Ah, Pleasant May! For those of you not familiar with Christian Rosetti’s poetry (like me; I had to look it up), the title is from her poem, “May,” and what better way to herald this spring month than with poetry!
© Classical Carousel
When I had more time to read, I used to have about 6 to 8 books going at the same time. This was never a problem and I did like to be able to read sections of a books consistently with group reads keeping me on track. But sometime in the last three years or so, it’s all gone wrong. Suddenly, I wasn’t finishing books I started, yet I would still pick up new ones to begin. Which, of course, has left with me with a number of books I’ve begun but never completed. Not good.
With everything going on of late, instead of targeting specific books to read, I’ve preferred to let my reading tastes wander to what I feel like reading at a particular moment. Which makes me wonder with great puzzlement, why I’m choosing to participate in the recent Classics Club Spin. Perhaps it’s because I’ve hardly focussed at all on my list. But it’s more likely peer pressure from all you other bloggers who have jumped right in. So here I go!
These crazy times seemed to be the perfect time to re-start my Deal Me In Challenge and perhaps not so surprisingly, my card-choice led me to a very crazy poem, The Mad Gardener’s Song. Lewis Carroll is well-known for his zany poetry and stories and this one is no exception. It also lines up with my activities and planned activities of late …. gardening. Of course, there is no connection to the mad gardener and me. Perish the thought! I’m quite sane. Really ….! 😂😜
Books on my Spring TBR was a Top Ten Tuesday topic and probably one I missed this year, however I thought I would resurrect it, for my own interest as well as yours. Why my own? Well, I have very little idea what I plan to read this spring. As the death of my mom has left me somewhat lost and meandering and the pandemic has changed life considerably, I’ve found that I don’t feel like concentrating on the books I usually choose. And while I haven’t officially chosen any particular book, today I thought I’d wander through my bookshelves to see what catches my eye. My choices might even be a surprise to myself, lol!
Oh, what a year! Life just continues to hand out twists and turns and often it’s hard to keep up. But keep up one must and while running, I’m making a slow foray back into the blogosphere!
Playing with Mother – William Kay Blacklock
~ source Wikimedia Commons
To all my friends, followers and those who just happen to stumble across my blog, I’m so sorry that I’ve been absent and have fallen behind in The Iliad Read-Along. My mother has been in the hospital for the last month+, which has taken up most of my time for reading and blogging. She lives some distance from me, about 1 1/2 – 3 hours round-trip, depending on traffic, and with the visits and talks with doctors, etc. I’ve had little time to do much else. Right now, she’s not eating much and at times refusing food, so it doesn’t look good. She’s had a long life and she says that she’s ready to go, so I believe it’s just a matter of when. It’s sad but then again, it’s part of life and we must accept what it brings. Hopefully Jesus has made a special place for her with the angels. 😇
We have more battling between the two sides, with more conniving and dishonestly displayed by the gods, and Agamemnon continues to display a concerning lack of leadership.
In these sections the epic lives up to its reputation of being a “poem of death,” but in spite of this title, you can still see very human exchanges between characters. I’m going to try to pick out some of these more human elements.
In Book XI there are a number of similes (a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid) so be on the lookout!
