No.168

Monday 2nd January 2012

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WISE MEN SAY

The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months! (Edward Payson Powell)

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JOHN'S GALLERY

The Frost Fair on the River Thames, London during the winter 1683/4
by Thomas Wyke

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail
And Tom bears logs into the hall
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipp'd and ways be foul,
When nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-whit!
Tu-who! a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.

When all aloud the wind doth blow
And coughing drowns the parson's saw
And birds sit brooding in the snow
And Marian's nose looks red and raw,
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
When nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-whit!
Tu-who! a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
(William Shakespeare, from "Love's Labour Lost")

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A NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM ABBA

Uploaded by AbbaVEVO

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THOUGHTS ON THE NEW YEAR

What can be said in New Year rhymes,
That's not been said a thousand times?

The new years come, the old years go,
We know we dream, we dream we know.

We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.

We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.

We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our brides, we sheet our dead.

We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that's the burden of the year.

(Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

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The next post to 80 plus will be on Thursday 5th January

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No.167

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? - Bob Hope

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Here are half-a-dozen vintage Christmas cards which I found interesting -

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Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people once a year. - Victor Borge

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Do you remember this song?

On this 1937 recording the singer is Phyllis Robbins. Uploaded by philsmusic1000



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80 PLUS IS TAKING A BREAK
AND WILL RESUME
AFTER THE NEW YEAR

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No.166

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveller back to his own fireside and quiet home! - Charles Dickens

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CHRISTMASTIDE
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

The rain-shafts splintered on me
As despondently I strode;
The twilight gloomed upon me
And bleared the blank high-road.
Each bush gave forth, when blown on
By gusts in shower and shower,
A sigh, as it were sown on
In handfuls by a sower.

A cheerful voice called, nigh me,
“A merry Christmas, friend!”—
There rose a figure by me,
Walking with townward trend,
A sodden tramp’s, who, breaking
Into thin song, bore straight
Ahead, direction taking
Toward the Casuals’ gate.

[The Casual Ward was a place of refuge. Often, a queue of homeless people would form outside, waiting to get a bed for the night]

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Numbering of Bethlehem, by Pieter Bruegel (1525-1569)

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Do you remember . . .

ANNE MURRAY

Born in Nova Scotia in 1945, she was the first Canadian female solo singer to reach No.1 on the U.S. charts, and also the first to earn a Gold record for one of her songs "Snowbird." In 2011, Billboard put her in tenth position among the 50o Biggest Artists Ever.
In this clip, uploaded by azores46, she sings "Winter Wonderland."



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Finally -

There had been a very heavy fall of snow during the night and on Christmas morning only two people turned up for the church service - Farmer Giles and the Vicar.

The Vicar shaking his head sadly said, "Well, there's no point of having a service for just one person; let's go home."

"No, I don't agree," replied Farmer Giles, "If only one cow turns up to be fed, I still feed it."

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Clip art by http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/

NEXT POST MONDAY

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No.165

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count.
It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

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There have newspaper reports recently that many schools are no longer having nativity plays, because of the numbers of children of other faiths or of none.

I’m remembering that when I was a boy Christmas was not observed in schools - no Christmas Tree, no decorations, no party, in fact advent calendars and nativity plays were things we’d never heard of. It was a school holiday of course, but, apart from that, it was just like any other working day, with offices, shops and factories open as usual.

Every year the Sunday School had a party where we played the usual games and Santa Claus gave each of us a gift. There was always a big Christmas Tree with decorations and baubles, but no lights, the hall was gas-lit. I don’t think any people had trees in their homes in those days.

In the Scottish church, there were no special services on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but on the Sunday nearest the big day, we sang Christmas hymns, and I expect the minister would talk about the nativity in his sermon. I believe that there was Midnight Mass in most Catholic churches on Christmas Eve.

It wasn’t till the late 1940s that Scotland began to make more of Christmas. Perhaps the change was due to our servicemen coming back to civvy street, having experienced how it was celebrated elsewhere.

We children of course became very excited as Christmas drew near. I remember that the living room in our tenement house looked wonderful with paper decorations round the walls and extending across the ceiling. Happy memories!

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Landscape near Beauvais, by François Boucher (1703-1770)

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Inside the front cover of a book, this hand-written
WARNING

Neither blemish this book, not the leaves double down,
Nor lend it to each idle friend in the town;
Return it when read; or, if lost, please supply
Another as good to the mind and the eye,
With right and with reason you need but be friends
And each book in my study your pleasure attends.

