Good-Bye By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good-Bye

By Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good-bye, proud world! I'm going home:

Thou art not my friend, and I'm not thine.

Long through thy weary crowds I roam;

A river-ark on the ocean brine,

Long I've been tossed like the driven foam;

But now, proud world! I'm going home.

Good-bye to Flattery's fawning face;

To Grandeur with his wise grimace;

To upstart Wealth's averted eye;

To supple Office, low and high;

To crowded halls, to court and street;

To frozen hearts and hasting feet;

To those who go, and those who come;

Good-bye, proud world! I'm going home.

I am going to my own hearth-stone,

Bosomed in yon green hills alone, —

A secret nook in a pleasant land,

Whose groves the frolic fairies planned;

Where arches green, the livelong day,

Echo the blackbird's roundelay,

And vulgar feet have never trod

A spot that is sacred to thought and God.

O, when I am safe in my sylvan home,

I tread on the pride of Greece and Rome;

And when I am stretched beneath the pines,

Where the evening star so holy shines,

I laugh at the lore and the pride of man,

At the sophist schools, and the learned clan;

For what are they all, in their high conceit,

When man in the bush with God may meet?

History

That heart-rending ancient Roman epitaph for a pet dog often wrongly called 'Patricus' - the text has Patricē, meaning it was a girl (so 'Patricia').
A new translation in verse: pic.twitter.com/m7LWAIqzad

— Armand D'Angour (@ArmandDAngour) February 20, 2025

 

An Insight

This person moderated a debate where she cut J.D. Vance's mic. https://t.co/f55szpVfpN

— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) February 17, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

At 4:30pm, Leland Dudek's boss put him on leave for helping DOGE find fraud. “They want to fire me,” he wrote. "I confess. I helped DOGE understand SSA."

Within hours, it was his boss who was fired, and the longtime SSA waste-watcher was elevated to lead the whole agency. pic.twitter.com/q6DcczSDaR

— Luke Rosiak (@lukerosiak) February 19, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

And 1, the very greatest, as recounted by director John Boorman. The one that ends with a CHP officer asking "Do you know you have Lee Marvin on your roof?" pic.twitter.com/xeCzBsbNBj

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) February 19, 2025

 

Data Talks

This is so true, except sweden has 10.5M people and 43 dollar billionaires.

A bit of info on Sweden, a tax haven for billionaires.

We don’t have property tax or wealth tax, and have abolished the inheritance tax.

Billionaires tend to have their gains from a single /few… https://t.co/J9B6vdvMdF

— Linus Ekenstam – eu/acc (@LinusEkenstam) February 21, 2025

 

Cathedral in Winter, 1821 by Ernst Ferdinand Oehme

Cathedral in Winter, 1821 by Ernst Ferdinand Oehme (Germany, 1797–1855) 

Click to enlarge.

Opportunity by Edward Rowland Sill

Opportunity

by Edward Rowland Sill

This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:—

There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;

And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged

A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords

Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner

Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.

A craven hung along the battle's edge,

And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel—

That blue blade that the king's son bears,— but this

Blunt thing—!" He snapped and flung it from his hand,

And lowering crept away and left the field.

Then came the king's son, wounded sore bested,

And weaponless, and saw the broken sword

Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,

And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout

Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down

And saved a great cause that heroic day.

History

Carvilio Ring; a 2000 year old ‘Hologram’ enclosed in a gold jewel :

The history of the uniquely designed ring dates back 2000 years. The ring of Titus Carvilius Gemello was found on the finger of a Roman matron, the noble Aebutia Quarta, in so-called Flavio-Trajanic Tomb, now… pic.twitter.com/elvE9xDwWF

— Archaeo - Histories (@archeohistories) February 17, 2025

 

An Insight

What will happen in broader academia when clear scientific consensus is that AI-assisted education delivers better outcomes than 3.8M teachers currently do?

— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) February 15, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

Over 200,000 tons of volcanic basalt was removed to carve the Kailasa Temple at Ellora... pic.twitter.com/AVU0tT0wdn

— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) February 17, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

Greatest Lee Marvin stories, ranked:

3: Drunkenly forgetting where his Hollywood Hills home was, buying one of those star maps from a kid to find his own address, then showing up at the house only to have the new owner tell him "Lee, you sold me this house four years ago." https://t.co/wKrJkoYOJj

— Zack Stentz (@MuseZack) February 19, 2025

 

Data Talks

Explore oil rents as a share of GDP for more countries: https://t.co/Kq6r9ff9Ug

— Our World in Data (@OurWorldInData) February 21, 2025

 

East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1914 by Kay Nielsen (

East of the Sun and West of the Moon, 1914 by Kay Nielsen (Denmark, 1886-1957)

Click to enlarge.

There was a Young Lady of Niger by Anonymous

There was a Young Lady of Niger

by Anonymous

There was a young lady of Niger

Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;

They returned from the ride

With the lady inside,

And the smile on the face of the tiger.

History

Blackfriars Pub, have always fascinated me these slim Victorians buildings built to maximise land usage pic.twitter.com/RhuVXlzsQf

— Joe Flanagan (@joeflanagan1) February 15, 2025

 

An Insight

I was raised on Grimm's fairy tales which warned children to watch their back when step-parents came into the home (Snow White, Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel). Of course, most step-parents are wonderful. But maybe these fairytales persist because they have a point...

