Children's Classics.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND                                                                                December 21, 2013.

 A young child -- a playful Elf

Chases a rabbit to catch herself.

A fairy maiden with rosy red cheeks

She talks politely before she speaks. **

               ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND written by Lewis Carroll is a Victorian children's tale. It is the comical story of a girl that disappears down a rabbit hole to a fantastic place full of adventures. A surreal story of ever shifting ground rules where nothing is what it seems.  From the very beginning of the heroine's journey into Wonderland, Alice is confronted with a series of unplanned challenges and illogical events. Her dream world of distorted realities, and comical companions is a glimpse into a young girl's journey through adolescence. In a recent issue of Prospect magazine, Richard Jenkyns, professor of the classic tradition at Oxford University, called ALICE IN WONDERLAND, probably the most purely child-centered book ever written."*   The timeless story of ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND has proven relevant to audiences of all ages. The book is a constant source of academic debate over meanings and the context of its creation. It is a literary masterpiece that defies its own scope, and is pervasive because it pushes the boundaries of space, time, and logic in a paradigm shifting manner.      

               Lewis Carroll's fairytale universe is a "land of wonder." Things change from one form to another.  The physical transformations Alice experiences throughout her journey are a magical retreat from the boring world of everyday life. "Alice was beginning to get tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do."(325)  She falls asleep and escapes into the magic kingdom of Lewis Carroll's abstract, existential creation. Alice's experiences in Wonderland are free from most of the norms and expectations that exist in real life, and for that reason is both marvelous and enchanting. Magic is not conjured up with a "Fairy Godmother's" magic wand. Instead, Wonderland is magic encapsulated. A universe of body altering beverages, cakes, and other edible delights. The temporary physical changes Alice experiences throughout the novel seem to insist on, or point towards some sort of scholarly metaphor. Here in lies Lewis Carroll's true genius. The reader is kept guessing, and searching for the true meaning in the author's use of magical transformations. Wonderland is a theatre of ever changing landscapes and powerful props. For example, the magic keys that open passageways into enchanted gardens mysteriously appear and disappear at will. Magic works in Carroll's Wonderland by exerting its influence over Alice. Its purpose is to entertain a young girl's imagination as much as confound the sophisticated intellect of a rational adult.

               Magic can be seen in the language and dialogue employed in the novel.  Conversations in Wonderland are conducted in a language that sounds like English, yet is controlled by a very different logic. Common sense conversations are transformed. Words magically escape their dictionary-defined boundaries, and patterns of accepted speech and communication are manipulated and inverted. The Mad Hatter speaks of time as if "Time" were someone to be known. "If you knew Time as well as I do, you wouldn't talk about wasting it..., I dare say you never even spoke to Time."(350) The soaking wet Mouse reasons that the story of William the Conqueror would be best since this story is the driest thing it knows. "I'll soon make you dry enough," said the mouse. (332)These are a few examples of "Cross-Talk Comedy," Lewis Carroll skillfully employs to create a fantastical inversion of logic. The comical conversations unlock words from their context and give them an identity of their own. In Wonderland, a word is as much a condition as a thing, no matter what other words form a sentence around it. The significance of the magical transformation of words in Wonderland's society stress the unique social skills Alice must develop. The ever shifting playground rules allow Alice to demonstrate her growing power as an individual, and her adaptability to new forms of communication. In essence, "learning the game means more than learning the rules."

               Alice's good sense and the brilliant nonsense of the animals in Wonderland create a unique fairytale world. The animals she encounters are of the typical domestic pet variety. They are not unlike the cartoon characters of modern children's cinema. Other than the Gryphon that might seem foreign, and visually frightening to Alice, the host of characters are non-threatening and entertaining in their own unique ways. They are magically endowed with consciousness equal to that of humans. The nervous white rabbit wears a waste-coat and carries a pocket watch.  The sluggish Caterpillar smokes a hookah. The Cheshire Cat flashing it's sharp teeth, claws, and enormous grin. The Mad Hatter, March Hare, and the Dormouse having a perpetual tea party. The Duchess has a sneezing baby that turns into a pig. The Dodo, Duck, and Lory are three of the many birds that gather on the bank with Alice after falling into a pool of her tears. These animals and many more establish Wonderland as a mystical community.  They are the collective consciousness assisting young Alice in her personal growth, and development of social skills.

               The Cheshire Cat is the most magical character in Wonderland's community. The cat has the ability to appear and disappear at will.  The perpetually grinning feline displays a detached, clearheaded logic and explains Wonderland's madness to Alice. The Cheshire Cat is not the only cat mentioned in the story. Alice's cat, Dinah, is never present in Wonderland but becomes part of the story when Alice explains her pet's many talents to an audience of horrified birds, and on another occasion, the Mouse. The Cheshire Cat is unique because it has insight into the workings of Wonderland as a whole. The sagacious cat is able to explain to Alice that Wonderland is ruled by nonsense. Thus, Alice's normal behavior is inconsistent with its operating principles. The significance of the Cheshire Cat's role in Alice's adventures is important. It is a counterbalance to all the unsocial, bad-mannered eccentrics Alice meets in Wonderland. The cat shares Alice's common sense in contrast to the other quarrelsome creatures. In general, the basic condition common to all the creatures is ignorance --- for which there seems to be no remedy. It is the duty of the bodiless cat to remind the executioner and the King that it is mathematically impossible to behead a detached head. With a smile on his face, the Cheshire Cat reminds the authorities governing Wonderland, "they are not playing with a full deck of cards."

               In conclusion, wonderland's magical influence on Alice breaks down her beliefs about her identity and replaces those beliefs and understandings of the world with a new set of nonsensical rules. Alice understands this crisis of identity in terms of a fairytale.  "When I used to read fairytales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of it."(326)The world that she thinks she knows, which she defines logically through cause and effect and that she seeks to tame through definition is subverted and replaced by a mad rush of haphazard and inexplicable events. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND parodies these human efforts to create an organized universe in which our experience can be rendered rational. In chapter 11, Alice begins to magically grow again. She barely notices it. Her growth is a metaphor for gradual growth into an adult. She enters wonderland as a tiny version of herself able to race down a rabbit hole, but she emerges wiser, more grown up, and with a more integrated personality than before. Her magical Wonderland adventure slowly dissolves back into everyday experience, as seen through the eyes of her older sister."...all would change to dull reality---the grass would be only rustling in the wind, and the pool ripple to the waving of the reeds---the rattling tea-cups would change to tinkling sheep-bells, and the Queen's shrill cries to the voice of the shepherd boy---and the sneeze of the baby, the shriek of the Gryphon, and all the other queer noises, would change to the confusing clamour of the busy farm yard---while the lowing of the cattle in the distance would take the place of the Mock Turtle's heavy sobs."(374)

The end has come to greet the beginning.

Reward the losers for they are winning.

Ask young Alice what she thinks of this...