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Do you remember . . .

VICTOR BORGE

The Danish humorist and musician had a classical training and started off as a concert pianist. His popularity soon spread when he developed his comedy act. When Germany invaded Denmark he had to flee the country as his act had involved telling jokes about the Nazis. Escaping to Finland, he then managed to get to the USA where he arrived almost penniless.
Born in 1909, he died in 2000.

The clip was uploaded by going343. The other pianist is not named.

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WISE MEN SAY

I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. - Agatha Christie

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Clip art by http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/

NEXT POST FRIDAY

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No.164

Old age, believe me, is a good and pleasant thing. It is true you are gently shouldered off the stage, but then you are given such a comfortable front stall as spectator. - Confucius

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I don't know when or where the following poem was written, but, when I was a small boy, there were so few motor vehicles in our town that it was perfectly safe to walk in the middle of the main street.

THE PEDESTRIAN'S PLAINT
Edward Verrall Lucas (1868-1938)

Will there never come a season
Which shall rid us from the curse
Of a speed which knows no reason,
And the too contiguous hearse;
When no longer shall we tremble
As the motors leave their lair;
Meekly by the kerb assemble
While the klaxon rends the air -

When the gladsome news will nerve us
That the petrol-wells are dry
And the horse again must serve us,
Safe and sure and stepping high?
That will be a day for fiddling,
Fun and festival galore,
When the Armstrongs cease from siddling
And the Royces roll no more!

(The last two lines refer to the Rolls-Royce and Armstrong-Siddeley cars)

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I wonder what you think of this painting.
Well, there's nothing wrong with a bit of sentiment occasionally


Off to School, by Charles Burton Barber (1845-1894)

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Do you remember . . .

ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH

This married couple were very popular duettists in the 30s and 40s. Born in 1902, his vocal training began when he was a young chorister in Lincoln Cathedral. Later he joined the D'Oyle Carte Opera Company. She was born in 1910 and her successful career as a singer took her to Broadway. When they eventually joined forces, they were known as "Sweethearts in Song."
In 1948 they emigrated to Australia. He died in 1984, and her death was in 2003.
Uploaded by johnjamg this is "We'll gather Lilacs" from Ivor Novello's "Perchance to Dream."



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Clip art thanks to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/

THE NEXT POST HERE WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY

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No.163

WISE MEN SAY

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. - The Dalai Lama

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

THE OLD WOMAN
Joseph Campbell (1881–?)

As a white candle
In a holy place,
So is the beauty
Of an aged face.

As the spent radiance
Of the winter sun,
So is a woman
With her travail done,

Her brood gone from her,
And her thoughts as still
As the waters
Under a ruined mill.

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Luna, by Charles Edward Hallé (1846-1914)

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Uploaded by warholsoup100, this 1934 record is "All I do is dream of you" played by Ray Noble and his Orchestra with Al Bowlly doing the vocal.



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.
(attributed to both Eubie Blake and Adolph Zukor)

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WISE MEN SAY

Life can be wildly tragic at times, and I've had my share. But whatever happens to you, you have to keep a slightly comic attitude. In the final analysis, you have got not to forget to laugh. -
Katharine Hepburn

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Thanks to http://www.public-domain-photos.com

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

ANNIE LAURIE
William Douglas (17th Cent)

Maxwelton's braes are bonnie
Where early fa's the dew
And 'twas there that Annie Laurie
Gave me her promise true.

Gave me her promise true
Which ne'er forgot will be
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me doon and dee.

Her brow is like the snowdrift
Her throat is like the swan
Her face it is the fairest
That e'er the sun shone on.

That e'er the sun shone on
And dark blue is her e'e
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me doon and dee.

Like dew on th'gowan lying
Is th' fa' o' her fairy feet
And like the winds in summer sighing
Her voice is low and sweet.

Her voice is low and sweet
And she's a' the world to me
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me doon and dee.

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Nympheas, by Claude Monet 1840-1926

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

This is another recording by the BBC Dance Orchestra. Made in 1932 before Henry Hall took over, the leader then was Jack Payne. Uploaded by schellack78

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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

It’s wonderful to grow old, as long as you remember to keep young while you’re doing it. - Anon

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WISE MEN SAY

All things come to him who waits, provided he knows what he is waiting for. -
Woodrow Wilson

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

THE BLUE BIRD
Mary Coleridge (1861-1907)

The lake lay blue below the hill,
O'er it as I looked, there flew
Across the waters, cold and still,
A bird whose wings were palest blue.