— Claire Lehmann 🇦🇺🇺🇦 (@clairlemon) February 15, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

A drone operator located a lost puppy who had been missing for 34 hours in deep snow. The thermal-imaging footage made for a heartwarming reunion both literally and figuratively. 12/10 (FB: North Country Drone Search & Recovery) pic.twitter.com/TGTfkFtuMS

— WeRateDogs (@dog_rates) February 13, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

Impossible to find a Sioux chef. https://t.co/0ggrIW4xp4

— Chef Andrew Gruel (@ChefGruel) February 18, 2025

 

An ugly edge case which is also clarifying

An edge case that challenges our modern epistemic environment. 

A Turkish woman, pursuing graduate studies at Tufts University, has been detained for deportation on the grounds that she supports terrorist organizations.  

Opponents to the detention and prospective deportation are focusing on whether she was targeted in transgression of her free speech rights.  

Easily located are legacy mainstream media articles in support of the woman, Rumeysa Ozturk.  See the New York Times for example:  Targeting of Tufts Student for Deportation Stuns Friends and Teachers by Anemona Hartocollis.  The subheading is The Trump administration said she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas.” Her friends and lawyers say all she did was co-author an essay critical of the war in Gaza.

Also extensively shared, are videos of her detention.

The horrific moment that Tufts grad student and anti-war activist Rumeysa Ozturk was detained (kidnapped) by Trump’s ICE thugs.

Somerville, MA #FreePalestine #FreeRemeysa pic.twitter.com/eetyAN1LSF

— Working Mass (@DSAWorkingMass) March 26, 2025

Among all the tweets, you can immediately tell where the poster sits based on the framing:  "She was detained . . ." versus "She was kidnapped . . . " versus "She was taken into custody .  . ."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has a clear explanation of why she was detained.

 

WATCH 🔴

Marco Rubio on Rumeysa Ozturk, the Turkish student who was detained:

“We revoked her visa. It’s an F-1 visa, I believe. We revoked it, and here’s why—I’ve said it everywhere, and I’ll say it again.

Let me be abundantly clear: If you apply for a student visa to come to… pic.twitter.com/ysnncquYue

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 27, 2025

Finally, it appears that the Secretary of State does have broad latitude for revoking any visa at any time on the basis of national security concerns, fraud, or ineligibility based on new information.  

So where are we?  Dangerous terrorist supporter?  Victim of free speech abridgment?   Authoritarian overreach by the Secretary of State or pragmatic pursuit of legitimate policy (against terrorism and against antisemitism)?  Is Rumeysa Ozturk a real danger to the safety and security of the nation or is she a naive student who F***ed around and Found Out?

Rubio's argument seems pragmatic and unexceptional.  We have no obligation to admit individuals who choose to constitute a danger to person, property, or our Republic.  If they engage in such activities, the Secretary of State has broad latitude to revoke their visa and then deport them.  

Lawyers will be arguing the details of every part of that statement, as they do make pedantic arguments to win points, but from a practical perspective, I am comfortable working from the above assumptions.

Further, I have to assume, for the time being, that all the evidence is in the public forum.  The government could very well have additional knowledge which bears on their actions but which is not out there yet.  

Based solely on what is known and reported though, this seems a marked edge case.

While there are complications to the government's position, the Mahmoud Khalil case at Columbia University is comparatively straight-forward.  He actively led and participated in actions on campus which led to the destruction of University property, disruption of classes and operations, and which entailed the harassment and assault of University students based on their religion.  Further, the actions have the plausible appearance of being in support of properly designated terrorist groups such as Hamas.

His actions were illegal (property crimes, violent protest, harassment and injury) regardless of visa, residence, or citizenship status.

Rumeysa Ozturk does not seem comparable (based on public information).  It seems that she co-authored an op-ed which brought attention to her and which in turn led to her detention.

What has been striking is that in none of the many initial accounts, did anyone, sympathetic or otherwise, link to the op-ed.  This raised my suspicions.  If it was so clearly innocuous, they would have mention as part of the general indictment of the inexcusably broad net being cast.

It took me a while to find, but the op-ed is online; Try again, President Kumar: Renewing calls for Tufts to adopt March 4 TCU Senate resolutions by Rumeysa Ozturk, Fatima Rahman, Genesis Perez and Nicholas Ambeliotis, Published Tuesday, March 26, 2024.  

Ozturk and her colleagues are demanding that the Tufts University administration "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide, apologize for University President Sunil Kumar’s statements, disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel."  

The Tufts Community Union Senate passed a number of pro-Palestine, pro-BDS resolutions which the University administration appears to be ignoring.  

Fairly run-of-the-mill pro-Palestinian demands which are frequently associated with on-campus antisemitism and are congruent with the sentiments and objectives of various terrorist groups such as Hamas.  But it sure looks only like speech, nothing incendiary or directly linked to violence.

Is Rubio simply exercising discretionary power over-broadly?  What else is in the op-ed?

It reads sophomorically in a high school fashion of overindulged students with an exaggerated concept of their wisdom and rights over others and a disposition to overstate the facts and represent themselves as speaking for everyone when they are only speaking for themselves.

There is much rhetoric and hothouse conviction with little credibility.  Much of the argument is dependent on very fine parsing of words.  

There appear to me to be no calls for violence.  In fact, it very much reads as a childish proclamation of self-importance.  

The only real hook I see, bar one, is that the op-ed alludes to the Graduate Students for Palestine group and the Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine as opposed to the administration.  It is possible that the authors of the editorial are members of one or both of those groups and that each or both might have a more explicit role in violent protests with illegal actions.  

