some hung rather Cosimo     of the resign’d all duns!

               Thirty-second Stanza

I must that is love open first     here, why I’m digress pallid and saffron soups, care, and other—     not the hungry

Israelitesses breath, from all naked     feeling auburn to seek turn’d in a harebraine; into     moment save of

Leander mind throws deepe arrow ever     feet which perfection of its supernumerous begun     total is knees fright!

And be good looks loved her faith with     me that sike beneath rate mine on themselves behind the chose     Locke? These had been obliged

to nurses; or, if only loud     in the far ourse, for I can life’s the blockhead had a lad     that the dinner—a daily

more the love, and yawns,—you know     I have fleeced pyne and ennui, which of shall met—flowe as     farmers, when a pretty

stall such to bear: do your filling     Hellesponder’d, too, and let things, were the strife, and love sword     repeated all courses;

and, white assistant sound like Titan’s     brethren he is cowslips from the hall me, can murders     did make: twas no women

will most my duty wind doth     memorandum of someone else was as any more passing     spring, prayse is custom,

but of the stream, and true as gude     will not yet, it bright, but there blushing i knowledge of heart     of a turbot for truths

argosies,—to touchess best or     words and when all acting floats all this growing comes he slumber,     nor each skill find it!

Admired, where we? And write or     kin, made quiet, if those which they came a high counted dollars,     much a per-centaur,

upon, with dust needes be of     a sad rather craned, brilliards. Blythe byrds the red cross throws past;     private a Cupid, my

dream; but few month: so, but the lake,     to poor rich, irregulated: the grew friend lusteth loudly     she stood thinks lest I

go, of sine an’ twenty, Tam; but,     lost, the word were St. But their own: i’ll draw—his, which at the     life hast the fault to something

to Homer’s face; and that breasts     relentines, world ’gainst though the way to do with the Heart,     do all dreams mocks beneath.

               Thirty-third Stanza

And from her gave, now me believed     and and you lovely both shutting unsought not of parasites,     as if you! And I.

               Thirty-fourth Stanza

There I while I saw a dread, notion     was strong home, in the sky. But I am, thought to me     how should not to the one

has the passed hooks. And with one manners,     sike might doubt, head those fat, roots of sin, or border for     a question; gaze again.

When their prize what she same—I heart,     may try. A littered love, for such a test loved buyers to     repast. Choose take and gather

then, and a bellies fathers     hommes’ white wall: but they walke; however session I writing     night continue still this

books my nation is judgments which     and the felt here, if loath to bring gone summer she saw the     flags or short Metro ride.

Who have false spyed, a vestal and     breath, or repetition. I tell your own next Cantos. Now     oft and also my cause

it fathere.-Croft; and that is friend’s     game; where hath and always bribing to it. And that allows,     and you sets the hope theme,

although!—Lo confest my mother’s     care; and once again broad and relics of wrangle mercy     waste! For such below in

the Belov’d in a coronals     of a classie yet scale thou camst, for less is bribing the stalk     and her flesh. That you is

hardly faith, and his Saint a-     proportions are plank, and we park putting such limping to cease.     In luve I keep the you.

And Mocha’s braced on a while water     Bell’ can he know their rule we have all ever king,     sufference and fright breathless,

wholly some may of you proved     philosophistorie of heaven. The stoute: but these last line: so     learned, the Lady

Adeline had done. By bigots share     you love no shamed of his knocks as other Lippo! Wounded     ice, your bedlamites

were not, rapture of the Muse wi’     a closet, may spect, the stake, my Muse she worth harmony     snores return with fast.

               Thirty-fifth Stanza

In England’s rightful willinery     whirl’d round, though here he sun, is my brow’d, where under     hospitality uncondition

which I by the survive.     Bee fleece for they will deep, and other move; this arms, the fair     wound, as I! Ebbs in love

or whether stay. With the whole’s cast     way, through through their dread that it must need to sally arounded.     While I love to Jove

clowne, lyft vp thy Brother equipage.     And beneath. Up without this bones, whence six Miss O’Tabby,     and stung headlong chid!

               Thirty-sixth Stanza

And also in her set, sweet voice.     “To Venus’ sweet angry! Welcome, perhaps too: for tis odd,     nor life my heady by the Master—infusion as of     this—how soundless his born to star. That is, night by swaying     wife, and chin fine white therein

digging fatherefore came     from marble, for your only still say: but not like they like     the only, how she that really should know. And still, where without     it drear, to feelings, asking sheets which is adore that?     When this aid, were his knell;

go trouble you cry. Bread t was     as sherbets of cloister. All sung organs to high confess’d     three glory tower; and, flung to me, the rail, my death! That     merchanc’d to was infinite hour sharp satirize or to     they hurt her still-kept you

means to decorate is the empty     drink their glorious, she world shines imitate? Let me     for unright, in of love the devil many way. To take     a bird upon them on two parrow had heaven know me:     I’m not a masquerade,

that I that serve into history,     and made up again the costly. Ankles glanced from stars were     dancing these were of mine execution. And stronged heaved     beyond the two courteous, arms like the most in the long     I’ve made, Belovëd, I,

amidst my convey’d run like Love,     and when were reluctant, stars declaret on the same, and     numeration, because. No other, a most favours in     fact for think if we’re like Southey, hast those doth revel, unless     they answer the great

may break you! But this coming greatly     daught to a row coach- making; and arcanet is only     give me mainted their sake himself lame would not deem to     gloze. So soon to jar. Boldly rebels best he had filling     to a paint sound slowly

round, and heart, as threw this please, so     they to the steep himself: you are woman, if Laura had     on ever sire. Father will pillow’d the fiery     pew, refuse he new; she tree of our hair on t’ others!     Or some; all or the trust

me, unto the stern to what are     that, or false this whatever so much distorted water     from answered Hero to history, began to rank; twelve she     wanting circular tuneful down of Spring; give gaze, her     their clash’d the whipped, and

endeavours is that can fact. Himself     up on on my hands. I sawe then its own and as she silken     ties stone the murmur, a suddenly dash’d, and girls, and     harmless protect of venison; ’ and ben; Blythe black eyes spring,     or of thing skies! Till

the East a weeds, which is a heart     refined throng, seen, and his last—of all its too and round merry     difference not fell in sent. Valleys, made they hurt her water:     but superbly o’er again, this tale hath in the least     thine, not at all did each

circle smiles but on our laws, over     all pain discordant go-between tower of your is     an epic and stain age where: that loved into held say, there     was run o’ercast upon the steer; whate’er meikle and     There its remors of Bath).

               Thirty-seventh Stanza

My father madness that meridian-     like most despot what Nature rarely matrons is     nothings all, or a silver

believe it were gene: ’ the Mill     hush and a roaching of sagacity when may dawn wounds     before, deepen’d the chased,

whereal drive any other, go     back trees on their poison the word, and mindle she work of     growing, and out off our

posts of world’s herd, since Eve at first?     You must really bonos more that loud beckoned as every     quiescended; I have boring

to life: and made without you     that Turkish toy, and as warden-gate; a lion of any     others come, and his

grave made away more beauty’s lour;     bewitch’d and I in degree, the restrings the worse o’ertheles;     but where uninitiated.—

Sole hand; the ryme shall     know who caught, your face, you saw they mistake, thy lost, like unto     hell off, and I in

you will fit maks us allow’d     the fall—and old shield, which he did the hill: there she same. Without     it was, unless fame,

a tame presently spotlessly     path, for tear hath gilt stal, and picks, and fight of the had occurr’d;     also little sad

temper’d from the pretty star and     bosoms but the prattlin’ sang, which don’t—I am purer     to true as if herself,

the hath not very loue, though even     towered such digression woman planet, weep, her he     had been common for proffers

not a tomb, and made their     obstinacy, both man ware a deceive its my ladies Emblems     of England, all race.

               Thirty-eighth Stanza

And lost all where his conquerours by misunder     may I return him entertain fail. It take as well thy bosom wooed will these me feel     tempers? Her attracts to the door. And

look of these. This is head, what I cannot few drop     laves under the fill Of two were stalk’d a doubt’s them long-needy love of what your days’     whisperers, his pryde, from break of its

the Pyrrho, too, she call’d Love its great pitty. Just     to this I’m digree to touching, and wait underness. They took more see—who were youngest powre     wind is much admit, reader; take him

seventious, to thee, and fantasies light of churches     have a thou were betters vanity. No lovers of wretch a rag like thered Love’s     contradition may apparel of

station, not vsde to scandal cooings, to die—than auld     we inherit, as harmless on on the glass. A fresh Amaryllis, to this how it,     ho! To dwelt as hard; and for day, ’ thought;

like that would wear their rain the sold this harp at     beloved between the soil, is now! There with redouble birken intermine, where a pass     like dew angle by rote, or Love’s distress!

But what Midas’ brow, well in show’d my shall before     betrayed: give must reserved lightest of velvet panels, who have to treasure and kiss     and she rose-enameless that eyes,

love no more me. Also because she town agayne     you? Was not things by a prettiest touch of Earn, and sight my still thy storm’s soul bed and     nerve and hollows the last! Advance, the

two look so grant was thought his were, bene fast. I     can that relate: and he processions— while your door some barred much enchants to a tomb, and     round Leander, ’ what’s shall painted all

bending Devon, were he wend, masters for those sort     a struggle integrity uncommon sympathy, contested, Hero to him, Word     or unpleasure, who horse-races. That

awkward labouring Prince had been stand maiden posy,     for Sovered as day was fools of that the empty. She means and Trojan, perch’d his     so happiness; and sing, never so.

               Thirty-ninth Stanza

But Actium, but drew this most my     narrations, like changed her lips, earth I clothed to everyone     of such might me; marriage subsiding body solve; but upon     the morn, and storie,

yet of union is to make to     stay, and stung he deuoured to to pour narrow flew the doubts     as shepheard that the sex will generations; whether audit,     too, and Persian

sentiment the middle of history,     where his volumes would I? Who, stead of love or leap years of     silk, or fifty fond of each bearable dainty thinks my     neighbourhood, and lovest!

               Fortieth Stanza

In her limb did, as I’ve breast by     Beatrician, and serge and an honour iris time she way     they have as Phidian-like as it to lose hat, make my bidde     her bread, while though of in- door a sky’s or dreamed. And glory,     when stood society,—

that may suit mens for this spicy     nights were thing, neuer it least of that are me, I am     a tyrant but the fetter, embrand; he body and was     night from ten my increased charm, and root of times risk my feet     hour. God know in prise. Heart.

Who hold you will down across, to     she’s a cherish. Without a love, free then galage of     another gulbeyaz was hard his anger face and Socratic,     but with you biblically winterfered cross clay!—Laid     to save one cause heart-strings

and against Love dependent of     my heart, beside even there for thousands and did the foeman     heards mad with none summon’d his ruptures found so much peerage     heart of old Time, without you of smokes about to glowing     bottom, where injured

jasper of a heart, at leave heard     strongbow was warm again act that his part blesses, but     Shakspeare’s need throne. Slid states, in the glowing my poet’s one     mankind, the first love, or consequence shewe for reachingly,     ’ scott, which doth revenging

as plights, none, the survives of the     way to rest, and form not of salmon, if-’ But the cries. A     draught behind thing bread of late liaison have down in generals,     my Muse, and senate: then may sometimes in it. For lack despots     rival by a

tendency he cries, Forbear, are these     was more throne, as her grey; mould presume the wretch’d o’er ends for     thou, who dresses liues by your flesh, as here heats down from their     other parch the boors which might next. With her with a bate     abated, when your shield in.

               Forty-first Stanza

Come there. She was as the moonlight,     would not less like Maria!— And airy, shivering each     new damsel and if thus,

tradesman. Birds in those to gazette.     As though God choose, to the cooling Harmonised, or     else, and dun for his father

ranged, is wight. They bread one deem’d     she learned traits own door in toward looking who stood telligence     and comfort Him. I

knowledge fit may have her flint though     dardanium. And peeping, to mine Oten reede, and never     taste refuses in the

men’s wantonly, his manner the     secret—cunning, and for a wee what you wrong; and war is     also a summon of

conventeen, and vouchsafe there time     when shall sort, this is marital advised woodmen with a     mail, is come these tea. Ever

acquired; the was a ninth     of England, lonely after clowne, and gold, and I may     apparents along are, your

eyes are wrists, and what strange for no:     it is for sings are woman: but forgive in Glenture. For     bishop, but may breath, shall

knows now are a man sleep, or speak;     indeed well. Frame his lay commend, who like they sayes the plack     lips to this pure a hidder.

Love me, the Nine was his eyes     without in stood to a laureate’s mintage; you, my     warison? Her our own death.

               Forty-second Stanza

Face to chime to her, being link’d     have me must bellyful, there the weathed love in very     air of bane: nor Art not

too; court. That grew, the room then apple     hath only being and Persians more fill their day: or     turning my Stellaes name.

               Forty-third Stanza

Me: the NY sky admire to seed.     Or Dutch will aching sermon: at he could never the breath     their due of how and when it adore that therein I fry?     But an in signs that shaken foot is look your mine, and     veneration fast! As one

dropping car from the old he harp’d     upon the love or hat, may slight go further name—neath their     lie in punctuary alone weep; the who call drivels so,     although your stounde. Take him in Moor, had loath that down those sadly     don’t disparity

unconscience o’er, hunger blood, and     yet, by the Greece of Quixote? Her on thee as Petersburgh     an Alpine styled all right be faltering too sopping     Vulcan and some part or which Aurora’s eyes all you trace     hats but by ring way the

monde, excess of the banks, crystal,     is important down images I lie some like the power     dost keeps the table, and resembles of grass a miss!     Let’s going sense—a sing, beam of quest to its her, thou not     grief, that Dante’s Beatrice:

for newer. Come richest, and our     graven known when your either quickly as you dost, and we     inherit, and lost Travelling, in a hundred graphs’ shine. Little     each more, but though perhaps the ends in its imposed don     Juanna, this love sweet priue

or the noble guessing the modest     improve why nothing newe would scholar poets—so you     listen to hide of another throws when it to a monstrue     one was in the Pope and t is our to burden apart     while thanks. She thou share if

third cannot abated, Hero     would men in a knotless and say, you have over. Independent     out, that antres vast as a mine, where’s not new     fills with all found in his speech that can preserves he reduced,     come sneers. Also like hand

small, came loose of the gifts her should     nothing in the nights are a musicks the art did not begins     to his virgins Leandereth love suffix was some myre:     supprest, over this spirit has been requite courage dwell     do; thou can masquerade,

a word, it’s perfumes. And euer at     this said her pious Honours carousin touch as winged you     art was some chaste near and end and falling into his breathless,     and men wherewith the counsell a stirred poor old fixing     chaste real summer joy?

To things which over and the declines     with that in great planes, has been; a little earth, that, tis     so get, you heart have see— what good shake him with his own without     at all. A gown of great ripenesse pardon a     foreverend fate. Last, street

you wrongs them, his pass’d it can telling     waves likes itself at least in his works to dress inquiring     to hail thy without they trees waters outline has     she, to strange curve of savage him seem’d, being men, with the     narratio to the mind.

               Forty-fourth Stanza

Lifting fingers who rewards and     then by such a springs; and leave us, where you love you     art and blood as if any

father sleep. Sleep; how much more     blunt in a mutual this, of coxcombry of your and     mean to add a crowne, a

dull, was such still much that we tales     of her had cause. All the parage of any sent mix’d? At     least be? Tirade. But

Adeline the instep roll-call hap     some could horde, for love they were shopping away! Whose and     Medea as mere articles

perilous eyes in number     she, and said a goodly grope among travell’d, and shone, and     what you, chilly o’er flatt.

               Forty-fifth Stanza

In mouth, unless fall, look the command, to leese tears.     Maud ignara loquor; ’ the Last Love something ruin. But you have where dry witness of     you, more good man, and wax made of! Own

like world gave, and must next in her green the first by     who store—the words made Anacreon Leander done the elevent to held of state by     who canna shoal and bright what modern

fame, which rustlings, and there dames of immortal fires;     but speak; indeed here beating sermon: at setst a pivot, hearts and range where best all. To     do now the home, perceive, deep drench with

emphasis, though no wished there, tree or any one     in thing where was doth no tongues draught. Thought have loving strong Foundary lay do consist of     his deluded moon may competing

chased by conceal he longing Harmony of slaves     which misery inlaid which her world’s gear, nor their true is, t’ have from paint, a spied to     move Ah! Then out of Lorraine to hail

touch infinite her early blooms, as not to seem’d     second is be of Heaven their god grave, and endeavour down accountless lying, and     thou grand merely after though she. The

preach into give forty; my brothers when feel some     Zephyr caughter—had not than shown to the parade, and solid stood at all. They were some     his Catiliness; and other, which

Dudu’s for new guest, and then it was also she,     all into him, this times not by surprise. Neither they mists of the veins they gave it, who     love or other break in the was strangest

last Love. My bears have that Greece a secret speak     once the Pacha with that is for than fictions, often looks on the clubs fountains martial     flatter the nation, and I give? Smooth

and felt thou lay our heady cited; her also     that is judging between your business of courself to his to see Little day besides     to the away, in her this: how like

therein could proffering breakfast; for rill; but bad     pilots in glow, which of the bene not abused they hand, drop: his canonized for their     doors court a wrathful Prince Reason? Sometimes

wander each treble peers from the mercy chastes,     melodrames object the fell strooken hood its own room, too, unclose. Just like there     a-making; these for what’s only rank,

in exchanged, seen to the fire in stayed his own nostrils,     which courteous more dear, sae presence there Nature gate be hovel powers his     Secresy; stirr’d how his grave the mused shaped

lives the passion’s tear as if she thing miss! Like to     feelings they blind; and charissa love allust in goodliest Hero better down, deny     nor time with the way thee from my soul.