As Lewis Carroll leans in to steal a kiss. **

* www.prospectmagazine.co.uk ALICE IN WONDERLAND, September 21, 2012.

** Lars Hansen (12/21/2013)

Children's Classics

The Silver Lining in Treasure Island                                                                                      November 30, 2013.

               "Treasure Island" written by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of the great adventure tales of all times. It is a suspenseful story of tropical destinations, pesky pirates, and buried gold. It is a story of greed and treasure maps complete with the pirate's signature trademark "skull and crossbones."  Stevenson's novel is a romance, written specifically for a young audience. It is the story of one boy's coming of age. Jim Hawkins, the story's main protagonist and narrator is a timid boy at the beginning of the novel but as the tale unfolds he develops some of the essential characteristics of a swashbuckling sailor. "My curiosity, in a sense was stronger than my fear."(509)  By the end of the journey he has outwitted pirates, taken over a schooner, and saved many of his loyal shipmates from certain death. It might be an oversimplification to describe Jim as the hero in this novel, when in fact, "Treasure Island” is the story of Long John Silver.

               The one-legged marauding mariner is the indisputable villain of "Treasure Island." The quintessential fortune hunting pirate. Long John proves to be the most interesting of the book's main characters. Stevenson's well developed pirate persona is a true work of genius, not because he exemplifies everything that is exciting about boyhood adventure. Instead, it is Cap'n Silver the romantic character worthy of cult hero status that steals the show. He's not just a pirate, but he is everyone's favorite "Gentleman of Fortune." While other characters in the novel are presented in the simplest of description, Long John Silver is presented in precise detail. We know his age, his marital status, and his history. The shrewd Silver is a man of many ( ham sized) faces.

               Long before the personable John Silver is introduced in Chapter 7,  Captain Billy Bones pays Jim Hawkins a silver fourpenny to keep a " weather-eye open for the seafaring man with one leg."(498) The mere thought of Long John Silver being in close proximity sends Billy into bone rattling panic attacks.  Even Jim Hawkins has nightmares about the hideous one-legged monster. "How the personage haunted my dreams, I need scarcely tell you. On stormy nights, when the wind shock the four corners of the house and the surf roared along the cove and up the cliffs, I would see him in a thousand forms, and with a thousand diabolical expressions." (498) Stevenson's lead-in during the Part One of the novel is a brilliant portrayal of the novel's main antagonist. Without a definite identity but with a reputation for cruelty, John Silver becomes larger than life. Even though he still wants behind the curtain for his grand entrance, the tension created by this foreshadowing serves to heighten the readers curiosity about Stevenson's pirate.

               We first meet the enterprising Silver in Part Two of the Novel. He is a tavern owner that keeps a clear head at all times. He isn't given to drink and debauchery like the other pirates. He is the sober strategist staying alert, while his tavern's patrons drink to excess. Rum appears throughout the novel as a powerful symbol of the pirate's violence, recklessness, and uncontrolled behavior. In fact, the devil's grog is the pirates undoing.  Just as the pirate's shanty explains," ...dead men's chest, ho ho ho and a bottle of rum." Sailors drink themselves to death. Captain Billy is the first, followed by Mr. Arrow the first mate on the Hispaniola.  He is constantly tipsy until he falls overboard. Only Silver can keep his composure and stays the course. (The abstinence shown by the quartermaster was appealing to readers in the Victorian age. An era of acutely conservative morals.) It is not until near the end of the novel, when John Silver recognizes his imminent and inevitable defeat that he drinks cognac. "Well, I'll take a drain myself, Jim" said he. "I need a caulker, for there's trouble on hand."(586)

               Early in the novel, Robert Louis Stevenson represents John Silver with enough pleasing character traits to make the Bristol, tavern owner seem convincing enough to fool the suspicious, yet naive, Jim Hawkins, " he was too deep, and too ready, and too clever for me,..., I would have gone bail for the innocence of Long John Silver."(521) Stevenson has created a charmingly complex yet morally flawed character. On one hand, he is a cold hearted killer and devious manipulator with no real sense of loyalty to anything but "that blunt" money. On the other hand, he displays admirable qualities that inspire the gentry to trust his good sensibilities. The success of Stevenson's novel is due, in part, to Jim's heroic actions that are inspired by the crafty John Silver.  His positive character traits don't save him from being a tragic character. Instead, Stevenson novel is an exploration of what it means to be human.  Even in the end, when all seems lost for the crooked cook, Silver still has the cunning, cleverness, and foresight to plan his next move, and escape the hangman's noose. "Jim, " he whispered, "take that , and stand by for trouble. ' And he passed me a double-barreled pistol." (600) Long John is the opportunist at every turn. By giving Jim a pistol he is, in fact, trading his freedom for a chance to rejoin the gentry and escape the other pirates deadly fate.  " I am on your side now, hand and glove; and I shouldn't wish for to see the party weakened, let alone yourself, seeing as I know what I owes you." (605)  The convincing conman is always scheming and plotting for a way to gain an advantage, and live to fight another day.

               The pirates die out rapidly over the course of the novel and are continually associated with defeat and deformity. The pirate's skeleton found near the treasure symbolizes the superstitious pirates impending doom.  Long John Silver hasn't avoided the pirates curse but he has defied the dire consequences of his buccaneering. He is deformed yet "agile as a monkey even without leg or crutch." (540)  his brutality is swift when he kills Tom.  His physical defects showcase his strength of character. Although he is rough and rugged, he is also well spoken and gentlemanly. As the name Silver suggests, there is something valuable in the tarnished sailor. His silver tongue "he can speak like a book when so minded," and powers of persuasion contrast the crew of misfits that follow his leadership. One by one they walk their own plank. Only the charismatic long shot Silver has the skills to survive with "three or four hundred Guinness, to help him on his further wanderings." (606)  The ability of slippery John Silver to avoid prison or worse is what makes Stevenson's novel so attractive. Be his name Sparrow or Silver, the immortal character lives on today in modern films like, "Pirates of the Caribbean."

               Silver is much more than just the villain in a children's novel. The ever decisive, impressively astute, and uncommonly hell singed "barbeque" leaves a lasting impression. One minute he is heartlessly cruel and treacherous. The next, he is the consummate politician ready to win a pirate's election (chapter 29), and in doing so, wins favor with adventure tale afficionados of all ages. Be it when he negotiates his way out of potential disaster by patronizing young Jim Hawkins.  " I know when a game is up, I do; and I know a lad that is staunch. Ah, you that's young - you and me might have done a power of good together. "(583)  Or when, despite his formidable and frightening appearance, he is quick to inspire trust in the gentry. Captain Smollett and Dr. Livesey have great confidence in the princely pirate's character at the outset of the voyage. "Well, squire, "said Dr, Livesey," I don't put much faith in your discoveries, as a general thing; but I will say this, John Silver suits me." (523)  At every turn, Silver has outsmarted his rivals, anticipated every changing tide of the story's choppy plot, and planned for every conceivable outcome. He might not be a hero, but Silver's survival skills make him a favorite among readers of adventure tales.