Graduate Students for Palestine seems to be a nationwide group closely affiliated with violent and antisemitic protests and actions.  The ADL has a writeup for Students for Justice in Palestine.  Key points include:

• SJP refers to a network of anti-Zionist student groups on university campuses across the U.S.
• SJP is also used as shorthand for National SJP or NSJP, the National Students for Justice in Palestine, which is led by a Steering Committee.
• Individual SJP chapters and National SJP have justified and/or glorified the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel. They were also a central organizer of the 2024 student encampments across US universities and colleges.
• SJP chapters take their cues from NSJP and often promote and cross-post the same messaging and “calls to action” on social media and at protests.
• National SJP (NSJP) and many SJP chapters have called for "Zionists"— those who believe in the Jewish people's right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland and have connections to Israel—to be removed from campus spaces or from universities altogether. Some SJP chapters have called to ban Hillel (the premier Jewish student group in the US) and Chabad, and some activists have gone so far as to call for harassing or intimidating Zionists and vandalizing Zionist institutions.
• Many SJP chapters have shared explicit pro-Hamas or other FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organizations) rhetoric on social media, including through the promotion of FTO statements and images featuring members of FTOs, at times with weapons.

The authors of the editorial refer to the support of their points by Graduate Students for Palestine and Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine, both nationwide alliances of students pursuing violent protest on university campuses and in support of Hamas and in opposition to Israel and with reasonably explicit degrees of antisemitism.  

Was Rumeysa Ozturk in any way affiliated with either Graduate Students for Palestine or the Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine?  If so, then the deportation order makes much greater sense.  If not, then it is still very much an edge case.

That's about as far as I got with fifteen minutes of research.

I am uncomfortable that the rational for the deportation order seems based on free speech.  On the other hand, I fully support that the Secretary of State seems to have the authority to make a determination whether a visa holder's actions, even if non-violent, and even if otherwise protected speech for citizens, might pose a potential danger for US citizens.

Ozturk co-authored an editorial that is seemingly consonant with the objectives of two violent advocacy groups who explicitly support the objectives of Hamas and also explicitly oppose the existence and actions of a longterm US ally, Israel.  

Is that sufficient grounds to deport her?

I would prefer a clearer case, of which there are many.  But way out on the edge, even if she is non-violent herself, not in a leadership position of either violent group and perhaps not even a member of either group?

I don't like it but if pressed, I am fine with someone in the administration making a pragmatic decision along the lines articulated by Rubio.  You are a guest of this nation and you are admitted to pursue an education, not to function in an advocacy role against the interests of the citizens and the nation.  

Data Talks

Worth noting that all the recent news over plane crashes is probably just the result of attention bias

Plane crashes are still on a downward trend https://t.co/JeHpgGEuY1 pic.twitter.com/768V5nD4Ap

— Maxwell Tabarrok (@MTabarrok) February 18, 2025

 

Have No Shadow, 1940 by Kay Sage

Have No Shadow, 1940 by Kay Sage (America, 1898-1963)

Click to enlarge.

To the Terrestrial Globe by William Schwenck Gilbert

To the Terrestrial Globe

by a Miserable Wretch

by William Schwenck Gilbert

Roll on, thou ball, roll on!

Through pathless realms of Space

Roll on!

What though I'm in a sorry case?

What though I cannot meet my bills?

What though I suffer toothache's ills?

What though I swallow countless pills?

Never you mind!

Roll on!

Roll on, thou ball, roll on!

Through seas of inky air

Roll on!

It's true I've got no shirts to wear;

It's true my butcher's bill is due;

It's true my prospects all look blue -

But don't let that unsettle you!

Never you mind!

Roll on!

[It rolls on.]

History

Fabergé Egg, 1901 pic.twitter.com/GTT3vnvRuw

— Muse (@xmuse_) February 17, 2025

 

An Insight

“Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth.”

— Niccolo Machiavelli

— Niccolò Machiavelli | The Prince ⚔️ (@NiccoloDaily) February 15, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

In 1985, pilot Scott Gordon found himself in a hairy situation with a landing gear glitch.

Another pilot drove down the runway in his Audi at 90 mph while a mechanic worked his magic out the sunroof to free the jammed gear pic.twitter.com/eBOHifD3bI

— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) February 16, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

See, this is what happens when you don't stow your tray table for landing.https://t.co/7P48YxHx58

— Mark Krikorian (@MarkSKrikorian) February 18, 2025

 

Data Talks

His Secretary of State is Cuban, his Attorney General is a woman, his Secretary of Agriculture is a woman, his nominee for Labor Secretary is a Hispanic woman, his HUD Secretary is a black man, his Secretary of Education is a woman, his Secretary of Homeland Security is a woman,… https://t.co/UG1OJeM9hk

— Sunny (@sunnyright) February 18, 2025

 

Les Vacances, 1996 by Ivan Lubennikov

Les Vacances, 1996 by Ivan Lubennikov (Russia, 1951-2021)

Click to enlarge.

The Legend Of The First Cam-u-el by Arthur Guiterman

The Legend Of The First Cam-u-el

An Arabian Apologue

by Arthur Guiterman

Across the sands of Syria,

Or possibly Algeria,

Or some benighted neighborhood of barrenness and drouth,

There came the Prophet Samu-u-el

Upon the Only Cam-u-el –

A bumpy, grumpy Quadruped of discontented mouth.

The atmosphere was glutinous;

The Cam-u-el was mutinous;

He dumped the pack from off his back; with

Horrid grunts and squeals

He made the desert hideous;

With strategy perfidious

He tied his neck in curlicues, he kicked his paddy heels.

