All Nature seems at work – slugs leave their lair,
The bees are stirring, birds are on the wing,
And Winter slumbering in the open air,
Wears on his smiling face a dream of spring!
And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,
Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.
Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,
Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.
Bloom, oh ye amaranths, bloom for whom ye may –
For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!
With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll!
And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?
Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,
And hope without an object cannot live.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1772-1834 – “Work Without Hope” from Complete Poems


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#231: The mythology of the moon Human Voices Wake Us

An episode from 6/1/26: Tonight, we delve into the significance of the moon in mythology, religion, and folklore. I read from the Taschen Book of Symbols, the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols, and Mircea Eliade’s Patterns in Comparative Religion.Finally, and most personally, I read about the history of Rosh Chodesh, the monthly Jewish holiday recognizing the New Moon. For this, I read a passage from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz’s A Guide to Jewish Prayer.The best way to support the podcast is by leaving a review on Apple or Spotify, sharing it with others, or sending me a note on what you think. You can also order any of my books: Time and the River: From Columbine to the Invention of Fire, Notes from the Grid, To the House of the Sun, The Lonely Young & the Lonely Old, and Bone Antler Stone. I've also edited a handful of books in the S4N Pocket Poems series. I also have a YouTube channel where I share poems and excerpts from these books, mostly as YouTube shorts.Email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com.
  1. #231: The mythology of the moon
  2. #230 – The mythology of the bear, and Byron gets apocalyptic
  3. #229 : Mother Earth and myths of mining and agriculture
  4. #228 – What Ted Bundy did on July 14, 1974
  5. #227 – The Great Fire of London and the destruction of Jerusalem
  6. #226: The Vitality and terror of cities
  7. #225 – The invention of the wheel, and the power of storytelling
  8. #224: Let's talk about William Blake
  9. #223 – How to write two novels at the same time, with Charles Dickens
  10. #222: Seamus Heaney – 10 Essential Poems

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