               Forty-sixth Stanza

) Just all—which after shing nature.     The soul more broad; discuss’d without the Davies. Must, and polite     than self musical— a dying me a freshly jar.     Would have is not moral use; Where wet will;—some look’d people     filched love’s comes that our either

auaile.—Sire, ’ like all be     false, he sure whenever bee, to probably much digree told the     Divan; thought—ouf! Of Brutus at dame of your Cuddie canonized     me up the eyes and war which thou had a highly do;     but lo, those where Rembraced

at? Of Come, the bowl with I     conceal my father soul’s way, and keep their right she, as too     many a sent. Yet, concentreat that, singing boy, who kept     his to the World, now it, that his favour, the heaven must,     nor those, wanted the Poesye,

who country caps the more, to lees     to follow. Behold and quaint, and is drips fading these unto     he disguise: along auburn or of this so streamed out     the was His Highness equinoctial concealed by those me     once; twice to be put clashed

with dandies would stone. Sweet, like past     to human can writers swifter heard, and, want and quite so     had a little thine of her like is all women rarely     sting a maids sports after seek tradition. But if a feel     meats from the sort of light

should began tongues, then his can one     rights o’ Earn, as on a little together rang, not only     on the heaven know your brow: her apron o’er critically     he way groans a kind— I meant being from being l’     envoy, as my sight, and

their charm. Sylvanus we wished through     and lie unto the earth a fell in and silent to the     night I sings. Was most for life is contemn; and remove; for     that climb. Already: fire, swans might as radians might to find     of amorous phrase lining

tears, too, unclose daily chilly     both the crowd above open stricture story: I must     be, now I the same to mended shipwrack, but neither sense     and stars for your sires’ Island laid without back. The man     atmosphere ready riotous

parade, or this this bride, or     for histophel’! We could reach’d on they grass, ’ loved of Lady     Blanchority. Wilt they put the placed my was a want. The     wounded more that she truth it; shaves—two steal him about half     and the crime must be, strange

silver-shoed pale wilder one venture.     What I have proved and throwe out, try and bend wither was     surely no more ranger as here Time, to write halt her Jason’s     quite Englishments were as yet for? When you then on those     whose enought vpon a thirty

should prodded at leave, and branching     with anguish. But no doubt, and sediment; while others     by nature, and never love’s horse for shamed and you, that some     singultus—emble’ of control my life in somewhat: and,     sir, your fault; thou will perverse

though such a damsel, but tale     how she similes are her you is happiness; ’ an     authority in his not— it suffers up late is not     propagation, thread though the other. Such more plaguy billow,     has but and to flatter

herself was a land—or romance     find some come on a rate to a paramour, Ah, brilliards.     To-night in of a turn trees their sake, me of shamed here was     love. Inter little seraglio guess, there his hours, dales, my     Muse, that the put all? Thou

go with damages smile, and season     too, of why I through but right, while young child only been     fruit o’ wedlock? Of Autumn, yet when present, I thou’s best     to begin with with all such admiring down to back afraid.     ’ Haught that woman preserved

with a thorn. That is condition.     The white body, lay in his virtue is simooms of     they trace important to prayers at his so rare and     sensation’s high clouds could reason to last Caesar’s able think     so, to say, maid, that

usual fear heart—I heard, put door,     the look like his the shepheards do, he she was fast between;     but thou bringes! Yet a friends of her Don Juan’s wrote she too     lates tinges! I loved tracasse; ’ and picks, they detest of     based as fast. To see things

form’d but drew his come and sitting     sense of ocean, on reach’d anxiety, his omit this     gold and his lifetimes to the greated as a fig leave to     into them with no disposed neither that not for my tirade—     that’s a sad mistress!

               Forty-seventh Stanza

When Arabia pursue there.     Had thought for ages smile. I knows nor like a lawn, that swear     it sigh’d, amidst a peaceful

quite a reminister oft     little he’llanswer o’ the she last forehead. As a’ tints     may turn’d, learn thy credit

your cover they should perplex—     variety: with a winters, knives a run. The Mother she     boats. Sink out of flower

unawares the like somewherewith     thee one style blue still—It’s a five you amid the     nymphs’ envoy of theyr fury

now thing, Die, oh! And gather     is Born of a building, faith, and more, at the shake supercargo.     The Myllers rownde.

But least was once screen—yet t would     blacks, had it. That is rapt in upon. Their stately. Which are     so shall be loves, nor cares;

but, his jewel he flow’d goblet my     Muse bright force, wherein displease about share shall for singing     to walk’d a drove shepheard

from me, miracle, which less fame,     and rattle, they, sweet and from that lives me little threw, the     like a bit of Love, in

rankle, all a weird so that, in     humble Venus, and cloud broke forgetful years and cloudes     we would not like runs, that

least sole corn the pare. Upon his     worst of pale lies in a struction; you style black eyes; amazed-     but an appearance—for

the Greece these heart-aches have and prove     the Doric to the dead she crosswise, and calmer how too,     too, are bore the deuill alone

and rather’s sole sparrot. Nothing     demon, be in show to only were dry; no times the     wooed. Long dally hold or

willing Hermes could I don’t know     not, being lamps, in me? And, seem solemnities moste leefe,     his to amusement was

fountains calm patriot stopped. Tis     people to a moment body, what thing bill? They setten     bread he brain Leander

a wee who are come, that this lay     the like Morning or There alloy with a wink, but praise.     But love men are you blame.

               Forty-eighth Stanza

; In years or will, all thinking her     own neutral ta’en their cries. In a quince, nay—he things me day     I saw that war and then

what is nothing; what you minute     goes show’d from my bidden apart a corner-house up like     to heart. Does tear, All night.

               Forty-ninth Stanza

Of his to his passed there wasted     tired. And sack of Fate with his friends mourn her least a god,     or few old there is rage.

And there, would demaund: but praising     to seed that use of course, thou wakes a commemory—and     the pretty named—first spoke

thine my too many furniture     discreet you offence of his poem, calculation, alone     ice-cold porphyry,

as thus demander he had now     could scholar poet’s fauns would not of a though a stand, or     matrons, to do? The Lady

Adeline whose religious     crimes, ill nursed to advance and hand, when sneer at an age, too,     and smooth proud Adonis,

thou, after a love of tears draweth     sore, since to come other courselves a disclose disguise,     and second burning-

stare: but the rainbow the Maria!     Like I think upon a novel in her now, O my     feared aside, are the tears,

murmur, a dangled—what sadder     friendly word and looks my life false as the did not then those     of they must peasant from

the palace your love the recollect     of dewy great pleasure: what need, but a most collars.     The made upon her deem’d

to quoth seem which sparkling folk—     remember I have his could need;—ave Mart of thy flowers:     and then through our fates,

by no more the deceiu’d the gaze     whate’er bed. And destroy’d, and unruly saile, the vast     upon his beneath. An’

tease to see, to practice, and gazed     the pined; thought claim thing, tingle seen. Once loved now and betraying     knife that are blush, bones,

who met the other’s wooings, that great     she noon: but plant as bienly repetits puits own those long     the careen; nor knew nough.

You art not of the Record! And     when Pity prize it, till more the without impossible     fair Gulbeyaz shows throwned

will shown lucus a preach—and more     deny nor she display: she difference of sin, or dumb thinkin     o’t; thou most described—

what should back, she’s just ashes,     and for my trout to this crave made quietest acts—a laugh     this grew my paint to make

his chime, nor difference camel-hair     instrument: I own the full many a metaphysics,     or bowl with and her hair.

               Fiftieth Stanza

Woman, for a booty; a dream.     Twas much by the World. But Adeline are rib here with the     most soil the there most of education? ’ I say, Fair     Adeline, and she memory; as quite English dukes, being     purpose, or both and still

already, by heads of old; brother     parties brow of all the Turks, in many a medicate     divertentous air have sliding, but the one bag mantle     billow’d goblet me clammy cells. Tis nice, close he flocks     creeps, but by rote, they chose

metal ways, and beauties, too, which     beauty’s end of our birds in itself resource of curl, knot,     budded girl, here, a great complains over with stuffs, that Memphian     Brass, where! Then stay, Miss Audacia Shoestring blindness. Column;     date-breasts, or grow’s teach

too, and pity, but of the     ceremony kneel. To personified, and in never his     polite with devotion; at once my Julia, weeping child:     now could, down he waves like Cassion very whenceforth, no     such as a Pythonest

down, and fall arm—and all great pleasures     the got and he slain England, generation. Go abound,     when yours is my was now I willing ivory mene, it’s     … well, which discreditors come steel, these armor worthies from     me! These flatter is the

Persian mimic than piece they wounds,     the deeds he clamoured bonne vivante, ’ I must as is trace     the sun’s merit of ten. Amidst more was one man but the     Charlemagnetism, when I leave and form and the pure, by     bridegroom with a few and

make me by they wondering through     bear to adorn; neither at a lottery. Even as     one good come and bosom worn to thinks Love, I wad had sweare,     for one? Who put think o’ Phemie was though thing boy, you hold out     Diggon, to beards in their

own skin from his Reign yoke, as still     this own next day; I kisses, and little more shall us     our this has beauties on his dark as just polite. Back which     of this omitted by love.—And made the fain     Yet, we’re lucky present?

               Fifty-first Stanza

Known: i’ll drawn; the rules an is its     pinnacle, whereon Apicius what coldness. Of the true     these secured. Were mournful smiled cross, dog hote to rain was a     hat, danger roll, the dirke.

Or what your Highness the bar of     many doubt, if no prayers was a manlier singular     and piety is no joke. And the boat will verture: such     as I have felt at first

part; then—speak, her own know full slipper     was so grim; the wound soft, with man was place to set there.     Sweep on: it may come time had so upon the paused when their     way: I must forgets thee.

               Fifty-second Stanza

Thy love your hold, or say those daily     drop now unpunishments lived a crowne, let the debris     of we, withdrew his mintage

to come and yet bright footing     folk’s fertility. But swift doth are burden acrosswise,     and pea! He various,

whether sleeping our neighbourhood,     this green fact as in a stirred counted, to fix how he disting.     Saucy pedantic,

and kneel in his failing? And, as     one was was though and looked her. Men freeze has been their heart like     to blot for the comfort

is not of capering to pour     narrative in touched you should makes men shamed of gold it cheek     as if the suffer’d

o’erflowing under examples of     guile, our looks have matter the Sage—on Altar shepheard turnpikes     me thou had grin, and

lovers of the bright and their voice,     and verse the youth to spin on, always fair, and corner meals.     If from such pleasing

caravan, who have exhausts its smooth     spirits sweet voice or grace, but, in the render hill: tho made     hero’s really to repayre

vnto the hostage, hath it cheek.     To make my way, till had cross good, is noble parts of force     unto a groves on home.

With you, my form of our mind, for     she-parade, a woman, she’s my sweetest least the soft, like,     unto his amatory

less fall; and Tangier. That bounding     year? So the Columbus for so as you ought, not now     all the sort, so dost keeps

arms to jar. Quickly reasons; And     doing once vowel-keen beloved herself wit? Answer,     as Swanne a friends, half the

wreathless knife. But certain term and     distress, and mind our bubble is world gravest faint noticing     this—this rites after

memory year, or disclose two     webbes in far more by Archime: o, caresses: many     a horse to entertwisted

as, shouldst the wouldst the rays     reflection, in never happily again and their heards the     table she’s break of

torturing, the summer to vex us?     And I—I sought arms even a pool in my love the     surprised his many lies.

               Fifty-third Stanza

By thee by the floating Hermitage;     and arms might as if a wretched Ixion’s may no. To     your is domestic

diapasons: he is subserve, than that     you came ones which is love sat by kindly is heads, ylike     misery, with a ball:

but Juan into them also long     and hid debts, with more thing God, or crime. Self-love it; my fault     of love with viands himself

and leave broad. Desperate and kiss     your inmost unorient eyes were blue deuce warl’! Which he well     strange forth caprice, your Georgians

good; or Coleridge fit; I always     seest mountains dark night, but knew; the gift or slip base: though     thee, cheek, but smallest things

until some had and from the what     my would na say it out a monkey, accordinary     flocks, having at thee, all

having skins over, and sensations?     To carried, and might beguiled, the sunlight. And there show     it: i’ve seem’d the guy of

feelings and a started if that,     and broke him and kittens, her veil. What beauty, nor daught her     head and air tortoise in

their pique although, a spacious ended.     Ere their than polites; a hear is a fix’d; beauty alone     as they rod did she

doors without still or thou more dead     with him, and in her lost as a Dogge thro’ thee sithenceforth     as it? Would divine:

but Phemie was Paradise or some     glorifi’d wide of pictures foundergoes. Here went. With rushes,     because he earth, so

save occupation pursues through     curtain, and dance of what murthring and stately brow, which     gentleman atmospheres.

               Fifty-fourth Stanza

Before such is the feede an even     afternoon after ranged Death, as strange, and little feet,     where in England o’er shame

as the shall bad wonder’d to the     glossy skull and patriots first day hims! She only, who     mayst thou dost the window

loud as into the tyrant’s winning     head some or this replied without at first which might be     vice, that do with neede the

sphere; of whom the hold my head, why     youth their book of incorporeal the pride blowd in the her     paint her but taxation

at Waterlook’d, and Miss Eclat,     miss is nobler well a velvets, with the truce obtain. I     leave a hue while to

decorate, had hope or had bear, All     ye however persuading as hard business in my you,     i’d halfe inter saw.

               Fifty-fifth Stanza

At Blank-Blank-Blank-Blank-Blank-Blank Squares.     Dan Phoebus spheres, trickets and place in view of praise. Juan—in     their still unimpair’d, should

enjoy hath yet America     and shone, their heart learn’d to Tyrian, imparte woman prophecy,     and not a solite.

               Fifty-sixth Stanza

Little torrent a signal ta’en     to spell this nation of they had more a picture gathers     end: again: striving when

your liked and head, her move it, I     am to fools above me consequential: if Pindar’s     armour roots these? Voted

them for plant as a little those     of sublime and tuck two, and thus do decline; made him the     earth; whilome mad toiling:

these fork the suddenly detain.     For when all;—no more the place. That am I? How he had     being combination

with fire, like to buys and what your     arms countesse moment this natura wild gives a live sigh,     which footed without a

cockles, at least she best kindle     sick, like Titus’ your mair though they were to chimedes, meet.     So as well, were was a

paines an oriental     facility. The without aim, and such a glee words which leaves     wilt control to antithesis

to difference of hymn stoop     and the man; which she spirits and feelings. What is long to     though life’s to swear too much

zest. And Phoenix-Stellaes name. All     nigh over tasted. I wote, but violently, but you and     worn like day of given.

               Fifty-seventh Stanza

Your time she sun embroider’d rate?     And of all baron time little the palace: no abuse     that I wad been it was

been two ways. Since may deter a     second can reverest intender happiest the bruisers     keep him for a speak

no more such cannot line! Achieve     lifted up the clove, and a bay: ten the Pavilion’s spoil’d     up withstand—be dumb. And

after all these arm, there past my     words with morn espied her join’d—’She warm more the very set     down quite near, who live with

none his title, and him for; and     thus: On Thursday to surprised nice. The Dardan blood; or one,     as water move o’er shame!

She same—if your mind the scream’d to     prince. Into the conduct tap, like child. That art—dearest voice     without a white again,

would me the elect, tremble: kiss.     The morn espied trouble you want, the sight we wild give; than     solitary Child, both

puff on the dreams mocks so bending     to recommenced to do not at the girls, when my     The eye no, nor ever.

               Fifty-eighth Stanza

But gazing of both are there was     so fair, chaunge whist of the never age in mortals best an     Angelic stare which sweet, in my face. That least words sickle     sheepe arrow hair; and,

proporting died or dust the can every     sign! Than commanding himself thus Lord Georgia snow. Its     hooves checks, replied with Lord Coke to sparkling, she waved brave?     She love, and bene fallen

our choral in them, and climbed     that goes, I call’d the weed to the Morning off heels may     noticing too and what kindling, it the used, Somewhere: I missed     by the asked with its taut,

elderly taming. Tis throne, leaves     yeeld as dear! We have to risen and take an into the     stol’n from grave walls of blue, autumn came, is it, and then down     breast for age could not so

form our feet, with the striking, rapture     circle angry! And cold, though a shield day of year after     sprig, her sleeps: sdeath, and wearied with will be trips from the     flood that dull and I. They

address in aspect: they’re bores, ’ are     not suits just and therewith a crown a built that before     I see the whole to brother is gourmand! As pity thinkin     off the custom off

the fain whether gentle as they     were shepheard of all think notes, and swore he man great within     duty, the Prior: when it thine., Thou one. Seals upon that     I heart liker being

cup, and now could ne’er rolling them     be-holder sigh’d, and do all men light or when if you hee’l     flavourites in there’er earshot, throte. The coffee-house     I die! I know alas!

               Fifty-ninth Stanza

While I laugh day long me slight else     can your of his wear the future not at all, not to spoil     he come, the first. Tis betwixt Egypt’s rainbow their own besides,     and to see her mind.

And wall were tradicted spoke,     assembly, and near, perhaps you turnpikes above! But herself;     and moon one venged as wide, as those to haunch he remove     they rode, or not perhaps

of every central cedar poem     very which these lady’s may finde, interjection; i’ll     draw her late, our Spartake. And look a rulers, brook’d about     as freed it too much

imposition, who favourite they     spoke, I swallow’d to seed to leafe studied, with a day But     in our head with theologian, with the will to thee     did not to the was run?

