Hope & Inspiration

Hello everyone –

A great deal of unsettling news has been reaching us through the news media over the last few weeks. From around the globe, scenes of chaos and despair haunt our TV screens on a nightly basis. Dealing with these global realities of life in the 21^st century isn’t an easy task, but it is a task that can be accomplished with the aid of historical perspective, mixed with a generous helping of hope and wisdom. This fortnight’s quotations, drawn from various sources, have provided comfort, inspiration, and a greater sense of perspective to me, and now I am sharing them with you.

Reflections from BABYLON 5 (The Best Science-Fiction TV Series of the 1990s!)

By J. Michael Straczynski (Creator/Producer/Writer)

“We have to make people lift their eyes back to the horizon, and see the line of ancestors behind us, saying, ‘Make my life have meaning.’ And to our inheritors before us, saying, ‘Create the world we will live in.’ I mean, we’re not just holding jobs and having dinner. We are in the process of building the future.”

-- Captain John Sheridan in Episode #37

       All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both.

       G’Quon wrote, “There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities – it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender.”

       The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation.

       No one knows the shape of that future, or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.

-- Closing Monologue from Episode #66

“Hope” by Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune -- without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Some Poetical Wisdom from Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

From “Ulysses”:

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

From “Locksley Hall”:

For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;
Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales;
Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew
From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue;
Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm,
With the standards of the peoples plunging thro' the thunder-storm;
Till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle-flags were furled
In the Parliament of Man, the Federation of the World.
There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly Earth shall slumber, lapped in universal law.

From “Locksley Hall Sixty Years After”:

Earth at last a warless world, a single race, a single tongue,

I have seen her far away -- for is not Earth as yet so young?--

Every tiger madness muzzled, every serpent passion killed,

Every grim ravine a garden, every blazing desert tilled,

Robed in universal harvest up to either pole she smiles,

Universal ocean softly washing all her warless Isles.

Only That which made us, meant us to be mightier by and by,

Set the sphere of all the boundless Heavens within the human eye,

Sent the shadow of Himself, the boundless, through the human soul;

Boundless inward, in the atom, boundless outward, in the Whole.

Follow you the Star that lights a desert pathway, yours or mine.

Forward, till you see the highest Human Nature is divine.

Follow Light, and do the Right -- for Man can half-control his doom --

Till you find the deathless Angel seated in the vacant tomb.

Forward, let the stormy moment fly and mingle with the Past.

I that loathed, have come to love him. Love will conquer at the last.

Until next time,

Rob J

Apollo 11 Golden Jubilee -- Part 3

Hello everyone –

As we conclude our series commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the first lunar landing, longtime listmembers may recall that I’ve been fascinated by the Moon ever since I can remember. My grandmother used to sing a song to me called “I See the Moon,” which has this chorus:

“I see the Moon, and the Moon sees me.

God bless the Moon, and God bless me.”

The Moon also appears in this nonsensical nursery rhyme:

“Hey diddle diddle,

The cat and the fiddle,

The cow jumped over the Moon.

The little dog laughed

To see such fun,

And the dish ran away with the spoon.”

Here are some poems about the Moon to conclude Quotemail’s celebration of the Apollo 11 Golden Jubilee!

“The Man In The Moon Came Down Too Soon” (1954)

By J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973)

There is an inn, a merry old inn

  beneath an old grey hill,

And there they brew a beer so brown

That the Man in the Moon himself came down

  one night to drink his fill.

The ostler has a tipsy cat

  that plays a five-stringed fiddle;

And up and down he saws his bow

Now squeaking high, now purring low,

  now sawing in the middle.

The landlord keeps a little dog

  that is mighty fond of jokes;

When there's good cheer among the guests,

He cocks an ear at all the jests

  and laughs until he chokes.

They also keep a hornéd cow

  as proud as any queen;

But music turns her head like ale,

And makes her wave her tufted tail

  and dance upon the green.

And O! the rows of silver dishes

  and the store of silver spoons!

