Thursday Thirteen - 101 - 13 Victorian Easter Greetings

- 1















"When you start with a portrait and try to find pure form by abstracting more and more, you must end up with an egg." - Pablo Picasso


- 2















"Where man sees but withered leaves, God sees sweet flowers growing." - Albert Laighton


- 3









"The Germanic Goddess of fertility and spring, Eostre (pronounced yo'ster) symbolizes new growth and rebirth.

Once, when the Goddess was late in coming, a little girl found a bird close to death from the cold and turned to Eostre for help. A rainbow bridge appreared and Eostre came, clothed in her red robe of warm, vibrant sunlight which melted the snows. Spring arrived. Because the little bird was wounded beyond repair, Eostre changed it into a snow hare who then brought rainbow eggs. As a sign of spring, Eostre instructed the little girl to watch for the snow hare to come to the woods."

- Angelfire


- 4










"And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."

- Percy Bysshe Shelley


- 5















"Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man." - Victor Hugo


- 6














"The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. They were made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s.

The arrival of the Oschter Haws (a rabbit spirit) was considered childhood's greatest pleasure next to a visit from Christ Kindl (Christ-child) on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the Oschter Haws would lay a nest of colored eggs.

The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests. The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country." - Celebration of Easter


- 7















"For I remember it is Easter morn,
And life and love and peace are all new born." - Alice Freeman Palmer


- 8















"Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!" - Thomas Blackburn


- 9









"Come and see! Oh, hurry, hurry!
For the Rabbit, kind and furry,
Has been here again and laid
Eggs in every nest we made!"

- Evaleen Stein


- 10















"The promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time." - Martin Luther


- 11















"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein


- 12










"Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


- 13















"And in the solemn night I watch
Before the Easter morn.
So pure, so still the starry heaven,
So hushed the brooding air,
I could hear the sweep of an angel's wings
If one should earthward fare."

- Edna Dean Proctor

Wordless Wednesday - 94

Through the Opera Glasses - 11 - Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit Airs on PBS Masterpiece

Last weekend, PBS Masterpiece Classic began airing BBC's production of Little Dorrit. And I sat on my couch with shining eyes and my heart all a-flutter, beginning an incredible 5-part journey back through time to the grittier side of Victorian London. This Sunday was part two, and there are still three more episodes to go. Happy sigh.

















Charles Dickens originally published Little Dorrit as serialized fiction, beginning in 1855 and concluding in 1857. It was his 16th novelization following The Pickwick Papers, which appeared in 1836-37. Little Dorrit follows third after his highly autobiographical David Copperfield, and one can see his steady reckoning with his own history as he explores the debtors' prison where his own father was held for a time.














Dickens' complex tale joins together the fortunes of imprisoned debtor William Dorrit and his family; embittered widow Mrs. Clennam and her servants; Arthur Clennam's fellow traveller Mr. Meagles and his family; wealthy banker Mr. Merdle and his family; prison gatekeeper Mr. Chivery and his son; Arthur's old sweetheart Flora Finching; rent collector Mr. Pancks; the notorious French murderer Rigaud and struggling inventor Daniel Doyce. I'm forever in awe of how Dickens managed to hold his myriad plot threads together. He is a master with whom I'll be apprenticing for as long as I live.













Main character Arthur Clennam is played by English actor Matthew MacFadyen, a huge favorite of mine ever since I watched the first episode of the first season of Spooks (MI-5). Arthur Clennam is my favorite kind of tormented hero. Brought up by a mother who cannot show him anything but distain, Arthur somehow continues to reach for joy even though he wears his melancholy like a second skin.


















Claire Foy plays the title character of Amy Dorrit, born in the Marshalsea debtors' prison and grown to adulthood holding the remains of her family together. Another of my favorite kinds of characters, Amy is the soft-spoken person who's inwardly stronger than anyone else around her. Amy Dorrit recognizes a kindred soul in Arthur Clennam, no matter what their class differences say.

















Dickens layers his versions of imprisonment with nearly every character. The obvious prisoner Dorrit is no more hampered than Mrs. Clennam in her decaying house, having more than enough money to pay for its proper upkeep. Arthur Clennam is stonewalled by the bureaucracy of the Circumlocution Office when he tries to get to the bottom of an injustice. Dickens' societies-within-societies, with characters like rent-collector Plancks at the bottom of one and the top of another, and stage star Fanny Dorrit a social pariah when it comes to making a match with an admirer, these are the worlds in which I love to disappear. It's not enough for me to spend time with the upper crust. I want all the layers. BBC's Little Dorrit delivers them all with a truly accomplished production.

Poetry Train Monday - 95 - God Knew Her Pledge

Today's found poem comes from my vampire WIP, featuring a Dark Ages Welsh warrior named Peredur. This poem introduces Tanwen, Peredur's betrothed. She waits for her warrior to return from the fighting against the raiding Irish - only to receive news she does not want to hear.

Ride the Poetry Train - click HERE.