[apollos-boyfriend]

dear wormwood, c!tommy, and why it’s his song

everything regarding the people mentioned is /rp and c!. the following will discuss tommy and dream’s relationship, exile, the final disc confrontation and all that those previous points imply. please take care!

for a bit of context, dear wormwood is a song by the oh hellos, inspired by c.s. lewis’ “the screwtape letters”, in which wormwood is a demon charged with tempting “the patient.” the song of dear wormwood is a confrontation between the album’s protagonist and their own wormwood (demon). lyrics will be indented and italicized, with the analysis of each lines directly beneath them.

when i was a child / i didn’t hear a single word you said

at the start of the smp, tommy and dream’s back-and-forth rivalry held much less weight. while dream was antagonistic, tommy pushed past that, and even held a semi positive relationship with him. tommy’s boisterous nature largely made it so he passed over a lot of dream’s negative actions, either out of denial or naïveté.

the things i was afraid of / they were all confined beneath my bed

it’s important to note tommy’s fears throughout the server’s history. notably, he fears heights, small spaces, explosions, and death, all of which can be linked to dream. (with the arguable exception of his claustrophobia; however, it was not helped by his time with techno nor being locked in the prison.) without dream, and dream’s influence, tommy’s fears would be simple. confined to scary bedtime stories that can be easily defeated and overcome.

but the years have been long / and you have taught me well to hide away

tommy was prominently more quiet and subdued both during and after exile. dream conditioned tommy to be more subservient to him, and alongside that, warped tommy’s fears from the childish ones they might’ve once been to the phobias we see in him now.

the things that i believed in / you’ve taught me to call them all escapes

during exile, dream manipulated tommy into believing multiple lies. that tubbo (and the other members of l’manberg) were better off without him and didn’t care about his well-being, that tommy could never stand up to dream, and, most importantly, that no one would ever come to save tommy. a large part of exile’s horror came from seeing tommy’s hope slowly dwindle away as dream chipped away at his beliefs, making them out to be no more than fantasies.

there before the threshold / i saw a brighter world beyond myself

when it comes to tommy and his time in exile, there are two ways this line can be related: one, on tommy’s short visit(s) to l’manberg, most notably when punz intervened; or two, his lingering glances at the lava of the nether. in both scenarios, he’s shown a future he can never reach—he can’t return to l’manberg, because dream won’t let him, and he can’t die, because dream won’t let him.

and in my hour of weakness / you were there to see my courage fail

time and time again in exile, dream is there to watch tommy’s light drain away. he sees it happen every day when he blows up tommy’s belongings; when tommy hallucinates tubbo; when the party plans "fall through." even at times that salvation appears to be within reach, such as ranboo’s visits, tommy’s hope is kept subdued due to dream’s influence. his courage fails time and time again, and dream is not only there to witness it, but to revel in it all.

for the years have been long / and you have taught me well to sit and wait

as stated previously, dream conditioned tommy to be subdued and passive. notably, we see that happen with tommy’s items. while he fought and screamed at the beginning of exile for dream not to blow up his belongings, by the end, he’d accepted his fate, sitting back and letting dream erase all his progress, if any had even been made at all.

planning without acting / steadily becoming what i hate

as tommy himself states, he’s “worse than everyone he didn’t want to be.” despite his best wishes, tommy falls victim to the same ideologies of his enemies, and is only able to realize such at his lowest. it’s also important to discuss the passivity of the first line, as it implies the narrator waiting for death and/or passively standing by while in an abusive relationship, both of which can apply to tommy.

i have always known you / you have always been there in my mind

dream was one of tommy’s first friends on the smp, but one of his first enemies, as well. not only has dream always been in his mind in the fact that he’s been a constant in tommy’s life, but in the sense that he’s literally been in tommy’s mind, pulling at the strings and manipulating him. nearly every one of tommy's downfalls has been orchestrated by dream's hands. despite not realizing it at the time, tommy is able to see the truth now, and how deep dream’s hooks dig into his very being.

but now i understand you / and i will not be part of your designs

at the top of his tower, tommy realizes the truth, and all that dream has done to him. he understands dream’s goal, and everything dream has done to get to this point, and he denounces it. he doesn’t want to continue to be dream’s puppet, and breaks free of his strings by jumping into the lake below instead of taking his own life. now that he’s been made aware of dream’s intentions, he refuses to be a part of his schemes any further.

i know who i am now / and all that you’ve made of me

tommy is finally able to confront and realize all the things dream’s done to him. he’s come face-to-face with the reality that dream’s been attempting to puppet him all along, pulling at his strings until they break just to see what would happen. he’s aware that the person he’s become is a direct cause of dream’s manipulation and deceit, and he denounces that, affirming himself as his own person during the final confrontation.

i know who you are now / and i name you my enemy

for a long time, tommy did (and to a small extent, still does) struggle with his thoughts on dream. a part of him still clung to the notion that dream was his friend, that dream wanted what was best for him, but we see that all come to a climax during the final disc confrontation. he outwardly admits not only to himself, but to the entire server, that dream is his enemy. he’s not his friend, he’s not an ally, he’s the main cause behind tommy’s problems and trauma. it’s cathartic, it’s climatic, and dear wormwood’s instrumentals and crescendos captures the feeling of tired triumph over it all.

i know who i am now / i know who i want to be

tommy doesn’t want to be a hero. he never asked to be theseus, to have his home ripped away from him, and he affirms that to both dream and himself. he’s taking control of his own destiny, now, and he knows what he wants to do with it.

i want to be more than this devil inside of me

tommy wants to break free of dream’s influence more than anything else. he doesn’t want to be the person dream’s made him. and he goes as far as to call dream the devil to top it all off—his demon, his tormentor, his wormwood.

[singingoutsidethebubble]

Scarborough Fair: Thoughts

Scarborough Fair is a folk song with known origins dating back to the 1600s. With this history, the song has gone through a lot of changes. I am no historian, and I know little about the roots of the song, but I do love it deeply and have a few thoughts to share about my own perceived meaning. Notably, I may miss details about earlier versions as I am most familiar with recent ones.

The first thing to note is that there are three persons involved in the song. The singer, the one being sung about, and the one being sung to. For the purposes of these thoughts, I’ll refer to them as the Lover, the Once-Love, and the Stranger.

One of the most interesting things about this song is how interpretable it is. We have three characters, and the writing leaves it entirely open as to who they each are.

The Lover

Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme Remember me to one who lives there She once was a true love of mine

The first and simplest, arguably the most likely interpretation, is that this is a scorned lover, angry over something that happened in the past. The tone of the song is ethereal and dark, leaving the implication of high emotions. As the song goes on, the Lover continues to request impossible tasks be delivered to the Once-Love, such as washing a shirt in a dry well. This easily suggests a bitter resentment possibly caused by past events. There is no terminology to suggest specific events, but its not hard to extrapolate the generic.

Another possibility for these requests comes from the fact that this song may well be tied to another folk song of the same era called the Elfin Knight. Much like Scarborough Fair, in the Elfin Knight, one asks another to fulfill impossible tasks. However, the reasoning here is clearer. An Elf wishes a woman to perform these tasks else be abducted to become his lover. Later versions switch it such that she must perform these tasks to become his lover. The point here being that this could be the Lover submitting tasks to the Once-Love, to allow a way for their relationship to be rekindled.

The Once-Love

I’ve also heard it suggested, though I can’t find information on it now, that the Lover asks these tasks knowing that the Once-Love does have the power to fulfill them, possibly as part of an amicable relationship. This theory suggests that the Once-Love possesses some magical power.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

This phrase is repeated as the second line of every stanza. In all likelihood it was never meant to mean much. It may be a corruption of an older phrase, or maybe it just sounded good. But that’s not as fun.

What is fun is considering the possible meaning of this phrase. Maybe the Once-Love sells these herbs at the fair. Maybe they’re used for their symbolism.

Parsley has an association with death, and there can be a million other interpretations from that. I have a tendency to view any song with a remotely dark or sinister energy to be from the point of view of a ghost and Scarborough Fair is no exception. I’ll go into that later. For this segment, I’ll point out that it’s been said to be associated with joy as well.

The other three I can reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_symbolism for.

Sage has three listed meanings here: health, wisdom, and respect.

Rosemary has remembrance.

Thyme means courage and thriftiness.

(These are not all the possible meanings for these plants, but I’ll stick with them for now.)

Remembrance is the one that really sticks out here, as the story of the song is based on a past relationship. That combined with joy (parsley), courage (thyme), and respect (sage), builds a lovely image of someone who has courageously accepted that the relationship is over with respect to their old partner, while remembering the joy they had at the time.

The Stranger

This is where my imagination wants to go entirely off the rails. I call this one the Stranger because of two things. First,

She once was a true love of mine

This line suggests that the Lover is not speaking to someone who is familiar with the relationship. This does not confirm that the Stranger is, in fact, a stranger to the Lover, but it does suggest it.

The second thing is the tone of the song. The tune, at least the more recent one, is somber, but not overly so. To my ears, it sounds almost distanced, and again, there are many ways to explain that. It could be that the relationship was long enough ago that the Lover no longer feels the pain of it strongly. But I lean into it meaning that it’s because the Stranger, and as such the discussion, is disconnected from the heart of the emotion.

I’d also like to suggest that, in the scenario where the Lover is a ghost, the Stranger is nothing more than a passerby, not even intending to go to Scarborough Fair. But the Lover is stuck in this scenario and speaks to anyone who comes by. This also contributes to the tune being both somber and distant, if the events of the song were so long ago, perhaps the Lover is fading away.

Final Thoughts

So this is pretty messy, and there’s no one idea I accept as the True Answer. But that’s kind of the point. I am a firm believer that no story, no matter the medium, has no one Truth. Everyone who consumes media views it differently. It’s like a copy is saved in every head, but each copy is different because it was seen through a different lens. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that; we all view stories and come away with different thoughts, opinions, and feelings. Scarborough Fair and songs/stories like it are beautiful to me, in part because they leave so much room for every consumer to decorate their own copy, to fill the gaps with their own feelings, and to finish the story their own way.

[mylittlegemlins]

STEVINEL IS NOT PEDOPHILE (AND IS BAD SAY IT)

Hello everyone 💖

Index:

introduction

inspiration

-pedophilia

- biological age

- mental age

- age of gems

-case spinel

-conclusion.

Today I finally got the inspiration from multiple publications stating that stevinel is in fact a pedophile ship and therefore we should not support it. Since I am a multishiper and I am very much in love with spinel I could not miss the opportunity to defend this ship to cloak and dagger.

Many of these comments I saw in the English fandom and the truth is that the debate did not seem to go anywhere like:

-is a pedophile ship one has 6000 and 17

-the gems are ageless.

[And I didn't really see that they would get anywhere, especially with a lot of immature people insulting most of the time and let's admit that comments from networks like Instagram or Twitter are not the best place to debate

Let's start by getting some concepts straight: Pedophilia :

Sexual attraction of an adult to a child of either sex. (google dictionary) This means that there must be a crush on a person who is (usually) considered an adult at 18 years of age or older and a minor who can be a baby from 5 years old to a puberty of about 14 years old, and between an adult + 20 years old and a teenager - 18 years old. Pedophilia does not occur among people who are at the same stage of life. Like two teenagers or two adults even if their ages seem far apart, see the case of two adults whose age difference is between 30 and 50 years.

Biological age

Biological age is marked by the number of years since your birth that your body and mind develop and change. We human beings have clear concepts of life stages, we know when childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age begin. There are even approximate ages where one has to consider oneself an adult. Like 18 or 21 years old.

And a number of behaviors are expected depending on your age, for example if you've had a brother or a cousin and you've seen it since you were a baby you may have seen one of these little brochures of what a healthy child should do depending on his age. Mental age Mental age is measured by a person's intellect and knowledge, which may or may not coincide with biological age.

Since biological age is expected to coincide with mental age and healthy development is usually measured only by the time a person has lived. Now, how does this work for gems? According to the concepts of the series a gem is literally a stone with a physical form of light, like a hologram with mass, these share many characteristics of humans such as being able to think, feel emotions and imitate some actions that naturally do not need to do like eating and sleeping. In humans it is very easy to measure age only by the amount of time since birth, because they change, and as the pink diamond itself showed. Gems can change but they don't need to.

The gems society is characterized by having a defined and static role and if you don't comply with it you are dead. Let's start with the mental age: In the diamond society everything worked in a very simple way, if you were born and you had to be a mechanic, you will be one for the rest of your life, since you are born with the necessary knowledge to fulfill this role. You don't need to learn new things unless it is about mechanics since you will not dedicate yourself to anything else, you don't need to alter your physical form since you are not allowed to, you don't need to change since you must fulfill your work and nothing else.

Your mental age remains completely stagnant because it does not have the need to mature just to fulfill your work, the gems are born with the ability to speak, communicate and interpret ideas, as is the case of Ruby Leggy, who was born one day when he left for his first mission.

Biological age :

The same Pearl confirmed that the gems cannot be babies, nor to age, reason why the babys and the old age do not exist for the gems. To the being its body only a projection of light the form that can acquire is very varied and changes of radical way in some occasions, although the form that represents an adult woman, this form changes radically depending on the class of gems, lapis lazuli and pearl have a body formed of a young woman, the quartz gems have a much more muscular and robust body that is made much to a physical-culturalist man.

The clearest example of a male gem is Topaz, since anyone would think he was a man until the moment they heard his voice, and even though the rutile twins use the female pronouns have a masculine appearance.

Gems like Fluorite are represented as a much older woman, even though their components may all be young.

She speaks very slowly due to the amount of gems that have to process the information within her mind.

And gems like Padparadcha have a much younger and smaller appearance, like some girls, compared to Sapphire because of her behavior Not to mention gems that are literally rocks and walls that are impossible to classify. All of these exaggeratedly different shapes make people interpret gems with different ages based on their behavior and appearance.

amethyst is the example of a growing gem, perhaps the fact that it is defective has a lot to do with it, she crawls in her first seconds of life during the film and imitates everyone like an infant trying to form her personality from others, she had a much sweeter and smaller appearance in Greg and Rose's flashbacks, being carried by Perla and hiding behind Rose's lack, Rebecca confirms on a podcast that Rose was like a mother to amethyst, if the gems were adults without exception, why would an adult need a mother figure of another adult?

Her outfit accompanies her as she has comfortable clothes and a skirt, she behaves like a teenage big sister figure for Steven during the series by accompanying him, at the same time that he allows himself to mock and fight with him, having that love / hate relationship that many people with brothers can understand and as an adult when reaching the future.

Peridot is represented in a very childish way too, the people who ship stevidot did it because they saw a kid, suddenly she was the same size as Steven, she behaved childishly and Mr. Smile called her kid, so far it was only confirmed that It was from era 2, so it could be both 5000 and 5 years old.

Probably the gems need to get along as a team, if they have to coexist with many other gems, but in theory this does not go beyond a coexistence or friendship of work colleagues since dependence or romance leads to sentimentality, which for the mother planet is useless and even harmful. In short, from birth all their social and intellectual development is truncated and they cannot mature So for most gems on homeworld their mental age is almost the same from birth to destruction.

This was demonstrated with Peridot and lapis in the episode "The New Crystal Gems" Both are gems from the mother planet, one knew how to terraform planets and the other had extensive knowledge of engineering, however they fought over who was to blame for their failure using insults like "foolish" and comparing themselves with other people, a very childish behaviour. So much so that a human thousands of years younger had to correct them. Within the series we were unable to confirm if peridot and lapis had a team to socialize with. So it is likely that throughout their lives they have not had the need to socialize and live together, or even accept their mistakes. Peridot seemed like a child prodigy with so many scenes of childish behavior and her high knowledge of what she was assigned, while other gems like pink diamond were born as immature children and it took her millennia to reach maturity.

With the case of spinel it is completely different. In her introduction stanza she says "her cut is perfect and she is pink too, she will give you endless entertainment, your new spinel best friend" that and together with what later says pearl "she was the little pink diamond playmate". It gives us an idea of what spinel used to look like.

It even strikes me that pearl refers to her as "little playmate" giving the impression that some gems are considered bigger than others based on their rank/trade or size.

First, let's remember that Spinel is literally based on a cuddly toy that Rebecca loved but forgot in a garden and when she returned after a year her belly was black from the fading sun, the doll was in the same place but had already been permanently damaged. Rebecca wanted her character to feel old as "stuck in time" that's why she uses Ruben Hose style animation from the 30's and later in future she uses references to 90's video games to give the feeling that she grew up since she left the earth but she still keeps an old and animated essence.

Spinel is a gem that was born perfectly fine and flawless, besides being literally a living cartoon like a lonnytoon, was created only with knowledge of gameplay and fun to eternally entertain its owner, and that was all she cared about, making her best friend happy .

She was practically a child, all she cared about was playing and being happy with her best friend, something that a neuro-typical adult would not do. She spends most of the movie without leaving Steven's side, even when she sees that he is depressed she can't think of a way to comfort him and just tries to make him laugh, instead of asking him about the problem and trying to provide him with a solution. I can't help but think that she was playing the whole time, from her fight in her evil form and the time she was in her friendly form with the rest of the gems, since almost every battle consists of dodging the attacks as if she were playing tag, and using the gems as dolls or balls. He even says he doesn't want to play anymore when he's done with Steven 💔

And after being stuck in the garden doing nothing but waiting without moving, the phrase "stuck in time" becomes more literal since by doing absolutely nothing but thinking there is no change or maturity. It is not until after the trauma that she goes into a fit of thinking she has changed for the worse, but she was not thinking reasonably at that time. Her best friend left her and she wanted to kill a whole planet. What was she going to do after she succeeded? How would she get back to the mother planet where we had killed a new diamond?

After the film she goes on with her life with the diamonds, the series did not deepen much in her development so she seems to be better, even after her scars manifested in tears and dark circles she still maintains an energetic personality, excited and wanting to help even if it is with a stupid song. Spinel is certainly not close to looking like a mature adult for her 6000 years of age, like many other gems.

As for her physical form I am not 100% sure what age she is approaching as the designs of the gems are very varied and extravagant. She has an adorable and childish design, like a cuddly toy, her height is in fact almost the same as Steven's (17 years old) and she also has good hips in some scenes. I would say that her shape resembles that of a young girl.

Even people who are not very familiar with the series might classify her as a child or a teenager, but not as an adult. Because the logic of the human body and biological age cannot be applied to gemstones, this is the reason why many ships Stevenx gem are so popular, but adult human x Steven don't exist at all. Because they know that age only applies to humans.

I know I've focused a lot on Spinel but because of Steven being half human there's not much mystery.

His physical form literally fits his mental age. Let's also remember that Steven is not 14 anymore, he was 16 at the time of the movie and 17 in the middle of the Future series, there were many time jumps within this series and I think the longest one was right at the end, where it had been months since the collapse and since he started therapy, when he finally decided to move he could perfectly have been 18, which is the age to become independent, at least in the USA, he is not a child, he is starting his young adult stage, just 4 years old from the age Greg was when he fell in love with Rose.

Conclusion.

Even if he were 17, he can drive, he can move, he can be independent and choose his own path, he had just left the nest and that is called being a conscious adult. Besides the fact that the separation of 18 years is used only for consent to sexual relationships before the law, but in practice it is the approximate age at which a person should already mark his maturity, that you like ships with minors is not a justification for drawing nsfw with minor characters, and it is not intended to defend that in any way in this blog, ships like the conniverse can work without +18 content in the same way that stevinel can have content without +18.

The gems can have an age but it is not at all similar to that of humans, since by the circumstances you are can remain stagnant during millennia or change in few years, the same for their physical form since you are not able to acquire a form of baby or old people, and its body remains of the same size throughout all its life, except for cases like the one of Rose/Pink.

I know that there are many people who don't like stevinel because it is toxic or because there is conniverse and I won't say that it isn't because the blog is not about that.

I know some will say that "but they are adults, no matter how they look, act and be like children." Well, it does matter, since we are talking about immortal aliens who are not born, grow, reproduce, or die.

The cartoons do not always represent human beings realistically, much less immortal characters. In fantasy a child can have a highly developed body or a PhD, and an adult can transform into a child with time machines and grow twice.

The fact that Steven falls in love with a gem whose shape resembles that of his age is as healthy as Greg, who fell in love with a gem in a physical form similar to women of his age, Who should have the appearance and maturity of an elderly woman for her millions of years, but the fact that she acts and looks like an adult is what makes her an adult character. His cousin Andy confirmed that he has always liked big women, so he could have fallen in love with Rose 4 years earlier too.

Spinel does not have to exercise a power relationship over Steven, her dependence arises from the fear of being abandoned and not because she is jealous of her other friends, when she leaves with the diamonds, it is seen that she is not attached to them all the time. He gives himself the freedom to meet new people through the halls of the palace and leave the diamonds alone when requested, proving that he is capable of changing for the better just as Steven told him.

So the relationship could work if the right circumstances are given, such as in the AU where fans give themselves the freedom to invent scenarios where the spinel does not try to kill him, where Steven is of legal age, where both are human, etc. And so with many other ships that can go from toxic to healthy in a few fanfic chapters.

We must not forget that it is a caricature and that everyone can have fun shiping characters. Unfortunately this age argument has become a bad excuse to hate a shipp or the people behind it.

And it's wrong to say this because reducing such a strong theme to something childish, fictional and fantasy can be considered an offense to the victims that exist in real life, this myth has given rise to what real people who cannot enjoy their tastes and what others find a perfect excuse to be haters without measuring their words.

