The Last Days of Pompeii

Artist: Karl Briullov

Most interesting and surprising discoveries are made by pure chance.  The discovery may something as small as the remote control under a newspaper, as a house key in the laundry basket. 

There was a discovery of monument size here, or so we thought.  One of my grandmother’s book given to me (in 1972) turned out to more interesting than originally thought:  The Last Days of Pompeii by Sir Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton, 1^st Baron Lytton.

Source: in his later life

My husband was delighted upon seeing that the book, published in 1884, was in mint condition.  We had just seen “Pompeii” at the theater---predictable plot, predictable ending.  To ease his excitement over the book’s possible value, Wikipedia® was accessed and Sir Bulwer-Lytton was there!!

Value of the 1884 edition mass printed book:  about $5.00, despite its age.

What discovery, you may ask.  Well, I’ll tell you.

Sir Edward B-L was an intelligent man who achieved many honorary titles and wrote many very popular books in the mid-1800s.  This made him wealthy and respected.

Considering some unwise romantic choices, his personal life was always in an uproar.  Even so, The Right Honorable Lord Lytton, PC is responsible for some amazing phrases that follow/haunt all writers who wish to avoid clichés.

Recognize these:

“…the great unwashed…”  

“The pen is mightier than the sword…” 

“…pursuit of the almighty dollar….” 

And, of course, 

“…It was a dark and stormy night…”

In honor of such a writer, there is a contest: The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, in which participants create the most terrible opening sentences for imaginary novels.

"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents---except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."  Bulwer-Lytton

While my copy of The Last Days of Pompeii is not a great discovery, the man Bulwer-Lytton surely is.

Song of the Soil: Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman has been called “The Father of Free-Verse”, as a writer in the mid-1850s who was pulling away from traditional rhyming poetry.  So very talented, Whitman was a teacher, a government employee, journalist, and a volunteer nurse during the Civil War.

Walt Whitman was connected to the earth, the soil, and he wrote passionately about its beauty, as well as its cycles of life and death.  Toward the end of his life, he moved to Laurel Springs, New Jersey, which he called “the prettiest lake in: America or Europe.”

I took these photos in Bremgarten bie Bern, Switzerland, when I visited my new grandson (and his parents) in 2012.  The photos reminded me of Walt Whitman’s poetry.

One day....

...and then the next.

A song of the grass and fields!

A song of the soil, and the good green grass!

A song no more of the city streets,

A song of the soil of the fields.

A song with the smell of sun-dried hay, where the nimble pitchers

        
             handle the pitch-fork,

A song tasting of new wheat, and of fresh-husk’d maize.

Please notice the next field over is green and tasseled with stalks of corn.

There Be Dragons....

Bish's place

Bish Denham from http://bish-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/ has given me an award, “Dragon’s Loyalty Award”.  One has to love dragons, and I be no different.

There are some requirements to accepting awards, however:  1) tell seven things about yourself; and, 2) award 15 other recipients and notify them of the award.

This is the hard part for me.  All bloggers who read and comment on my blog delight me totally!  Also, I don’t want to put a burden of continuing the award-giving on these bloggers.  So, I will change this a bit.

I hope Bish won’t mind…she is such a dear blogging friend whose writing and perspective I admire.  Award giving is a way of honoring someone whose blogs have impressed the reader.  

Sooooo…. I will post the Dragon award in this post, and invite readers to copy and paste with the URL from where it came, AND write seven things about yourself.

Without any more whining or such, here are seven things about myself:

     1.  I lived in Ireland for a few years, where my husband’s family owned and operated a hotel, Hotel Vienna Woods, Glanmire, Co. Cork.

1985

.

    2.   Seeing a baby turns me into a mound of grandma goo,  “bbbaaaabbbyyyy!”

    3.  Discovering things about my ancestors has become interesting.

    4.  I love to see an old photo, speculate about the frozen images, and write about them.

    5.  I hate summer.

    6.  I love rain.  (Southern California)

Rain, real rain!

    7.  A swimming pool has to be above 80° for me to take the plunge.

Now…whatcha got?

Please use this award as an opportunity to share something about you...I wrote "grandma goo", didn't I?!