               To enjoy "Treasure Island" one must suspend any notion of morality in favor of the broader ideals of romantic individualism. Right and wrong don't serve Stevenson's humanist motives. Instead, the novelist's true intention was to create a seascape of excitement and fantasy. "What might be taken as a moral confusion in the story is better viewed as a clue to the essential nature of the adventure tale." * In the end, Long John Silver, with the help of Ben Gunn, is allowed to escape. He jumps ship in a Spanish American port with a bag of gold and his faithful travelling companion; the (200 year old) parrot, Cap'n Flint. Maybe, "we were all pleased to be quit of him." However, "the bar silver and the arms still lie, where Flint buried them...,"(606) and every young pirate with dreams of sailing the seven seas has only to reach for a copy of "Treasure Island," to enlist with "The Sea Cook" on his next mutinous adventure.

* Lesson Three: Treasure Island. Learning Objectives. John W. Griffith.

Children's Classics.

Tom Sawyer                                                                                                                November 22, 2014.

               THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, written by Mark Twain, is one of America's best loved tales. It is the endearing story of a young school boy and protagonist, Thomas Sawyer, whose reputation precedes him for causing mischief and strife. The outspoken Tom Sawyer is spectacularly imaginative in a boyish, romantic way. He fills his peaceful rural surroundings with exciting and dangerous adventures. "He was not the model boy of the village. He knew the model boy very well though -- and he loathed him."(379)  Twain's novel is a portrayal of small town life. Petersburg is a quiet, tight knit community on the Mississippi River.  An idyllic mid-1800's American setting where Tom and his playmates, skip school, make believe they are Indians , and run away to be pirates. It is a story of "boys before they become men," searching for love, acceptance, and treasure.  Mark Twain's satirical depiction of early America is a portrait of a young nation's growing sense of moral right and wrong. The free spirited and dynamic nature of the novel's All-American hero makes THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER a true classic children's adventure tale.

               One of the major themes of the book is superstition and religion.  Early in the novel, religion strikes a metaphoric pose in the form of Mary and Joe(seph). Mary (Tom's cousin) is the proper (Victorian) young lady. She is the merry mentor of Christian formalities. "The girl put him to rights after he had dressed himself." (390) She is a vision of religious conformity. In contrast, Joe is Tom's closest friend and sidekick…(other than Huck Finn) He accompanies Tom on all his childish adventures and reinforces the notion of superstition as an important part of everyday childhood life. Mary and Joe are symbolic characters that introduce the dichotomy of religion and superstition.

               Tom Sawyer is somewhat religious and very superstitious.  As a young boy, he has a naive and immature view of his Christian faith. "...as solely as Tom's hands itched to grab it they did not dare --- he believed his soul would be instantly destroyed if he did such a thing while the prayer was going on."(395)  In this passage, Tom blends Christian dogma with the back woods superstitions of his community. He doesn't care about being religious, but conforms to religious ceremony because of his superstitious nature. He values the status getting a bible will give him. "Tom was therefore elevated to a place with the judge and the other elect..."(393)  Yet, when Tom goes to bed without saying his prayers, it is a powerful act of defiance. Tom Sawyer doesn't show much interest in Sunday school and is a poor student of the bible, but he exemplifies a number of Christian principles through his actions. In chapter 13 Tom's feelings of guilt about stealing shows that he does have a religious side. "There was a command against that in the bible. So they inwardly resolved that so long as they remained in the business, their piracies should not again be sullied with the crime of stealing."(425)  Religion is a strong component of Tom's life in the small rural Missouri community. However, superstition is a convenient distraction for Tom. It takes the place of more tedious tasks like studying school books or memorizing passages of the bible. In essence, the fantasies of "the Black Avenger of the Spanish Main" are more important than the realities of adulthood.

               In Mark Twain's fictitious Christian community, organized religion is often presented as ridiculous in the same way that Tom Sawyer's superstitions are ridiculous. For example, in chapter 5 the adults of Petersburg place a huge importance on going to church. Yet, during the Sunday service, a large black bug garners more attention than the preacher's sermon. "A vagrant poodle dog" sniffing for salvation finds the beetle, and together both dog and beetle take a circus leap out the church window. "The discourse was resumed presently, but it went lame and halting, all possibility of impressiveness being at an end; for even the gravest sentiments were constantly being received with a smothered burst of unholy mirth."(396)        

               Tom's superstition's demand absolute adherence to correct procedure in the same way that religion does. While religion is a routine obligation, superstition is the true faithful belief of Tom and his young companions. Tom's constant struggle between his need for adventure and his will to "be good" fuels his passion for all things magical. He is fascinated by the intricate details of charms, magical cures, and other varieties of folk wisdom. The boy's unwavering belief in the effectiveness of the wart cures resembles a kind of childish, religious fervor. "He wouldn't have a wart on him if he'd knowed how to work spunk-water. I've took thousands of warts off of my hands that way, Huck. I play with frogs so much that I've always got considerable many warts. Sometimes I take 'em off with a bean."(400) His unwillingness to take Aunt Polly's adult medicine is the antithesis of this fervor. "The boy was mending the health of a crack in the sitting room floor with it."(420)  Sawyer's dependence upon explanations that exist outside the bounds of human understanding exhibit his immaturity. He wants so strongly to believe in the supernatural that when a charm seems to not work, he is quick to furnish what he considers a rational explanation for its failure rather than concede that the unfounded charms don't work at all. Before departing on a life of piracy, Tom "collects all his resources together," when he tries to conjure up all his lost marbles. "He put his hand there and uttered this incantation impressively: 'What hasn't come here, come! What's here, stay here! "When he is unsuccessful, "he puzzled over the matter some time, and finally decided that some witch had interfered and broken the charm."(407) Eventually, he does find a lost marble, even though the method of his adolescent madness takes three attempts. Still, he is able to convince himself that the tricks of superstition work.

               In chapter 6 we are introduced to the community outcast, Huckleberry Finn. His antisocial lifestyle is exemplified by the way he and Tom view their various rituals and superstitions. Together they take a dead cat to a graveyard for a midnight cure for warts.  The graveyard scene is a turning point in the plot. They witness the murder of Dr. Robinson, and are propelled forever into the world of adults. The shadowy figures approaching the grave are assumed to be devils "sure enough. Three of 'em! Lordy, Tom, we're goners! Can you pray?"(410) In fact, the real men become more frightening than any childhood superstition. Tom and Huck's belief in superstition, their adherence to the blood oath, "They buried the shingle close to the wall, with some dismal ceremonies and incantations, and the fetters that bound their tongues were considered to be locked and the key thrown away."(414)  and their assumption that God will punish Injun Joe for his wickedness guide their actions. Even though the boys fear Injun Joe, they also fear superstition and ultimately, God or a higher power that they hope will protect them. "...they expected every moment that the clear sky would deliver God's lightnings upon his head."(417)

               The "Dire Prophecy of the Howling Dog" in chapter 10 exhibits the heights to which superstition can cloud the judgement of the misinformed. At first, Huck and Tom believe the stray dog is howling in their direction. Tom laments, "This comes of playing hookey and doing everything a feller's told not to do."(414) when they see the dog howling in the direction of a sleeping Muff Potter, they understand that the town drunk is in trouble. Since they never doubt such things, they rationalize that nothing they do will change his fate. However, a deepening sense of responsibility, and a guilty conscience convinces Tom to take action. His confession to Muff's lawyer saves Potter from the noose, and denotes progress in Tom's maturity towards adulthood. Tom breaks a blood oath with Huck Finn to stay quiet about what they saw in the graveyard. However, by coming clean with the authorities Sawyer overcomes his childish dependence on an irrational belief, and clears his conscience. It is a selfless act of Christian pathos.