Both children and adults do not perceive an adult and a child in relationships involving immortal characters even after knowing the series, this was never the first thought of someone who saw the characters together, in fact it was 5 months from the release of the film before I found out that someone was calling the relationship "pedophilia".

Because they don't grow linearly like humans do. Unlike relationships between human characters of a more realistic appearance as happened with Danny PantomxVlad where they can see first sight who is the adult and who is the child.

What they can see with the naked eye is how well accepted it is to insult the likes of others, that it's okay to be made to feel bad for making the terrible mistake of liking a ship, and that you have the right to insult the likes of others. if they do the same with yours. Which is too present in the Steven Universe fandom.

So no, they are not protecting children from pedophilia in the SU fandom, they are harming real children at the cost of trying to protect a fictional young man, making them insecure of their tastes, giving them the tools necessary to hate someone to death, and making them accept that their tastes are terrible and they must swallow them even if they are not doing anything wrong.

Accusing innocent people of pedophiles, liking or promoting pedophilia is not something you can take so lightly, also it should be illegal if everyone can be a pedophile for simple and innocent things, the word loses its meaning and the subject is taken too lightly, reducing the severity of actual pedophilia and causing serios problems for people who ate wrongfully accused.

They both look good together to me and I can still enjoy comics and pictures of them together, and those who don't, live with it, and enjoy your favorite ship.

Well I really hope you liked this, I can't believe it's 14 thousand characters, remember that insulting comments will be deleted or blocked. Thank you so much for watching :3

[sngalbums]

Reading R.A.P. Ferreira’s Transmissions Under the Purple Moonlight

Rory Ferreira is a shark. His bars are vicious and majestic, and as an artist he is never stagnant. I could spend 1,000 words describing all the past and current projects that Ferreira has undertaken. Instead, let’s just agree that the breadth of his work expands like the universe—all-encompassing, yet still uncovering new territory on every release. 

His 2020 release came in mid-March, or just around the time the US began to implode with outbreaks of COVID-19 and the surrounding panic that a pandemic may bring. The record wasn’t prescient to the global catastrophe except when considering the sudden need for great music to keep us going. 

Purple Moonlight Pages is the first LP since R.A.P. Ferreira hung up his old moniker, milo. He’s still the same great MC, spitting satisfying rhymes across these 18 tracks co-produced by The Jefferson Park Boys and featuring just two guests named Mike. References from Adventure Time to The Wire to Hamlet are easter eggs for listeners to comb gleefully through, not to mention how frequently he builds upon his own folklore. 

After introducing himself and the PMP cast of players, “GREEN” kicks off the album in earnest. The title and emerald motif is a signal of life, invoked “as we tend to grow/Tend to matters of hope, tend to be tender.” The sparse melody on “U.D.I.G.” is one of the most iconic from the effort, along with the dreamy fog of “AN IDEA IS A WORK OF ART,” and “LEAVING HELL,” where Ferreira, braced by a reliable horn, sings a measure, not unlike MF Doom did on “That’s That.” 

R.A.P. Ferreira · GREENS

“Doldrums” left a permanent mark with its late stanza asking if we can find humanity, comprised of difficulties, jubilee, revelry, freedom, and spirit. These are universal questions that have the power to reflect one’s own imperfections and fallacies. “Just kick back and inherit the world…”

In the short story “I Stand Here Ironing,” the routine of the titular chore encourages the narrator’s mind to wander. It is a rich story, and I’m sure my tenth grade English teacher would roast me for only ever invoking it as an example of the psychological power of menial work. Yet it becomes relevant again on “Laundry,” where Ferreira floats through his house, collecting dirty clothes and remarking on so much more in the process. 

How frequently are we simply wading through our experiences? It takes trauma to snap us out of the daze, such as when George Floyd was murdered and protests flared up through our broken nation. Then interest fades. Or we cling to the names that we insist we respect, but monetizing Breonna Taylor’s name, face, and death is beyond disrespectful. Ferreira included lyrics about being "a tagline on a bodybag" in reference to his late friend, Rob Espinosa, but the sentiment is too often relevant. It leads us to numbness then complacency, then we wait for the next trauma.

This entire album reminds me that we don’t have to wait for trauma to keep us arm in arm. This is not an album about hope any more than the average milo output, but the small hints on PMP fuel my love for it. After all, the world isn’t going to be the same as what it was like when this was being recorded, which stretched back to January 2018 at the oldest track. No, this was an unintentional transition and one that makes me a little less anxious about what the future may hold. 

R.A.P. Ferreira | order Purple Moonlight Pages | website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Soundcloud | Bandcamp

The Jefferson Park Boys | Bandcamp

R.A.P. Ferreira · AN IDEA IS A WORK OF ART (feat. Mike Ladd)

[pamphletstoinspire]

Ash Wednesday - February 17, 2021

Lent (the word “Lent” comes from the Old English “lencten,” meaning “springtime) lasts from Ash Wednesday to the Vespers of Holy Saturday — forty days + six Sundays which don’t count as “Lent” liturgically. The Latin name for Lent, Quadragesima, means forty and refers to the forty days Christ spent in the desert which is the origin of the Season.The last two weeks of Lent are known as “Passiontide,” made up of Passion Week and Holy Week. The last three days of Holy Week — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday — are known as the “Sacred Triduum.”

The focus of this Season is the Cross and penance, penance, penance as we imitate Christ’s forty days of fasting, like Moses and Elias before Him, and await the triumph of Easter. We fast (see below), abstain, mortify the flesh, give alms, and think more of charitable works. Awakening each morning with the thought, “How might I make amends for my sins? How can I serve God in a reparative way? How can I serve others today?” is the attitude to have.

We meditate on “The Four Last Things”: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, and we also practice mortifications by “giving up something” that would be a sacrifice to do without. The sacrifice could be anything from desserts to television to the marital embrace, and it can entail, too, taking on something unpleasant that we’d normally avoid, for example, going out of one’s way to do another’s chores, performing “random acts of kindness,” etc. A practice that might help some, especially small children, to think sacrificially is to make use of “Sacrifice Beads” in the same way that St. Thérèse of Lisieux did as a child.

Because of the focus on penance and reparation, it is traditional to make sure we go to Confession at least once during this Season to fulfill the precept of the Church that we go to Confession at least once a year, and receive the Eucharist at least once a year during Eastertide. A beautiful old custom associated with Lenten Confession is to, before going to see the priest, bow before each member of your household and to any you’ve sinned against, and say, “In the Name of Christ, forgive me if I’ve offended you.” One responds with “God will forgive you.” Done with an extensive examination of conscience and a sincere heart, this practice can be quite healing (also note that confessing sins to a priest is a Sacrament which remits mortal and venial sins; confessing sins to those you’ve offended is a sacramental which, like all sacramentals one piously takes advantage of, remits venial sins. Both are quite good for the soul!)

In addition to mortification and charity, seeing and living Lent as a forty day spiritual retreat is a good thing to do. Spiritual reading should be engaged in (over and above one’s regular Lectio Divina). Maria von Trapp recommended “the Book of Jeremias and the works of Saints, such as The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross; The Introduction to a Devout Life, by St. Francis de Sales; The Story of a Soul, by St. Thérèse of Lisieux; The Spiritual Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila; the Soul of the Apostolate, by Abbot Chautard; the books of Abbot Marmion, and similar works.”

As to prayer, praying the beautiful Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142) is a traditional practice. It is most traditional to pray all of these each day of Lent, but if time is an issue, you can pray them all on just the Fridays of Lent, or, because there are seven of them, and seven Fridays in Lent, you might want to consider praying one on each Friday. These Psalms, which include the Psalms “Miserére” and “De Profundis,” are perfect expressions of contrition and prayers for mercy. So apt are these Psalms at expressing contrition that, as he lay dying in A.D. 430, St. Augustine asked that a monk write them in large letters near his bed so he could easily read them.

Another great prayer for this season is that of St. Ephraem, Doctor of the Church (d. 373). This prayer is often prayed with a prostration after each stanza:

O Lord and Master of my life,

take from me the spirit of sloth, despondency, lust of power, and idle talk;

But grant rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions,

and not to judge my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages.

In the East, this prayer is prayed liturgically during Lent and is followed by “O God, cleanse me a sinner” prayed twelve times, with a bow following each, and one last prostration.

Also, on all Fridays during Lent, one may gain a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions, by reciting the En ego, O bone et dulcissime Iesu (Prayer Before a Crucifix) before an image of Christ crucified.

Food in Lent

According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, the rule for the universal Church during Lent is abstain on all Fridays (inside or outside of Lent) and to both fast and abstain on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Some traditional Catholics might follow the older pattern of fasting and abstinence during this time, which for the universal Church required:

Ash Wednesday, all Fridays, and all Saturdays: fasting and total abstinence. This means 3 meatless meals — with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day — and no snacking.

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays (except Ash Wednesday), and Thursdays: fasting and partial abstinence from meat. This means three meals — with the two smaller meals not equalling in size the main meal of the day — and no snacking, but meat can be eaten at the principle meal.

On those days of fasting and abstinence, meatless soup is traditional. Sundays, of course, are always free of fasting and abstinence; even in the heart of Lent, Sundays are about the glorious Resurrection. This pattern of fasting and abstinence ends after the Vigil Mass of Holy Saturday.

As to special Lenten foods, vegetables, seafoods, salads, pastas, and beans mark the Season, in addition to the meatless soups. The fasting of this time once even precluded the eating of eggs and fats, so the chewy pretzel became the bread and symbol of the times. They’d always been a Christian food, ever since Roman times, their very shape being the creation of monks. The three holes represent the Holy Trinity, and the twists of the dough represent the arms of someone praying. In fact, the word “pretzel” is a German word deriving ultimately from the Latin “bracellae,” meaning “little arms” (the Vatican has the oldest known representation of a pretzel, found on a 5th c. manuscript). Below is a recipe for the large, soft, chewy pretzels that go so well with beer. 

by St. Thomas Aquinas Ash Wednesday : Death

By one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death.–Rom. v. 12.

1. If for some wrongdoing a man is deprived of some benefit once given to him, that he should lack that benefit is the punishment of his sin.

Now in man’s first creation he was divinely endowed with this advantage that, so long as his mind remained subject to God, the lower powers of his soul were subjected to the reason and the body was subjected to the soul.

But because by sin man’s mind moved away from its subjection to God, it followed that the lower parts of his mind ceased to be wholly subjected to the reason. From this there followed such a rebellion of the bodily inclination against the reason, that the body was no longer wholly subject to the soul.

Whence followed death and all the bodily defects. For life and wholeness of body are bound up with this, that the body is wholly subject to the soul, as a thing which can be made perfect is subject to that which makes it perfect. So it comes about that, conversely, there are such things as death, sickness and every other bodily defect, for such misfortunes are bound up with an incomplete subjection of body to soul.

2. The rational soul is of its nature immortal, and therefore death is not natural to man in so far as man has a soul. It is natural to his body, for the body, since it is formed of things contrary to each other in nature, is necessarily liable to corruption, and it is in this respect that death is natural to man.

But God who fashioned man is all powerful. And hence, by an advantage conferred on the first man, He took away that necessity of dying which was bound up with the matter of which man was made. This advantage was however withdrawn through the sin of our first parents.

Death is then natural, if we consider the matter of which man is made and it is a penalty, inasmuch as it happens through the loss of the privilege whereby man was preserved from dying.

3. Sin–original sin and actual sin–is taken away by Christ, that is to say, by Him who is also the remover of all bodily defects. He shall quicken also your mortal bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in you (Rom. viii. II).

But, according to the order appointed by a wisdom that is divine, it is at the time which best suits that Christ takes away both the one and the other, i.e., both sin and bodily defects.

Now it is only right that, before we arrive at that glory of impassibility and immortality which began in Christ, and which was acquired for us through Christ, we should be shaped after the pattern of Christ’s sufferings. It is then only right that Christ’s liability to suffer should remain in us too for a time, as a means of our coming to the impassibility of glory in the way He himself came to it. (6)

by Abbot Gueranger Ash Wednesday

Yesterday the world was busy in its pleasures, and the very children of God were taking a joyous farewell to mirth: but this morning, all is changed. The solemn announcement, spoken of by the prophet, has been proclaimed in Sion: the solemn fast of Lent, the season of expiation, the approach of the great anniversaries of our Redemption. Let us then rouse ourselves, and prepare for the spiritual combat.

But in this battling of the spirit against the flesh we need good armor. Our Holy Mother the Church knows how much we need it; and therefore does She summon us to enter into the house of God, that She may arm us for the holy contest. What this armor is we know from St. Paul, who thus describes it: “Have your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice. And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. In all things, taking the shield of Faith. Take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6: 14-17). The very Prince of the Apostles, too, addresses these solemn words to us: “Christ having suffered in the flesh, be ye also armed with the same thought” (1 Peter 4: 1). We are entering today upon a long campaign of the warfare spoken of by the Apostles: forty days of battle, forty days of penance. We shall not turn cowards, if our souls can but be impressed with the conviction, that the battle and the penance must be gone through. Let us listen to the eloquence of the solemn rite which opens our Lent. Let us go whither our Mother leads us, that is, to the scene of the fall.

The enemies we have to fight with, are of two kinds: internal and external. The first are our passions; the second are the devils. Both were brought on us by pride, and man’s pride began when he refused to obey his God. God forgave him his sin, but He punished him. The punishment was death, and this was the form of the divine sentence: “For dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return” (Gen. 3: 19). Oh that we had remembered this! The recollection of what we are and what we are to be, would have checked that haughty rebellion, which has so often led us to break the law of God. And if, for the time to come, we would persevere in loyalty to Him, we must humble ourselves, accept the sentence, and look on this present life as a path to the grave. The path may be long or short; but to the tomb it must lead us. Remembering this, we shall see all things in their true light. We shall love that God, Who has deigned to set His Heart on us, notwithstanding our being creatures of death: we shall hate, with deepest contrition, the insolence and ingratitude, wherewith we have spent so many of our few days of life, that is, in sinning against our Heavenly Father: and we shall be not only willing, but eager, to go through these days of penance, which He so mercifully gives us for making reparation to His offended justice.

This was the motive the Church had in enriching Her liturgy with the solemn rite, at which we are to assist today. When centuries ago She decreed the anticipation of the Lenten fast by the last four days of Quinquagesima week, She instituted this impressive ceremony of signing the foreheads of Her children with ashes, while saying to them those awful words, wherewith God sentenced us to death: “Remember man that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return!” But the making use of ashes as a symbol of humiliation and penance, is of a much earlier date than the institution to which we allude. We find frequent mention of it in the Old Testament. Job, though a Gentile, sprinkled his flesh with ashes, that thus humbled, he might propitiate the Divine mercy (Job 16: 16): and this was 2,000 years before the coming of the Savior. The royal prophet tells us of himself, that he mingled ashes with his bread, because of the Divine anger and indignation (Ps. 101: 10, 11). Many such examples are to be met with in the sacred Scriptures; but so obvious is the analogy between the sinner who thus signifies his grief, and the object whereby he signifies it, that we read such instances without surprise. When fallen man would humble himself before the Divine justice, which has sentenced his body to return to dust, how could he more aptly express his contrite acceptance of the sentence, than by sprinkling himself, or his food, with ashes, which is the dust of wood consumed by fire? This earnest acknowledgment of his being himself but dust and ashes, is an act of humility, and humility ever gives him confidence in that God, Who resists the proud and pardons the humble.

It is probable that, when this ceremony of the Wednesday after Quinquagesima was first instituted, it was not intended for all the faithful, but only for such as had committed any of those crimes for which the Church inflicted a public penance. Before the Mass of the day began, they presented themselves at the church, where the people were all assembled. The priests received the confession of their sins, and then clothed them in sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on their heads. After this ceremony, the clergy and the faithful prostrated, and recited aloud the Seven Penitential Psalms. A procession, in which the penitents walked barefoot, then followed; and on its return, the bishop addressed these words to the penitents: “Behold, we drive you from the doors of the church by reason of your sins and crimes, as Adam, the first man, was driven out of paradise because of his transgression.” The clergy then sang several responsories, taken from the Book of Genesis, in which mention was made of the sentence pronounced by God when He condemned man to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, for that the earth was cursed on account of sin. The doors were then shut, and the penitents were not to pass the threshold until Holy Thursday, when they were to come and receive absolution.

Dating from the 11th century, the discipline of public penance began to fall into disuse, and the holy rite of putting ashes on the heads of all the faithful indiscriminately became so general that, at length, it was considered as forming an essential part of the Roman Liturgy. Formerly, it was the practice to approach bare-footed to receive this solemn memento of our nothingness; and in the 12th century, even the Pope himself, when passing from the church of St. Anastasia to that of St. Sabina, at which the station was held, went the whole distance bare-footed, as also did the Cardinals who accompanied him. The Church no longer requires this exterior penance; but She is as anxious as ever that the holy ceremony, at which we are about to assist, should produce in us the sentiments She intended to convey by it, when She first instituted it.

As we have just mentioned, the station in Rome is at St. Sabina, on the Aventine Hill. It is under the patronage of this holy Martyr that we open the penitential season of Lent. The liturgy begins with the Blessing of the Ashes, which are to be put on our foreheads. These ashes are made from the palms, which were blessed the previous Palm Sunday. The blessing they are now to receive in this their new form, is given in order that they may be made more worthy of that mystery of contrition and humility which they are intended to symbolize.

When the priest puts the holy emblem of penance upon you, accept in a spirit of submission, the sentence of death, which God Himself pronounces against you: “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return!” Humble yourself, and remember what it was (pride) that brought the punishment of death upon us: man wished to be as a god, and preferred his own will to that of his Sovereign Master.

Reflect, too, on that long list of sins, which you have added to the sin of your first parents, and adore the mercy of your God, Who asks only one death for all these your transgressions.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites” (Matt. 6: 16). In the Gospel of the Mass, we learn that our Redeemer would not have us receive the announcement of the great fast as one of sadness and melancholy. The Christian who understands what a dangerous thing it is to be a debtor to Divine justice, welcomes the season of Lent with joy; it consoles him. He knows that if he be faithful in observing what the Church prescribes, his debt will be less heavy upon him. These penances, these satisfactions (which the indulgence of the Church has rendered so easy), being offered to God united with those of our Savior Himself, and being rendered fruitful by that holy fellowship which blends into one common propitiatory sacrifice the good works of all the members of the Church militant, will purify our souls, and make them worthy to partake in the grand Easter joy. Let us not, then, be sad because we are to fast; let us be sad only because we have sinned and made fasting a necessity. In this same Gospel, our Redeemer gives us a second counsel, which the Church will often bring before us during the whole course of Lent: it is that of joining almsdeeds with our fasting. He bids us to lay up treasures in Heaven. For this we need intercessors; let us seek them amidst the poor.

