Poem for Thursday

My Lute, Awake
By Thomas Wyatt

My labor that thou and I shall waste
And end that I have now begun,
For when this song is sung and past,
My lute, be still, for I have done.

As to be heard where ear is none,
As lead to grave in marble stone,
My song may pierce her heart as soon.
Should we then sigh or sing or moan?
No, no, my lute, for I have done.

Proud of the spoil that thou hast got
Of simple hearts through love's shot,
By whom, unkind, thou hast them won,
Think not he hath his bow forgot,
Although my lute and I have done.

Vengance shall fall on thy disdain
That makest but game on earnest pain;
Think not alone under the sun
Unquit to cause thy lovers plain
Although my lute and I have done.

Perchance thee lie withered and old
The winter nights that are so cold,
Plaining in vain unto the moon;
Thy wishes then dare not be told.
Care then who list, for I have done.

And then may chance thee to repent
The time that thou hast lost and spnt
To cause thy lovers sigh and swoon;
Then shalt thou know beauty but lent,
And wish and want as I have done.

Now cease, my lute, this is the last
Labor that thou and I shall waste
And ended is that we begun.
Now is the song both sung and past;
My lute, be still, for I have done.

--------

Two candidates out in one day. One I'm not at all sorry to lose, really, except that I can't stand the ones who are left, and the other I am sorry to see gone because he had a lot of good things to say but it's been apparent for a while that he wasn't going to be the nominee and he has a lot going on in his personal life. Last time I voted for Edwards for VP -- it was obvious by the time my state voted that Kerry would get the nomination. This time I don't think that will accomplish anything and I'm hoping his withdrawal will help Clinton whom all things being equal is still my first choice, but if Obama gets the nomination it's fine with me as long as he wins in November. I have a nightmare that one of them will get the nomination based on numbers in states that will then vote overwhelmingly Republican in the national election, like happened in the Mondale election. I honestly can't tell whether Hillary or Barack is more likely to pull in enough Republican voters...I'm terrified that the answer might be "neither" and we'll be stuck with four years of McCain or Romney.

Had lunch with and chatted about this and other issues, stopped at Target and tried on some spring clothes but didn't buy anything. Came home to receive my kids' report cards (younger one's excellent, older one's not as good as it should be and I don't know at this point whether to restrict privileges or if that will just make him more frustrated and less likely to work harder). My mother brought over sweatpants for older one because that's all he'll wear and is too tall for the kids' sizes but too skinny for the men's so it's a regular struggle to find them. Watched The Fountain again, so I could record it and because I told Green Man Review that I wanted to write about it since no one yet has and I don't think that film has gotten anywhere near the critical attention it deserves. They're going to think I'm a Hugh Jackman fanatic -- I reviewed The Prestige for them spontaneously too -- well, that's all right.


Weapons and military drums kept in the magazine in Colonial Williamsburg. (There's a photo of the outside of the octagonal building here.)


These are the state's weapons; in addition, each Virginian was required to own a weapon to form a militia in case of attack by Native Americans or pirates (Blackbeard was ordered hunted down and killed by a Virginia governor).


Historical reenactors explained how the governor had the magazine emptied of gunpowder after reports of violence in Boston.


These weapons could be purchased from the Williamsburg gunsmith.


He told us that nearly every man, woman and child could shoot an animal threatening a farm.


An engraved powder horn was my favorite item in the gunsmith's shop -- I'm afraid firearms are not my thing.


The saddlemaker also made leather accessories for carrying and transporting weapons.

Put on The Truman Show to record late in the evening -- it's the only Jim Carrey movie I really love, I'm definitely not a big fan of his -- and ended up watching more than I intended and finding it a lot more affecting than I did the first time out, viewers ignoring their own crying babies to watch a life unfold on television. Some of what I was thinking about was in terms of gender -- is Hannah, the actress who plays Truman's wife a prostitute, paid by the network to have sex with him and keep him happy, and why do I find that less disturbing than the actress who plays his mother (we don't find out either her "real" name or her name on the TV series) faking the maternal role for his entire life? -- but some of it was in terms of fandom and the roles celebrities play in our lives. Hmm, maybe I'll see if GMR wants a review of that too.