               Tom can explain away certain superstitions when they don't serve his higher purpose. He overcomes his fear of the ghostly Injun Joe by believing the cross on the cave wall will protect him."Looky-here, Huck, what fools we're making of ourselves! Injun Joe's ghost ain't a-going to come around where there's a cross."(487) In doing so, Tom exhibits confidence in religious symbolism, and overcomes the mysterious superstitions related to the afterlife. With his maturing faith, he convinces himself to bravely moves forward towards the hidden gold.

               The convenient aspect of Tom's superstitious beliefs is that there are so many of them.  As the novel winds down, the maturation of Tom Sawyer begins to take its toll on these irrational beliefs. He becomes more decisive, and socially conscious. In the end, the pendulum has swung in favor of a more rational and compassionate hero with a sense of duty to his friends, his community, and his Christian faith. Childish superstitions are a passing phase for Tom Sawyer because "the elastic heart of youth cannot be compressed into one constrained shape long at a time."(407) The uncertain world of ignorance and piracy is replaced with a new world order. "A robber is more high-toned than what a pirate is---as a general thing. In most countries they're awful high up in the nobility---dukes and such."(492) Hence, Tom Sawyer's view of his changing world is leveled with a less superstitious posture albeit with a more guarded and pragmatic suspicion of authority.

Children's Classics

THE ROYAL LENTILS.                                                                                       November 10, 2013

               The Brothers Grimm Fairytale "Aschenputtel" and Charles Perrault's, more popular story,"Cinderella" are markedly different stories of growing up in wretched conditions. The plot lines are similar: The heroine lives in a broken family; Her beloved mother dies, and she must prevail over improbable odds. Both Cinderella and Aschenputtel are impetuous teenagers competing with other females for the attention of a potential mate. Both troubled youngsters suffer in silence, while being victimized by domineering stepmothers and jealous stepsisters. These fairytales are classic "rags to riches" stories that appear to have much in common, but the differences are as transparent as Cinderella's glass slipper.  

               The opening paragraph in each tale creates a different atmosphere. Cinderella's story begins with a positive narrative voice. We are introduced to a gentleman and his second wife, "the proudest and most haughty woman that ever lived." Her daughters are described as her mirror image in all ways.  Cinderella is introduced to the reader as "a young daughter of rare goodness and sweetness of temper."  Cinderella's goodness leads us to suspect that she will be suitably rewarded. More ominously, the story of Aschenputtel begins with the curtain rising on a death bed scene.  We meet a rich man but not necessarily a good man. His wife lays dying for no particular reason other than to introduce us to the heroine, Aschenputtel. The dear child promises to be pious and good in exchange for God's favor.

               In "Cinderella" a fairy Godmother grants material assistance and an escape from the child's grueling servitude and, like a good mother, imposes a curfew to ensure that Cinderella will return from a ball at an appropriate hour. Meanwhile, the domineering stepmother views Cinderella as a threat to the future of her own daughters. Cinderella's plight is wretched indeed but nowhere to be seen are the sinister trapping of humiliation and torture that dominate Aschenputtel's inner family struggle.  Her mother promises to "look down from heaven, to assist a God, that will always take care of you." Nowhere in the Brothers Grimm story do we find such a promise more convoluted and divisive.  The kitchen maid, as her stepmother calls her, becomes an emotional wreck. Aschen cries enough tears for a tree to grow from the tiny twig she plants at her mother's grave site. This tree leads Aschenputtel to rely less on her Christian faith because "the hazel bush offers the safest protection against adders, snakes and everything else which creeps on the earth." * The hazel tree is Aschenputtel's protection from her venomous female tormentors.                

               Cinderella and Aschenputtel are kept captive by their poverty. In both stories the stepsisters represent freedom from responsibility and act as a counterbalance to the heroine’s seemingly hopeless struggle. Escape from this dreadful domestic dilemma ( at least in the plotting of Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm ) relies on attracting a princely Mate.

               Cinderella is a victim of sibling rivalry. Despite being referred to as "Cinderwench," she is often "admired for her good taste." Her life is hard but "the poor girl bore all patiently." She triumphs with humility and a sense of self-worth.  Cinderella's stepsisters’ role in the story is to reinforce C's depth of character. We come to accept Cinderella's struggle as less tragic and more of an inspiration. On the other hands, Aschenputtel's stepsisters "were beautiful and fair in appearance, but at heart were black and ugly." Nowhere in the story do we find any Christian virtues. There are no lessons to be learned from Aschenputtel's mistreatment at the hands of her pretty persecutors. Phrases like, "Comb our hair, brush our shoes, and make our buckles fast" define the torment and ill-treatment Aschenputtel receives at the hands of her evil stepsisters. The material prosperity our troubled heroine earns, at the end of the story, is outweighed by the suffering her stepsisters must eventually endure "because of their wickedness and falsehood. " Aschenputtel's blinding treachery and lack of forgiveness is the lentil-like eyeball cruelly plucked from the ashes by "all the birds under heaven."    

               The men in Cinderella's story are noticeably subdued. In Perrault's tale, the father is dominated by his wife. This explains why he does not prevent the ill-treatment of his daughter. Even the prince is devoid of any real character development. (Has he slain any dragons or returned from a quest with a sack full of Holy Grails?) These men are nothing more than vehicles for the social advancement of Cinderella's family.  However, the father in the Brothers Grimm story plays a more active role. He is the rich man that wins favor with his daughters by spoiling them with expensive clothes and jewelry. We are not sure if Aschenputtel is his real daughter. For, he describes her as "his first wife's daughter." Nevertheless, he is a male role model incapable of providing Aschenputtel with any self-esteem. Even when confronted with an inquisitive prince, he disregards his daughter by saying, "It cannot surely be Aschenputtel." The bumbling prince can't keep up with her social agility and acrobatic escapes. In the end, the scheming prince can only set a feeble trap "and caused all the steps to be spread with pitch."    

