A little black thing among the snow,
Crying ''weep! 'weep!' in notes of woe!
'Where are thy father & mother? say?'
'They are both gone up to the church to pray.
'Because I was happy upon the heath,
'And smil'd among the winter's snow,
'They cloth'd me in the clothes of death,
'And taught me to sing the notes of woe.
'And because I am happy & dance & sing,
'They think they have done me no injury,
'And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King,
'Who make up a heaven of our misery.'
dry leaves skitter
past the temple censer,
colored by lantern.
Unfathomable Sea! whose waves are years,
Ocean of Time, whose waters of deep woe
Are brackish with the salt of human tears!
Thou shoreless flood, which in thy ebb and flow
Claspest the limits of mortality!
And sick of prey, yet howling on for more,
Vomitest thy wrecks on its inhospitable shore;
Treacherous in calm, and terrible in storm,
Who shall put forth on thee,
Unfathomable Sea?
Gerard. As far as I know, the only significance is that it met the twin criteria of: a.) there being saints of that name (having been raised in a Catholic household, that’s a must); and b.) having sufficient penetration into Ireland to be considered an acceptable name for one of Irish ancestry. (Though I believe the name’s origins are Germanic.)
Though there’s a good chance I have a same-named ancestor of whom I’m oblivious.
rocking boat,
splash heard behind --
spin to see... ripples.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 