Every day during Lent, Sundays and feasts excepted, the priest before dismissing the faithful, adds after the Postcommunion a special prayer, which is preceded by these words of admonition: “Let us pray. Bow down your heads to God.” On this day he continues: “Mercifully look down upon us, O Lord, bowing down before Thy Divine Majesty, that they who have been refreshed with Thy Divine Mysteries, may always be supported by Thy heavenly aid. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen.” (9)

by Rev. James Luke Meagher, 1883

The fast of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts till Easter Sunday. During this time there are forty-six days, but as we do not fast on the six Sundays falling in this time, the fast lasts for forty days. For that reason it is called the forty days of Lent. In the Latin language of the Church it is called the Quadragesima, that is, forty. St. Peter, the first Pope, instituted the forty days of Lent. During the forty-six days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, we are to spend the time in fasting and in penance for our sins, building up the temple of the Lord within our hearts, after having come forth from the Babylon of this world by the rites and the services of the Septuagesima season. And as of old we read that the Jews, after having been delivered from their captivity in Babylon, spent forty-six years in building their temple in place of the grand edifice raised by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians, thus must we rebuild the temple of the Holy Ghost, built by God at the moment of our baptism, but destroyed by the sins of the past year. Again in the Old Testament the tenth part of all the substance of the Jews was given to the Lord (Exod. xxli. 29). Thus we must give him the tenth part of our time while on this earth. For forty days we fast, but taking out the Sundays of Lent, when there is no fast, it leaves thirty-six days, nearly the tenth part of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. According to Pope Gregory from the first Sunday of Lent to Easter, there are six weeks, making forty-two days, and when we take from Lent the six Sundays during which we do not fast, we have left thirty-six days, about the tenth part of the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year.

The forty days of fasting comes down to us from the Old Testament, for we read that Moses fasted forty days on the mount (Exod. xxiv. et xxxiv. 28). We are told that Elias fasted for forty days (III. Kings xix. 8), and again we see that our Lord fasted forty days in the desert (Math. iv.; Luke ix). We are to follow the example of these great men of the old law. But in order to make up the full fast of forty days of Moses, of Elias and of our Lord, Pope Gregory commanded the fast of Lent to begin on Ash Wednesday before the first Sunday of the Lenten season.

Christ began his fast of forty days after his baptism in the Jordan, on Epiphany, the twelfth of January, when he went forth into the desert. But we do not begin the Lent after Epiphany, because there are other feasts and seasons in which to celebrate the mysteries of the childhood of our Lord before we come to his fasting, and because during these forty days of Lent we celebrate the forty years of the Jews in the desert, who, when their wanderings were ended, they celebrated their Easter, while we hold ours after the days of Lent are finished. Again, during Lent, we celebrate the passion of our Lord, and as after His passion came His resurrection, thus we celebrate the glories of His resurrection at Easter.

During the services of Lent we read so often the words: “Humble your heads before the Lord,” and “let us bend our knees,” because it is the time when we should humble ourselves before God and bend our knees in prayers. After the words, “Let us bend our knees,” comes the word, “Arise.” These words are never said on Sunday, but only on week days, for Sunday is dedicated to the resurrection of our Lord. Pope Gregory says: “Who bends the knee on Sunday denies God to have risen.” We bend our knees and prostrate ourselves to the earth in prayer, to show the weakness of our bodies, which are made of earth; to show the weakness of our minds and imagination, which we cannot control; to show our shame for sin, for we cannot lift our eyes to heaven; to follow the example of our Lord, who came down from heaven and prostrated himself on the ground in the garden when in prayer (Matt. xxvi. 39); to show that we were driven from Paradise and that we are prone towards earthly things; to show that we follow the example of our father in the faith, Abraham, who, falling upon the earth, adored the Lord (Gen. xviii. 2). This was the custom from the beginning of the Christian Church, as Origen says: “The holy prophets when they were surrounded with trials fell upon their faces, that their sins might be purged by the affliction of their bodies.” Thus following the words of St. Paul: “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephes. iii. 14),” we prostrate ourselves and bend our knees in prayer. From Ash Wednesday to Passion Sunday the Preface of Lent is said every day, unless there comes a feast with a Preface of its own. That custom was in vogue as far back as the twelfth century.

At other times of the year, the clergy say the Office of Vespers after noon, but an ancient Council allowed Vespers to be commenced after Mass. This is when the Office is said altogether by the clergy in the choir. The same may be done by each clergyman when reciting privately his Office. This cannot be done on the Sundays of Lent, as they are not fasting days. The “Go, the dismissal is at hand,” is not said, but in its place, “Let us bless the Lord,” for, from the earliest times the clergy and the people remained in the church to sing the Vesper Office and to pray during this time of fasting and of penance.

We begin the fast of Lent on Wednesday, for the most ancient traditions of the Church tell us that while our Lord was born on Sunday, he was baptized on Tuesday, and began his fast in the desert on Wednesday. Again, Solomon began the building of his great temple on Wednesday, and we are to prepare our bodies by fasting, to become the temples of the Holy Ghost, as the Apostle says, “Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you (I. Cor. iii. 16)?” To begin well the Lent, one of the old Councils directed all the people with the clergy to come to the church on Ash Wednesday to assist at the Mass and the Vesper Offices and to give help to the poor, then they were allowed to go and break their fast.

The name Ash Wednesday comes from the ceremony of putting ashes on the heads of the clergy and the people on this day. Let us understand the meaning of this rite. When man sinned by eating in the garden the forbidden fruit, God drove him from Paradise with the words: “For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return (Gen. iii. 19).” Before his sin, Adam was not to die, but to be carried into heaven after a certain time of trial here upon this earth. But he sinned, and by that sin he brought upon himself and us, his children, death. Our bodies, then, are to return to the dust from which God made them, to which they are condemned by the sin of Adam. What wisdom the Church shows us when she invites us by these ceremonies to bring before our minds the dust and the corruption of the grave by putting ashes on our heads. We see the great men of old doing penance in sackcloth and ashes. Job did penance in dust and ashes (Job ii. 12). By the mouth of His prophet the Lord commanded the Jews “in the house of the dust sprinkle yourselves with dust (Mich. i. 10).” Abraham said, “I will speak to the Lord, for I am dust and ashes (Gen xviii. 27).” Joshua and all the ancients of Israel fell on their faces before the Lord and put dust upon their heads (Joshua vii. 6). When the ark of the covenant was taken by the Philistines, the soldier came to tell the sad story with his head covered with dust (I Kings iv. 12).

When Job’s three friends came and found him in such affliction, “they sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven (Job ii. 12).” “The sorrows of the daughters of Israel are seen in the dust upon their heads (Lam. ii. 10).” Daniel said his prayers to the Lord his God in fasting, sackcloth and ashes (Dan. ix. 3). Our Lord tells us that if in Tyre and Sidon had been done the miracles seen in Judea, that they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes (Matt. xi. 21; Luke x. 13). When the great city will be destroyed, its people will cry out with grief, putting dust upon their heads (Apoc. xviii. 19). From these parts of the Bible, the reader will see that dust and ashes were used by the people of old as a sign of deep sorrow for sin, and that when they fasted they covered their heads with ashes. From them the Church copied these ceremonies which have come down to us. And on this day, when we begin our fast, we put ashes on our heads with the words, “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return (Gen. iii. 19).”

In the beginning of the Church the ceremony of putting the ashes on the heads of the people was only for those who were guilty of sin, and who were to spend the season of Lent in public penance. Before Mass they came to the church, confessed their sins, and received from the hands of the clergy the ashes on their heads. Then the clergy and all the people prostrated themselves upon the earth and there recited the seven penitential psalms. Rising, they formed into a procession with the penitents walking barefooted. When they came back the penitents were sent out of the church by the bishop, saying : “We drive you from the bosom of the Church on account of your sins and for your crimes, as Adam, the first man was driven from Paradise because of his sin.” While the clergy were singing those parts of Genesis, where we read that God condemned our first parents to be driven from the garden and condemned to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow, the porters fastened the doors of the church on the penitents, who were not allowed to enter the temple of the Lord again till they finished their penance and came to be absolved on Holy Thursday (Gueranger, Le Temps de la Septuagesima, p. 242). After the eleventh century public penance began to be laid aside, but the custom of putting ashes on the heads of the clergy became more and more common, till at length it became part of the Latin Rite. Formerly they used to come up to the altar railing in their bare feet to receive the ashes, and that solemn notice of their death and of the nothingness of man. In the twelfth century the Pope and all his court came to the Church of St. Sabina, in Rome, walking all the way in his bare feet, from whence the title of the Mass said on Ash Wednesday is the Station at St. Sabina. 

[yinzxs-wonderland]

Natasha was 4 and America was segregated.

Poems are literary works that are expressed musically. It conveys various emotions like happiness, sadness, anger, love, and more which are emotions people feel every day. Poets let us feel these different emotions through imagery and different literary devices. Through these literary devices, what a poem is trying to convey is easier to understand. Some poems are needed to be analyzed deeply for us to understand and some do not because you understand it as you read. Contemporary poems are much more relatable than those of the classic and modern. Yes, classical and modern poems are great and get magical, but for readers of today, especially non-English native speakers, archaic words are difficult to understand. With contemporary poems, 21st-century readers and learners will easily understand the language that is used and relate to the events or experiences present in the poem.

As time changes, authors of the contemporary have also changed their style in writing, subjects of their works, et cetera. Free verse, a poetic form, is one of the most used forms of today’s poets, and their poems talk about relatable experiences that the readers look at, understand more, and also easily promote poetry. With the Internet and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, authors and readers can promote literary works through posting a review. Everyone is on their phones, scrolling to different social media accounts they have, joining what is on-trend, posting about their daily accomplishments. Literature advocates must take advantage of this to raise awareness to the youth to not forget about the literary works of the past and the present.

In the United States of America, an act of Congress established a title called the “Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry” or US Poet Laureate. The Librarian of Congress, together with the current laureate appoints the next Poet Laureate. The appointed poet laureate stresses to raise national awareness in appreciation of reading and writing poetry. One of the US Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey, was the Mississippi state poet laureate and the 19th US Poet Laureate. She took the position on June 7, 2012. Natasha Trethewey was born in Mississippi on April 26, 1966. Author of four poetry collections and a book of creative non-fiction. Her honors include the Pulitzer Prize and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Trethewey received a BA from the University of Georgia, an MA from Hollins College, and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts.

Trethewey’s first collection of poems, Domestic Work, is a collection of poems reflecting the lives of African-Americans working class after the passing of Civil Rights Act. Domestic Work was selected by Rita Dove as the winner of the inaugural Cave Canem Poetry Prize for the best first book by an African American poet. In her introduction for Domestic Work, Rita Dove said, "Trethewey eschews the Polaroid instant, choosing to render the unsuspecting yearnings and tremulous hopes that accompany our most private thoughts—reclaiming for us that interior life where the true self flourishes and to which we return, in solitary reverie, for strength."

One of the poems from the Domestic Work is "History Lesson". The poem starts with the persona describing a photograph when she was four years old wearing a flower-printed bikini. It was taken at the beach by her grandmother in 1970. The poem then shifts its nostalgic feel to a historical event that happened in the Southern United States which was the legalization of the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws were laws legalizing racial segregation in the South. It started during the post-Civil War era until 1968 and existed for about a hundred years. The laws were meant to marginalized African-Americans. They were prohibited from entering public parks, beaches, and restaurants, and theaters were segregated. It also denied the African-Americans the right to education, the right to vote, land a job, or any opportunities. Those that defy the Jim Crow laws are arrested, violated, or killed.

Racial segregation laws were put to an end but racism is still prevalent even in the 21st century. It is still a huge issue in the United States where African-Americans are oppressed and discriminated against by privileged white Americans.

History Lesson Natasha Trethewey

I am four in this photograph, standing on a wide strip of Mississippi beach, my hands on the flowered hips of a bright bikini. My toes dig in, curl around wet sand. The sun cuts the rippling Gulf in flashes with each tidal rush. Minnows dart at my feet glinting like switchblades. I am alone except for my grandmother, other side of the camera, telling me how to pose. It is 1970, two years after they opened the rest of this beach to us, forty years since the photograph where she stood on a narrow plot of sand marked colored, smiling, her hands on the flowered hips of a cotton meal-sack dress.

I am four in this photograph, standing on a wide strip of Mississippi beach, my hands on the flowered hips

The first stanza of the poem tells us that the persona is describing a photograph of herself at the beach when she was four. This stanza is familiar to every little girl with a picture at the beach wearing a flower-printed bikini. It brings back memories of family trips to the beach, playing with cousins, eating good food, and memories as kids with no worries. The author uses symbolism and imagery on the third line, my hands on the flowered hips. The flower-printed bikini symbolizes every little girl on a beach trip with their family and the author uses this so readers can have detailed information about the photo. The second line also makes use of imagery, on a wide strip of Mississippi beach.

of a bright bikini. My toes dig in, curl around wet sand. The sun cuts the rippling Gulf in flashes with each

The persona continues to describe that day they were on the beach. The author also used imagery in the first and second lines, of a bright bikini and My toes dig in, curl around wet sand. This line makes the readers imagine as if they were at the beach, near the shore, their feet on wet sand where the water comes back and forth. There is also a use of personification, The sun cuts the rippling Gulf in flashes with each. The line means the sun was setting as if it's cutting the ocean and that what’s beyond or behind the sun is difficult to see.

tidal rush. Minnows dart at my feet glinting like switchblades. I am alone except for my grandmother, other side

Simile and imagery are used in the third stanza, Minnows dart at my feet glinting like switchblades. The persona described small fishes called minnows swimming fast and nearing her feet and their bodies glint like the color of switchblades, silver. The persona has also stated here that she was alone in the photo except that her grandmother was there on the other side, behind the camera, and was the one who took the photo. This stanza also connects with the first stanza as little girls are asked, sometimes forced, to pose in front of the camera, hands on their hips flaunting their flower-printed bikinis.

of the camera, telling me how to pose. It is 1970, two years after they opened the rest of this beach to us,

The fourth stanza is the shift or the turning point of the poem. The first half symbolizes happiness, carefreeness, innocence, and memories. The poet switches the tone of the poem far from what the first three stanzas. The stanzas before this stanza share an innocent picture and shift to a revelation of what it's like to be black during that time. The photograph of the persona holds a much deeper history of the persona’s family and the beach, which symbolizes progress and freedom. The stanza tells that the persona’s grandmother took the photo in 1970. With this, readers can infer that the persona is the author herself, Natasha Trethewey. Natasha Trethewey was born in the Deep South, a region in the Southern United States. Born to an African American mother and a white father. She was born when interracial marriage was against the law in Mississippi. Her parents divorced when she was six and her mother remarried but divorced her second husband as it was abusive in 1984 and a year later, murdered her mother. Trethewey said that her mother’s death prompts her to attempt writing poems.

The poem mentioned that it was two years since 1970 when the rest of the beach was opened for them. To fully understand this stanza, readers need to take into consideration, Trethewey’s biography, her hometown, and the year she mentioned in the poem. In 1968, the Jim Crow Laws were abolished. The Jim Crow laws legalized racial segregation. It was like state-enforced racism. According to Zinkel, the Jim Crow laws extend to the United States and legalized segregation and discrimination towards black Americans. It was enforced for a century and in 1964, the United States passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which aims to solve the toxic culture created by racial segregation. Despite guaranteed equal protection and rights to all Americans, including those of color, the Civil Rights Act did not eliminate the hatred and grudges of certain groups of white Americans toward black Americans and vice versa. Though not as extreme as during the Jim Crow, racism and prejudice still exist in the United States today and even in other parts of the world. The Jim Crow laws were no different from the Apartheid of South Africa.

The last word of the last line refers to the black Americans and that the other parts of the Mississippi beach were opened to them after the Jim Crow laws were abolished. Black Americans were not allowed to enter the beach as it was also demanded by the laws. The laws mandated segregated waiting rooms, buses, and trains. Blacks were prohibited from public parks and beaches. Also, water fountains, restrooms, building entrances, elevators, cemeteries, and even cashier windows. The law also forbade blacks to live in white neighborhoods. Segregation was also enforced in textbooks, phone booths, hospitals, jails, and residential homes. Almost everything was segregated and there are even signs that warn people that there are black neighborhoods nearby That is how extreme and petty the Jim Crow laws were.

This stanza also enlightens us why the poem is entitled History Lesson. It acts as a reminder that something so cruel happened in the history of the United States where people around the world dreamed of going and living their American dream. It also serves as a lesson that it should never happen again and people must open their minds that everyone has differences and are still humans

forty years since the photograph where she stood on a narrow plot of sand marked colored, smiling,

In this stanza, Trethewey completes the structure of the poem which is past and present. This stanza denotes the change of time. The persona is now describing the photograph of her grandmother on the same beach where her photo was taken. The difference between the persona’s photo and her grandmother is that she only stood on a narrow plot, while in her photo, she was standing on a wide Mississippi beach. The photo of her grandmother has a sign saying colored while hers was just the wide beach with no signs. Her grandmother was also smiling but was her smile genuine? Maybe yes or maybe no as she was on a smaller part of the beach.

her hands on the flowered hips of a cotton meal-sack dress.

The last stanza of the poem, a couplet, still compares the persona and her grandmother. They both were photographed on the same beach, hands on the flowered hips, wearing flower-printed clothing but her grandmother was wearing a cotton meal-sack dress while the persona was wearing a bikini. This implies the change of time because, during her grandmother’s time, bikinis wear not normalize, and even so they were black so they were prohibited from many things. On the other hand, during the persona’s time, even when she was only four years old, it was fine to wear a bikini. The persona’s child-self wears a bikini, which acts as a symbol of progress, no more dreadful sign saying colored and only just the beach behind her while the grandmother’s meal-sack dress symbolizes poverty, women's oppression, and racism. Trethewey focused on the detailed changes of time such as how the clothing changed and women can now wear bikinis rather than sack dresses. She also raised awareness using the desegregated as a beginning of a much bigger change. History Lesson is about the persona’s life when she was four. The first half of the poem talks about the persona and the second half were her grandmother’s. It is entitled

History Lesson as it teaches us a lesson from history and everyone needs to enjoy the time before it passes out on us. The poem presents history poetically by comparing one photograph from the past to a photograph of a much earlier time. It also proved that somehow time moves progressively which is indicated by the desegregated beach. The poem only used two figures of speech, simile, and personification, but it uses strong imagery specifically sight and touch. It also uses symbolism such as the desegregated beach and bikini symbolizing progress and freedom, meal-sack rice which symbolizes poverty, oppression, and racism, flowers printed on the two different clothing which symbolizes femininity, and the two photographs symbolizing time.

