The Ballad Of The Oysterman by Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Ballad Of The Oysterman

by Oliver Wendell Holmes

It was a tall young oysterman lived by the river-side,

His shop was just upon the bank, his boat was on the tide;

The daughter of a fisherman, that was so straight and slim,

Lived over on the other bank, right opposite to him.

It was the pensive oysterman that saw a lovely maid,

Upon a moonlight evening, a sitting in the shade;

He saw her wave her handkerchief, as much as if to say,

"I 'm wide awake, young oysterman, and all the folks away."

Then up arose the oysterman, and to himself said he,

"I guess I 'll leave the skiff at home, for fear that folks should see

I read it in the story-book, that, for to kiss his dear,

Leander swam the Hellespont,--and I will swim this here."

And he has leaped into the waves, and crossed the shining stream,

And he has clambered up the bank, all in the moonlight gleam;

Oh there were kisses sweet as dew, and words as soft as rain,--

But they have heard her father's step, and in he leaps again!

Out spoke the ancient fisherman,--"Oh, what was that, my daughter?"

"'T was nothing but a pebble, sir, I threw into the water."

"And what is that, pray tell me, love, that paddles off so fast?"

"It's nothing but a porpoise, sir, that 's been a swimming past."

Out spoke the ancient fisherman,--"Now bring me my harpoon!

I'll get into my fishing-boat, and fix the fellow soon."

Down fell that pretty innocent, as falls a snow-white lamb,

Her hair drooped round her pallid cheeks, like sea-weed on a clam.

Alas for those two loving ones! she waked not from her swound,

And he was taken with the cramp, and in the waves was drowned;

But Fate has metamorphosed them, in pity of their woe,

And now they keep an oyster-shop for mermaids down below.

History

The Silver Lyre of Ur
2500 BC pic.twitter.com/h9nUURaYhI

— vintage.stuff (@vintagestuff4) February 16, 2025

 

An Insight

Timely reminder that journalists do not usually tell explicit, out-and-out lies, but they do still lie.

Here's the playbook: https://t.co/DbDGvX98lM pic.twitter.com/xl6wke2oJQ

— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) February 15, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

What the Andromeda galaxy would look like from earth if it was a bit brighter. pic.twitter.com/mLn1YNTOyG

— Curiosity (@MAstronomers) February 15, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

I love Finland. I love their obsession with personal space too. Never have I seen such a hilarious visualisation of how much the Finns love their personal space! It's a real life data visualisation! Source: https://t.co/K7u1OmWZtC
https://t.co/AG2P2SOx0T pic.twitter.com/F7PKUhiMW1

— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) February 15, 2025

 

Data Talks

One pretty cool geological fun fact is that the Appalachian Mountains, the Atlas Mountains, the Scottish Highlands, the Watkins Range and Scandinavian Mountains were all once part of the same mountain range, the Central Pangean Mountains pic.twitter.com/Ceu3LFwDAm

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 17, 2025

 

Lilies, 19th c. by Katsushika Ōi

Lilies, 19th c. by Katsushika Ōi (Japan, 1790-1866)

Click to enlarge.

Smells by Chrisopher Morley

Smells

by Chrisopher Morley

Why is it that the poet tells

So little of the sense of smell?

These are the odors I love well:

The smell of coffee freshly ground;

Or rich plum pudding, holly crowned;

Or onions fried and deeply browned.

The fragrance of a fumy pipe;

The smell of apples, newly ripe;

And printer's ink on leaden type.

Woods by moonlight in September

Breathe most sweet, and I remember

Many a smoky camp-fire ember.

Camphor, turpentine, and tea,

The balsam of a Christmas tree,

These are whiffs of gramarye. . .

A ship smells best of all to me!

History

“This is nice behaviour, that I write to you again and again, and you pay no attention to me.”

This almost 4,000-year-old Babylonian letter in clay is proof that we have been finding ways to say “per my last email” for some time pic.twitter.com/kN472dt5bv

— Dr. Moudhy Al-Rashid (@Moudhy) February 16, 2025

 

An Insight

Northern Ireland is famously home to (at least) two large, distinct communities with their own heritage and cultural traditions.

The BBC doesn't mean "least diverse" here, it means "most white". https://t.co/trkzSKkfuD

— Sam Bidwell (@sam_bidwell) February 15, 2025