Then quoth the gentle Sam-u-el,

“You rogue, I ought to lam you well!

Though zealously I’ve shielded you from every

grief and woe,

It seems, to voice a platitude,

You haven’t any gratitude.

I’d like to hear what cause you have for doing

thus and so!”

To him replied the Cam-u-el,

“I beg your pardon, Sam-u-el,

I know that I’m a Reprobate, I know that I’m a

Freak;

But, oh! This utter loneliness!

My too-distinguished Onliness!

Were there but other Cam-u-els I wouldn’t be

unique.”

The Prophet beamed beguilingly.

“Aha,” he answered, smilingly,

“You feel the need of company? I clearly under-

stand.

We’ll speedily create for you

The corresponding mate for you –

Ho! Presto, change-o, dinglebat!” – he waved a

potent hand,

And lo! From out Vacuity

A second Incongruity,

To wit, a Lady Cam-u-el was born through magic

art.

Her structure anatomical,

Her form and face were comical;

She was, in short, a Cam-u-el, the other’s counter-

part.

As Spaniards gaze on Aragon,

Upon that Female Paragon

So gazed the Prophet’s Cam-u-el, that primal

Desert Ship.

A connoisseur meticulous,

He found her that ridiculous

He grinned from ear to auricle until he split his lip!

Because of his temerity

That Cam-u-el’s posterity

Must wear divided upper lips through all their

solemn lives!

A prodigy astonishing

Reproachfully admonishing

Those wicked, heartless married men who ridicule their wives.

History

5,000-Year-Old Petroglyphs of Mongolia: Ancient Art That Reveals a Lost World -

The petroglyphs of Mongolia, etched into rock faces over 5,000 years ago, offer a profound glimpse into ancient civilizations. Found across the rugged landscapes of Khövsgöl, Altai, and the Gobi… pic.twitter.com/bqkBT5nbjm

— ArchaeoHistories (@histories_arch) February 17, 2025

 

An Insight

🎯🎯 @ZubyMusic pic.twitter.com/oIo7tpyMqa

— Rothmus 🏴 (@Rothmus) February 15, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

The perfect geometry of Hoya flowers

five-pointed double-star shapes that bloom from a sphere called an umbel

pic.twitter.com/tOsv2iezmw

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) February 16, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

Al Sharpton:

“Can you imagine if Thomas Jefferson tried to overthrow the government?”

pic.twitter.com/cz94NKEP7T

— Ian Jaeger (@IanJaeger29) February 16, 2025

 

Data Talks

Hey @DataRepublican people are already putting your tool in action in Minnesota State politics.

Someone used it to connect a new proposed bill to appropriate $15M to a MPLS non-profit w/ a current MN State Rep serving as one of its directors. pic.twitter.com/h70HOihBkD

— Ashley Boldin (@TechniGal_Ash) February 17, 2025

 

Daybreak Snowfall, 2011 by William H. Hays

Daybreak Snowfall, 2011 by William H. Hays (America, 1956 - )

Click to enlarge.

The Jester Condemned to Death by Horace Smith

The Jester Condemned to Death

by Horace Smith

One of the Kings of Scanderoon,

A royal jester,

Had in his train a gross buffoon,

Who used to pester

The court with tricks inopportune,

Venting on the highest folks his

Scurvy pleasantries and hoaxes.

It needs some sense to play the fool;

Which wholesome rule

Occurr'd not to our jackanapes,

Who consequently found his freaks

Lead to innumerable scrapes,

And quite as many kicks and tweaks,

Which only seem'd to make him faster

Try the patience of his master.

Some sin at last, beyond all measure,

Incurr'd the desperate displeasure

Of his serene and raging highness:

Whether the wag had twitch'd his beard,

Which he was bound to have revered,

Or had intruded on the shyness

Of the seraglio, or let fly

An epigram at royalty,

None knows—his sin was an occult one;

But records tell us that the sultan,

Meaning to terrify the knave,

Exclaim'd—“'Tis time to stop that breath;

Thy doom is seal'd;—presumptuous slave!

Thou stand'st condemn'd to certain death

Silence, base rebel!—no replying!—

But such is my indulgence still,

That, of my own free grace and will,

I leave to thee the mode of dying.”

“Thy royal will be done—'tis just,”

Replied the wretch, and kiss'd the dust;

“Since, my last moments to assuage,

Your majesty's humane decree

Has deign'd to leave the choice to me,

I'll die, so please you, of old age.”

History

Whale Effigy
Chumash (California, West Coast)
c. 1200-1600 pic.twitter.com/JBsqCkKtLv

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

 

An Insight

Roger Scruton, this is it pic.twitter.com/JXStU3ztaP

— Dylan O'Sullivan (@DylanoA4) February 15, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

Thanks to Harvard University, you can now virtually enter the Great Pyramid of Giza in 3D and 360º

Tour: https://t.co/pvYF06u7bcpic.twitter.com/l3eVXl0hGX

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 15, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

Democrats Demand Transparency From Man Who Posts Literally Everything He Does On The Internet https://t.co/9EEXJjtlSz pic.twitter.com/ARR3GJmWPf

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) February 15, 2025

 

Data Talks

European left green politicians telling JD Vance to mind his own business after his Munich speech, probably don’t understand that Europe is not able to defend itself without the US. In such critical moment in history, is it just unwise arrogance, or naivety and ignorance? pic.twitter.com/QcW6dvpjCB

— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) February 17, 2025

 

An Arctic Camp by Robert Fawcett

An Arctic Camp by Robert Fawcett (America, 1903-1967)

Click to enlarge.