The sky above was blue at last,
The sky beneath me blue in blue
A moment, ’ere the bird had passed,
It caught its image as it flew.

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A LINNET IN A GILDED CAGE
Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894)

A linnet in a gilded cage, -
A linnet on a bough, -
In frosty winter one might doubt
Which bird is luckier now.
But let the trees burst out in leaf,
And nests be on the bough,
Which linnet is the luckier bird,
Oh who could doubt it now?

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Villa in a Park Setting, by Marco Ricci

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Recorded in 1934, this is "Keep Young and Beautiful" played by Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Orpheans with vocalist Harry Bentley. Uploaded by SwingBandHeaven



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough. - Don Marquis

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WISE MEN SAY

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. - Oscar Wilde

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

HOPE THE HERMIT
17th century

Once in a blythe green wood
Lived a hermit wise and good,
Whom the folks from far and near
For his council sought,
Knowing well that what he taught
The dreariest of hearts would cheer.
Though his hair was white
His eye was clear and bright,
And he thus was ever wont to say:
“Though to care we are born,
Yet the dullest morn
Often heralds in the fairest day!

"The very longest lane,
Has a turning, it is plain,
E'en the blackest of clouds will fly:
And what can't be cured
Must with patience be endured:
As cheaply can we laugh as cry."
And people gazed,
At words so deep amazed,
While the Sage went on to say:
"Though to care we are born,
Yet the dullest morn
Often heralds in the fairest day!

Pray, is the hermit dead?
From the forest has he fled?
No, he lives to counsel all
Who an ear will lend
To their wisest, truest friend,
And Hope the Hermit's name they call.
Still he sits, I ween,
'Mid branches ever green,
And cheerly you may hear him say:
"Though to care we are born,
Yet the dullest morn
Often heralds in the fairest day!”

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Landscape with Watering Horses, by Marco Ricci

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

"The Clouds will soon roll by" played here by Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra,
and sung by Val Rosing. Uploaded by JoolyOTR

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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. - Mark Twain

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WISE MEN SAY

No matter what side of an argument you’re on, you always find some people on your side
that you wish were on the other side. - Jascha Heifetz

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The Lesser Celandine

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

THE LITTLE CELANDINE
(William Wordsworth 1770-1850)

Pansies, lilies, kingcups, daisies,
Let them live upon their praises;
Long as there’s a sun that sets,
Primroses will have their glory;
Long as there are violets,
They will have a place in story;
There’s a flower that shall be mine,
‘Tis the little Celandine.

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Figures among Ruins, by Marco Ricci

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Uploaded by Rready555, this is Jack Hylton and his Orchestra playing "Life is just a bowl of cherries, with vocal chorus sung by Pat O'Malley.



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

A man growing old becomes a child again. - Sophocles

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WISE MEN SAY

If you treat a man as he is, he will stay as he is. However, if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be, and could be, he will become that bigger and better man. -
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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The large fountain at Lake Geneva

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

THE ABC
Spike Milligan (1918-2002)

'Twas midnight in the schoolroom
And every desk was shut,
When suddenly from the alphabet
Was heard a loud "Tut-tut!"

Said A to B, "I don't like C,
His manners are a lack,
For all I ever see of C
Is a semi-circular back!"

"I disagree," said D to B,
"I've never found C so,
From where I stand he seems to be
An uncompleted O."

C was vexed, "I'm much perplexed,
You criticise my shape,
I'm made like that, to help spell Cat
And Cow and Cool and Cape."

"He's right" said E; said F, "Whoopee!"
Said G, "'Ip, 'Ip, 'ooray!"
"You're dropping me," roared H to G.
"Don't do it please I pray."

"Out of my way," LL said to K.
"I'll make poor I look ILL."
To stop this stunt J stood in front,
And presto! ILL was JILL.

"U know," said V, "that W
Is twice the age of me,
For as a Roman V is five
I'm half as young as he."

X and Y yawned sleepily,
"Look at the time!" they said.
"Let's all get off to beddy byes."
They did, then "Z-z-z."

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JOHN'S GALLERY

This is the second in this group of paintings by Marco Ricci

Landscape

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

The singer here with Jay Wilbur's Band is Sam Costa, who much later became well-known in ITMA and Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, and, later still, as a presenter of "Housewives' Choice." The song is "A Fine Romance." Uploaded by razbin.



