Word of the Week: sesquipedalian (sĕs-kwĭ-pĭ-DĀL-yǝn) Definition (Adjective) Given to using long words. In Context “Poor Miss Matty got sadly puzzled with this, for the words gathered size like snowballs, and towards the end of her letter Miss Jenkyns used to become quite sesquipedalian.” Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford, 1851.
A Christmas Carol By Christina Rossetti In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, long ago. Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day, Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay; Enough for Him, whom angels fall before, The ox and ass and camel [...]
Delayza’s Necklace Max Early We enter to sounds of bells. The hall’s warmth evokes an imprint of my small self standing by my grandparents. Their presence I sense in drums and singers’ voices. Collective breath of all colors hovers above the leaping herd. Eagle and hawk feathers adorn the deer dance’s rhythmic scent— forest evergreen, damp earth. Delayza puts her hand in mine. The seated crowd hinders her view. I lift her above the masses— a butterfly beyond reach. Her irises bloom to the choir and drumbeats rumbling nearby snowflakes. I set her among the gold straw flecks glistening on the [...]
The Vegetarian (2007) by Han Kang Critical Evaluation "The Vegetarian is a story in three acts: the first shows us Yeong-hye’s decision and her family’s reaction; the second focuses on her brother-in-law, an unsuccessful artist who becomes obsessed with her body; the third on In-hye, the manager of a cosmetics store, trying to find her own way of dealing with the fallout from the family collapse. Across the three parts, we are pressed up against a society’s most inflexible structures – expectations of behaviour, the workings of institutions – and we watch them fail one by one. The novel repeatedly shows [...]
Untitled Lance Henson Here is a place where nothing can die Darkness that lives beneath the leaves We bring our nights there without knowing We bring our fear there before the singing begins We bring our silent names there hoping we are forgiven We bring our hands there scented of a river We bring our prayers that hide and watch us The landscape where we have held the loose feathers Of a fallen bird And awakened in the land of the unseen Here is a place where nothing can die ... Copyright © 2024 by Lance Henson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day [...]
tenebrous (ˈte-nə-brəs) Definition 1. shut off from the light : dark, murky 2. hard to understand : obscure 3. causing gloom In Context “By its very nature rather tenebrous, undercover intelligence gathering blurs the lines between procedure and actual process, making it a difficult area to monitor and regulate.”Sarah Vine, Radio Choice; The Times (London, UK); Sep 29, 2012.
As if some little Arctic flower Emily Dickinson As if some little Arctic flower, Upon the polar hem, Went wandering down the latitudes, Until it puzzled came To continents of summer, To firmaments of sun, To strange, bright crowds of flowers, And birds of foreign tongue! I say, as if this little flower To Eden wandered in — What then? Why, nothing, only, Your inference therefrom! This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on December 1, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.
Sufficient Ina Donna Coolbrith Citron, pomegranate, Apricot, and peach, Flutter of apple-blows Whiter than the snow, Filling the silence With their leafy speech, Budding and blooming Down row after row. Breaths of blown spices, Which the meadows yield, Blossoms broad-petaled, Starry buds and small; Gold of the hill-sides, Purple of the field, Waft to my nostrils Their fragrance, one and all. Birds in the tree-tops, Birds that fill the air, Trilling, piping, singing, In their merry moods, — Gold wing and brown wing, Flitting here and here, To the coo and chirrup Of their downy broods. What grace has summer Better [...]
tomfoolery (tahm-FOO-luh-ree) Definition (Noun) playful or foolish behavior In Context "Presented as an oral history in a series of conversations between the couple, the book features anecdotes, hijinks, photos, and a veritable grab bag of tomfoolery." Brandy McDonnell, NewsOK.com, 1 Oct. 2018