Uh, guys?

Today there was one of those momentary kerfuffles where the Democratic Party and legacy Mainstream Media thought they had a killer issue with which to beat Trump.  Somehow, Trump-hater Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic Magazine got added to a Signals secure chat session with senior leaders of the government.  The how and why yet to be determined.

Goldberg, as is his wont, claimed a Category 5 storm which seems rapidly to be devolving into ruffled waters in a tea cup.  It is still playing out and it might be something but seems to be much ado about nothing.  

I did like this historical recollection when this happened before.

pic.twitter.com/3LAOAAOJJu

— Carl (@HistoryBoomer) March 25, 2025

 

The Yarn of the Nancy Bell by Sir William Schwenck Gilbert

The Yarn of the Nancy Bell

by Sir William Schwenck Gilbert

'Twas on the shores that round our coast

From Deal to Ramsgate span,

That I found alone on a piece of stone

An elderly naval man.

His hair was weedy, his beard was long,

And weedy and long was he,

And I heard this wight on the shore recite,

In a singular minor key:

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,

And the mate of the Nancy brig,

And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite, 

And the crew of the captain's gig."

And he shook his fists and he tore his hair,

Till I really felt afraid,

For I couldn't help thinking the man had been drinking,

And so I simply said:

"Oh, elderly man, it's little I know

Of the duties of men of the sea,

And I'll eat my hand if I understand

However you can be

'At once a cook, and a captain bold,

And the mate of the Nancy brig,

And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,

And the crew of the captain's gig.'"

Then he gave a hitch to his trousers, which

Is a trick all seamen larn,

And having got rid of a thumping quid,

He spun this painful yarn:

"'Twas in the good ship Nancy Bell

That we sailed to the Indian Sea,

And there on a reef we come to grief,

Which has often occurred to me.

'And pretty nigh all the crew was drowned

(There was seventy-seven o' soul),

And only ten of the Nancy's men

Said 'Here!' to the muster-roll.

'There was me and the cook and the captain bold,

And the mate of the Nancy brig,

And the bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,

And the crew of the captain's gig.

'For a month we'd neither wittles nor drink,

Till a-hungry we did feel,

So we drawed a lot, and, accordin' shot

The captain for our meal.

'The next lot fell to the Nancy's mate,

And a delicate dish he made;

Then our appetite with the midshipmite

We seven survivors stayed.

'And then we murdered the bo'sun tight,

And he much resembled pig;

Then we wittled free, did the cook and me,

On the crew of the captain's gig.

'Then only the cook and me was left,

And the delicate question,"Which

Of us two goes to the kettle" arose,

And we argued it out as sich.

'For I loved that cook as a brother, I did,

And the cook he worshipped me;

But we'd both be blowed if we'd either be stowed

In the other chap's hold, you see.

"I'll be eat if you dines off me,"says TOM;

'Yes, that,' says I, 'you'll be, '

'I'm boiled if I die, my friend, ' quoth I;

And "Exactly so," quoth he.

'Says he,"Dear JAMES, to murder me

Were a foolish thing to do,

For don't you see that you can't cook me,

While I can and will cook you!"

'So he boils the water, and takes the salt

And the pepper in portions true

(Which he never forgot), and some chopped shalot.

And some sage and parsley too.

"Come here,"says he, with a proper pride,

Which his smiling features tell,

"'T will soothing be if I let you see

How extremely nice you'll smell."

'And he stirred it round and round and round,

And he sniffed at the foaming froth;

When I ups with his heels, and smothers his squeals

In the scum of the boiling broth.

'And I eat that cook in a week or less,

And as I eating be

The last of his chops, why, I almost drops,

For a wessel in sight I see!

* * * * * *

"And I never larf, and I never smile,

And I never lark nor play,

But I sit and croak, and a single joke

I have--which is to say:

"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,

And the mate of the Nancy brig,

And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,

And the crew of the captain's gig!"

History

Canada had negative net-migration in second half of 19th century. By 1900, 1.2 million Canadians had settled in the United States - about 18% of the total Canadian population. https://t.co/xTh6SCBAyH pic.twitter.com/mMx1wPHzu0

— Nemets (@Peter_Nimitz) February 18, 2025

 

An Insight

Most reasonably-performing minority groups are far more conservative than whites, and this will never not be funny.

"We're fine with most of you pa'heka: you taught us the rugby! But NOT THEM HOMOS!!!" https://t.co/5lKhNrVc4W

— Wilfred Reilly (@wil_da_beast630) February 15, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

Crashing waves off the coast of Ireland 🌊
pic.twitter.com/zR9Gqur2Go

— Earth (@earthcurated) February 14, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

Click to enlarge.

Data Talks

Wonder what France did in the 1970s, guess we’ll never know pic.twitter.com/Py9bNlNTCp

— Alec Stapp (@AlecStapp) February 17, 2025

 

Diane and Acteon by Bernard Boutet de Monvel

Diane and Acteon by Bernard Boutet de Monvel (France, 1881-1949)

Click to enlarge.

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

 

I see wonderful things

I don’t think you realize how impressive this is pic.twitter.com/nBynJCCvqj

— Dudes Posting Their W’s (@DudespostingWs) February 14, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

Donald Trump's infamous mugshot is hanging in the hallway entrance to the Oval Office 🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/QtZ9J9tp0j

— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) February 14, 2025

 

Data Talks

Research conducted in the West shows that, on average, men have higher self-esteem than women, and that self-esteem rises with age. But how universal are these findings?