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent,
that is to triumph over old age. (Amos Bronson Alcott)

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WISE MEN SAY

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do. - Henry Ford

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Thanks to FreeFoto.com

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A SUMMER'S DAY?

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And oft is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

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JOHN'S GALLERY

The Fountain of Love, by Marco Ricci (1676-1730)
This is the first of five paintings being shown here this week.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

"By the Sleepy Lagoon," composed by Eric Coates, will always be remembered as the signature tune of "Desert Island Discs." Here it's played by Victor Silvester and his Orchestra.
Uploaded by patrickdcyau

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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

Wisdom doesn't automatically come with old age. Nothing does - except wrinkles.
It's true that some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place. - Abigail Van Buren

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WISE MEN SAY

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. - Buddha

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WHAT A GREAT PICTURE!

Click to enlarge

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

REVERIE
Sophia Scott

The Campsie Fells lay dreaming in the soft sweet summer light,
Little breezes played and whispered round her knees,
She dreamed of days we knew not when the waters lapped her feet
And the glaciers slithered steeply from her sides -
Days when mammoths roamed the valley through the sand dunes weird and high,
And our coal was mosses, ferns and tropic trees.

The long low line of hills was swept by western winds,
And the bracken’s green was long since turned to brown,
Her dreams were sore and troubled, for she heard the tramp of feet
As the Romans marched to Cadder o’er the down;
Till they pitched their tents and sheltered from the winter’s wildest wrath,
And beneath her flanks they built for them a town.

All these days are long since over, long ago and far away,
Changeless still the Campsies lie in summer sheen;
We discover Roman forts and we dig up mammoth bones
In our age of petrol, aeroplanes and steam;
And we build our little houses and we live our little lives,
But the great hills hug their secrets still - and dream.

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Ophelia, by George Frederic Watts (1817-1904)

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Today's record is typical of the kind of popular music being played in Germany before the war. This is Paul Godwin and his Band with "Have a little drink with me." Uploaded by blackeyedjoe.



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

One of the good things about getting older is you find you're more interesting than most of the people you meet. - Lee Marvin

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WISE MEN SAY

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition. - Indira Gandhi

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JOHN'S GALLERY

A Pair of Shoes, by Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

DOWN BY THE SALLY GARDENS
W.B.Yeats (1865-1939)

Down by the Sally Gardens, my love and I did meet.
She crossed the Sally Gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree,
But I was young and foolish, and with her did not agree.

In a field down by the river, my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder, she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

This is an outstanding record from 1934 by Ray Noble and his Orchestra. Al Bowlly sings the vocal in "Midnight, the Stars and You." Uploaded by 00Helix00



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

At forty I lost my illusions,
At fifty I lost my hair,
At sixty my hope and teeth were gone,
And my feet were beyond repair,
At eighty life has clipped my claws,
I’m bent, and bowed, and cracked,
But I can’t give up the ghost because
My follies are intact. (E Y.Harburg)

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WISE MEN SAY

Wise men speak because they have something to say,
fools because they have to say something. - Anon

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Kaaterskill Falls, by Thomas Cole (1801-1848)

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

ANSWER TO A CHILD'S QUESTION
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)

Do you ask what the birds say? The Sparrow, the Dove,
The Linnet and Thrush say, “I love and I love!”
In the winter they’re silent - the wind is so strong;
What it says, I don’t know, but it sings a loud song,
But green leaves and blossoms, and sunny warm weather,
And singing and loving - all come back together.
But the Lark is so brimful of gladness and love,
The green fields below him, the blue sky above,
Then he sings and he sings, and for ever sings he -
“I love my Love, and my Love loves me.”

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Ben Selvin's Knickerbockers was a popular band in the States.
This is the 1929 number "You were meant for me." Uploaded by warholsoup100.

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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old. - George Burns

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WISE MEN SAY

Happiness is not always measured in smiles. - Anon

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Lilacs in a Window, by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

THE QUIET LIFE
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcernedly find
Hours, days and years slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,

Sound sleep at night; study and ease
Together mixed; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Uploaded by Fost0980, this is "Smoke gets in your eyes" played by the BBC Dance Orchestra directed by Henry Hall. The vocalist is Dan Donovan.



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

Age is a very high price to pay for maturity. - Tom Stoppard

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WISE MEN SAY

Last words are for fools who haven't said enough. - Karl Marx

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JOHN'S GALLERY

The Soldier's Return, by John Faed (1819-1902)

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

I DREAMED DEATH CAME
Anon

I dreamed death came the other night
And heaven’s gate swung wide,
An angel with a halo bright
Then ushered me inside.

