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  • Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,

    And black are the waters that sparkled so green.

    The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us

    At rest in the hollows that rustle between.

    Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow;

    Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!

    The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,

    Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas.

    - Rudyard Kipling, 'Seal Lullaby'.

    November 9, 2008

  • If...

    you can read the phrase "weary wee flipperling" without gagging at its cutesy winsomeness, then might we suggest a little remedial Gerard Manley Hopkins?

    Personally, I blame wee sleekit cowering rabbie burns for the eruption of this kind of pustulence across the pale, sickly complexion of Victorian poetry.

    November 9, 2008

  • A bit harsh; I can see we haven't kipled enough lately. Although, in general terms, any verse containing o'er gains points on the Self-Conscious Taradiddle Index.

    Don't you have a list somewhere in honour of Slopkins, Lubricated Jellysuit?

    November 9, 2008