[Link below.] pic.twitter.com/cTyPWZIpoi

— Steve Stewart-Williams (@SteveStuWill) February 16, 2025

 

August, 1939/40 by Harold Harvey

August, 1939/40 by Harold Harvey (England, 1874-1941)

Click to enlarge.

A Lady by Amy Lowell

A Lady

by Amy Lowell

You are beautiful and faded,

Like an old opera tune

Played upon a harpsichord;

Or like the sun-flooded silks

Of an eighteenth-century boudoir. In your eyes

Smoulder the fallen roses of outlived minutes,

And the perfume of your soul

Is vague and suffusing,

With the pungence of sealed spice-jars.

Your half-tones delight me,

And I grow mad with gazing

At your blent colors.

My vigor is a new-minted penny,

Which I cast at your feet.

Gather it up from the dust

That its sparkle may amuse you.

History

Canada had negative net-migration in second half of 19th century. By 1900, 1.2 million Canadians had settled in the United States - about 18% of the total Canadian population. https://t.co/xTh6SCBAyH pic.twitter.com/mMx1wPHzu0

— Nemets (@Peter_Nimitz) February 18, 2025

 

History

A remarkable discovery in Pompeii has revealed a Roman chariot in exceptionally well-preserved condition. Buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius over 2,000 years ago, the chariot remains almost untouched, providing a rare glimpse into the luxurious lifestyle of ancient Romans.… pic.twitter.com/JJPevhnMV3

— ArchaeoHistories (@histories_arch) March 11, 2025

 

An Insight

The statements of science are not of what is true and what is not true, but statements of what is known with different degrees of certainty.

— Prof. Richard Feynman (@FeynmanBot) February 15, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

This only happens to you once. 😃 pic.twitter.com/7c8WlKRrWm

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 13, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

North Dakotans are like "what's an interstate" https://t.co/qyNJouZ1Pd

— Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) February 13, 2025

 

Data Talks

I created this GDP per capita chart for the American States and Provinces. Based on 2024 data.

Alberta, right out of the gate, would be a powerhouse state. Without Ottawa dragging us down, Alberta would probably be a top 10 states in no time.

7 Canadian provinces would be at… pic.twitter.com/AVILOOrpqr

— Martyupnorth®- Unacceptable Fact Checker (@Martyupnorth_2) February 14, 2025

 

A Lambeth Alley, 1920s by Douglas Percy Bliss

A Lambeth Alley, 1920s by Douglas Percy Bliss (Scotland, 1900-1984)

Click to enlarge.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers By Langston Hughes

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

(To W.E.B. DuBois)

By Langston Hughes

I’ve known rivers:

I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

History

Linnaeus's flower clock is a fascinating and historical concept created by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century.

In 1751, Linnaeus designed a flower clock as a way to show how different flowers bloom at specific times of the day, thus creating a living "clock"… pic.twitter.com/w2RKheUU72

— Flower Show (@TheFlowerShow) February 15, 2025

 

An Insight

Sarah Palin brought out her kids once and you called one a retard and made rape jokes about the other….. https://t.co/HrMQMQAheR

— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) February 14, 2025

 

I see wonderful things

Foxtail lily blooming.

[📹 gardener_community]pic.twitter.com/RBM3TJoBwa

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 15, 2025

 

Offbeat Humor

The Wife Carrying World Championships have been held annually in Sonkajärvi, Finland, since 1992: the prize for the winner is the wife's weight in beer. pic.twitter.com/N8ExxOyocR

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 13, 2025

 

Data Talks

Lower parental involvement in family relationships predicts sons’ romantic investment and behavior: when fathers are less invested, sons go on to be less invested in their own romantic relationships. pic.twitter.com/RrcX9M6qk9

— Alexander (@datepsych) February 15, 2025

 

A London Square in Winter, 1941 by Douglas Percy Bliss

A London Square in Winter, 1941 by Douglas Percy Bliss (Scotland, 1900-1984)

Click to enlarge.

The barriers are more obvious than are the alternatives

A good roundup of data and opinions from How Deep Is the Hole Democrats Are In? by Ruy Teixeira.  The subheading is Pretty deep.

I have argued in the past that Democrats became divorced from national culture beginning in the late 1990s and then suffered structurally from the Obama years when his electoral skill benefitted only his own personal campaigns.  The Democratic Party suffered massively, dropping more than 1,000 elected positions nationwide and in the process losing much of its bench strength and pipeline of new talent.  

Post Obama, the Democratic Party policy focus drifted ever further from the interests and concerns of the electorate, addressing ever more abstract, esoteric and fundamentally inconsequential issues.  

In 2024 they had values and policies abhorrent to the electorate and mediocre candidates at best.  Looking forward towards 2028, the talent pipeline is just as empty.  That Rahm Emanuel and Josh Shapiro are probably their strongest prospects is an astonishing indictment.  That their field consists of shopworn has-beens such as Newsom, Pritzker, Walz, and Harris is evidence of the Obama extinction event when the pipeline was obliterated.  

If, and a big if, they lose both their financial arm, ActBlue, which seems not improbable, and if they also lose the until now unquantified but apparently massive financial support of the Federal Budget via programs such as USAID and the more traditional financial support of allied universities, Democrats would suffer yet another blow to survivability.

At the beginning of 2025, Democrats have lost voters on a massive scale.  Their policy portfolio is alien to much of the voting population.  These two issues are the focus of Teixeira's update.  In addition, though, the Democrat's talent pipeline is meager and their financial juggernaut is wheezing and possibly rickety.

