Category Archives: Literature

Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

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That time of year thou mayest in me behold
  When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
  Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
  Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
 In me though seest the twilight of such day
  As after sunset fadeth in the west,
  Which by and by black night doth take away,
  Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
 In me thou seest the glowing of such fire
  That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
  As the death-bed whereon it must expire,
  Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
     This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
     To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.

BOOKS: “Writers’ Journeys That Shaped Our World” by Travis Elborough

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The Writer's Journey: In the Footsteps of the Literary Greats (Journeys of Note, 1)The Writer’s Journey: In the Footsteps of the Literary Greats by Travis Elborough
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher Website

This book discusses important travel events in the lives of thirty-five prominent writers and poets. Some of these were long international travels and some entirely domestic, some aborted and others completed. All of these trips in some way influenced the subsequent works produced by these writers. In some cases, it was just for a scene, as with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s use of Reichenbach Falls to kill off his widely beloved (but personally soul-sucking) character, Sherlock Holmes. In others, the trip became the basis of a book, as with Joseph Conrad’s travels on the Congo River. And in yet others, the trip would become the basis of multiple works, such as Jack London’s travels in the Klondike. Of course, there were some travels that had more indirect influence on the writers’ works by way of shifts in worldview and life experience.

The graphics for this book are excellent and include a simple route map for each trip as well as photos from key locations, as well as a few relevant historic artworks. The maps and pictures help to give one a feel for the appeal of these places, and — in some cases — to better understand literary works once read.

If you are a traveler, are interested in literary history, or are both, this book is well worth investigating.

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“Spring Dawn” (春曉) by Meng Haoran [w/ Audio]

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My Spring sleep is unswayed by dawn --
 Though birds are heard through screen, still drawn.
 Recalling night sounds of rain and wind,
 I wonder how the flowers have thinned?

Original in Chinese:

春眠不覺曉，
處處聞啼鳥。
夜來風雨聲，
花落知多少。

“The quality of mercy is not strained” by William Shakespeare [w/ Audio]

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The quality of mercy is not strained;
 It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
   Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
 It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
 'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
   The throned monarch better than his crown;
 His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
 The attribute to awe and majesty,
 Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
 But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
 It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
 It is an attribute to God himself;
 And earthly power doth then show likest God's
 When mercy seasons justice. 
   Therefore, Jew,
 Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
 That, in the course of justice, none of us
 Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
 And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
 The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
   To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
 Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
 Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

From The Merchant of Venice (Act IV, Scene I.) Spoken in a court of law by Portia while she is disguised as a lawyer, Balthazar.

“Shiloh: A Requiem” by Herman Melville [w/ Audio]

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Skimming lightly, wheeling still,
   The swallows fly low
 Over the field in clouded days,
   The forest-field of Shiloh--
 Over the field where April rain
 Solaced the parched ones stretched in pain
 Through the pause of night
 That followed the Sunday fight
   Around the church of Shiloh--
 The church so lone, the log-built one,
 That echoed to many a parting groan
     And natural prayer
   Of dying foemen mingled there--
 Foemen at morn, but friends at eve--
    Fame or country least their care:
 (What like a bullet can undeceive!)
    But now they lie low,
 While over them the swallows skim,
   And all is hushed in Shiloh.

“Beginners” by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]

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How they are provided for upon the earth,
   (appearing at intervals;)
 How dear and dreadful they are to the earth;
 How they inure to themselves as much as to 
   any -- What a paradox appears their age;
 How people respond to them, yet know them not;
 How there is something relentless in their fate,
   all times;
 How all times mischoose the objects of their 
   adulation and reward,
 And how the same inexorable price must still
   be paid for the same great purchase.

BOOKS: “Dark Demon Rising” by Tunku Halim

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Dark demon risingDark demon rising by Tunku Halim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Author Site

On one level this is a folklore-based tale of horror, but – on another level – it is a commentary on tribal village life versus modern life in the super-tribal metropole.

The lead character, Shazral, comes from a long line of Shaman — medicine men. However, in the opening chapter we find that he has moved to the big city, Kuala Lumpur, and has become a successful lawyer. He has a nice office, a big salary, and a fashionable sportscar. He thinks he has it all. Then he’s called to return to the village to see his dying father. Son and father haven’t been on speaking terms because the father wanted Shazral to continue the Shamanic line, but Shazral wanted to escape the village and the strained familial situation that existed since his mother died during his youth. His return sets events in motion, events that will both show his beloved city life isn’t all it seems, as well as drawing him into the family business.

I enjoyed the story and think it was well-crafted and evocative. The backstory provides powerful motive, and the characters are distinctive and worthy of the reader’s consideration. There were a number of typos in the edition that I read (none were detrimental to understanding the story, but they could break the flow of reading.)

I’d recommend this book for readers interested in tales of horror rooted in folklore (in this case Malaysian folklore) and shamanism.

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“Silk-Washing Stream” by Su Shi [w/ Audio]

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Stream-washed leaves are glistening.
 Someone is boiling cocoons.
 Workers gossip, I'm listening.

Dim-eyed man with a cane spoons
 Food into a bowl, bending
 To pass it before I swoon.

I ask when the bean leaves yellow.

“Grown about by Fragrant Bushes” by Robert Louis Stevenson [w/ Audio]

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Grown about by Fragrant bushes,
 Sunken in a winding valley,
 Where the clear winds blow
 And the shadows come and go,
 And the cattle stand and low
 And the sheep bells and the linnets
 Sing and tinkle musically.
 Between the past and the future,
 Those two black infinities
 Between which our brief life
 Flashes a moment and goes out.

“Of Glory not a Beam is left” (1685) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

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Of Glory not a Beam is left
   But her Eternal House --
 The Asterisk is for the Dead,
   The Living, for the Stars --