And there to my astonishment
Were folks I’d judged and labelled
As “quite unfit” of “little worth”
And “spiritually disabled.”

Indignant words rose to my lips
But never were set free,
For every face showed stunned surprise -
No one expected me!!!

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

This is one of those cheerful "Keep smiling" songs that were so popular in the 30s -
"Happy days are here again" played by Ambrose and his Orchestra.
Uploaded by JoolyOTR



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

By the time you're eighty years old you've learned everything. You only have to remember it. (George Burns)

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WISE MEN SAY

The biggest tragedy in life isn’t people who have failed.
It’s people who haven’t even tried. - David Hempleman-Adams

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Quiet, by James Jacques-Joseph Tissot (1836-1902)

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

MINSTREL MAN
Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter
And my throat
Is deep with song,
You do not think
I suffer after
I have held my pain
So long?

Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter,
You do not hear
My inner cry?
Because my feet
Are gay with dancing,
You do not know
I die?

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

There are snatches of five songs in this 1937 recording by Maurice Winnick and his Orchestra.
It's time to say goodnight, Let's put out the lights and go to sleep, Goodnight I'll see you in the morning, Goodnight sweetheart, and finally Maurice Winnick's signature tune The sweetest music this side of heaven. Uploaded by phonomono78s



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AN 80 PLUS QUOTE

Passing your 80th birthday is no great achievement. You just sit still and let it happen.
(Angus McBean)

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WISE MEN SAY

A gentleman is a man who knows how to play the banjo, but chooses not to. - Mark Twain

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JOHN'S GALLERY

The Skating Minister, by Henry Raeburn (1756-1823)

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

LOVE IS LIKE THE WILD ROSE-BRIAR
Emily Bronte (1818-1848)

Love is like the wild rose-briar,
Friendship like the holly tree,
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms,
But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild rose-briar is sweet in the spring,
Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild briar fair?

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now
And deck thee with the holly’s sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He may still leave thy garland green.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Back to 1929 for "Blue Night" played by Percival Mackay and his Band.
The singer is Cavan O'Connor. Once again, thanks to 240252 for this clip.



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WISE MEN SAY

Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun. - Kahlil Gibran

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JOHN'S GALLERY

The Captive's Return, by Henry Ryland (1856-1924)

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

Some verses giving advice
by
Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

1
A Charme, or an Allay for Love

If so be a toad be laid
In a sheepskin newly flaid,
And that tied to a man ‘twill sever
Him and his affections ever.

2
To Women, to Hide their Teeth, if They be Rotten or Rusty

Close keep your lips, if that you mean
To be accounted inside clean;
For if you cleave them, we shall see
There in your teeth much leprosie

3
To his Book

Who with thy leaves shall wipe (at need)
The place, where swelling piles do breed;
May every ill that bites or smarts
Perplex him in his hinder-parts.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

"What more can I ask?" is played here by Lew Stone and the Monseigneur Band.
The singer is Al Bowlly.

Uploaded by RomanceAndReflection

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80 plus is updated daily.
The Thomas Hardy Wessex Poet blog
is updated every Sunday - http://thewessexpoet.blogspot.com

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WISE MEN SAY . . .

Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work
he is supposed to be doing at that moment. - Robert Benchley

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JOHN'S GALLERY

Val d'Aosta, by John Brett (1831-1902)

Tomorrow - The Captive's Return, by Henry Ryland

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

I'LL BE SEEING YOU
Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain

I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces all day through,
In that small café, the park across the way,
The children's carousel, the chestnut trees, the wishing well.

I'll be seeing you in every lovely summer's day,
In everything that's light and gay,
I'll always think of you that way,
I'll find you in the morning sun
And, when the night is new,
I'll be looking at the moon
But I'll be seeing you.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Irving Berlin's "Change Partners" is played here by Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Orpheans with vocal by Anne Lenner and George Melachrino. Uploaded by SwingBandHeaven



Tomorrow - What more can I ask? by Lew Stone's Band

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from WISE MEN SAY

The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.
- Elie Wiesel

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from JOHN'S GALLERY

Music, by Antoine-Auguste-Ernest Hebert

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POETRY FOR PLEASURE

I MEANT TO DO MY WORK TODAY
Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947)

I meant to do my work today,
But a brown bird sang in the apple tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.

And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand,
So what could I do but laugh and go?