For Sunday there's a special pair,

And these they polish up with care

  on Saturday afternoons.

The Man in the Moon was drinking deep,

  and the cat began to wail;

A dish and a spoon on the table danced,

The cow in the garden madly pranced

  and the little dog chased his tail.

The Man in the Moon took another mug,

  and then rolled beneath his chair;

And there he dozed and dreamed of ale,

Till in the sky the stars were pale,

  and dawn was in the air.

Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat:

  'The white horses of the Moon,

They neigh and champ their silver bits;

But their master's been and drowned his wits,

  and the Sun'll be rising soon!'

So the cat on the fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,

  a jig that would wake the dead:

He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,

While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:

  'It's after three!' he said.

They rolled the Man slowly up the hill

  and bundled him into the Moon,

While his horses galloped up in rear,

And the cow came capering like a deer,

  and a dish ran up with the spoon.

Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle;

  the dog began to roar,

The cow and the horses stood on their heads;

The guests all bounded from their beds

  and danced upon the floor.

With a ping and a pang the fiddle-strings broke!

  the cow jumped over the Moon,

And the little dog laughed to see such fun,

And the Saturday dish went off at a run

  with the silver Sunday spoon.

The round Moon rolled behind the hill,

 as the Sun raised up her head.

She* hardly believed her fiery eyes;

For though it was day, to her surprise

  they all went back to bed!

“The Moon Blessing”

Collected by Alexander Carmichael in Carmina Gadelica (1900)

May thy light be fair to me!

May thy course be smooth to me!

If good to me is thy beginning,

Seven times better be thine end,

Thou fair Moon of the seasons,

Thou great lamp of grace!

The One who created thee

Created me likewise;

The One who gave thee weight and light

Gave to me life and death,

And the joy of the seven satisfactions,

Thou great lamp of grace,

Thou fair Moon of the seasons.

“Wynken, Blynken, and Nod”

By Eugene Field (1889)

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night

Sailed off in a wooden shoe —

Sailed on a river of crystal light,

Into a sea of dew.

"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"

The old Moon asked the three.

"We have come to fish for the herring fish

That live in this beautiful sea;

Nets of silver and gold have we!"

Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

The old Moon laughed and sang a song,

As they rocked in the wooden shoe,

And the wind that sped them all night long

Ruffled the waves of dew.

The little stars were the herring fish

That lived in that beautiful sea —

"Now cast your nets wherever you wish —

Never afraid are we";

So cried the stars to the fishermen three:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw

To the stars in the twinkling foam —

Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,

Bringing the fishermen home;

'Twas all so pretty a sail it seemed

As if it could not be,

And some folks thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed

Of sailing that beautiful sea —

But I shall name you the fishermen three:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,

And Nod is a little head,

And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies

Is a wee one's trundle-bed.

So shut your eyes while Mother sings

Of wonderful sights that be,

And you shall see the beautiful things

As you rock in the misty sea,

Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Until next time – keep looking up!

Rob

Apollo 11 Golden Jubilee -- Part 2

Hello everyone –

This weekend marks the 50^th anniversary of the first crewed lunar landing on July 20, 1969, when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo 11 lunar module on the surface of the Moon. In honor of this historic occasion, here are some classic poems about the Moon, plus the inscription from the Apollo 11 commemorative plaque that Armstrong and Aldrin left behind on the lunar surface.

“The Moon”

By Sappho (ca. 630-570 BCE)

Translated by Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904)

The stars about the lovely Moon

Fade back and vanish very soon,

When, round and full, her silver face

Swims into sight, and lights all space.

“Eldorado”

By Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

Gaily bedight,

A gallant knight,

In sunshine and in shadow,  

Had journeyed long,  

Singing a song,

In search of Eldorado.

But he grew old—

This knight so bold—  

And o’er his heart a shadow—  

Fell as he found

No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado.

And, as his strength  

Failed him at length,

He met a pilgrim shadow—  

 ‘Shadow,’ said he,  

 ‘Where can it be—

This land of Eldorado?’

