June’s poem

Alas, this is how I often feel, re-reading The Fellowship of the Ring.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

From Nancy Mitford’s Highland Fling:

Receiving no answer beyond a frigid stare, Albert, with a deep sigh, disposed himself upon the stone, sitting cross-legged like an idol. He then produced a slim volume from his pocket. “I presume you have read ‘The Testament of Beauty,’ sir?”

“Never heard of it.”

“Oh, sir, you must have heard of it. A very great poem by our Poet Laureate.”

“No, I haven’t; I expect it’s immoral stuff, anyway. Kipling ought to be the Poet Laureate, to my mind.”

“Alas! Philistine that I am, I must disagree with you. I cannot appreciate Sir Rudyard’s writings as no doubt I should. ‘Lest we forget, lest we forget,’ ” he chanted. “Have you a favourite poem, sir?”

The general remained silent, his eye on the horizon. As a matter of fact he had a favourite poem, but he could not quite remember how it went –

Under the wide and starry sky

Dig my grave and let me lie.

Home is the hunter home from the hill,

And the hunter home from the hill.

Something more or less like that.

The actual poem (Stevenson’s “Requiem”):

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Under the wide and starry sky,

Dig the grave and let me lie.

Glad did I live and gladly die,

And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:

Here he lies where he longed to be;

Home is the sailor, home from sea,

And the hunter home from the hill.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

A few words before sleep

Yesterday, another ludicrous display on the soccer field.

It may be time for me to retire …

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Quite a storm tonight. Rain, loud thunder, brief power outage, etc. The whole family enjoyed it together in bed.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Today I finished reading the main deuterocanonical books – those accepted by Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians, but not by Protestants. I shall go on to read 1 and 2 Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh (canonical for the Orthodox but not for Catholics). I don’t think I own any bibles with 3 and 4 Maccabees, but I’ll look around.

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) was the most rewarding book to read, by far. Sirach 44:1 – “Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us …” – was the only deuterocanonical verse I knew before I started reading these texts. Unfortunately, what came after that verse was less rewarding than the 43 prior chapters.

These are just gut-level reactions. Obviously, I am no scholar; nor do I wish to pose as a connoisseur.

Because of this project, and because of coincidences in my devotional and church reading schedules, I have gone through the book of Esther, in one version or another, four times in the last year.

I blink

Watching highlights of the Champions League’s first knockout round, I was surprised to see Thomas Tuchel on Chelsea’s touchline. Apparently, he’s been working there since January. Already he holds the record for consecutive victories by a manager who is beginning at the club.

(It seems like only yesterday when the previous gaffer, Frank Lampard, was scowling at those same players’ ludicrous displays.)

I also was surprised that the 6,000-seat Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano was the venue of Real Madrid’s knockout game against Atalanta. Indeed, Real Madrid have been playing there since June of last year, and the Santiago Bernabéu is under renovation.

In other words: I’ve been ignoring world-famous clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Paris Saint-Germain (the club that employed Tuchel as recently as December, and for which he also had record-breaking success). And there’s nothing special about those giants: I’ve been ignoring soccer in general (though I do usually watch a game or two over the weekend).

This neglect is certainly due to COVID. Soccer is just not as exciting when no one is in the stands.

Which is a pity. The footballers are, if anything, less inhibited now; and the quality of play is better.