God Knew Her Pledge


Fighter from Peredur’s war band
Stood with Father, talking
In a low voice
The two looked towards her

Tanwen’s pulse stopped

Mother stood near
Tanwen didn’t want her there
Didn’t want to hear words of comfort
Could not bear an embrace

That was not her beloved’s

Horrid shuddering started
Her teeth knocking together
Brother, sisters stared at her
One look in Father's eyes

And she knew

Tanwen turned, walked calmly from them all

Path before her shimmered
Tears balanced on lashes
She knew these dips, rises blind
Feet carried her to crag overlooking the bay

Dampness beaded her hair

Awash in tears, inside and out
Seeped unbroken stream
Thought her heart had broken
If she had a heart left to break

Sea birds glided between coast and surf
Crying out her anguish with their shrieks

Why?
Why love such a proud man?
Peredur never listened
She told him he was all she needed

He kept leaving her to fight

To win a name for himself, he’d said
So Father would agree to a match
Where did that leave her?
Betrothed to a corpse

Sobs punched their way through her chest at last

Curled into herself, clutched tight
With arms that could not stop the mourning
Could hear noises, wondered where they came from
Even as her throat ached from crying

She saw nothing except his green eyes
Felt nothing but the whisper of his breath
This couldn’t be real
He was too powerful

Too swift, too expert a fighter

To go down to a spear
The man was mistaken
Peredur was alive somewhere
He couldn’t be gone

Why did she totter on rocks
Slick with mist? Why did she want the
Pain in her chest to stop squeezing? Why
Wasn’t it Peredur arrived at her father’s door

To finally ask for her hand?

Wiping sleeve 'cross her face
Tanwen emerged from the darkness of shock
Felt a presence behind her
Tanwen paused as she turned

Cavan, son of village wise woman

Pale gray eyes gazed upon her
As though he knew
What lay screaming in her heart
Shaking her head, tears starting anew

“It can’t be! It can’t be true!”

Cavan gestured to boulder behind them
“Come and sit with me awhile.”
Cavan helped her to sit
Tanwen’s face felt pummeled

By so much crying

Where could tears come from
When she felt so numb inside?
Cavan turned object in his hand
Her gaze rested on a ring

The ring Peredur’s father had given him







“Where did you get that?”
“Peddler sold it to mother.
She held it in her hand
She saw it all before her.

Everything that happened."
Tanwen fought the urge to grab it
Cavan held it out, dropped it
Onto her outstretched palm

Metal touched her skin
She thought of the ring slipped
From Peredur’s cold hand
Reality ripped a gasp from her throat

Ring nearly tumbled onto scraggly brush

Cavan wrapped solid hands around hers
Ensuring her grip with his own
Tanwen sagged till forehead touched her wrists
If Cavan were not there she would pass out

Crying started again

She could not listen to it
As though
She were someone else
She would not hold her beloved’s ring

If he still lived

She never spoke her pledge of fidelity
Before the village
She’d said it often in her heart
God knew her pledge to be true

He knew that today she became a widow

- Julia Smith, 2009

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Thursday Thirteen - 100! - 13 of My Favorite T13s From My Archives

1 - 13 Things I Long To Do

This was a response to Claudia, who wondered what I long to do after I posted a list of things I'll never do.


















2 - Julia Needs

This list comes from a Google search game, where you type in your name along with the word needs and see what comes up in the search engine. I nearly killed myself laughing at how closely this list mirrors the real me.














3 - 13 Reasons to Read Book Review Series

These have become a signature aspect of my blog. I have all of my book reviews posted in their own archives, with a link on my sidebar. To see them, click HERE.


















4 - 13 Works of Art Series

Another signature of A Piece of My Mind are the art work posts, showcasing the talents of fine artists. I also have these collected in their own archive, with a link in my sidebar. To see them, click HERE.


















5 - 13 of My Favorite Ballets

It's no secret to regular readers that I am a certified ballet freak. I often review ballets - read a sample HERE.

















6 - 13 Reasons I Hate to Cook

This one of my earliest T13s - before I learned how to load pictures onto my blog.













7 - 13 Fictional Male Characters I Love

I spend copious amounts of time thinking about fictional male characters - my own and the ones I've discovered in film, television, theatre and books. Here are some of my all-time faves.













8 - 13 of My Favourite Canadian Hotties in Honour of Canada Day

When I was checking these over for this retrospective list, to my amazement, 'Albert' the Philly cream cheese manservant had left a comment about being chosen as my #9 Canadian Hottie. Check it out!












9 - 13 of My Favorite Fictional Couples

Second to thinking about fictional male characters, I spend an awful lot of time thinking about fictional couples. I highly recommend it!














10 - 13 Funniest Film Scenes

I have a strange reaction to laughing really hard - it triggers an asthma attack. Be assured that every scene listed here had me in physical agony, while tears of both laughter and the inability to breathe squeezed out of my eyes.














11 - Introducing 13 of My Ancestors

This was my first mega-post. But definitely not the last.
















12 - 13 Things About Canada's Role in the Two World Wars

This is one of my favorites. I concentrated on Remembrance Day at A Piece of My Mind last year, leading up to Nov. 11th.












13 - 13 Reasons I Counted the Days Until George W. Bush Was Outta Here

My delirium of joy after America's historic election last fall was only partially about aquiring Obama.

Wordless Wednesday - 93