Over the meadow bounds the skittish colt, And dashes in swift course the bord ring wave, Or scours the hollow of the lofty mount, And plashes through the stony stream unshod. Fierce shines his comely front, his waving mane Wantons in wind, his ears prick quavering up. From his round jetty head his ample eye Out standeth full; from his wide nostril darts The breath as if on flame; his curving neck Stands lofty up, such as full forward bears The bird, whose voice bids lions stand in awe, Whose watchful note calls up the loit'ring morn. Round-circling plump does swell his breast abroad, With courage fraught undaunted; high arise His even shoulders, ridging slender up. And now his back the saddle well becomes. Along his loins does double run the chine; Thick flanks truss up his belly tight and smooth; His buttocks in good liking spread themselves; He cocks his tail rough-frisling full of hair; The copious locks o’erflow his lusty neck, Down his right shoulder floating to and fro. Bold does he turn his nimble shank around Tied firm within a knee shaped round and long. Fierce he bears forward with his look aloft, And prances stately neighing all the way. His deep horn hollow hoof treads thund'ring down; Resembling so the stamping dance and noise Of brazen cymbals loud, wherewith her priests Did celebrate the rites of Cybele. George Farewell (fl. 1733) - "The Country Man" from The New Oxford Book of Eighteenth-Century Verse
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#230 – The mythology of the bear, and Byron gets apocalyptic – Human Voices Wake Us
An episode from 5/18/26: Tonight I read about the bear in folklore and mythology from two books everybody should have on their shelves: the Taschen Book of Symbols and the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Browsing through either puts you in contact with our best stories and, with the Taschen book, some of our best artwork.Next, I read Lord Byron’s (1788-1824) apocalyptic poem Darkness from 1816. You can read more about the volcanic eruption that inspired poem, and produced the “year without summer,” here.Finally, I read a few passages on revelation and the religious experience from the rabbi, theologian and civil rights activist Abraham Joshua Heshel’s (1907-1962) God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism.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.
- #230 – The mythology of the bear, and Byron gets apocalyptic
- #229 : Mother Earth and myths of mining and agriculture
- #228 – What Ted Bundy did on July 14, 1974
- #227 – The Great Fire of London and the destruction of Jerusalem
- #226: The Vitality and terror of cities
- #225 – The invention of the wheel, and the power of storytelling
- #224: Let's talk about William Blake
- #223 – How to write two novels at the same time, with Charles Dickens
- #222: Seamus Heaney – 10 Essential Poems
- #221: Volcanoes, Plagues & the Childhood of a Kabbalist
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