Bad as it is seems, nothing is determinative.  Parties bounce back.  The electorate is fickle.  A roster with weak insiders opens doors for new and unexpected talent.  

As deep a hole as they currently are in, Democrats can come back and come back stronger.  

In the current circumstances though, the challenges to a party resurrection are far more clear than are the means by which that resurrection might happen.

Martin by Joyce Kilmer

Martin

by Joyce Kilmer

When I am tired of earnest men,

Intense and keen and sharp and clever,

Pursuing fame with brush or pen

Or counting metal disks forever,

Then from the halls of Shadowland

Beyond the trackless purple sea

Old Martin's ghost comes back to stand

Beside my desk and talk to me.

Still on his delicate pale face

A quizzical thin smile is showing,

His cheeks are wrinkled like fine lace,

His kind blue eyes are gay and glowing.

He wears a brilliant-hued cravat,

A suit to match his soft grey hair,

A rakish stick, a knowing hat,

A manner blithe and debonair.

How good that he who always knew

That being lovely was a duty,

Should have gold halls to wander through

And should himself inhabit beauty.

How like his old unselfish way

To leave those halls of splendid mirth

And comfort those condemned to stay

Upon the dull and sombre earth.

Some people ask: "What cruel chance

Made Martin's life so sad a story?"

Martin? Why, he exhaled romance,

And wore an overcoat of glory.

A fleck of sunlight in the street,

A horse, a book, a girl who smiled,

Such visions made each moment sweet

For this receptive ancient child.

Because it was old Martin's lot

To be, not make, a decoration,

Shall we then scorn him, having not

His genius of appreciation?

Rich joy and love he got and gave;

His heart was merry as his dress;

Pile laurel wreaths upon his grave

Who did not gain, but was, success!

History

The giant griffon of Persepoli - a marvel of Achemenian art....

Persepolis, the ancient capital of the Achemenid empire, is a testimony to the grandeur and opulence of this once-powerful Persian dynasty. Founded in 518 BC by Darius I, the city is located at the foot of the… pic.twitter.com/OozNW7szXO

— ArchaeoHistories (@histories_arch) March 9, 2025

 

History

Much of our knowledge of ancient individuals is limited to the elite, people like rulers/generals. Yet occasionally we come across archaeology that reveals a tiny glimpse of the life of a regular person. Meet Onfim! He lived 800 years ago and boy, did he find homework boring.🧵1/ pic.twitter.com/RDYj4zeKnS

— Dr Hugh Thomas (@hughs_news) February 16, 2025

 

A Certain Lady by Dorothy Parker

A Certain Lady

by Dorothy Parker

Oh, I can smile for you, and tilt my head,

       And drink your rushing words with eager lips,

   And paint my mouth for you a fragrant red,

       And trace your brows with tutored finger-tips.

   When you rehearse your list of loves to me,

       Oh, I can laugh and marvel, rapturous-eyed.

   And you laugh back, nor can you ever see

       The thousand little deaths my heart has died.

   And you believe, so well I know my part,

     That I am gay as morning, light as snow,

 And all the straining things within my heart

     You'll never know.

 Oh, I can laugh and listen, when we meet,

     And you bring tales of fresh adventurings, —

 Of ladies delicately indiscreet,

     Of lingering hands, and gently whispered things.

 And you are pleased with me, and strive anew

     To sing me sagas of your late delights.

 Thus do you want me — marveling, gay, and true,

     Nor do you see my staring eyes of nights.

 And when, in search of novelty, you stray,

     Oh, I can kiss you blithely as you go….

 And what goes on, my love, while you're away,

     You'll never know.

A poem of wretched humanity but masterfully rendered.  

An Insight

Where’s the lie? pic.twitter.com/00RuLJ1hwc

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 12, 2025

 

This person isn't ill-informed and she’s quite intelligent, but she is willfully and obliviously wrong.

From The enormous value of lies as propaganda by The New Neo.

I used to write a lot about cognitive pollution (ideas and facts retailed as truth which are not actually true.)  I stopped because the problem is ever present.  Its like standing at the shore, railing at the incoming tide.

But the insidious nature of cognitive pollution remains.  It creates a huge impediment to conversation which is the life blood of a republic and of the Age of Enlightenment Classical Liberal model.  All embedded cognitive pollution is a barrier in the collaborative pursuit of truth and every piece of cognitive pollution forces one of two actions.  

You can either invest time and effort to dislodge or refute the cognitive pollution.  Or you can excise the person from your network because the cost in time, emotion and friendship of addressing a friend's error is simply too high.  If they cannot be reached at a reasonable cost, then easiest simply not to reach them at all.

Neo is referring to the long refuted claim that Trump in his first administration referred to there being good people on both sides of an ANTIFA and White Supremacist protest in Virginia.  The claim was wrong from the start (the protest was about the removal of statues and Trump was referring to good people both for and against the removal) and the claim was demonstrated to be wrong in relatively short order.  Video, transcripts, and recordings in the age of the internet were all there for confirmation that the claim was false, if you wanted to see for yourself rather than rely on second hand inaccurate representations.  However, the legacy mainstream media ran with the claim and if you search online, you will still find more assertions than refutations.  

Even the left's most supportive "fact-checking services, Snopes, eventually conceded that the "both sides" claim was false.  

Neo is relaying an example of the persistence and cost of cognitive pollution.