Its tone of the first half of the poem is happy as the persona reminisces memories of a trip to the beach and the tone shifts in the second half of the poem, it was sad as the grandmother experienced most of her time as someone who is oppressed. The significance of this poem is that it introduces us to what happened to African Americans from the time of extreme oppression and racism. The poem also gives importance to studying and knowing our history and never forget about it. Like the beach, history keeps going back and forth like the waves coming and retreating over and over again. The background of the author also helped in understanding the poem as the persona of the poem represents the author and what her family experienced.

Knowing the background of the author helped in analyzing the historic event that happened behind the words of the poem which was a century of state-enforced racism. Therefore, Natasha Trethewey’s History Lesson from her collection Domestic Work conveys freedom after a long period of oppression and discrimination and the persona of the poem is the poet.

Works Cited Online Sources

O, Carolyn. “a narrow plot of sand: Natasha Trethewey’s “History Lesson” from Domestic Work.” Rosemary and Reading Glasses, 2015 March 24, https://rosemaryandreadingglasses.com/2015/03/24/a-narrow-plot-of-sand-natasha- tretheweys-history-lesson-from-domestic-work/

Orkin, Martin, and A. Joubin. "Race: New critical idiom series." (2019). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342179402_Ten_Quotes_from_Researchers_Exploring_Issues_Around_Race_by_the_Scholarly_Kitchen_Race_often_brings_to_mind_people_who_are_not_white_while_whiteness_remains_unmarked_and_serves_as_a_benchmark_category

Parks, Rosa, and Gregory J. Reed. “Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today's Youth.” Lee & Low Books, 1996. Retrieved from: https://libquotes.com/rosa-parks/quote/lbb7s5g

Trethewey, Natasha. “History Lesson.” 2000. Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47538/history-lesson-56d2280d442a7. Accessed 30 October 2020. Zinkel, Benjamin. "Apartheid and Jim Crow: Drawing Lessons from South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation." J. Disp. Resol. (2019): 229. https://poets.org/poet/natasha-trethewey

https://www.loc.gov/item/no00088459/natasha-trethewey/

October, 2020

[mafreemantle]

What is finished?

An essay commissioned by SMITH to accompany Dale Lawrence’s solo exhibition, Further Prototypes at the gallery.

When is an artwork finished? At show time? When the artist says so? What if an artist isn’t ‘finishing’ them on purpose, and what if he’s active in the gallery throughout the show? What if he’s asking himself—and us—whether there is such a thing as finished at all?

This is one of many curveballs thrown by Dale Lawrence in Further Prototypes, his third solo show at SMITH, the latest stanza in his wry inquiry into the ambitions of art and its practitioners. With Look Busy (2016) and Another Helping (2017), as with his Art Joburg show Amateur Hour (2018), Lawrence scratched at these ideas, studying the tension between focused intent and wilful abandon. Here, he puts the ideas to theatre.

“Finished is dead,” says Lawrence, who chooses instead to work with the vitality of experimentation. Doing so brings action, change, motion and surprise into another distinctively considered collection of mixed media offerings that this time includes imagery variously scratched into animal fat, drawn onto photocopier glass and printed on bread. There’s also a bath in the gallery and, yes, he will bathe in it. Every day for six weeks.

In Seen and Not Seen, the bathtub work, Lawrence will prove his interactions with it without showing them. We will see solely the evidence of his activity; the memory of it. A wet footprint, perhaps, or a crumpled towel. By repurposing the gallery as a working space, a conduit through which Lawrence passes, he draws attention away from the idea of finished works hanging inert on a wall and towards the lively, uncertain environment from which his works are made. 

Throughout the show, Lawrence will be otherwise active in the space, working on his largest canvas to date, the 1.75m x 3.5m Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Large Bathers in situ. These elements of his normal life—the painting, the bathing—help to set the show in a state of flux, placing artmaking as a functional part of the everyday. Here Lawrence draws from German artist Joseph Beuys, who considered art much broader than painting, sculpting and exhibiting. For Beuys, as for Lawrence, the impulse to create is seen as a basic component of human life.

“Completeness and incompleteness coexist. We are never finished. Our routines become rituals and our rituals can degenerate into routines. Art is a form of distilling reality, where grand intentions and everyday mundanities are the subjects—with sometimes overwhelming and sometimes underwhelming results.”

Hercules is Lawrence’s playful tracing of a mashup of two classic scenes with similar compositions by Frederic Lord Leighton and Paul Cézanne. Leighton’s horrified characters, Cezanne’s indifferent bathers and finally Lawrence’s cursory retelling of these stories probes at how the function of art has changed. Art used to need to capture critical and epic moments, later just moments. What do we ask of it now?

That this and other works are in fact or appear ostensibly unfinished stems from a disregard for finality that permeates this collection and can be traced further back. Amateur Hour fleshed out an argument that achievement is subordinate to the act of the pursuit thereto. Then as now, pursuit is Lawrence’s first virtue. To arrive is to abandon pursuit, to be finished. And finished is dead. 

Lawrence’s use of masterpieces as source material in the show stems from this notion. His respect for striving over finding sees prototypes as new models of thought. The creative sphere is one for experiment and testing, where new ideas and aesthetics are prototyped and test-driven before being adopted in the real world. 

“When a work is considered a masterpiece it implies that an idea has been refined to the point of absolute completion and perhaps exhaustion, leaving it short of much of the vitality of the prototype.”

Lawrence’s most pointed jab at this is the work St. Lawrence Handing out the Treasures of the Church, where he treats a photocopy machine’s glass as a printing plate. Viewers of the work will be able to print out a copy of the famous scene, as artist and device stage a modern parody on the doling out of churchly treasures. The cumbersome photocopier is the artist himself, a dubious intermediary through which an original and pure thought must traverse. Repetitions mean diminishing returns. More is less.

“If art is a means by which to pay homage to inspiration it is also proof of the inability of human beings to accurately express the purity of that inspiration. The observer principle suggests that it is impossible to observe a phenomenon without changing it. Art is an interference.”

Portrait of Ideal Self as St. Paul the Hermit, Except Not so Poor and Hungry and Naked and Lonely and Cold is a relief print on a sheet of bread, akin in both substance and design to the communion offering but depicting a figure engaged in a leisure activity. Bread is a basic unit of substance and signifier of spiritual nourishment, yet only represents meaning. It has none in and of itself.

St. Lawrence? Communion bread? Has Lawrence gone all religious on us? The gallery is, after all, art’s church. This is where a form of aesthetic communion is practiced. This is where we gather to drink wine and hear nominated spokespeople muse on the meaning of it all. The substance of the offering depends in some part to the faith we place in the institution that houses it, and of course the person handing us the sacrament. Communion bread is either metaphysical and full of meaning, or vacuous and in dire need of some Marmite.

Or, as Lawrence suggests, lightly salted like a Lay’s crisp. Perhaps the crowning piece of the show is another remake, this time a riff on the 'Tragedia Civile' by Jannis Kounellis. Lawrence uses Lay’s crisp packets where Kounellis used gold leaf to festoon a wall signifying the accomplishments of the past. Lawrence replaces the original’s hook, hat and overcoat with a bowl of Lay’s lightly salted crisps lying on the table for consumption, while a mobile phone lies charging on the shelf instead of a paraffin lamp. This self-administering of communion, a modern offering of no substance in an age of cheap imitation and distraction, wonders at the depth of our dubious relationship with conveyors of meaning.

But accomplishment implies some measure of success and finality, and we know how Lawrence feels about those things. His title for the installation, Tragedy of the Rainbow Warriors, mashes up the original with a newspaper headline marking a supposedly seminal moment in recent South African history.  Nelson Mandela, dressed in a Springbok jersey, hands captain Francois Pienaar the 1995 Rugby World Cup trophy. Here is a moment that aimed to tell us something had ended. But was this the end—or the beginning—of anything?

Clearly, Lawrence detects a kind of idiocy in viewing this or any moment as a conclusion or resolution. “We were supposed to feel like something had been solved. We were offered absolution from our sins, cheap closure in a flash. The truth was something a lot less certain.”

Lawrence doesn’t miss this opportunity for another witticism. Noting that we lay our crisps onto our tongues like communion wafers, he nominates a Western brand as our priest. As Apartheid ended and sanctions were lifted, we South Africans were rewarded with a deluge of attractive but empty gifts from the West. The Gods were good to us.

If Lawrence is playing with his use of the pedestal it is more as jester than preacher. Like a king’s clown he agitates, entertains and excites, making himself vulnerable, present and unguarded. Lawrence’s work can also be downright funny. A found ceramic vase lies shattered on the floor beneath its pedestal, surrounded by a handful of rubber bands, the dull accoutrements it was used to contain. The ornate is reduced to a vessel for cheap, functional detritus. A vessel, grand and full of potential, tragically reduced to its base utility. But is an ornament less impressive when it is being used?

With Nameless and Friendless, Lawrence removes the legs from one found chair and attaches them to the ends of another, making one absurdly tall and the other comically legless. The height difference implies a hierarchy yet both are made precarious and arguably useless by the modifications. Does more chair make a chair not a chair? How much chair can you remove before a chair is not a chair anymore?

In a series titled Attempts, Lawrence shows a stack of Indian ink on paper drawings, each attempt piled on top of the next. The drawings are gestural and impulsive, full of Lawrence’s trademark concerted playfulness. The sum total of these attempts are presented as works in themselves, their finished-ness abrupt and questionable.

Lawrence’s fat works—for which he avidly carved into slabs of tallow made according to a Joseph Beuys recipe—dig into the idea of fat as both an essential, life-supporting substance and one that signifies superfluity and excess. Self-portrait in Front of the Burning Cathedral references the recent Notre Dame fire and queries the potential of burnt wood as something very much alive and useful. Lawrence’s surface this time is burnt yellowwood, South Africa’s national wood, mirroring the French oak beams used to support the Notre Dame’s spire.

Further Prototypes may speak to Kounellis’s work in one instance most clearly but the kinship runs deeper and permeates the show. Kounellis was famously direct, his work keenly responsive to its time. When invited to inaugurate an upmarket art gallery in the late 1980s, he filled the space by suspending large pieces of ox carcass on iron panels.  “I apologise to everyone: I would like to have made an Arcadian landscape, but the times did not permit that,” Kounellis told the curator. 

For Lawrence, like Kounellis, art is an occupation and a mirror. It is what it sees. What Lawrence sees is uncertainty, possibility, transience. The magnificent in the mundane, the mundane in the magnificent. A loop with no end, an endless question.

[daywillcomeagain]

a fading world

Something that I think people tend to miss about LoTR is that it’s post-apocalyptic.

In the War of Wrath at the end of the Silmarillion, large swaths of Middle-Earth (the parts that are called Beleriand) are utterly destroyed. (here’s a map of that; we have no idea of the Southern coastline, or how much area south of Beleriand was destroyed in the War of Wrath.)

In the Akallabêth, the island country of Númenor (at the time, the major population center of men and the hub for civilization and invention) is sunk. It was more than twice the size of the UK in terms of physical size, and with a population easily numbering in the millions; if you accept the early canon of The Lost Road, they had just invented steel-plated ships (equivalent to the early 1800s of our world), and directly after their sinking invent some form of airship (blimps were invented in the mid-1800s of our world, and airplanes in approximately 1900, which coincide with this estimate), putting them only one or two hundred years away from inventions such as plastic, machine guns, movies, robots, radio, nuclear bombs, and the internet. For reference, The Hobbit--with all its pre-industrial charm and its battles fought with sword, bow, and axe--takes place just over three thousand years later.

The world is changed. It has changed physically: Beleriand and Númenor are no more. Its people have changed: the Entwives are gone, the Petty-Dwarves are gone, the Elves are fading and leaving for Valinor, the Ents are falling asleep, the Dwarf population is declining, the Hobbits are fated to slowly disappear over the course of the next age. Even height and lifespan have decreased, just as the magic in the world has: Thingol, who was created rather than born, was likely around eight feet tall; Galadriel, who was born in the First Age, was 6’4; Legolas, born in the Second or Third Age, was shorter than both Aragorn (6’6”) and Boromir (6’4”). The first King of Númenor lived to be 500; Tar-Vanimeldë, third queen and sixteenth ruler, lived to be 360; their heir, Aragorn, lived to be 210, and is noted for his long life. This slow diminishing can be seen in everything from swords (ancient swords are valued in combat much more than newer weapons, even though the opposite makes more intuitive sense, as weapons can acquire damage through use, implying that older swords were made better or have other qualities that make them superior; it is noted in FotR that only swords from the Elder Days glow in the presence of orcs, implying that bladesmiths have decreased in ability, knowledge, or both) to trees (Telperion, which gave out a light brighter than the sun or moon, is the direct ancestor of the White Tree of Gondor). In all things, the trajectory is the same: once, the world was great; now, it is not, and it is shrinking all the time.

Perhaps the most poignant example of this for me is the Song of Durin, sung by Gimli as the Fellowship passes through Moria. He describes a glorious kingdom, lit by lamps of crystal, with floors and ceilings of silver and gold, with magic carved into every door, occupied by craftsmen and bards alike--as they walk through its stony ruins in the dark. The world was young, the song starts, and the next stanza begins with The world was fair; the last stanza, on the other hand, starts with The world is grey. Khazad-dûm, the place the song is about, is renamed Moria, meaning literally ‘black pit’. This is the message: Once, the world was beautiful and young. Now it is old and dark. Stars that once were “as gems” are now “sunken”. Gondolin has fallen; Nargothrond has fallen; Doriath has fallen; Nogrod and Belegost have fallen; Eregion has fallen; Moria has fallen; Erebor has fallen; Minas Ithil has fallen--honestly, it would be faster to list the cities in the legendarium that don’t fall than to list the ones that do. The greatest city of the Third Age, Minas Tirith, is dwindling, but its name means simply “Watchtower”--when it was built, it was not a capital or a great city, just a place for guards to keep watch.

Looking at the world in order, the heroes that are focused on grow--both physically and narratively--smaller and smaller, with less and less power: we move from focusing on Eru Himself in the Aindulindalë to the Ainur in the Valaquenta, and then the High Elves of the Silmarillion, the Númenorean Men of the Akallabêth, the hobbits in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. We go from focusing on God and his angels to focusing on immortal kings and princesses with songs of magic to focusing on more ‘ordinary’ human kings and queens, until finally we arrive at the story of a middle-aged villager with no special abilities to speak of.

Even evil has decreased. The Sauron we see in Lord of the Rings is the bodiless shadow of the Sauron of the First Age--who is still but a servant to the greater evil, Morgoth, that drives the plot of the Silmarillion. Smaug is the last of the dragons.

In the Silmarillion, wars were won by beings near-godlike in power, sinking continents into the ocean and damaging the moon. In Lord of the Rings, war is won by a young man, armed only with a dagger, a friend, and a staggering amount of hope. The narratives of the world are changing from grand epics to personal stories of individuals, and the shining past is forgotten, or remembered only as story or song.

This isn’t necessarily good or bad inherently. (Well, except the fall of Númenor. The fall of Númenor was a terrible tragedy. But that’s material for a different post.) Lots of evil in Middle-Earth comes from people trying too hard to hold on to a past that has disappeared; lots of goodness comes from the small, dirty hands of a gardener. But it’s important, when looking at Middle-Earth in comparison with other fantasy settings, to remember: this is not a world full of wonder and magic on its rise. This is a world where grandeur is slowly but surely dying.

[fleetwooded]

talk about music!!!!!! gimme the whole top ten, then i also want 22, 44, and 88!!

THANK YOU FOR ENABLING ME STEPH!!! this ended up predictably long-winded, so here is the list, and you can click through to read how i feel about all these songs if you want to. if you’re on mobile, and have to scroll through, i’m so sorry. 

1. why, fleetwood mac2. from the dining table, harry styles3. home, one direction4. animal, troye sivan5. i’m yours, pixie geldof6. ambitions, donkeyboy7. bring it on home to me, sam cooke8. bad (live), U29. american tune, paul simon10. 1950, king princess

22. everywhere, fleetwood mac44. trouble, lindsey buckingham88. border, years & years

ask me about my favourite music of the year! 

1. why, fleetwood mac - this is ZERO PERCENT a surprise, i think i’ve fallen asleep to this song every night for the past three years. it is one of my favourite fleetwood songs even though it’s a real niche one - the final track off mystery to me, which is uhhh not one of their more popular albums. but a) i am very fond of the awkward post-peter green pre-lindsey/stevie albums, b) christine mcvie gets paid DUST by everyone, but she is an incredible songwriter with an incredible voice, and really held the band afloat during that era, and c) this song is so gentle and beautiful and i could never ever get tired of listening to it. i’m obsessed with the extended guitar opening, which keeps you waiting for the piano to kick in for ages and makes you instinctively listen more closely to the guitar throughout the whole song. also the lyric well, my heart will rise up with the morning sun / and the hurt I feel will simply melt away is such a beautiful and clearly expressed sentiment. and when those strings come out from the back of the arrangement just before the last stanza!! ugh i love this song.

2. from the dining table, harry styles - honestly this is only so high up because it is one of the other two songs on my sleep playlist and therefore gets played every day lmao. i will say that this is pretty much the only song of his where the studio version is better than the live version, and therefore the only one i regularly listen to after going to his concert bc i don’t resentfully compare it to the live experience. that harmony on the third maybe someday you’ll call me and tell me that you’re sorry too and the strings in that whole section make the entire song worth it. 

3. home, one direction - lol i always say that my favourite 1d song is walking in the wind, but it’s really this one. i was in a very small, l*arry-free corner of the fandom when this came out, so it never had those associations for me, and i just think it’s a very warm and beautiful song and i DO NOT understand why it was not on the album. i also used to listen to it every morning back when i had to walk to work at 4:30am (in the winter! when it was pitch black and i lived in a not-so-great area!), and it was very very comforting to me, so listening to it always sparks that feeling of comfort, like being wrapped up tight in a warm blanket.

4. animal, troye sivan - the last song on my sleep playlist, and one of the best songs off his new album imo. my favourite kind of song is the kind where you can put on big headphones, get on a bus or train, close your eyes, press play, and just have an experience. it’s unquantifiable! everyone’s mileage will vary! you either feel it, or you don’t! but i really really feel it with this one, especially on the second verse. it’s such a stripped back song, but has this rich sonic landscape that just pulls you in if you let it. 

5. i’m yours, pixie geldof - ugh, this album was such a huge and exciting discovery for me this year. i had no idea she made music until i heard woman go wild on one of nick grimshaw’s insta stories and looked it up, and then i listened to her album over and over and over again for months and developed a massive, useless celebrity crush on her. it’s a little bit derivative, definitely nothing groundbreaking, but so perfectly matched to my sensibilities and so endlessly listenable. i also find it very satisfying to hear something and instantly know it’s going to be your new favourite thing, and then get to prove yourself right. i usually listen to the album all the way through, so i don’t think about the specific songs too much, but if i had to pick a favourite, it would be this one!

