Ballade of the Bookworm~~~~
Far in the Past I peer, and see
A Child upon the Nursery floor,
A Child with books upon his knee,
Who asks, like Oliver, for more!
The number of his years is IV,
And yet in Letters hath he skill,
How deep he dives in Fairy-lore!
~~~~
The Books I loved, I love them still!
One gift the Fairies gave me:
(Three they commonly bestowed of yore)
The Love of Books, the Golden Key
That opens the Enchanted Door;
Behind it Bluebeard lurks, and o'er
And o'er doth Jack his Giants kill,
And there is all Aladdin's store,
~~~~
The Books I loved, I love them still!
Take all, but leave my Books to me!
These heavy creels of old we bore
We fill not now, nor wander free,
Nor wear the heart that once we wore;
Not now each River seems to pour
His waters from the Muses' hill;
Though something's gone from stream and shore,
The Books I loved, I love them still!
~~~~
Scottish Poet, Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912)
Carl Spitzweg's 1850 painting
I love this!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way, just leave me with my books and everything will be fine.
This is my husband! In fact, he is going to look just like this picture in about 40 years! ;)
ReplyDeleteI also love to read. I guess that's why I don't comment very much because I'm always so busy reading. :)
ReplyDeleteI nominated you for an award. Stop by my blog when you have a second.
Betsy, I have given you an award too!
ReplyDeleteI am a bookworm too. My sister learned early never to go in a bookstore with me...she said so because I would never leave. ; )
I'm not a huge reader of books. How ever, I just picked up "The Shack" to read on vacation. Excellent read.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved this painting! It's perfect paired with this poem. Nice post, Bet! :)
ReplyDeleteBrandy! Hi there....Ok! I'll stop by today and see what you are up to handing out awards today! :)
ReplyDeleteStevie ~ Ok! I'll be over and check out this award today, too...thank you! Rummaging through old book stores is such a fun thing to do, huh!
ReplyDeleteWillow ~ me, too! I thought the poem fit perfectly. I think JB needs a copy in his office upstairs! :)
ReplyDeleteYou can really snuggle up to this poem with a mug of hot cocoa!
ReplyDeleteI love the artwork for this! Perfect, Betsy!
ReplyDeleteMarie ~ It does make you want to snuggle down with a nice stack of books, doesn't it!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful poem! Reminds me of my childhood & the magic of books!
ReplyDeleteThoss ~ yes, me too! Thanks for the visit and comment! I'll go over and say hello to you....
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a home with a couple of thousand (or more) books - so I immersed myself in them.
ReplyDeleteI love to read..where we would be without books?
ReplyDeleteMichelle
I'velearned fomr my family not to buy too many books--use the library more. I think it;s from too many moves where most of the boxes were books. We had a whole library with a ladder sort of like the one on the pic for my short mom to get to the top shelves! She has a lot less now but I still love to go to her few shelves and smell the old musty books.
ReplyDeleteI love both picture and poem. Thanks!
ReplyDelete