               The garden variety creatures and flora that assist Cinderella, if only on a material level, assure the reader that our heroine is intimately associated with nature. Potential disease carrying rats and mice become friendly coachmen and the horses charged with the duty of safely delivering Cinderella to the ball. The season ripened pumpkin can be interpreted as a modern day metaphor. A reminder that Halloween is when every girl can become a beautiful princess.  In contrast, the birds Aschenputtel conjures up. "O gentle doves, O turtle doves, And all the birds that be," are born out of A's chronic emotional instability. Her daily weeping and longing for her dead mother create an unnatural tree in the middle of a graveyard. The birds that inhabit the tree respond to her witch-like incantations. Her poetic spells prompt the birds to do her bidding.  She passes judgement over all things when she chants, "The good must be put in the dish, The bad you may eat if you wish." Eventually, our dark heroine eliminates her potential rivals by allowing her Hitchcock-like birds to feast on the stepsister's wicked eyes.       

               The footwear of our heroines play a pivotal role in the story, not only because they are the key to the Prince successfully finding Cinderella and Aschenputtel but, the slippers represent the nature of the individual. The glass slippers are the one gift Cinderella's fairy Godmother gives to her. Everything else is transformed from one material to another. Her ragged clothes become " cloth of gold and silver, all decked with jewels." The slippers denote personal development and the Christian promise of transformation when overcoming adversity. They are made of glass and should be fragile. Cinderella's strength of character like her slipper doesn't break when dropped.  Her lasting good nature is symbolized in the glass slippers. The shoes are transparent because she has nothing to hide.  Cinderella's slippers are a sweet and innocent depiction of fairytale romance compared to the frightening horror story of Aschenputtel's blood stained footwear. In the Brothers Grimm story the evil stepsisters unsuccessfully attempt to replace Aschenputtel. The desperate girls compromise everything that is right and reasonable. They deform their feet to imitate Aschenputtel because, 'when you are queen you will never have to go on foot.' Their bleeding wounds reveal their true nature. Their vanity becomes their undoing. In the end, Aschenputtel successfully captures the heart of the prince but must wear the narrow ( size A ) scarlet stained slippers .      

               In conclusion, Perrault's "Cinderella" is arguably one of the most popular of all classic fairy tales. "The Tiny Glass Slipper" is an appropriate title, for it symbolizes her transparent and unbreakable good nature. The story emphasizes pervasive gifts of character over the ephemeral displays of material riches and physical beauty. The Brothers Grimm version is similar in plot but falls short because of its violent and gruesome nature. It is a more adult version of Cinderella. "Aschenputtel" leaves the reader with a moral lesson in reward and punishment. However, it fails to deliver the happily ever after crucial in popular children's literature. No family reconciliation as suggested in "Cinderella." Instead, the prince in "Aschenputtel" is marrying a physically beautiful girl with some very serious emotional baggage. Not to mention, the complications of having two blind in-laws. One might assume, given our understanding of Aschenputtel's mental instability, the two white doves might soon find themselves perched on the window sill outside the prince's bedroom - hungry for the royal lentils.

* 1812 - The Hazel Bush.  A Brothers Grimm Tale.

Children's Classics

The Wind in the Willows                                                                                    December 31, 2013.

The River swells with springtime pride.
Freed from Mountain's whitecapped yoke.
Marching through April meadows where Pan's song reminds,
Summer has a secret Winter can never be told. *


THE WIND IN THE WLLOWS written by Kenneth Grahame is an amusing children's fantasy. It is a story of four talking animal characters and their adventures in a pastural setting of Edwardian England. Unlike other anthropomorphic stories, Grahame's classic doesn't describe a world without grownups. Instead, it parodies a grownups world. The novel confirms the power of close friends and the courage to make a difference in the lives of others. It is an endearing tale of friends with real virtues contributing to each other's moral growth. Grahame creates an unforgettable, romantic community along the Thames River valley. It is everything that a children's book should be -- fun, safe, adventurous, and innocent. The true beauty of THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS resides in its slow moving language, which captures a cozy familiarity of home, the rhythms of nature, and the simplicity of just "messing about in boats."
The role of instinct in the novel has a significant impact on the characters. Grahame demonstrates the importance of these powerful forces through the use of vivid descriptions of the characters reaction to the their environment, personification of various elements of nature, and by beautifully illustrating the characters behavior with their surroundings. For example, in the first paragraph of the novel, Mole's desire to experience a more affluent and carefree lifestyle is reinforced by the natural impulse he feels when, " something up above was calling him imperiously." The vibrations of " Spring moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing." (637) Mole rushes into the world and discovers the river, "this sleek, sinuous , full-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, ...The Mole was bewitched."(637) He becomes a fixture along it's banks, and is transformed forever.
All the characters behave irrationally when they are not in their natural environment. When in a boat, Mole takes control of Rat's oars and capsizes the vessel. "How black was his despair when he felt himself sinking again."(642) When mole escapes the Wild Wood, he realizes and accepts "...that he was an animal of tilled field and hedgerow, linked to the plowed furrow, the frequented pasture, the lane of evening lingerings, the cultivated garden-plot."(663) Mole learns through trial and error to trust his true instincts and better judgement. When Mr. Toad tries to fit into an environment other than his own, he brings disaster upon himself. Whether through wrecking motorcars or pretending to be a washerwoman, he runs into trouble when doing things that are contrary to a toad's true nature. However, Toad's wild escapades are simply irresistible. The child-like character of Toad provides comic relief in the story. He is the circus clown devoid of any natural animal instincts. His delicious appeal is that he always bounces back. Like a modern cartoon character, he springs magically back to life after being folded, flattened and mutilated in some humorous way. He never seems to realize what the consequences of his actions will be until it is too late. The aristocratic frog is by nature an aquatic animal, but when he falls in the river, quite near his "Toad Hall," he has to be saved from drowning. Next, there's the romantic rodent Ratty, who is tempted to go south with the Sea Rat. His natural yet irrational urges to leave home are deeply ingrained in his instinct for adventure. He is "spellbound and quivering with excitement" as he is seduced by the Sea Rat's siren song. Only Mole can quell Ratty's deeper longings for "..., the haunting sea-voices that had sung to him." He recovers his composure enough to resume his duties as the river bank Poet Laureate. " The Rat was absorbed and deaf to the world; alternately scribbling and sucking the top of his pencil. It is true that he sucked a good deal more than scribbled; but it was joy to the Mole to know that the cure had last begun."(699) It is left for the pensive and reclusive Badger to be the voice of reason among his awkward friends. He is the sage, and senior citizen with a deeper understanding of the wide world. His instincts are rooted in the land where he lives, and in the history of civilization that surrounds the shire." There were badgers here, I've been told, long before the same city ever came to be. And now there are badgers here again. We are an enduring lot, and we may move out for a time, but we wait, and are patient, and back we come. And so it will ever be."(662)
The never ceasing river, like Grahame's poetic prose, is a powerful symbol in THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. It has multiple meanings. The beauty of the river's slow moving current is a metaphor for the unknowable depth of nature's influence. Grahame's prose ebb and flow like a voyage on the river's meandering path. The strength of the river that transports Mole and Ratty on their leisurely adventures is that it is unstoppable. The river is the timeless, tranquil, and nurturing source for all that lives in the rural river bank community. The river maintains a steadying influence over the story's characters. As if, the River must continually remind the four friends of their true harmonious connection to nature. Otter's son, Portly learns about life along the river banks. "And it was there he used to teach him fishing, and there young Portly caught his first fish, of which he was so very proud."(679) The lost otter's childish innocence attracts the guardian Piper, and sets the stage for Mole and Rat's rescue of young Portly from the island "at the Gates of Dawn." It is the dutiful River that ferries Mole and Ratty to the "Gates," and carries Portly back into the arms of his father.
"The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" operates in Grahame's text like the background symphony in a theatrical performance. It is meant to seduce, invoke emotion and sympathy without interfering with the plot. Its purpose is to infuse wonder and mystery without interrupting Grahame's ever-intriguing world. The pagan Pan is an effective symbol for the tensions operating across Grahame's text. Critics have long questions the Chapter's validity in the story, and have wondered if the "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is even necessary. When the spirit of the Piper is evoked through frequent readings of the novel, chapter 7 becomes essential to the plot and the novel's poetic language. For a full appreciation of the language, the novel should be read aloud. In essence, Grahame's timeless work of art is meant to be experienced (either read or listen too) more than once in a lifetime. The frequent reader of Grahame's masterpiece develops a sensitivity to the journey of self discover needed to reach the "Gates of Dawn." That fleeting moment of mystery and wonder ---so much like the personal experience "as one wakened suddenly from a beautiful dream, who struggles to recall it."(682) The mischievious Piper can be detected in the first paragraph of the novel as that subconscious sense of longing -- that profound sense of the sublime that Mole experiences upon leaving "Mole End." The Piper's brief appearance with Mole and Rat at "the gates of dawn" is thematic. The enchanting music of the Piper is captured in both imagery and symbol throughout the novel. His presence is marked by the character's own level of awareness of him. The Piper's melody is universally known, for it is nature itself. It is the source of all wind in the meadow, and the warm voice of Summer calling its flock and herd to migrate. It is that powerful motivating force inherent in the instincts of the animal kingdom. For even though the Piper disintegrates in the mists of dawn, the gift of "forgetfulness" is a subtle reminder of Nature's deeper magic lodged in the heart of all romantics. Pan's gift to Mole and Rat is both a fleeting glimpse of nature's immense harmony, " The two animals, crouched to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship."(682) and a reminder of the magnitude of the Humanist experience during Grahame's Georgian era.
In conclusion, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS is the perfect bedtime book, whether reading it to someone or just reading it alone. It is a book written about all four seasons of the year, and friendships that flourish throughout the changing years. It is a storybook fantasy that reminds us not of the dangers of "Wild Wood" nor "Toad's Adventures." Instead, it speaks to us of the powerful instinct of returning home. Like Rat, we must return to the essence of things. "With a smile of much happiness on his face, and something of a listening look still lingering there, the weary Rat was fast asleep."(684)

