CelticStoic 🏴
@celticstoic.bsky.social
Chipping away at literature, history, and other interests,
whilst navigating stormy seas and a lee shore. #TodaysPoem #poetry
Locus: Massachusetts, and the abyss of MECFS / FQAD.
🌤️Sol Omnibus Lucet
– Petronius
whilst navigating stormy seas and a lee shore. #TodaysPoem #poetry
Locus: Massachusetts, and the abyss of MECFS / FQAD.
🌤️Sol Omnibus Lucet
– Petronius
Pinned
#TodaysPoem 🎃
Under a lunar glow,
Late into harvest and too soon for snow,
Ol' Jack Frost, with eye of steel blue light,
Haunts farm and field
With merciless bite -
And with an icy stare,
Pumpkin and pane are set aglitter,
Hill and hollow laid bare.
Under a lunar glow,
Late into harvest and too soon for snow,
Ol' Jack Frost, with eye of steel blue light,
Haunts farm and field
With merciless bite -
And with an icy stare,
Pumpkin and pane are set aglitter,
Hill and hollow laid bare.
#MelvilleMonday 🕯️ Veterans Day(-1 )
"A DREADFUL glory lights an earnest end;
In jubilee the patriot ghosts ascend..."
- Herman Melville, c. 1862
"A DREADFUL glory lights an earnest end;
In jubilee the patriot ghosts ascend..."
- Herman Melville, c. 1862
November 10, 2025 at 5:27 PM
#MelvilleMonday 🕯️ Veterans Day(-1 )
"A DREADFUL glory lights an earnest end;
In jubilee the patriot ghosts ascend..."
- Herman Melville, c. 1862
"A DREADFUL glory lights an earnest end;
In jubilee the patriot ghosts ascend..."
- Herman Melville, c. 1862
November 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
#SundaySentence 🌾
"There is that indescribable freshness and unconsciousness about an illiterate person that humbles and mocks the power of the noblest expressive genius."
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
"There is that indescribable freshness and unconsciousness about an illiterate person that humbles and mocks the power of the noblest expressive genius."
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
![Frontispiece engraving of Walt Whitman [age 36] by Samuel Hollyer, based on a daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison, for the first edition of Leaves of Grass, 1855, which was self-published by Whitman.
Source: Walt Whitman at the Lilly (curated by Christoph Irmscher), University Bloomington Library.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c7ex5lsw6ieo65txcbw7of2r/bafkreigd3a3skopsr6fyoz6afrhomv4vovetrodpszyr3yy4iw2shnovqm@jpeg)
November 9, 2025 at 6:46 PM
#SundaySentence 🌾
"There is that indescribable freshness and unconsciousness about an illiterate person that humbles and mocks the power of the noblest expressive genius."
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
"There is that indescribable freshness and unconsciousness about an illiterate person that humbles and mocks the power of the noblest expressive genius."
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
🍂
A final flicker
The old stones hardly stir
They've seen it all before
From my wife's walk yesterday:
A final flicker
The old stones hardly stir
They've seen it all before
From my wife's walk yesterday:
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 PM
🍂
A final flicker
The old stones hardly stir
They've seen it all before
From my wife's walk yesterday:
A final flicker
The old stones hardly stir
They've seen it all before
From my wife's walk yesterday:
"Defiance I nod with my beautiful flower
When the earth is hoed up to my stem."
- Thomas Moore, The Potato
h/t @lcodonnell.bsky.social
When the earth is hoed up to my stem."
- Thomas Moore, The Potato
h/t @lcodonnell.bsky.social
![Image:
"Thomas Moore, 1779 - 1852. Irish poet." by Peter Lightfoot (1805-1885) Scottish [after George Richmond (1809-1896) English.]
Source: Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
Public domain.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c7ex5lsw6ieo65txcbw7of2r/bafkreih6u5zevspagnihjn5ztlycpqzd6spm5vf5ihjk4pifuq7q4zbpaa@jpeg)
November 8, 2025 at 4:34 PM
"Defiance I nod with my beautiful flower
When the earth is hoed up to my stem."
- Thomas Moore, The Potato
h/t @lcodonnell.bsky.social
When the earth is hoed up to my stem."
- Thomas Moore, The Potato
h/t @lcodonnell.bsky.social
🌾
"The greatest poet hardly knows pettiness or triviality. If he breathes into any thing that was before thought small it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe."
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
"The greatest poet hardly knows pettiness or triviality. If he breathes into any thing that was before thought small it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe."