‘Over the Mountains

Of the Moon,

Down the Valley of the Shadow,  

Ride, boldly ride,’

The shade replied,—

‘If you seek for Eldorado!’

“The Moon” (From A Child’s Garden of Verses, 1885)

By Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

The Moon has a face like the clock in the hall;

She shines on thieves on the garden wall,

On streets and fields and harbor quays,

And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,

The howling dog by the door of the house,

The bat that lies in bed at noon,

All love to be out by the light of the Moon.

But all of the things that belong to the day

Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;

And flowers and children close their eyes

Till up in the morning the Sun shall arise.

“Kind Moon”

By Sara Teasdale (1884-1933)

I think the Moon is very kind

To take such trouble just for me.

He came along with me from home

To keep me company.

He went as fast as I could run;

I wonder how he crossed the sky?

I'm sure he hasn’t legs and feet

Or any wings to fly.

Yet here he is above their roof;

Perhaps he thinks it isn’t right

For me to go so far alone,

Though Mother said I might.

Apollo 11 Plaque Inscription

HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969, A.D.

WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND.

(Signatures: Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin, Nixon)

Until next time – keep looking up! J

Rob

Apollo 11 Golden Jubilee -- Part 1

Hello everyone –

July 2019 marks the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, and to celebrate this auspicious occasion, I’ll be sending forth a three-part series (starting today) on Earth’s nearest neighbor in space – the Moon! First up, we have some ancient poems and legends about our planet’s only natural satellite.

LUNAR POEMS FROM ANCIENT GREECE – INTRODUCTION

        The annual cycle of the seasons and its effects on our natural surroundings are recurring themes throughout world literature. The Orphic poets – a guild of ancient Greek philosopher-bards named after their legendary founder, Orpheus – celebrated the changing of the seasons, the wonders of the natural world, and their lofty ideals in poetic chants, several dozen of which were preserved in written form after centuries of oral transmission. In the poetic forms of their prescientific age (ca. 1000-500 BCE), the Orphic poets chose to personify the forces of Nature, the celestial orbs, and abstract ideals in order to explain how and why the natural world and the human social order function in the ways that they do.

          The Homeric school of poetry, founded perhaps by Homer himself (fl. ca. 8^th century BCE), and carried forward by his disciples and successors for many generations, also produced poems that celebrated heroic deeds and the mysterious forces of Nature, many of which were personified as divine or semidivine beings. In both of the following poems, we can learn how the ancient Greeks perceived the Moon, not as a dead rock in space, but as a living entity (or as a celestial orb ruled by a divine guardian – in this case, Artemis [in Greek] or Diana [in Latin]).

Orphic Hymn #8: TO THE MOON

(The FUMIGATION from AROMATICS)

Hear, divine queen, diffusing silver light,

Bull-horned and wandering through the gloom of Night.

With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide

Night’s torch extending, through the heavens you ride:

Female and Male with borrowed rays you shine,

And now full-orbed, now tending to decline.

Mother of ages, fruit-producing Moon,

Whose amber orb makes Night’s reflected noon:

Lover of horses, splendid, queen of Night,

All-seeing power bedecked with starry light.

Lover of vigilance, the foe of strife,

In peace rejoicing, and a prudent life:

Fair lamp of Night, its ornament and friend,

Who gives to Nature’s works their destined end.

Queen of the stars, all-wife Diana hail!

Decked with a graceful robe and shining veil;

Come, blessed, divine, prudent, starry, bright,

Come lunar lamp with chaste and splendid light,

Shine on these sacred rites with prosperous rays,

And pleased accept your suppliant’s mystic praise.

Homeric Hymn #32: TO THE MOON

          [1] And next, sweet voiced Muses, daughters of Zeus, well-skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Moon. From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that arises [5] from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever the bright Moon having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Ocean, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, [10] drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure token and a sign to mortals.