* Lars Hansen - December 31, 2013.

Poems and Songs

The Lost Timber Fox.

As I wandered out one morning

To free my sleepy head from rest.

I heard the timber of a tall tree moaning

Like a hunter pierced through the chest.

I following the crying through the trees

Until on the edge of a hill I found,

A cedar grove and one old Oak,

Here was the mystery of the sound.

“Break from me a willowy branch.”

I heard the old Oak say.” I said,

“I do not wish to…” said the Oak,

“There is no other way. I am a legend here,

The wind tells my story well.

I can show you the future clear.

The sound of my spiny whip will cast a spell."

Just then a branch broke in the wind,

Feld to the ground at my feet.

I picked up the long thin trembling wand,

With one stroke I made it hiss so sweet.

Then, taller it seemed I began to grow

As if I could see the tops of the trees.

The wind blew leaves around my feet,

A stiffening shiver ran through my knees.

Now to this day the story is told,

‘The legend of the lost timber Fox.’

A call to those that wander…

A cry from those Somewhere lost.

Yet somehow I know the real voice calling

My reply carries like the breeze.

As I limber up on windy morning,

To search for the old Oak trees.

By Lars Hansen (c1983.)

After All the Drones...                                                Berlin,1997

After all the drones of daytime vanish
Gathered in their hives - quivering on the Queen.
Night swells out of the ashphalt steaming
Into the alley comes the red cloaked neon...
Even by its darkness; as the blackest sky
Its workings through the vainly guarded eye
Sees the arrival of nameless haunted faces
Zaffer lamposts direct their wingless glide
Known to each and all - yet alone they fly
Angels of the underground.

Lowered to this world by mortal stain
Under the wicked watch of the moon
Bodies wet from the sting of piercing rain
Knife cuts the skin but love is the wound
Open the book - feel the pages like flesh
Whispering contradictions to tame the soul.
Savour the scent of ink fermentation...
Known to each and all - yet without a mold
Angels of the underground.


Kindness hangs...                                                                Calgary, 1992.

Kindness hangs its raincoat by the door
And ventures forth along the wood grain of an uneven floor
Taking the road of least resistance
Here to there is only a pattern of distance
Ending where the lines can't be drawn
Resting before joining then moving on
Insisting that motion is where everything belongs
Not caring for puddles or shallow ponds
Each movement transparent as the one before
Kindness arrives with its raincoat open
Inviting the moist and breathless wind
Renewed by its station on the old overcoat
Bleeding tiny pearls only charity can afford
Yielding only to the stain of Winter's yoke.


Heartbreak Waltz.                                                  1994

I know you showed up with him
Your friends have made that clear
But the music is slow and the lights are dim
And we're both just standing here.
You might think I planned in all this way
But it's last call so don't think at all
Let's blame it on the DJ...

I know this won't change a thing 
After all, it's been over a year
One last dance can't be a sin
After all, we're staying so near.
Let the music make you sway
Take my hand and understand
I have one last thing to say,

You don't have to close your eyes
You don't have to hold me tight
You don't have to remember the fall
Just dance the heartbreak waltz.

People hold on real tight
They can't let it go
Fleeting moments of love (it seems)
Don't have enough time to grow
But here we are and this could be our last
Stay awhile,it'll be alright
It's not too much to ask

You don't have to close your eyes
You don't have to hold me tight
You don't have to remember the fall
Just dance the heartbreak waltz.

There are times in your life when you need someone
'Cause the night is coldest when the weary day is done
On Saturday night we try to forget it all.
(So we) dance the heartbreak waltz.

TIME HAS TEETH                        Jan 2023

Time has teeth...

Chewing through our aging flesh

Always hungry - licking ticking tongue

With blotted belly full of the past

Fangs pierce the wrinkling present

While arms reach out over the dinner plate

Of tomorrow's final fragrant feast.

