Every morning is a fresh beginning,
Listen my soul to the glad refrain.
And, spite of old sorrows
And older sinning,
Troubles forecasted
And possible pain,
Take heart with the day and begin again.
-Susan Coolidge
Author of the popular semi-autobiographical 'What Katy Did' children's series which debuted in 1872 Susan Coolidge was also the editor of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, and a poet in her own right. Part of her popular 19th century fiction for girls was a book of short stories -- you can read a sample of the subtle instruction for how a girl ought to behave therein.
Other delightful poetic and literary discoveries can be found at The Simple and the Ordinary which is, of course, neither.
Been busy thinking of other things this week, but did y'all see Liz's post To Cheer or to Covet? "Better to lay bare than to bury," she says. If you've been stalked by envy in the face of another's success, go. Read.
An update from Blooming Tree Press. Seriously: they exist. They're finally going to finish printing their backlog; a.fortis' short story will be further immortalized. Soon!
A review of a YA Islamic SF/F novel -- quel intriguing!
It's been a BOGUS week in publishing, but Slate's got the right idea: howl with laughter, not with outrage.
18 comments:
You always find such resonant photos to accompany your poetry selections. So good. It's easier to "take heart with the day" because I come here. :)
Morning is my favorite time, and I can't wait to get to sleep just to try better the next day. This poem sums it up:)
Don't know whether I like the poem or the picture better, but they're both lovely!
Tadmack,
That would be a great poem for me to keep near my computer. Another poem to keep handy would be Eve Merriam's "Metaphor," which begins:
"Morning is
a sheet of paper
for you to write on."
Love the photograph.
Lovely.
There's this singer/songwriter/musician named Mary Margaret O'Hara (she's actually the sister of the comedy actress Catherine O'Hara) who released this AMAZING CD in 1988, I think it was, and all kinds of musicians site this one-hit wonder CD as their favorite ever. It's like this rare gem of a thing, and I still have my copy! Very strange and wondrous music, a cult favorite now for many. Anyway, she has a song called "Anew Day": "Spring and the rose again / Will see the living end / When your heart is sick with wonder / At a long and lonely way / Walk in brightness / 'Cause it's anew day" . . . and "Though they're tears round your heart / And your eyes are of stone / Every bright star / Will pale when you come home . . ."
I love it.
Anyway, I'm rambling, but thanks for putting that song in my head with Coolidge's poem! Lovely photograph, too.
A beautiful affirmation to start the day -- and I love the photo! Thanks :).
Beautiful and full of good cheer -Thanks!
Elaine, I'm going to find THAT poem to put next to my computer. Thank you.
And Jules, my dear, you know I had to go and FIND a fansite of that O'Hara lady and listen to the song. And now it's tripping along happily in my head, too.
Thank you guys. Poetry Fridays are sometimes just the nicest days...
Tadmack,
I just realized that I left out a word in the Merriam poem excerpt. The second line should read:
"a new sheet of paper."
You can find the poem in the following books:
- A SKY FULL OF POEMS by Eve Merriam
- WONDERFUL WORDS: POEMS ABOUT READING, WRITING, SPEAKING, AND LISTENING. The poems in this anthology were selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins.
Take heart with the day and begin again. Good advice, that.
Great poem - and great picture to go with it!
I love the way the 4 middle lines acknowledge the clouds--then brush them aside. I also admire the poet's economy with words! Short, but potent.
Taking heart with the day has been rough of late but this just may help. Mercy, this is pretty...
And thanks for the tip of the hat, re. jealousy and success and whatnot. Such awesome conversation happened around that.
And thanks, too, for the book ya'll sent me this week!! Weekend reading, to be sure...
Love it, love it, love it and am LOVING reading a la carte, Tadmack. It's WONDERFUL!
I love this poem. I wish I could bring this to mind when I wake up in the mornings, but all I can seem to think is "ugh, no..."
I'm planning to have a Poetry Friday selection myself next week...somebody please let me know what I should do (if anything) to join in, besides just posting the poem. I'd love to participate now and then.
Huzzah!
We have converted you, AF!
Simply:
a.)select poem
b.) post poem
c.) add link to bottom of post that says who has the round-up, (this information found at @Kelly's blog.)
d.) Go to the round-up blog yourself and check in with Mr. Linky and leave a note saying hello.
Ta-da!
I had no idea that Susan Coolidge wrote anything other What Katy Did and its sequels (of which my favorite is What Katy Did Next) -- let alone edit Little Women! and write this lovely piece of poetry; thank you for sharing it.
Thank you so much for your comment at Morning Glory Alley. My blog is new this week and this was my first participation in Poetry Friday. You don't know how excited I was to see a comment!
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