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
November 7, 2025 at 8:07 PM
🌾
"The greatest poet hardly knows pettiness or triviality. If he breathes into any thing that was before thought small it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe."
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
"The greatest poet hardly knows pettiness or triviality. If he breathes into any thing that was before thought small it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe."
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
🌾
"The fruition of beauty is no chance of hit or miss... it is inevitable as life. ... it is exact and plumb as gravitation."
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
From my wife's walk:
"The fruition of beauty is no chance of hit or miss... it is inevitable as life. ... it is exact and plumb as gravitation."
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
From my wife's walk:
November 7, 2025 at 12:01 AM
🌾
"The fruition of beauty is no chance of hit or miss... it is inevitable as life. ... it is exact and plumb as gravitation."
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
From my wife's walk:
"The fruition of beauty is no chance of hit or miss... it is inevitable as life. ... it is exact and plumb as gravitation."
- Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
From my wife's walk:
"Liberty relies upon itself, invites no one, promises nothing, sits in calmness and light, is positive and composed, and knows no discouragement."
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
November 6, 2025 at 4:15 PM
"Liberty relies upon itself, invites no one, promises nothing, sits in calmness and light, is positive and composed, and knows no discouragement."
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
- Whitman, Leaves of Grass, c. 1855
#WhitmanWednesday 🌾
The words of my book nothing, the life of it everything ;
A book separate, not link'd with the rest, nor felt by
the intellect ;
- Walt Whitman, Shut Not Your Doors (1865, 1891-1892)
The words of my book nothing, the life of it everything ;
A book separate, not link'd with the rest, nor felt by
the intellect ;
- Walt Whitman, Shut Not Your Doors (1865, 1891-1892)
November 6, 2025 at 1:00 AM
#WhitmanWednesday 🌾
The words of my book nothing, the life of it everything ;
A book separate, not link'd with the rest, nor felt by
the intellect ;
- Walt Whitman, Shut Not Your Doors (1865, 1891-1892)
The words of my book nothing, the life of it everything ;
A book separate, not link'd with the rest, nor felt by
the intellect ;
- Walt Whitman, Shut Not Your Doors (1865, 1891-1892)
"But the hearts of small children are delicate organs. A cruel beginning in this world can twist them into curious shapes."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
- Carson McCullers, 1951
November 5, 2025 at 9:51 PM
"But the hearts of small children are delicate organs. A cruel beginning in this world can twist them into curious shapes."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
- Carson McCullers, 1951
"Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace,
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep-
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!"
- Florence Percy, 1859
🕯️From my wife's walk today
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep-
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!"
- Florence Percy, 1859
🕯️From my wife's walk today
November 5, 2025 at 12:34 AM
"Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace,
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep-
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!"
- Florence Percy, 1859
🕯️From my wife's walk today
With your light lashes just sweeping my face,
Never hereafter to wake or to weep-
Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep!"
- Florence Percy, 1859
🕯️From my wife's walk today
#hunger
"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog."
- Jack London, 1907
"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog."
- Jack London, 1907
November 3, 2025 at 9:04 PM
#hunger
"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog."
- Jack London, 1907
"A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog."
- Jack London, 1907
#MelvilleMonday
"O the clammy cold November,
And the winter white and dead,
And the terror dumb with stupor,
And the sky a sheet of lead..."
- Melville, Apathy and Enthusiasm (1860-1)
🎨Grace Albee. Forgotten Things (1942).
"O the clammy cold November,
And the winter white and dead,
And the terror dumb with stupor,
And the sky a sheet of lead..."
- Melville, Apathy and Enthusiasm (1860-1)
🎨Grace Albee. Forgotten Things (1942).
November 3, 2025 at 4:22 PM
#MelvilleMonday
"O the clammy cold November,
And the winter white and dead,
And the terror dumb with stupor,
And the sky a sheet of lead..."
- Melville, Apathy and Enthusiasm (1860-1)
🎨Grace Albee. Forgotten Things (1942).
"O the clammy cold November,
And the winter white and dead,
And the terror dumb with stupor,
And the sky a sheet of lead..."
- Melville, Apathy and Enthusiasm (1860-1)
🎨Grace Albee. Forgotten Things (1942).