Honky Donkey Series by Longball Lars.

21st Century Blues. (Song c.2002. Words and music by Longball Lars.)

I've been walking in these old cowboy boots.
Trying to hitch hike just gives me the blues.
No one stopping by the side of the road.
Eighteen wheelers pulling twice the load
On the interstate federal freight don't be late or hesitate
What's a ramblin man to do?
Got them honky tonk man in the 21st century blues.

Well, I kicked off the rug - went on the road to sing my song
Gotta find me a place that still knows right from wrong.
But what the news said, made me stop and think.
Pass me the jug 'cause I need a drink.
It was hard drives and megabytes - websites online
Nerds have somehow become cool.
What's a honky tonk man in the 21st century to do?

Old fellas still remember how to spit shine their shoes.
But now, that's not pleasing and without a reason
Cowboys are wearing platform boots.
I said,  ew- ew - ew - ew...

In these changin days some things remain the same.
Like a honky tonk man drinkin whiskey to ease the pain
But now they're prescribing prozac pills,
And old Jack Daniels' headin' for the hills.
His wife said, "Honey gotta have ya - just take this viagra
And check out these silicon boobs."

What's a honky tonk man in the 21st century to do
Hey Willie Nelson,"I'm on the road again with 21st century blues
Lord, I got'em ...
Got them honky tonk man in the 21st century blues.


I'll Be Over You... (Song c.1996)

I knew right from the start
You had a cruel - cruel heart
But you looked so lonily standing in the lost and found.
We all pay for the seeds we've sown
There's but one thing that keeps me going.
I'll be over you when you're 6 ft. in the ground.

Your hairs' as coarse as a brush
Your pale face won't carry a blush
I've seen shorter ears on an aging bloodhood.
Not to mention the rolls and rolls of fat
Which leads me to the conclusion that,
I'll be over you when you're 6 ft. in the ground.

At our wedding the minister made a toast
As he summoned the Holy Ghost
He proclaimed your ugliness to be profound.
I curse young Cupid's bow
And there's one thing that I know,
I'll be over you when your 6 ft. in the ground.

I drink like a fish to forget.
At night, I wake up in a sweat
I see you sleeping beside me - safe and sound.
'Til your snoring causes the curtains to sway.
I doze off into a dream of the day
I'll be over you when your 6 ft. in the ground.

Our dog bit me on the leg
Then rolled over and started to beg
Pleading with me to take him to the city pound.
When you bend over he howls at the moon
While all the neighbors bark out the same tune.
I'll be over you when you're 6 ft. in the ground.

I've lost all my cherished friends
But, that's not where the story ends
There's a petition circulating all over town.
City Hall wants you declared a danger zone
And there's only one thing left worth knowing
I'll be over you when your 6 ft. in the ground.

Katherine Lake (1997 c. )

Katherine is the woman of my dreams
Then, she walked right throw the door
Life ain't what it seems,
You never know what's in store.
Like watchin' the clouds go by
They're heading east - oh my oh my
Katherine - You bin on my mind.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
How many days has it been.
Katherine - she just look at me and say,
"You can't fail, if you can't win."
Like watchin' the clouds go by
They're heading east, why don't you catch a ride
Katherine - oh me oh my

(Bridge/chorus)Oh, her love's the sunrise
I see in the morning sky
Her eyes - they sparkle
Her blushing smile - it shines...

One day I'll tell her what she means to me
And I know she'll say,"Don't it feel good to be free?"
Like watchin' the clouds go by
They're heading east - if I had wings I'd fly
To Katherine  --- oh me oh my

Repeat chorus and fade

Teaching Philosophy

Lingua Fractura                                                                                                    February 3, 2014.

                P.K. Matsuda's article "The Myth of Linguistic Homogeneity...." highlights the diverse nature of the college student population. The essay concerns itself with bringing the issue of language difference to the forefront of debate concerning the content of college composition courses. Matsuda asserts that from historical data the number of international students attending American academic institutions will continue to increase. Unfortunately, college composition instructors are left unprepared to handle the multilingual diversity of an expanding ESL student population. The notion that somewhere there exists one "standard English" for everyone is an inherent weakness in monolinguistic pedagogical practices. Forty years ago, the CCCC took a stand on the issue of "students’ Rights to their own language." It is commonly accepted around the world that English is the lingua franca, but without the creation of new composition scholarship to address "unidirectional monolingualism", a new title of "Lingua Fractura" may very well be more appropriate.

                Where is the common ground for negotiating linguistic diversity?  That "safe zone" where non-standard English speakers don't feel they have to change their cultural heritage in order to be recognized as worthy and successful students. It can be assumed that all students are speakers of dialects, when one considers the regional, state, and national diversity of our multicultural society. Hence, the creation of an inclusive pedagogical network albeit an altruistic and idealistic concept, for the time being, should be the next great leap in critical thinking and computer software development. The internet has brought the world together in many meaningful ways. A panlingual translation system is in the works, but not yet a reality in the laboratories of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Washington. Nevertheless, let us look to the future where invention and innovation will serve both student and instructor in the artistry and mastery of English composition.

Lymmericks

                                         1.
She turned me down, when I asked her to dance.
She turned away, when I spoke of romance.
Yet sweet and charming - long legged - simply Carmen
Obliged when asked to pull down her pants.

                                         2.
There was a painter named Sonny Creek Dale.
Canvas coated - hard edged - pony tailed.
He'll make you think for awhile
With his tomcat smile.
"Like how deep?" said the hammer to the nail.

                                        3.
A 5 hundred lb. woman with hickups
Out one night to kick her heels up
Her date did describe
After a lengthy dance hall jive
That she handled like a 1/4 ton pickup.

                                        4.
There was a minstral named Kevin McCormick
Played a ditti called, 'The squeeze box lick.
Behind the accordian he's macho trim
Tapping toes and strutting slim
Like wet fingers on a smoldering candle wick.

                                        5.
"Cold feet don't meet cold shoes,"
I said to warm my freezing toes
But whilst I think
They've made a stink
That's warming up my nose.
                               
                                       6.
Quick hands, quick feet make the game complete.
Then add a ball to make the athlete's purpose sweet!
While passing, dribbling and shooting for points
The 'give and go' never disappoints
Like snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

                                       7.

There was a basketball player named Jeff

That had difficulty going left

Until one day to his surprise

He faked left and then faked right

Then dunked the ball right thru the net.

The Nail

The Nail

Life is a nail...
A rusty vein of reality
With more character than the word victory
Bent and browning like an old soldier
Guarding a wall for our hats.
As a shiny silver spike,
It has driven home the carpenter's dream.
Had the good sense to ask the savior for a hand,
When no one would hold the hammer.
The artists pictures hang thankful,
Like childhood's treefort is grateful.
For the nails still cling to the timber,
Buried like an answer.