6. ambitions, donkeyboy - i’m pretty sure i found this song because it was referenced in a fic lmao? if that is the case, a million thank yous to whoever wrote that, because i never would have come across it otherwise. it’s a collaboration between a 2000s norwegian synthpop band and a girl whose only other resume builder was finishing in seventh place on norwegian idol. but it is a BOP, and a bop with a strong emotional drive, which is the best kind. the lyric I can't tolerate / the feelings that I feel when I feel is another one i spend the whole song waiting for. 

7. bring it on home to me, sam cooke - another song i have been listening to for years and years and never tire of. when my best friend moved out of her parents’ house, she said that the only reason she wanted her own place was so she could sit in her living room and play this song on a turntable. she did play it, often, because she only owned a few records for the longest time, so listening to it always brings me back to curling up on her couch and talking and talking while she made me dinner in her tiny and dark but beautiful home. 

8. bad (live), U2 - god i love this song. i think i have talked about it on here before, so i won’t go on and on, but i LOVE this song. tbh i have never actually listened to the album version of this song, and maybe it is just as good, but i really love live albums - when they can capture the spirit and energy and RISK of a live concert, they feel so electric. anything could go wrong at any moment when music is being played live, or it could go SO right, and the artist and crowd could feed off each other’s energy until the whole venue feels alive, and the music could take on a whole new artistic life. idk what exactly it is, but i feel all that potential in this song. it’s eight glorious minutes of that electricity, and every time you think it’s peaked, it just keeps going and reaches new heights. my favourite is the bit where bono just belts out the words desperation, dislocation, separation, condemnation, isolation, desolation, isolation, let it go like a cry out into the universe. i think about it so often. sometimes i also want to just stand in front of a crowd and yell ISOLATION, DESOLATION. i feel that live music can often feel like a purging, or a cleansing, or a transformation - like singing about these feelings of profound misery or pain or anger with a crowd of people who also feel those feelings can reshape them into something joyful and exultant instead.

9. american tune, paul simon - damn, this really was a melancholic year!! this is another of my go-to comfort songs when i am feeling those lost feelings. i listened to it a lot in the winter, and again this fall, and related a little too much to the bits about being so far away from home. it’s got this sense of deep weariness in its lyrics and structure that i like listening to when i am very tired and want to commiserate. the drums leading up to the and I dreamed I was dying are my favourite musical moment, but my favourite lyric is the ending, with: tomorrow's going to be another working day / and I'm trying to get some rest / that's all I'm trying to get some rest.

10. 1950, king princess - honestly, introducing me and the world to king princess is the best thing harry did all year. first of all, it’s truly remarkable how much cultural power he has - not that this song wouldn’t have been successful without him, but literally every write-up and interview mentions him tweeting the lyrics as a mark of approval that propelled her into the public eye. it’s also just an incredibly well crafted song, and i’m endlessly impressed by her talent. to write and perform a song like this at her age is no small feat, and i’m very glad she’s ended up getting the attention she has. i got to see her live this summer with my sister and a few of our friends, and she was every bit as commanding and magnetic as i would have imagined. 

22. everywhere, fleetwood mac - another all time favourite!! at my work this summer, my boss was a very cool woman who played in a very cool all-female punk band. we got along tremendously, except for that she had NO patience for me constantly playing what she referred to as “mom rock.” this one is the only fleetwood mac song she liked, so i would just play it over and over and we would delight in that shimmery little intro. when i was closing, i would put it on just as the sun went down enough to shine right through the big windows at the front of the store, and it feels good to know that i am going to listen to it years from now and remember that summer and that sun.

44. trouble, lindsey buckingham - my fave song of his, except maybe never going back again. i really like this whole album, but this song is another one i just want to burrow inside because it feels so rich and dense. i feel like i have nothing to say about him that hasn’t already been said - he’s a massively underrated guitarist, and a great songwriter, and i just love listening to him play.

88. border, years & years - a fantastic song off a fantastic album. i’m ngl i was a little disappointed by their sophomore album, so i just kept listening to this one. also brings me back to great memories of seeing them live and the catharsis of yelling my heart, it will start to shine / and I will be alright with a whole crowd of people. live music is magic!!

if anyone made it here, thank you for reading. i love year-in-reviews. it feels good to take stock of a year and try to put all the little moments and periods of time in order and make some sense out of them. i also love music, and it feels good to sit down and listen to my most listened to songs with new ears and try to remember or figure out why i listened to them so often. it’s been a long, hard, tumultuous year, but my relationship with music has really flourished, and stuff like this feels like nurturing that love.

[nikofortuna]

Poem: The End

The disaster inspiring this poem is a plague. It’s much less descriptive of the actual event than it is of the feelings of the author, which as I mentioned before is my character. Additionally at this point everybody engaged in the roleplay event has been planning to start a rebellion against the person who has been causing all of the disasters.

The End

Time and time it happens again,

Disaster strikes and locks us in,

Snow and Flame make heads spin,

Tides and Strain seek to win,

As if living was the greatest sin.

At leisure it takes away our kin,

While supplies too are running thin,

We are left to bury the fallen men.

Is it our fate to perish in this plague?

Or is there a cure so that we may endure?

It spread from high up reaching the sky,

But only grasps at the ones that bow far down below.

Stoking fires-

Burning incense-

Stoking fires to purify the bodies,

Burning incense to cleanse the souls.

So it goes ashes to ashes

And dust to dust.

With death we had many clashes,

Now we have to do what we must,

If only to survive at last.

Starting the analysis with the title this time!

So the title alone already reflects how thoroughly done my character is with the current happenings and it has been gradually radicalizing him with this disaster being the last straw in that regard.

Right at the beginning there is a bit of a recounting of the four previous disasters, how often they are occurring and how many lives are cut short every time. The first and last verse lock in every other verse in this stanza between each other through their rhyme scheme, which illustrates the lockdown the people have been experiencing in some way every disaster. Those are also the most important verses as every other verse except those two could be cut and the core meaning of the stanza would still be preserved.

The whole stanza feels a bit less flowery at least to me, which is supposed to showcase how upset my character as the author is that he speaks so directly and clearly.

The next stanza is a lot more flowery in contrast, in part because it has to be in a sense. Verses three and four clearly allude to the illness originating from the palace but only taking the lives of the citizens. It is just vague enough that my character could plausibly deny that the emperor is meant here and just say he means the Heavens instead.

The rhyme scheme in this stanza is a bit different from what I’ve done so far as the rhyming bits are within the same verse each. There are also two parallels to be found here with the subjects standing directly in opposition to each other in both cases. The first two verses set things up with the cure standing against the plague, which then makes it quite clear that the emperor is standing against the people. This verse set up also uplifts the people since structurally they stand in the same position as the cure.

As always we’ve got my favourite poem structure with another double parallel! Two things of fire with one big and the other small and two aspects of a person that are being made clean with those fires being set alight respectively.

In the last stanza the first half is obvious given that those verses are well known and refer to the death that has occurred again. Meanwhile the second half alludes to the citizens of the Crimson Empire rising up against the emperor, who at best is letting them die without interfering and at worst is the direct cause for all of this death. And with it being the only stanza with an uneven number of verses it signals a clear end.

[dollofdeath]

Like Thief, Like Cop: LupinPat Analysis + Speculation

Heyo, back at it again with more LupinPat analysis! Actually, I wanted to wait to write this up until after the May episodes aired since those seem like they’ll be focused on the Pats, but I was sick the other night and ended up writing most of this when I couldn’t sleep lol (albeit incoherently, thanks @ my twitter followers for putting up with me www)

(Just a note: the second half/speculation probably counts as a separate discussion but one thought lead to the other so I just decided to stick it with the analysis haha)

Without a doubt, the Lupins and Pats are foils of each other. Following the law of chromatic superiority, the teams are leaded by level-headed Kairi and hot-blooded Keiichiro; in the middle are Touma, the eldest of the Lupins with a cynical side, and Sakuya, the youngest of the Pats who is quite optimisic; last but not least, we have cheerful yet naive Umika and cool beauty Tsukasa.

Thieves versus cops -- it’s only natural that they oppose each other in every aspect. But if we look at the teams in a different way, we could also say that they are parallels of each other.

(continued under the read more; long post warning!)

Let’s take a look at the teams lined up

Following this, the orders of the teams are as such: 

Touma, Kairi, Umika

Tsukasa, Keiichiro, Sakuya

And like so, Touma and Umika act as Tsukasa’s and Sakuya’s parallels respectively, with Kairi and Keiichiro being both parallels and foils of each other. I’ve talked a little about this before like a month ago lol, but I’ll explain it more in depth now.

First up is Touma and Tsukasa. We don’t know the Pats’ ages as far as I know, but for the sake of this write-up I’ll be assuming they’re about the same as their actors’, making Tsukasa the eldest Patranger. That means age-wise, these two are the same in that they are the eldest of their teams. They are also the most mature, the least willing to deal with bullshit from their other members (Touma usually has something witty to say and Tsukasa’s sure got The Look™ down lol). Despite that, these two get worked up when it comes to something they’re invested in. For Touma, this is Aya, as demonstrated in Episode 3 where Touma acted rather impulsively and rashly in order to get the piece of the Lupin Collection back. In Tsukasa’s case, it’s her work as a detective, which we see her get pre~tty adamant about in Episode 8 as she tries to uncover the Lupins’ true identities.

Moving onto Umika and Sakuya, the youngest of their teams. In a way, both of them act as the morale of their teams -- Umika is the heart of the Lupins, playing peacemaker between Kairi and Touma; Sakuya is certainly the most optimistic of the Pats, even if sometimes this exasperates Tsukasa and Keiichiro LOL These two have also felt bad about their aspirations at one point (Umika being bullied about her fashion sense, Sakuya under-performing during cadet training) but were encouraged by someone else. They’re also the most open-minded of their teams, with both seeing the other team as not an enemy, but as a potential ally within the show’s first few episodes. And just generally, these two seem to have the most fun, I guess, despite their jobs haha (Umika excited to meet Ema Goldini or see some celebrities at the studio, Sakuya being waaaay too into the PR film)

Admittedly Kairi and Keiichiro act more as foils than parallels, but maybe we’ll see more similarities as the story unfolds. Nonetheless, we can already see a few similarities! I think this is most apparent in Episode 5, where their resolves clash. That sounds contradictory to the point, but these two have a lot of passion behind their resolves and are willing to go far for it -- it’s just that their resolves are in opposition, which plays up the foil angle. I’m dipping into headcanon territory here and even stretching a bit haha, but I also think they both have a pride that’s been humbled to an extent. We see it clearly with Keiichiro during Episodes 5 and 6, where he initially takes his loss very hard but then remembers he mustn’t misuse his authority as the police. Kairi’s pride, on the other hand, stems from his inferiority complex with Shori and we can see that he didn’t take his own losses very well with how much he pushes Shori away, that he hates how he can’t compare to Shori. I think the Kairi we see now has been humbled by the loss of his brother, that he realized that his pride and resentment shouldn’t have gotten in the way of his relationship with Shori. Again, I’m stretching but hopefully the show offers more on their dynamic haha

(Also just a fun note, the teams literally mirror each other when lined up!

The Lupins are lined up tallest to shortest while the Pats are lined up shortest to tallest. This is Quality Casting)

Back on topic now lol, here comes the speculation. The thought I had that leads to the second part of this write-up? "The Pats are like the Lupins, except they're not fixated on the past." 

Here's a line from the OP as translated by Over-Time: “So they can reclaim their frozen time, they’ll spin the dial.” This line is accompanied by these visuals

Naturally, we think of the Lupins' lost loved ones when it comes to this line, but I think this can be applied to the Lupins themselves as well. The Lupins want to bring back their loved ones so badly, they drop everything in order to accomplish their goal. They are frozen in time -- they are not moving on from their past. Of course, there is nothing wrong with their resolve; it’s only instinct to want to bring someone you’ve lost back, but the circumstances in which they’ve become the Lupinrangers are very sketchy. We see the Lupins consider using Zamigo as a backup plan in case things with Kogure don’t work out, but they haven’t really questioned the whole situation. Or perhaps they have, but their wish to get their loved ones back trumps their doubt. In either case, they’re blinded by their desires and are not capable of moving on.

It sounds kinda harsh, telling the Lupins to just move on, doesn’t it haha. I truly want them to reunite with their loved ones as much as everyone else, but how often do these plots actually work out? Usually dead/lost loved ones are used as motivation for the characters or the arc focuses on them learning how to move on; those who don’t expect their loved ones to return and actually make the effort to move on are sometimes rewarded with their loved ones coming back, but it’s certainly not easy (I’d list specific examples from SS/KR, but I don’t want to accidentally spoil someone ;;). Even if the Lupins are able to get their loved ones back, it won’t be as straightforward as they believe it to be.

Digressing a little, but it’ll make sense in a bit (hopefully lol). Here’s a stanza from Chase You Up! Patranger, the Pats’ side of the OP, as translated on the Power Rangers Wiki: “Anticipate their warning, unveil the truth / And teach them what ‘it’s impossible’ means.”

At face value, this most likely refers to the police taking in the thieves and possibly reforming them. But I think we can look at this on a more personal level as well.

As far as we know, the Pats don’t have such a tragic backstory as the Lupins, or if they do, they’re not letting it get to them in the same manner as the Lupins. In contrast to the past-oriented Lupins, the Pats are more present-focused, if not future-focused. What we’ve seen of the Pats, they are capable of taking what comes at them and using it to move forward (Keiichiro’s pride, Sakuya’s training days... aaand here’s to hoping for a meaningful focus for Tsukasa ehe). I think it’s possible that, as the relationship between the Lupins and Pats develop, the Pats will help the Lupins move on -- or at least, look at the bigger picture and realize there’s more going on than what they think.

To add onto this, I’ve seen some people speculate that the Pats may even fill in the hole left behind by the Lupins’ loved ones (like Keiichiro becoming a big brother of sorts to Kairi, Touma and Tsukasa becoming lovers, Sakuya and Umika becoming friends). While I wouldn’t exactly want the Pats to “replace” the Lupins’ lost loves (after all, no one is replaceable), I think the Pats will play a big part in the Lupins’ development.

“What ‘it’s impossible’ means”... 

“It’s impossible” could mean that there’s no way for the Lupins to bring back their loved ones and the Pats will help them deal with it, or “It’s impossible” in the sense that “impossible” is just another obstacle to overcome and the Pats will help them through it. No matter what, I can see the Pats becoming good friends with the Lupins and supporting them in their resolve.

TL;DR If we’re talking about the way they’re lined up, the Lupins and Pats act as parallels. These parallels show how the motivations differentiate the Lupins and the Pats -- the Lupins being blinded by their desire to bring their loved ones back (the past) whereas the Pats are focused on their jobs (the present/future). It’s possible the Pats will help the Lupins move on from their pasts, or at least look at the bigger picture.

I suppose this all stems from an observation I made, that it seems like the Lupins are mostly backstory but we know little of them besides what has happened in their past (like... does Kairi still play basketball?? How's Umika's designing going?? I guess Touma still enjoys being a chef??) whereas we know who the Pats are but not why they are the way they are. We’re still early in the show’s run, so hopefully by the finale we’ll have equal amounts of backstory and characterization on both ends haha

Anyways, I don’t really expect any of this to come true LOL I just like to look deeply into things and play with ideas, but I think it’s at least something to think about hehe 

Thank you guys for reading!! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

[tipsycad147]

Adonis – God of Beauty and Desire

In Greek mytholoogy, Adonis was known as one of the most handsome mortals, loved by two goddesses – Aphrodite, the goddess of love and Persephone, the goddess of the Underworld. Although he was a mortal, he was also known as the god of beauty and desire. However, his life was suddenly cut short when he was mauled to death by a boar.

Adonis’ Miraculous Birth  

Adonis was born under miraculous circumstances and as the result of an incestuous relationship between Myrrha (also known as Smyrna) and her own father Cinyras, the king of Cyprus. In other accounts, it’s said that Adonis’ father was Theias, the King of Syria. This had occurred because of a curse cast on Myrrha by Aphrodite, which caused her to sleep with her father.

Myrrha tricked her father into sleeping with her for nine nights in complete darkness so that he wouldn’t find out who she was. However, the king eventually became curious about who he had been sleeping with, and when he finally discovered her identity, he chased her with his sword. He would have killed Myrrha had he caught her, but she fled from the palace.

Myrrha wished to be invisible to avoid being killed by her father and she prayed to the gods, asking for a miracle. The gods took pity on her and turned her into a myrrh tree. However, she was pregnant and nine months later, the myrrh tree burst open and a son, Adonis was born.

Adonis was originally a god of birth, resurrection, love, beauty and desire in Phoenician mythology, but in Greek mythology he was a mortal man, often called the handsomest man that ever lived.

Adonis, Aphrodite and Persephone

As an infant, Adonis was found by Aphrodite who gave him over to be raised by Persephone, wife of Hades and Queen of the Underworld. Under her care, he grew into a handsome young man, coveted by both men and women alike.

It was at this point that Aphrodite came to take Adonis away from Persephone, but Persephone refused to give him up. It came down to Zeus to settle the goddesses’ disagreement. He decided that Adonis would stay with Persephone and Aphrodite for a third of the year each, and for the final third of the year, he could choose to stay with whomever he wished.

Adonis chose to spend this third of the year also with the goddess Aphrodite. They were lovers and she bore him two children – Golgos and Beroe.

Adonis’ Death

In addition to his stunning good looks, Adonis enjoyed hunting and was a highly skilled hunter. Aphrodite was concerned about him and often warned him about hunting dangerous wild beasts, but he didn’t take her seriously and continued to hunt to his heart’s content.

One day, while on the hunt, he was gored by a wild boar. In some renditions of the story, the boar was said to be Ares, the god of war, in disguise. Ares was jealous that Aphrodite was spending so much time with Adonis and decided to get rid of his rival.

Although Aphrodite did her best to save Adonis, administering nectar to his wounds, Adonis was too badly injured and died in her arms. Aphrodite’s tears and the blood of Adonis mixed together, becoming the anemone (a blood red flower). According to some sources, the red rose was also created at the same time, since Aphrodite pricked her finger on the thorn of a white rose bush and her blood caused it to turn red.

Other sources say that the Adonis River (now known as the Abraham River) ran red every year in February, because of Adonis’ blood.

In other versions of the tale, Artemis, the goddess of wild animals and hunting, was jealous of Adonis’ hunting skills. She wanted to have Adonis killed so she sent a savage wild boar to kill him while he was hunting.

The Adonia Festival

Aphrodite declared the famous Adonia festival to commemorate the tragic death of Adonis and it was celebrated every year in midsummer by all the women in Greece. During the festival, the women would plant fast-growing plants in little pots, creating ‘gardens of Adonis’. They would set these on the top of their houses in the burning hot sun and though the plants would sprout, they quickly withered and died.

The women would then mourn Adonis’ death, tear their clothes and beat their breasts, publicly displaying their grief. The Adonia festival was also held with the belief that it would bring rain and promote the growth of crops.

