By Sappho
Translated by A. E. Housman
Happy bridegroom, Hesper brings
All desired and timely things.
All whom morning sends to roam,
Hesper loves to lead them home.
Home return who him behold,
Child to mother, sheep to fold,
Bird to nest from wandering wide:
Happy bridegroom, seek your bride.
--------
I'm too tired to see straight, let alone type straight, because I got up early to watch William marry Catherine. My taste in ceremonies runs to the less formal and less religious -- I like personal speeches by the celebrants about what binds them or at least readings that are relevant to their relationship -- but Kate and William looked far more happy than they did nervous, and their families were adorable (who knew Camilla had such a cute granddaughter). I know he is not very popular but Prince Philip looks amazing for a man who's going to be 90. Other than Cameron and Clegg, Elton John, the Beckhams, and Prince Albert, I am not enough of a British celebrity-watcher to have recognized who was there, though I was delighted by Prince Andrew's daughter's most ridiculous hat in the history of hats, which trump even some of the things Cher wore to the Academy Awards in days of yore.
I did watch Charles marry Diana back in the day, but my interest was really as much in Westminster Abbey and the route through London as in the ceremony; I've always been ambivalent about monarchy as an institution, being very aware as an American of how lucky I am to live someplace where in principle at least there are no born aristocrats -- as much as I love the idea of the British monarch, in an unbroken line from William the Conqueror, I really dislike the idea of all the princes and dukes and titled cousins. Of the royal weddings of my lifetime, this one was my favorite, in large part because the bride and groom really seem attached to one another and not merely to the idea of sharing titles and properties.
I did have to go looking for royal wedding video -- Albert and Elizabeth's, not William and Kate's -- after the choir started singing "I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me" (which of course made me recite, "They do sing it for a very long time"). This week's Fannish5 is 5 favorite/least favorite royal characters, which the mods claim has nothing to do with the royal wedding. I did favorites and had to declare Shakespeare ineligible or the entire list of characters would be from his plays; then, to be fair, I also left off royal characters based on real people like Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter, plus Queen Esther and other Biblical characters, and all Disney princesses.
1. Pirate King Elizabeth Swann, Pirates of the Caribbean
2. Lady Eowyn, The Lord of the Rings
3. Princess Leia, Star Wars
4. Princess Nausicaa, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
5. Queen Morgaine of North Wales, The Mists of Avalon
As for the rest of my day, I posted a review of the animated Star Trek episode "One Of Our Planets Is Missing, I enjoyed the gorgeous cool weather in the woods and the ongoing azalea show in the neighborhood, I had dinner with my family and my parents. We watched Smallville, which had three of my five favorite men from the series but was too 300 for my taste, and Camelot, which decided to pay lip service at least to rape being a bad thing -- a nice change after all the rapes on fantasy shows I watched last week. We also watched the NFL draft on and off, but both the Ravens and the Redskins spent as much time trading picks as picking players, so I really have no idea what state either team is in. Here are some more neighborhood flower pics:
No comments:
Post a Comment