Skip to main content

Month: June 2009

China Roses and the Existence of Heaven

Mashkioya 1 Comment

memoryMy musical tastes are somewhat of a paradox.  On the one hand, I admire songwriters who can write lyrics that are nebulous and vague, yet at the same time aesthetic and cohesive.  However, I also like to know what a song is about.  Thus I often find myself trying to find meaning in vague songs.

“China Roses” (lyrics by Roma Ryan, music by Enya) is a sufficiently vague song, but the words seem to indicate something about the author’s beliefs about the hereafter.  The first verse reads thus: Read More

Faerie Queene Links

Mashkioya Leave a comment

fqSince The Faerie Queene is one of my favorite pieces of literature, and because I have been blogging about it recently, I thought I would share with you some links to various sources that you can use to read the work.

Here is The Faerie Queene in its entirety, as Spenser wrote it.  This is what I have been reading, since I have it in book form.  The spelling looks daunting at first, but you get used to it after a while.  In that time V and U were the same letter; V being used as a capital letter and at the beginning of words, and U elsewhere, in a Latinate fashion.  Also this was apparently before the invention of the letter J, so if you come across the word ioy you’ll know what it’s talking about. Read More

The Church Bell

Mashkioya Leave a comment

Ailenroc's Book

A Sabbath morning so calm and still
The wind scarce wakens the sleeping flowers,
While lazily, daintily, sipping their sweets
The honeybees rifle the odorous bowers;
And the birds in the branches are as mute
And still as the chords of a broken lute.

Half hidden in vines a farmhouse stands
In peace and quiet this summer morn;
Around it stretch the fruitful lands,
Where stream the banners of growing corn,
And from its window looks forth a face
That adds a charm to the dear old place— Read More

Singings Among Churches of Christ

Mashkioya 1 Comment

SongbooksIf you have researched the Sacred Harp tradition of hymn singing, you will know that the primary vehicle for this tradition is not a Sunday worship service, but periodic singings held in different locations.  These Sacred Harp singings are held across the country, and information about them may be found in an online directory.

The churches of Christ in the United States also have a tradition of singings, and it occurred to me recently that there is no comprehensive directory of all the annual singings held at various congregations.  Read More

So much for a happy ending.

Mashkioya Leave a comment

Just this morning I finished the third book of Spenser’s Faerie Queene, the Legend of Britomartis.  While the story line took different twists and turns, and chased a rabbit here and there, it comes to a climactic end as Britomart enters the castle of an evil enchanter, attempting to rescue Sir Scudamore’s beloved Amoret who is imprisoned there.  Before discussing the ending, however, I want to tell of something else I found interesting. Read More