Member: NotSunkYet

To Hope

WHEN by my solitary hearth I sit,
And hateful thoughts enwrap my soul in gloom;
When no fair dreams before my "mind's eye" flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head.

Whene'er I wander, at the fall of night,
Where woven boughs shut out the moon's bright ray,
Should sad Despondency my musings fright,
And frown, to drive fair Cheerfulness away,
Peep with the moon-beams through the leafy roof,
And keep that fiend Despondence far aloof.

Should Disappointment, parent of Despair,
Strive for her son to seize my careless heart;
When, like a cloud, he sits upon the air,
Preparing on his spell-bound prey to dart:
Chase him away, sweet Hope, with visage bright,
And fright him as the morning frightens night!

Whene'er the fate of those I hold most dear
Tells to my fearful breast a tale of sorrow,
O bright-eyed Hope, my morbid fancy cheer;
Let me awhile thy sweetest comforts borrow:
Thy heaven-born radiance around me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!

Should e'er unhappy love my bosom pain,
From cruel parents, or relentless fair;
O let me think it is not quite in vain
To sigh out sonnets to the midnight air!
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o'er my head!

In the long vista of the years to roll,
Let me not see our country's honour fade:
O let me see our land retain her soul,
Her pride, her freedom; and not freedom's shade.
From thy bright eyes unusual brightness shed--
Beneath thy pinions canopy my head!

Let me not see the patriot's high bequest,
Great Liberty! how great in plain attire!
With the base purple of a court oppress'd,
Bowing her head, and ready to expire:
But let me see thee stoop from heaven on wings
That fill the skies with silver glitterings!

And as, in sparkling majesty, a star
Gilds the bright summit of some gloomy cloud;
Brightening the half veil'd face of heaven afar:
So, when dark thoughts my boding spirit shroud,
Sweet Hope, celestial influence round me shed,
Waving thy silver pinions o'er my head.

- by John Keats

posted by theoldman at 12:30 pm (EST) on May 21, 2009

So that means I can stop reading? Awesome. Now I'll have more spare time!

posted by worldcupfever at 1:10 pm (EST) on Aug 29, 2008

Hooray! People DO read in Rockford!

posted by worldcupfever at 1:44 pm (EST) on Aug 27, 2008

Haha, come on, I need some kind of rough estimate here so I can guage just how crazy you really are! ;-) Also wanted to ask, what were you doing in Boston anyways? You really wanna see a huge religions section you should have gone to the Boston Public Library, your eyes would bug out of your head. I had to go in there (what a pain in the ass) to do research for a big paper I was writing for a class called Myth, Magic, and Mystery...Trying to find the kind of books I needed was sooooo over whelming! If they had comfortable seating there I'd never have to buy a book again, I would just sit there all day long

posted by SageWoodWitch at 7:32 pm (EST) on Apr 16, 2008

So I must asked, just how many books did you get and how much money did you spend?

posted by SageWoodWitch at 2:12 pm (EST) on Apr 16, 2008

You are right, Boston does have a lot of bookstores...One of the best is the Harvard Square book store, they sell TONS of remainder books at about 75% off! The other day I saw a Christian dictionary originally $125 for $20!!! Though I didn't get it because I commuted on the subway into the city to see a friend and trying to carry that thing around Boston would have killed me, but you get my point... :-)

posted by SageWoodWitch at 1:33 am (EST) on Apr 16, 2008

Paul Harvey Aurandt (born September 4, 1918), better known as Paul Harvey, is the listed author of "The Rest of the Story" books. I am hoping all the owners of his books will change the author box to say Paul Aurandt so they will untangle the several authors on the Paul Harvey page.
Blsessings-JeanEva

posted by jeaneva at 12:24 pm (EST) on Jun 22, 2007

Too late! The emu will arrive the day afer I leave for Delaware. How on Earth did you know?

posted by WholeHouseLibrary at 12:48 pm (EST) on Jun 20, 2007

Kim,

Thanks for joining. I see that you like to read in the areas of both science and religion. I find that very healthy. Too many people seem to think that they have to make a choice between the two. I've given it much thought and I believe that what it really comes down to (in both the case of religion and the case of science) is a matter of interpretation.

I elaborate on this in some detail in the Consilience posts. One must also bear in mind that neither science nor philosophy has ever really answered Hume's radical skeptism, i.e. his denial of causality. I don't deny it myself - I just attribute it to a different "domain". (I'll have much more to say about that in later posts.

I don't want to go too long. Just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your interest in the group. Most of the members seem to be pretty open minded which is exactly what is needed in pursuit of consilience.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Regards,

Will

posted by DigitalOntology at 3:00 pm (EST) on Apr 21, 2007

Thanks for that eagle-eyed comment about the book by Claudine Vegh. I've changed it to what it should be. Yes, I have read it and found it very moving.

posted by TePuruBeach at 11:03 am (EST) on Apr 21, 2007

I separated the early christian(ity) tags back out again. I agree with you completely. I must have suffered from a temporary lapse in imagination. By the way, you can separate combined tags yourself by clicking on the (what?) link at the end of the "Includes:" list on the Tag Info page. Since tags should only be combined when there are no imaginable differences, you don't need to ask for a go-ahead. I doubt that a tag combiner would ever be bothered when someone identifies a difference that they missed. Work combining/separating is another thing altogether, however--tempers seem to run high when someone keeps separating works that someone else wants to have combined... (or vice versa). Thanks again.

posted by SilentInAWay at 5:32 pm (EST) on Mar 7, 2007

Yes, it never seems too far to go find books! :D

I noticed your comment about your wishlist. ahhh, yes. I added three on just the first visit to your library! lol.

I actually went through and purged my wishlists out of librarything a while back. I'm not sure what possessed me. I didn't lose that information, mind you. It's just all in an Excel file now. :D

Ah well. I'm happy being book crazy.

posted by annabethblue at 12:18 am (EST) on Mar 2, 2007

looks like we have lots of similar interests! :)

posted by annabethblue at 1:28 pm (EST) on Mar 1, 2007

It sounds like time to set a no borrow policy! I just discovered that one of my family "borrowed" my favorite book from when I was a teenager and lost it, so I'm going to have to replace it. There is a strict "look and tell me what you want so I can buy you your own copy!" rule in my house. And don't worry - I'm not worried about yard sale competition. ;) I'm worried about people who hold yard sales finding out who I am and hiding all their books when they see me drive up!

posted by imaginelove at 12:13 pm (EST) on Nov 7, 2006

Hello, my cheap book loving, conservative friend! :) You are a better person than I am for lending out books - I am murderously jealous over mine. I don't even let my mother borrow them...

posted by imaginelove at 10:02 am (EST) on Nov 7, 2006

Hi, thanks for joining the Used Books group. I've never been to Boston, but it sounds like a great place for a bibliophile.

posted by Hermgirl at 2:35 am (EST) on Nov 7, 2006

Thank you for joining the Political Conservatives group. Welcome! You may be interested in the "Conservative Novelists" thread going right now.

And I second the Powells recomendation! Although, I understand that there is a Powells in Chicago (not quite as big as the one in Portland????), so maybe you go there.

posted by ggchickapee at 11:26 am (EST) on Nov 2, 2006

Thanks for joining the LibraryThing Coffeehouse group. I agree with you, Boston is like a book lover's paradise. However, you should try taking a trip to the bibliophile Mecca, Powell's City of Books in Portland, OR. Mmmm. Makes me shiver just thinking about it.

Happy cataloging.

posted by coffeezombie at 10:10 am (EST) on Oct 7, 2006