Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Literature: Over the Sea to Skye

Thanksgiving is fast approaching chez Pauline, as it is all over the U.S. I haven't the time for a proper post but, in rethinking that, what could be more wonderful than poetry by the author of Treasure Island himself, Robert Louis Stevenson. Enjoy one of his best today, "Over the Sea to Skye." Though it carries a melancholy air, I think - for me at least - it speaks to the need to move forward. We are not who we were a year ago, nor who we will be a year from now. And yet, we are always we... See this as my way to say thank you to each and every one of the Brethren ~

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.

Mull was astern, Rum on the port,
Eiggon the starboard bow;
Glory of youth glowed in his soul;
Where is that glory now?

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.

Give me again all that was there,
Give me the sun that shone!
Give me the eyes, give me the soul,
Give me the lad that's gone!

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,
Say, could that lad be I?
Merry of soul he sailed on a day
Over the sea to Skye.

Billow and breeze, islands and seas,
Mountains of rain and sun,
All that was good, all that was fair,
All that was me is gone.

Header: The Sea at Sunderland by Laurence S. Lowry c 1965 via Old Paint

3 comments:

  1. Nice peom, Pauline. I can definitely empathize with the sentiment.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and to all the Brethren!

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  2. Touch of the Logan pathos there, sez I. What care I for roasted bird when I can sup on the romance of the sea and the longing for youth past?

    Nicely chosen. The Brethren are not of the ilk to to cheer mundane holidays for their own sake. To Pauline and all the rovers: a tankard raised, and thanks for being here another turn of the sun.

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  3. Huzzah and thankee! I hope your holiday weekend is treating you and yours well, brother.

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