          [15] Once [Zeus] the son of Cronos was joined with her in love; and she conceived and bore a daughter Pandia, exceedingly lovely amongst the immortals.

          Hail, white-armed divine, bright Moon, mild, bright-tressed queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glories of men half-divine, whose deeds minstrels, [20] the servants of the Muses, celebrate with lovely lips.

Chinese Stories: Houyi and Chang’e

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese_Stories/Houyi_and_Chang%27e

            According to legend, Chang'e and her husband Houyi were immortals living in heaven. One day, the ten sons of the Jade Emperor transformed into ten suns, causing the earth to scorch. Having failed to order his sons to stop ruining the earth, the Jade Emperor summoned Houyi for help. Houyi, using his legendary archery skills, shot down nine of the sons, but spared one son to be the sun. The Jade Emperor was obviously not pleased with Houyi's solution to save the earth: nine of his sons were dead. As punishment, the Jade Emperor banished Houyi and Chang'e to live as mere mortals on earth.

            Seeing that Chang'e felt extremely miserable over her loss of immortality, Houyi decided to journey on a long, perilous quest to find the pill of immortality so that the couple could be immortals again. At the end of his quest he met the Queen Mother of the West who agreed to give him the pill, but warned him that each person would only need half the pill to become immortal.

           Houyi brought the pill home and stored it in a case. He warned Chang'e not to open the case and then left home for a while. Like Pandora in Greek mythology, Chang'e became too curious: she opened up the case and found the pill just as Houyi was returning home. Nervous that Houyi would catch her discovering the contents of the case, she accidentally swallowed the entire pill. She started to float into the sky because of the overdose. Although Houyi wanted to shoot her down in order to prevent her from floating further, he could not bear to aim the arrow at her. Chang'e kept on floating until she landed on the moon.

            While she became lonely on the moon without her husband, she did have company. A jade rabbit, who manufactured elixirs, as well as the woodcutter Wu Gang, also lived on the moon.

            This story was adapted in 2003 into a Chinese TV period drama titled Moon Fairy, starring Singapore actors Fann Wong and Christopher Lee. Chang'e appears in Wu Cheng'en's novel Journey to the West and also TV adaptations of the novel. Her story was slightly changed in that she did not go to the moon on her first try but went to the heavens instead. She would later be rewarded by being allowed to live on the moon after an incident which involved her and Zhu Bajie. China's chairman, Mao Zedong, mentions Chang'e in his most famous poem, about his murdered wife Yang Kaihui. The legend of Lady Chang-O plays a prominent role in Amy Tan's children's book, The Moon Lady, retold from her more adult novel The Joy Luck Club.

            The moon goddess was mentioned in the conversation between Houston Capcom and Apollo 11 crew just before the first moon landing:

• Houston: Among the large headlines concerning Apollo this morning there's one asking that you watch for a lovely girl with a big rabbit. An ancient legend says a beautiful Chinese girl called Chang-o has been living there for 4000 years. It seems she was banished to the moon because she stole the pill for immortality from her husband. You might also look for her companion, a large Chinese rabbit, who is easy to spot since he is only standing on his hind feet in the shade of a cinnamon tree. The name of the rabbit is not recorded.
• Collins: Okay, we'll keep a close eye for the bunny girl.

In 2007, China launched its first lunar probe, named Chang'e 1 in the goddess' honor.

From medieval Japan comes the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, also known as the Tale of the Moon Princess. You can find a version of this classic proto-science-fiction story here:

http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/72/japanese-fairy-tales/4834/the-bamboo-cutter-and-the-moon-child/

Until next week – keep looking up! J

Rob

Happy 4th of July!

Hello everyone –

This week, in addition to Independence Day, our nation remembers the Battle of Gettysburg – the turning point of the Civil War – which took place in Pennsylvania (July 1-4, 1863). Here are some historical reflections, centered on the memory of our greatest President, Abraham Lincoln, to remind us that we ourselves, in the present day, are shaping the future course of our nation, even though we may be unaware of it.