2015 - 17 Draught                                                                                                      August 14, 2015
Copper Moon

The sun appeared without morning
Like a scentless rose no longer thorning
In a pale sky - iron clouds rusting
The copper moon (un-new)

Pennies from heaven rain supreme
Filling the rivers and acid washed streams
Like jealous lover waxing green
The copper moon (untrue)

Sunbathers cancered brown
Dusty farms - no harvesting sound
The trail too faint for even the hound
Howling at the copper moon.


An Old Man.                                                                                                            March, 2011.


His face looked like an old cedar fence
Discolored and weather worn
Staring out at the yard
Knotted eyes
Season cracked skin.
Sitting perfectly still,
He seemed unmoved
By the glancing...
Dust and last month's leafing
Along the poorly travelled
Brown dirt path
Turning to meet
His ungreased hinges.


The Scarlet Ribbon. (12th Street Revisited)                                                          12-22-2013.

The thief waits for a willing purse
He smiles at each pocket walking by
Standing at his post - under a street lamp
He sings this song with a sigh.
"My daughter's ribbon is scarlet red
Her hair is like the coal.
Long curls fall from her pretty head
As she walks, they sway to and fro."
The thief stalks a drunken sailors path
Catlike paws on an ashphalt street
From alley come whispers - the shadows cast
The words of his slow chanty beat.
"My daughter's ribbon is scarlett red.
In a bow it rests like a crown.
Will be a Prince my daughter to wed,
This night in London town."
The thief carries home a candle light.
He smiles as he unlocks the door.
From inside his room comes a flickering sight
Of a small figure huddled on the floor.
"My daughter's ribbon is scarlet red
As smooth as a feather to touch.
I'll place it by the pillow on my bed
A thief can never steal too much.
So dreams the thief of freedom's well
Where coins spring out like the rain.
Power grins from his cheek like a silver bell
Ringing out the same sad refrain.
"My daughter's ribbon is scarlet red.
Only one holds her sacred trust.
Each morning the ribbon woven into her hair.
A thief can never hide too much."

Murphy's Point (Murphy’s Law Revisited)

                                           

Seems the world has a duty to change

And us the adoms* of worldly chance

Must bounce and dodge eternal...

Aware of little beyond the chaotic dance.

Helpless in few ways but the important needs of the land

Wisdom is the dust on the valley road

Settling unnoticed (again)

Sweet surrender are you somewhere near

Or do we believe in a spinning wheel?

Sprinkling dust on everyone

But not enough for one man to feel!

Let's turn off at Murphy's Point

We can wash the road from our hands

Wisdom rides a wave on a windy beach

There to live and die on the sand.

Didn't I first see you in a field of wheat…

There stood nothing but miles of gold,

And the piper called the acres to sway

To a summer song so ancient and slow.

Wasn't it you staring at the harvest sun

As you fell down on your knees?

Wisdom is a tree standing tall in the wind

And whispers, "Tomorrow is a shiny ax blade

The blacksmith sharpens under the red shades of autumn (leaves)

I spot you from a distant hill

Reflections on a river (I've watched you flow)

I've seen you settle in the evening still...

Waving rainbows to say, " it’s time to go."

For rainbow waves roll in faraway places

Mountains must surely see them all.

Wisdom is a fog that drifts off Murphy's Point

In the silver mist a ships' anchor falls.

Lars Hansen(c.1983)

*Adoms... The invented word is a collision of sorts. Atom's adam and vice versa has a lame intension, for the most part. 

Colleen Magerrell.

Come closer little candle light.
Oval jewel with your wagging tail.
Linger in the spot light silver n white
Like two spirits weaving (in a sail).
Evening finds you boasting proudly,
Every moving shadow knows your name.
Nightly stars remind the heavens,
"Make room for the new found flickering flame.!"
All around you, the darkness (like the sea)
Glowing wick let your pearling tears fall.
Evening's secret is safe tonight
Roll on waves of sunset tranquility
Rise from your whilting ivory tower and fly
Elfish dancer can you come out and play?
Like stealing a wink from your golden blue eyes.
Let us warm beneath the hiss of your whispering mane.

Lars Hansen (c.1995)

Restoration Period

                                                                                     April 23, 2014.

MIRABELL. Your bill of fare is something advanced in this latter account. Well, have I liberty to offer conditions---that when you are dwindled into a wife, I may not be beyond enlarged into a husband?

In the Proviso scene from William Congreve’s play “The Way of the World,” Mirabell and Millamant barter conditions and arrange an agreement for their marriage as if it were a bill of fare. They negotiate in a humorous way their life together free from the cant and the hypocrisy that surrounds them. Millamant may “dwindle” while Mirabell might find cause to “enlarge into a husband.” Hence, their willingness to compromise in order to gain some sort of equilibrium in their relationship is a refreshing change from the socially obsessed artificiality of Congreve’s 17^th century England. Confronted with a tangle of intrigue it is the socially agile couple’s skill in extricating themselves from it that must be admired. Their union is in stark contrast to the other dysfunctional relationships in this comedy of manners. The scene appears very funny but it is a serious comment on the degradation of conjugal relations during the Restoration period. It serves as an excellent medium through which Congreve conveys his satirical message to the audience. The lovers discuss terms for a mutual happiness within the confines of a world full of pretense. At this crucial point in the play, the author invites the reader to realize the importance of an ideal coupling in a not so idyllic society.

When Mirabell asks the question, “Well, have I liberty to offer conditions…” one gets the impression that our hero is well rehearsed in the courtship ritual. Congreve’s audience is aware of Mirabell’s over scrupulous scheming throughout the play. His elaborate con is designed to procure Millamant’s hand in marriage as well as lay claim to her purse strings; and the audience must surely applaud him for his cunning. So conscious of his surroundings, Mirabell is the consummate Machiavellian. Consistent with the irresistible charm of Mirabell, Congreve builds the coy, flippant and spirited character of Millamant. Together, they are a match made in Restoration heaven for they love each other, they respect each other and they treat each other as equals, while maintaining a somewhat stoic posture towards each other. Still, Millamant “Upon the very verge of matrimony” values her freedom. She displays her dislike for superficiality and through her skillful negotiations with Mirabell; she expresses her need for both emotional and physical companionship in marriage. “I’ll be solicited to the very last, nay and after.”(2399)  In essence, the author is defining a more progressive view of marriage. A union that is not merely a method of gaining financial wealth or saving one’s honor. Instead, Congreve suggests a more modern concept of companionship. By the end of the play, the happy couple emerge as the triumphant culmination of qualities inherent to their period. They are real enough to be human, and are endowed with enough strength of character to have made a victory of their mutual surrender. As the title of the play suggests, “The Way of the World” is a comical reminder to those that marry for all the wrong reasons, and pay a price for their ill-fated indulgence.

           
            From hence let those be warned, who mean to wed;

            Lest mutual falsehood stain the bed:

            For each deceiver to his cost may find,

            That marriage frauds too oft are paid in kind. (2419)