Thursday, July 27, 2006

Hilaire Belloc, born 27 July 1870

Happy Birthday to Old Thunder:
Myself, Grizzlebeard, Sailor, and Poet

The moon on the one hand, the dawn on the other:
The moon is my sister, the dawn is my brother.
The moon on my left and the dawn on my right.
My brother, good morning: my sister, good night.

[Hilaire Belloc, "The Early Morning"]

7 comments:

Kyro said...

From another website.....

420 Years Ago Today
July 27, 1586 - Sir Walter Raleigh brings the first tobacco to England from Virginia

Im smoking a cigar tonight to Belloc and Raleigh.

Sean P. Dailey said...

OMG, I am so glad I happened upon this blog. Happy Birthday Hilaire Belloc!

I shall thwack heretics hard and bang them long with my stout episcopal staff in celebration. :-D

Joe said...

'Till they bellow in chorus, loud and strong, their orthodox persuasions!

Row-ti-tow! Ti-oodly-ow!

(... sing along, everybody!)

Their orthodox persuasions!

Nick Milne said...

Sean, I can't believe you've never been here before. How on earth could something like that happen? :0

Oooooooohhh (from memory; possibly imprecise)

The faith is old and the devil is bold,
Exceedingly bold indeed,
And the clouds of doubt that float about
Would smother a mortal creed!

Sean P. Dailey said...

Nick, I've been here, but not all that often. Certainly not often enough. That will change!

And thank the Lord
For the temporal sword,
And for howling heretics, too;
And whatever good things
our Christendom brings,
But especially the barley-brew!


:)

Sean P. Dailey said...

Here is a great Belloc anecdote that you all will like:

Dale Ahlquist not long ago told me of a biography he has by an Oxford professor, whose name I sadly do not remember. In his biography, he recalled once attending a lecture by Belloc in which Belloc argued that Anglo-Saxon had contributed absolutely NOTHING to English literature or culture. The professor wrote that, as he sat and listened, he noticed that seated in front of him was the world’s foremost authority on all things Anglo-Saxon. As Belloc continued talking, the professor expected the professor in front of him to get up and say something, but he remained seated. Finally, the professor leaned forward and said, “Aren’t you listening? Aren’t you going to say anything?”

Professor J.R.R. Tolkien replied, “I would not presume to debate Hilaire Belloc on anything unless I had all my notes right in front of me.”

Unknown said...

What is the source of this anecdote?