Today is the 150th anniversary of the battle of Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the U.S. Civil War.

( Major Anderson )

I found this one at Poetry Daily.

( The Sight of Trouble )

I'm listening to the third Flavia de Luce novel, A Red Herring Without Mustard. The Tyger by William Blake was featured, and since I posted that long ago, I thought I'd find another Blake for today.

( The Chimney-Sweeper )

Today I'm pretending it's summer (even though spring is barely beginning to start). It's supposed to be in the 50s and not rain (or snow, for that matter). I'm having people over for dinner and grilling burgers and making strawberry shortcake (among other things).

I found this poem, originally published in Poetry magazine, at The Poetry ( Read more... )

I snagged this one from Poetry 180.

( Thanks for Remembering Us )

Stumbled across this one...

( On the Death of Friends in Childhood )

This one came from my poetry buddy. It was published in the March 14, 2011 edition of The New Yorker. Clearly pulchritude is the word of the day.

( The Imagined )

I recently read The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg's Hidden History by Margaret S. Creighton, about women, African Americans, and Germans (mainly the Eleventh Corps of the Union Army) at Gettysburg. This poem was cited in a discussion of John Burns, a famed civilian participant in the battle. The poem's claim that "all his townsfolk ran away" is ( Read more... )

My Civil War obsession has taken a front seat of late. This poem was quoted in Robin Young's book For Love and Liberty: The Untold Civil War Story of Major Sullivan Ballou and His Famous Love Letter.

( Killed at the Ford )

I had a little trouble getting back in the swing of things after I got home. This is me trying to get back on the wagon. My book club just met to discuss The Crimson Rooms by Katharine McMahon, which is set between WWI and WWII, and which all of us quite liked. This poem is included before the first chapter, aptly as Wilfred Owen wrote it during ( Read more... )