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Uploaded by CBasie2856, this is one of my all-time favourites
"When somebody thinks you're wonderful" by Fats Waller



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from WISE MEN SAY

Much happiness is overlooked because it doesn’t cost anything. - Anon

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from JOHN'S GALLERY

The Rehearsal, by Edmund Blair Leighton

This painting continues the short series with the subject - Making Music. The final one will be shown here tomorrow.

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from POETRY FOR PLEASURE

I SO LIKED SPRING
Charlotte Mew (1880-1914)

I so liked Spring last year
Because you were here;
The thrushes too -
Because it was these you so liked to hear -
I so liked you.

This year’s a different thing,
I’ll not think of you.
But I’ll like Spring because it is simply Spring
As the thrushes do.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Uploaded by MrDeanMartin, this is a bright Latin-American tune "Dengoza"
played by Edmundo Ros and his Band

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from WISE MEN SAY

Some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. - Oscar Wilde

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from JOHN'S GALLERY

Music, Heavenly Maid, by Edward John Poynter

This painting is the fifth in a short series with the subject - Making Music.
Another one will be shown here tomorrow.

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from POETRY FOR PLEASURE

TRUE LOVE
Anon

True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny.

True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear.

True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

"Song of India" was a popular instrumental number which was a big hit for Tommy Dorsey. This is the recording his band made in 1938. Uploaded by WorldWar2Music



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from WISE MEN SAY

There may be Peace without Joy, and Joy without Peace,
but the two combined make Happiness. - John Buchan

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from JOHN'S GALLERY

Hush, by James Jacques-Joseph Tissot

This painting is the fourth in a short series with the subject - Making Music.
Another one will be shown here tomorrow.

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from POETRY FOR PLEASURE

O, MY LOVE IS LIKE A RED, RED ROSE
Robert Burns (1759-1796)

O, my love is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
My love is like a melody
That's sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonny lass,
So deep in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love!
And fare thee weel, awhile!
And I will come again, my love,
Though it were ten thousand mile.

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TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Uploaded by 78varvare, this is "The Anniversary Waltz" played by Victor Silvester and his Ballroom Orchestra



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from WISE MEN SAY

One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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from JOHN'S GALLERY

When apples were golden and songs were sweet, but summer had passed away,
by John Melhuish Strudwick

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from POETRY FOR PLEASURE

ALL IN THE DOWNS
Tom Hood (The Younger) 1835-1874

I would I had something to do - or to think!
Or something to read, or to write!
I am rapidly verging on Lunacy’s brink,
Or I shall be dead before night.

In my ears has been ringing and droning all day,
Without ever a stop or a change,
That poem of Tennyson’s - heart-cheering lay! -
Of the Moated Monotonous Grange!

The stripes in the carpet and paper alike
I have counted, and counted all through.
And now I’ve a fervid ambition to strike
Out some path of wild pleasure that’s new.

They say if a number you count, and re-count,
That the time imperceptibly goes: -
Ah, I wish - how I wish! - I’d ne’er learnt the amount
Of my aggregate fingers and toes.

“Enjoyment is fleeting,” the proverbs all say,
“Even that, which it feeds upon, fails.”
I’ve arrived at the truth of the saying today,
By devouring the whole of my nails.

I have numbered the minutes, so heavy and slow,
Till of that dissipation I tire.
And as for exciting amusements - you know
One can’t ALWAYS be stirring the fire!

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from TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

Uploaded by twiddlybobby, this an up-tempo number "Over my Shoulder" played by Roy Fox and his Band with vocalist Peggy Dell



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from WISE MEN SAY

Remember when life's path is steep to keep your mind even. - Horace

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from JOHN'S GALLERY

Francesca, by Edward Charles Hallé

This painting is the second in a short series with the subject - Making Music.
Another one will be shown here tomorrow.

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from THOMAS HARDY THE WESSEX POET

THE LITTLE OLD TABLE

Creak, little wood thing, creak,
When I touch you with elbow or knee;
That is the way you speak
Of one who gave you to me!

You, little table, she brought -
Brought me with her own hand,
As she looked at me with a thought
That I did not understand.

Whoever owns it anon,
And hears it, will never know
What a history hangs upon
This creak from long ago.

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from TAKE YOUR PARTNERS

This is a 1932 recording of "Try a Little Tenderness" played by Ray Noble and his Orchestra.
Uploaded by JimmyG1983



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More from my other blogs tomorrow.

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