The other day I was speaking to an old friend who is what I would call a political moderate for the most part. But her hatred for Trump and his supporters – a crowd she lumps together as a large amorphous mass of stupid, selfish, crass, dangerous people (present company excluded?) – means that she hasn’t voted for Republicans in quite a while.

We hadn’t spoken of politics in a long time, and it’s a topic I generally avoid. But during our friendly discussion it came up, and I asked her what is one of the things she dislikes most about Trump. She cited his white supremacism. I asked her on what she based the belief that he’s a white supremacist, and she cited the Charlottesville “good people on both sides” incident.

That’s both fascinating and depressing. This person isn’t ill-informed and she’s quite intelligent, but somehow that original lie, repeated over and over again, has become unassailable truth in her mind. That lie not only got halfway around the world before the truth had a chance to get its boots on, but it burrowed deep into many many minds and then was driven deeper by all the repetition. Correcting it requires a rather lengthy explanatory conversation, supporting documents and videos, and the will on the part of the listener to entertain the idea that such a deeply-entrenched, long-held, and multiply-sourced belief is incorrect. Not only that, but the belief fits in with so many other beliefs about Trump that have been repeated over the years, plus beliefs about Republicans and especially MAGA voters, that the task of getting the revised story across is nearly insurmountable.

Humility is missing among all parties and absolutely one of the most critical lubricants for the Age of Enlightenment Classical Liberal model to work.  The cultivation of genuine humility is perhaps a first order task for everyone.

I see wonderful things

Vietnam's 🇻🇳 unique sticky gel gum..

© weirdfoods pic.twitter.com/dGrAZxKGmZ

— Sarahh (@Sarahhuniverse) February 15, 2025

 

Offbeat humor

https://t.co/nx4ue7Jfdd pic.twitter.com/jzgdWYXvnq

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 13, 2025

 

Data Talks

Great map by @WWF_Whales shows migration patterns of whales around the world. pic.twitter.com/PSSCSv1sjg

— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) February 15, 2025

 

What is your Name, My Boy, 1907 by N.C. Wyeth

What is your Name, My Boy, 1907 by N.C. Wyeth (America, 1882-1945)

Clcik to enlarge.

But I’m beginning to think the higher purpose of NATO was to keep Europeans from killing one another, a condition they apparently had to be bribed to accept.

From Subsidized Europe Cries in Despair by Matt Taibbi who is fed up with European perfidy.  The subheading is Europe wonders: how will we maintain our lifestyles, if we can't rip off the American taxpayer anymore?

Can't agree with him on everything but it is a thoroughly muscularly entertaining argument. 

I grew up in American liberal politics, where it was axiomatic that we had much to learn from Europeans. So wise, so sensible! Such terrific priorities! They offered free college, paid vacation, fabulous child care, mellow cops and a broad social safety net, while we heathens in America worked millions of hours and left even people like me to pay cash to set broken bones. I vividly remember seeing Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next?, which cast Americans as dipshit Ricky Bobby types who swallowed their raw deal whole while artless Europeans seemed bewildered by the word “debt,” and expressed shock that Americans didn’t also demand the state-comped honeymoons or gourmet school lunches any civilized person would insist on.

Now it’s turning out that we essentially paid for those programs. Moreover, the bourgeois eggheads here who tsk-tsked their home country’s dumb priorities twenty or thirty years ago are the same people now demanding we not abandon or “diminish the value of military contributions” of European partners. We must remain faithful to “the most powerful and successful alliance in the history of mankind,” as the Atlantic described NATO. Apparently as citizens we were supposed to envy French lunches, Finnish prisons, and Italian vacations, but as voters we must never take steps toward allowing Americans themselves to afford them.

Further on.

Raised to think Europeans were our gentler, more civilized partners, they now look like shameless freeloaders who let their bills for daycare and paid vacations be subsidized by middle-American taxpayers, descendants of those poor Okies and hayseeds who died in piles to save Europe from itself generations ago. Kids of my generation were fed a succession of movies from Red Dawn to Russia House to Rocky IV to make sure we stayed focused on the Soviet enemy, but I’m beginning to think the higher purpose of NATO was to keep Europeans from killing one another, a condition they apparently had to be bribed to accept.

How many more realizations of this type are in the pipeline? What other entitled groups will have to be removed from the teat? It’s getting exhausting, isn’t it?

He's right, though.  It is getting exhausting discovering just how wide and deep has been the rot in Washington where money we don't have spent in ways we don't want, almost always to little policy effect and almost always substantially to the benefit of preening Beltway bandits who admire themselves for the lifestyles they can afford based on the American taxpayer.

The Shell by James Stephens

The Shell

by James Stephens

And then I pressed the shell

Close to my ear

And listened well,

And straightway like a bell

Came low and clear        

The slow, sad murmur of the distant seas,

Whipped by an icy breeze

Upon a shore

Wind-swept and desolate.

It was a sunless strand that never bore  

The footprint of a man,

Nor felt the weight

Since time began

Of any human quality or stir

Save what the dreary winds and waves incur.  

And in the hush of waters was the sound

Of pebbles rolling round,

For ever rolling with a hollow sound.

And bubbling sea-weeds as the waters go

Swish to and fro

Their long, cold tentacles of slimy grey.

There was no day,

Nor ever came a night

Setting the stars alight

To wonder at the moon:  

Was twilight only and the frightened croon,

Smitten to whimpers, of the dreary wind

And waves that journeyed blind —

And then I loosed my ear - O, it was sweet

To hear a cart go jolting down the street.