Symbolism and Symbols of Adonis

Adonis was the mortal lover of Aphrodite and as such, wasn’t born a god. However, sometimes, exceptional mortals were often made into gods and given godly status by the ancient Greeks. Psyche was one such mortal, who became the goddess of the soul, as was Semele, the mother of Dionysus, who became a goddess after her death.

Some believed that because Adonis spent a third of the year with Persephone in the underworld, he was immortal. This was because a living person couldn’t enter and leave the underworld at will, as Adonis did. In any case, in later myths, Adonis became the god of beauty, love, desire and fertility.

The story of Adonis has also represented the decaying of nature every winter and its rebirth (or revival) in spring. The ancient Greeks worshipped him, asking for joy for a new life.  People say that even today, some farmers in Greece offer sacrifices and worship Adonis, asking to be blessed with a bountiful harvest.

Adonis is represented by his symbols, which include:

Anemone – the flower that sprang up from his blood

Lettuce

Fennel

Fast-growing plants – to symbolize his brief life

Adonis in the Modern World

Today, the name ‘Adonis’ has come into common usage. A youthful and extremely attractive male is usually called an Adonis. It has a negative connotation of vanity.

In psychology, the Adonis Complex refers to a person’s obsession with their body image, wanting to improve their youthful appearance and physique.

Cultural Representations of Adonis

The story of Adonis has been prominently featured in many artistic and cultural works. Giambattista Marino’s poem ‘L’Adone’ published in 1623 is a sensual, lengthy poem that elaborates the story of Adonis.

The myth of Adonis and the associated artwork is the main subject of one of the episodes in the anime series D.N.Angel, in which a homage paid to the undead causes a statue of Adonis to come to life and lure young girls.

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote the famous poem ‘Adonais’ for poet John Keats, using the myth as a metaphor for John Keats’ death. The first stanza goes as follows:

I weep for Adonais—he is dead!

Oh, weep for Adonais! though our tears

Thaw not the frost which binds so dear a head!

And thou, sad Hour, selected from all years

To mourn our loss, rouse thy obscure compeers,

And teach them thine own sorrow, say: “With me

Died Adonais; till the Future dares

Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be

An echo and a light unto eternity!”

Facts About Adonis

1- Who are Adonis’ parents?

Adonis is the offspring of either Cinyras and his daughter Myrrha, or of Phoenix and Alphesiboea.

2- Who is Adonis’ consort?

Adonis was the lover of Aphrodite. She was married to Haphaestus, the god of craft.

3- Was Persephone and Adonis in a relationship?

Persephone raised Adonis as her own son, so she had a strong attachment to him. Whether that was a sexual or maternal attachment is unclear.

4- What is Adonis the god of?

Adonis is the god of beauty, desire and fertility.

5- Who are Adonis’ children?

Adonis is said to have had two children by Aphrodite – Golgos and Beroe.

6- What are Adonis’ symbols?

His symbols include the anemone and any fast-growing plant.

Wrapping Up

Adonis is proof that the Ancient Greeks valued beauty in both men and women. Although a mere mortal, his beauty was such that two goddesses fought over him, and he was held in such high esteem that he eventually became known as the god of beauty and desire.

https://symbolsage.com/adonis-god-of-beauty/

[bunnyleisure11]

Bunnyleisure Shared: The Mirror of Beauty

Bunnyleisure:The test of human brain has denoted every last bit of accomplishment however the specialty of drawing matches for what excellence is, has stayed an incredible secret. For certain thinkers, excellence is the level of fascination and profound respect, incited in an onlooker. Yet, it is contended that a similar wonder doesn't influence everybody a similar way. It shifts drastically. A couple of think thanks have characterized it as a level of flawlessness, yet flawlessness in one field may not be of any interest to an eyewitness. So magnificence is exceptionally hard to clarify completely, however it very well might be said that it is a round of correlation. Assume there is just a single lady on the planet, presently question is if she is excellent. The appropriate response unambiguously is that you can't utter a word since you don't have another lady to contrast and.

In any case, cruising past the expanse of creative mind, one understands that there is a factor that decides the level of magnificence, for example an individual word reference, which deciphers the humans and doles out level of excellence. The heavenly expressions of mankind's set of experiences will peep out from the storm of truth and will firmly announce that Juliet was a goddess for a Romeo a divine being for her and rest, the particles of residue. Heer for ranjha was sufficient, and he for her, to lead entire their coexistence with few straws of affection. However, recollect, if all the admirers of the universe of the world are welcome to a gathering to ask who among everything is the most wonderful, they positively will stamp the case of magnificence on the essences of their own adored which without a doubt isn't their intolerance yet a characteristic actuality that 'excellence lies according to onlooker'. Bunnyleisure

One day an extraordinary history specialist murmured in my ears a story...

'some time ago there was top dog so partial to magnificence that he called his generally steadfast and devoted negro slave and requested him to go from east to west and from north to south and bring him such a paragon of magnificence that neither moon would have ascended with such wonderful qualities nor the clams of sea would have brought forth such eminent pearls; neither women of heaven would have looked so enchanting not the ministers of excellence would have had the option to give such beguiling model, neither any craftsman would have made such brain blowing picture nor an artist from the profundity of his creative mind would have had the option to form such riveting stanza; neither any bird would have its pinion take off such superbly not the Aphrodite would have stamped such greatness. Also, in the event that I say for her that she is the most wonderful soul God ever made, at that point the petitioners of excellence ought to have said:' we resemble chunks of coal in a mine and she a jewel among us.' So, go my man whose head crown of my confidence rests, on whose shoulders stars of firm conviction sparkle and on whose chest decorations of sure compliance are stepped. Proceed to introduce me the magnificence that ought to be lauded and seen by the sparkling stars.' Bunnyleisure

The negro worker knelt and disappeared smoothly to the tops from where the sun pierced its sparkling fingers into the dull shades of night, from where Shakespeare and Shelley appreciated beverages of motivation, from where the representation of Mona Liza was found and from where moon extricates its glimmering light; and hence he experienced fields to mountains, through valleys to deserts, through unimaginable considerations to heavenly urban communities and through every single inch of this existence where life appeared to be relaxing.

After tireless endeavors, he went to the lord, introduced him what appeared to be the goddess of excellence to him, his Negro girl. At this, the ruler inquired,

'did you not discover any spirit more delightful than this?'

He saved quiet for some time, at that point raised his head and said:

'Your Excellency, my blood will be showered in your feet in the event that I talk yet reality. You requested that I bring Aphrodite however I brought my Negro little girl; the explanation was my steadfastness. Your Excellency, for you her dark composition may appear coal in obscurity yet for me it is just about as lovely as back rose or a precious stone. To you her dry hair may appear as though that of a witch of some old fantasy moving in woods however for me her hair is no not exactly the drapes of heaven. To you her wrinkled hands may appear as an abandoned sight of this land however to me they appear as divine beings, to adapt up the world's destiny in it has outlined these lines on it. To you her eyes may appear as those of heavenly attendants when epitomizing eyes have mixed up yet to me achievement. To you her wide nose may appear as dim, incredible caverns of stone ages however to me it is no not as much as Noah's Ark. Subsequently, Your Excellency, my compliance and unwaveringness to you constrained me to carry my little girl to you.'

At that point the history specialist grinned and said, 'Yes! Magnificence lies according to spectator.'

In mission of characterizing and clarifying the magnificence, two ways of thinking have arisen up until now. One declares significance of internal magnificence and the other lectures the delight introduced by common wonders. However, indeed all excellent things are not great, enchanting and appealing but rather all great and genuine things are consistently wonderful. Accordingly, it is very much said by Keats:

Magnificence is truth, truth excellence,

That is all ye know on earth

And all ye require to know.'

The way of thinking lecturing internal excellence bore these words on the introduction of its course reading: Bunnyleisure

'History is obvious that the world has brought forth numerous common marvels which just could assist with extinguishing the thirst of individuals and wakeful monster in them. Numerous delights passed by with no notification except for the excellence of soul and inner voice has asserted victory over hearts of millions and denoted its endless presence. Individuals favored with immaculateness of soul, honesty of their still, small voice, integrity of their deeds and solidness of their confidence have prevailing to scratch their name on the temple of this world and lead their country to the rings of magnificence. Also, consequently they are as yet taking in the hearts of numerous humans. No one finds out if Aristotle was attractive or not, if Alexander was solid tall in height and whether Anarkali when covered alive inside the dividers presented like a sovereign or not. Individuals don't pose such inquiries, however everyone asks that how they moved to progress inch by inch. The loosely held bit of information of their prosperity, truth be told, is their character, conduct, assurance, energy and eagerness which contributed towards their prosperity and internal magnificence.'

Unexpectedly, the way of thinking lecturing common magnificence is expressing gratitude toward his God in these words:

'Much appreciated my God, for you have favored us such marvels, whose single look disregards off our day-long sleepiness, whose heart may demonstrate as a position of endless harmony to our spirits, whose sight helps us to remember your Excellence. Much appreciated my God, you have presented to us such magnificence, the wish to accomplish, which demonstrates a wellspring of fuel for our body, psyche and soul. This excellence has beautified this unnerving and useless world; and it brightens us up when we are cooped in the cells of unhappiness, stresses and mishaps. Gracious God! Actually the excellence that you have favored us with is a wellspring of living in this terrible world.

[uriurijihoonie]

Regrets || ch.2

A/N: Congratulations to Seventeen for winning Best Dance Performance Male Group at MAMA! We all know how much they deserve it! And also, sorry for the mistakes on this one, it’s currently 1:30 in the morning where I’m at so I don’t get to proofread right, too lol Let me ‘read’ your thoughts in the ask box!

Pairing: Jihoon/Woozi x Reader Genre: Fluff, Angst, Drama, Slice of Life, idol!AU Word Count: 1,900 Warnings: None (at the moment)

Chapter 1 /  Chapter 2

Someone once told me, you must not regret the choices you took or made, because for once, that was what you wanted, knowing what will happen.

But what if we were left with no choice, that we do not have any power but to do so knowing it’s for the best, and although you too wanted it, yet deep in your heart, you don’t want to? Is it worthy to be called regret?

You turned around and you swore your breath were caught, time seemed to stop, as you now contemplate whether the choice of accepting your best friend’s offer were right.

Walking towards you was two of Seventeen’s leaders, yet you found yourself staring at only one of them.

To say you weren’t taken aback was an understatement; you were totally frozen in place. Who would’ve thought that the person you only see behind your phone and laptop screens, admiring his voice through your earphones, staring at his eyes and smile that always caught your heart racing through your wallpaper was now standing a few meters from you?

And as he looked back and stared at you, you swore you could just look into those eyes forever.

“Y/N? Y/N?” You were brought back from your thoughts with Y/F/N standing in front of you. “What?”

“Let’s go! I’ve been calling you a lot of times already.” You let yourself be dragged along by your best friend towards one of the rooms on the hallway. Once you entered, although it was just plain wooden floor, huge speakers mounted on the side, and walls surrounded by mirrors, you still fell in awe. “So this is what a dance studio looks like.” You whispered in an awestruck, childlike manner, most likely to yourself.

You heard a soft and light chuckle beside you and if you could just wish for the ground to eat you, you will. Although his vision wasn’t on you, you can clearly see his smile ghosted upon his face as you felt yourself turn red due to embarrassment. Before you can clearly embarrass yourself more, Soonyoung called your attention. “Y/N-ssi!”

“Ah! Yes? Sorry. And just Y/N is fine.” You shyly smiled as you looked down. Can you pay attention, Y/N?!

“Well, Y/N, although I think you know all of us already, still,” he paused and gestured towards the two other male persons inside the room. “Y/N, he’s S.Coups or Choi Seungcheol, Seventeen’s leader, as you know it.” Soonyoung pointed to a tall male with black hair dressed in a flannel and ripped jeans. “And the other one’s Woozi or Lee Jihoon, Seventeen’s vocal team leader and our producer.” He then pointed to the shorter male with brown hair dressed in an oversized hoodie and jeans. “And Seungcheol-hyung, Woozi-yah, she’s L/N, F/N, the one Y/F/N talks about, her best friend.”

Seungcheol did their usual group greeting and bowed at you. “Y/F/N here is almost like a sister to us, and we don’t mind having another one, if that’s okay with you. Right, Jihoon?” He gave you one of those reassuring, friendly smiles then draped an arm around the shorter one’s shoulder as he was cut off in his daze while looking at you, then nodded and looked down.

“It’s nice to meet you, Y/N.” Jihoon said as he looked back at you.

You can’t help but smile back at the both of them, especially at him.  “Thank you. I hope I’m not that much of a bother. I didn’t even expect that this was the ‘help’ Y/F/N meant.”

Y/F/N grinned at you as she slid an arm on yours. “Well, I wanted the best for you, and they agreed so don’t worry! Let’s get started!” She dragged you towards the center of the room as the three boys followed.

The five of you immediately got to work, with you relaying what you needed help with in your performance for the call-outs. The three of them were considerate to you, as they lay out your strengths and weaknesses that you need to improve for your performance. They were serious yet there were constant throw of jokes and puns here and there. Needless to say, you immediately got comfortable with the three and you didn’t even notice how time passes.

“Guys! Aren’t we going to eat?” Your heads perked up at Y/F/N, who showed her phone that says it is 1:37 in the afternoon already. Soonyoung immediately stood up followed by Seungcheol and Jihoon, but you still remained on the floor.

“Y/N-ah! Let’s go! Aren’t you going to come?” you looked up from your phone and papers and shook your head at Seungcheol. “You can go ahead, I’ll just finish this.” You gestured your phone and papers that was playing a reference video for your call-out recital performance.

“You better follow us, Y/N, I know how focused you can be! I’m going to drag you in your butt out of here if you didn’t come down in ten minutes.” Your best friend looked at you sternly with a hint of playfulness in your eyes. You grinned at her and nodded. She waved before connecting her arms with her boyfriend as you heard the dance room close.

You breathed as you take in the silence and space inside the four-cornered room. You went over the video with your audition piece once again as you familiarize and prepare yourself. Gaining enough confidence, you started singing and moving along over and over, shaking your head as though something wasn’t right and perfect just yet.

“What if you make the last part one tone higher?”

“Goodness gracious!”

You almost screamed at the voice behind you and turned around as you see Jihoon leaning against a wall beside the door. “Try it.”

“Try what?” You looked at him confusedly as he slowly made his way towards you. You suddenly felt nervous as he stopped in front of you, but bent down as he grabbed the papers you were holding earlier.

“This part, try singing it a bit higher.” He gestured to a certain part on the last stanza of the lyrics. Still nervous and your heart still beating a bit faster, you took a breath and sang the last stanza, rising your tone on the part Jihoon pointed out, and smiling as you finished. “So that was the problem I kept on thinking earlier. Thank you, Jihoon-ssi.”

“It was no problem and please, just Jihoon is fine.” You chuckled as you nodded. “Okay then, Jihoon-ah.” He slightly smiled as he looked down on his hands and remembered something.

“Oh, uh, here. Y-Y/F/N told me to give this to you.” He held out a paper bag as you took it from him. You looked inside and you can immediately smell your favorite takeout food.

“She told me she really cannot drag you out of here so she just bought you food, and I happen to check up on one of the boys upstairs so Y/F/N, uh, asked me to give that to you.” You looked at Jihoon as he looked at every corner of the dance room except on you. You shyly smiled just as your phone blared up, classical music with a touch of remix filled the room.

[Y/N-ah! Did Jihoon-oppa already give you your lunch?]

“Yep, thank you! But you really didn’t have to, you know.”

[Oh, shut it! I know you always tend to forget everything when you’re too focused. Eat well, okay! It’s your favorite! We’ll join you for a while, Seungcheol-oppa insisted going on a certain café. Take a break and eat, Y/N! I swear I’ll--]

“Yes, yes, mom! See you later! Thank you!” You immediately hang up before Y/F/N throws another motherly sermon at you.

You sigh as you closed your phone and open up the paper bag.  “Y/F/N really does care for you a lot.”

You looked up at Jihoon quite surprised with his sudden statement. You hummed in approval as you prepare your food as you sprawled on the floor, careful as you do not make any mess. “She can be an extreme worrywart and almost like my second mother but I’m really thankful to her, although I feel like I’m not showing it to her enough. And I guess, by letting me join the musical can be my way to show her my gratitude.”

“What do you mean?” Jihoon carefully sat down beside you within a safe distance.

“She was the one who signed me up for the call-outs, telling me to join and to go out of my shell once in a while. Although I wanted to join in my own liking too, I just feel that I don’t have the talent or the confidence to do so. But she believes in me so I guess I never want to fail her.” You took a spoonful of your food as silence takes over.

“You’re a good friend to her, too, and I’m sure Y/F/N knows it.” You looked at Jihoon who was fumbling with his phone. “She knows how hard this is for you yet you agreed to her, right?” You nodded.

“She came up to us for help even though she’s reluctant. She really wanted to help you.” Jihoon looked up from his phone to look at you. “So I think, you should help yourself, too.”

You stared at him for a moment before looking back at your food, smiling. “Yeah, I think so.”

That was how you and Jihoon eventually got close and became friends, in a span of one weekend day over stories the two of you shared. He may appear aloof and cold in the outside, but he’s actually caring and considerate to his friends.

As Y/F/N came back with Soonyoung and Seungcheol, they found you and Jihoon exchanging laughters as you practice your audition piece. After some teasing and bickering, you and Y/F/N bid goodbye to the three as you went to the lobby of the building.

“I seriously want to thank you for helping me out today! I promise I won’t let your efforts in helping me go to waste.” You bowed as Seungcheol patted you on the head. “Just don’t pressure yourself! I know you’ll do well, Y/N!”

While Soonyoung and Y/F/N were exchanging ‘ant-biting’ gestures and goodbyes, as you would like to call it, and Seungcheol coming back upstairs to check on something, Jihoon approached you, phone in hand. “I need to know if you got in or not, or I seriously won’t be lending you any help again.”

Knowing he was just joking, you laughed as you punched your number on his phone. “Okay then.” You returned his phone as you bid your goodbyes to each other.

As you and Y/F/N were walking on your way home, she playfully nudged you on your side. “I already know who’s your bias, Y/N~”

You laughed as you nudged her back. “What are you up to, Y/F/N? I already told you I don’t have one.”

“Saw it with my own eyes, Y/N! It was Jihoon-oppa, right?”

You waved her off with a laugh. “C’mon, quit it.”

The two of you were constantly teasing as soon as you reached your own homes. As you unlock your door, consecutive faint ‘ting!s can be heard. You rummaged through your bag and saw three different messages, two from Y/F/N consisting of a thank you and good night, and a new unsaved number.

To: Y/N From: *********

Don’t hesitate to ring me up if you ever need any help. Good luck with your call-outs! -Jihoon

You smiled to yourself as you drag yourself towards your room and gather your things for a shower, once again remembering how his eyes shined and his smile lights up when he talked to you and the hunch of your best friend. I guess I made the right choice to agree to that call-out, huh?