“The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865, 16th President of the United States)

       Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

       Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

       But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) on Abraham Lincoln

Printed in the New York World – 1909

“Of all the great national heroes and statesmen of history Lincoln is the only real giant. Alexander, Frederick the Great, Caesar, Napoleon, Gladstone and even Washington stand in greatness of character, in depth of feeling and in a certain moral power far behind Lincoln. Lincoln was a man of whom a nation has a right to be proud; he was a Christ in miniature, a saint of humanity, whose name will live thousands of years in the legends of future generations. We are still too near to his greatness, and so can hardly appreciate his divine power; but after a few centuries more our posterity will find him considerably bigger than we do. His genius is still too strong and too powerful for the common understanding, just as the Sun is too hot when its light beams directly on us.”

“Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight” (1914)

By Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931)

It is portentous, and a thing of state

That here at midnight, in our little town

A mourning figure walks, and will not rest,

Near the old court-house pacing up and down,

Or by his homestead, or in shadowed yards

He lingers where his children used to play,

Or through the market, on the well-worn stones

He stalks until the dawn-stars burn away.

A bronzed, lank man! His suit of ancient black,

A famous high top-hat and plain worn shawl

Make him the quaint great figure that men love,

The prairie-lawyer, master of us all.

He cannot sleep upon his hillside now.

He is among us: — as in times before!

And we who toss and lie awake for long

Breathe deep, and start, to see him pass the door.

His head is bowed. He thinks on men and kings.

Yea, when the sick world cries, how can he sleep?

Too many peasants fight, they know not why,

Too many homesteads in black terror weep.

The sins of all the war-lords burn his heart.

He sees the dreadnaughts scouring every main.

He carries on his shawl-wrapped shoulders now

The bitterness, the folly and the pain.

He cannot rest until a spirit-dawn

Shall come; — the shining hope of Europe free:

The league of sober folk, the Workers’ Earth,

Bringing long peace to Cornland, Alp and Sea.

It breaks his heart that kings must murder still,

That all his hours of travail here for men

Seem yet in vain. And who will bring white peace

That he may sleep upon his hill again?

Happy 4^th of July –

Rob J

Unity in Diversity

Hello everyone –

With the rapid approach of Independence Day on July 4^th, I’d like to conclude this June’s special series of weekly Quotemails with some reflections on a set of ideals that our country has been nurturing since its founding. Growing steadily through the decades, and not without setbacks, from one generation to the next, we have the ideals of unity in diversity, liberty, and justice for all. Our understanding of these core values of our Republic has expanded over time, and no doubt that understanding will continue to grow as the future unfolds before us. Our society is not perfect – but we are learning and growing up into our ideals while the rest of the world is watching and learning from us.

George Washington's Letter to the Jewish Community of Newport, Rhode Island (1790)

“The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for giving to Mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.”

“The New Colossus” a/k/a “The Statue of Liberty Sonnet” (1883)

By Emma Lazarus (1849-1887)

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

STAR TREK: Vulcan Philosophy

“IDIC: Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations”

BABYLON 5: Episode #91

Preamble: Interstellar Alliance Declaration of Principles

The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice…

It speaks in the language of hope.

It speaks in the language of trust.

It speaks in the language of strength and the language of compassion.

It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul,

But always it is the same voice.

It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us,

And the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born.

It is the small, still voice that says

“We are one.”

No matter the blood,

No matter the skin,

No matter the world,

No matter the star:

“We are one.”

No matter the pain,

No matter the darkness,

No matter the loss,

No matter the fear,

“We are one.”

Here, gathered together in common cause, we agree to recognize this singular truth and this singular rule:

That we must be kind to one another.

Because each voice enriches us and ennobles us, and each voice lost diminishes us.

We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future.

“We are one.”

Quotemail will return next Wednesday with a special Fourth of July edition, to be followed throughout July with salutes to the space program as we remember the Golden Jubilee of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in July 1969.

Rob