#SundaySentence
"Often after you have sweated and tried and things are not better for you, there comes a feeling deep down in the soul that you are not worth much."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
"Often after you have sweated and tried and things are not better for you, there comes a feeling deep down in the soul that you are not worth much."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
November 2, 2025 at 7:29 PM
#SundaySentence
"Often after you have sweated and tried and things are not better for you, there comes a feeling deep down in the soul that you are not worth much."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
"Often after you have sweated and tried and things are not better for you, there comes a feeling deep down in the soul that you are not worth much."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
All Souls' Day🕯️
A glimpse of shadow, a gentle rain
They call out from the other side
To ease our longing
And our pain
A glimpse of shadow, a gentle rain
They call out from the other side
To ease our longing
And our pain
November 2, 2025 at 5:34 PM
All Souls' Day🕯️
A glimpse of shadow, a gentle rain
They call out from the other side
To ease our longing
And our pain
A glimpse of shadow, a gentle rain
They call out from the other side
To ease our longing
And our pain
🥀Day of the Dead🕯️
"All those I live with are unseen."
- Joan London, The Golden Age
"All those I live with are unseen."
- Joan London, The Golden Age
November 1, 2025 at 9:58 PM
🥀Day of the Dead🕯️
"All those I live with are unseen."
- Joan London, The Golden Age
"All those I live with are unseen."
- Joan London, The Golden Age
🪦 Halloween Haiku 🦇
Hobgoblins awake!
'Tis Samhain, and we've souls to take.
Cast ye spells — slake, slake!
Hobgoblins awake!
'Tis Samhain, and we've souls to take.
Cast ye spells — slake, slake!
October 30, 2025 at 10:10 PM
🪦 Halloween Haiku 🦇
Hobgoblins awake!
'Tis Samhain, and we've souls to take.
Cast ye spells — slake, slake!
Hobgoblins awake!
'Tis Samhain, and we've souls to take.
Cast ye spells — slake, slake!
"People are never so free with themselves and so recklessly glad as when there is some possibility of commotion or calamity ahead."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
- Carson McCullers, 1951
October 30, 2025 at 9:19 PM
"People are never so free with themselves and so recklessly glad as when there is some possibility of commotion or calamity ahead."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
- Carson McCullers, 1951
#TodaysPoem 🎃
Under a lunar glow,
Late into harvest and too soon for snow,
Ol' Jack Frost, with eye of steel blue light,
Haunts farm and field
With merciless bite -
And with an icy stare,
Pumpkin and pane are set aglitter,
Hill and hollow laid bare.
Under a lunar glow,
Late into harvest and too soon for snow,
Ol' Jack Frost, with eye of steel blue light,
Haunts farm and field
With merciless bite -
And with an icy stare,
Pumpkin and pane are set aglitter,
Hill and hollow laid bare.
October 29, 2025 at 8:46 PM
#TodaysPoem 🎃
Under a lunar glow,
Late into harvest and too soon for snow,
Ol' Jack Frost, with eye of steel blue light,
Haunts farm and field
With merciless bite -
And with an icy stare,
Pumpkin and pane are set aglitter,
Hill and hollow laid bare.
Under a lunar glow,
Late into harvest and too soon for snow,
Ol' Jack Frost, with eye of steel blue light,
Haunts farm and field
With merciless bite -
And with an icy stare,
Pumpkin and pane are set aglitter,
Hill and hollow laid bare.
#MelvilleMonday
"'Born under a gun, and educated on the bowsprit,' according to a phrase of his own, the man-of-war-man rolls round the world like a billow, ready to mix with any sea, or be sucked down to death in the maelstrom of any war."
- White-Jacket (XC)
"'Born under a gun, and educated on the bowsprit,' according to a phrase of his own, the man-of-war-man rolls round the world like a billow, ready to mix with any sea, or be sucked down to death in the maelstrom of any war."
- White-Jacket (XC)
October 27, 2025 at 3:28 PM
#MelvilleMonday
"'Born under a gun, and educated on the bowsprit,' according to a phrase of his own, the man-of-war-man rolls round the world like a billow, ready to mix with any sea, or be sucked down to death in the maelstrom of any war."
- White-Jacket (XC)
"'Born under a gun, and educated on the bowsprit,' according to a phrase of his own, the man-of-war-man rolls round the world like a billow, ready to mix with any sea, or be sucked down to death in the maelstrom of any war."
- White-Jacket (XC)
#SundaySentence
"The heart of a hurt child can shrink so that forever afterward it is hard and pitted as the seed of a peach."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
"The heart of a hurt child can shrink so that forever afterward it is hard and pitted as the seed of a peach."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
October 26, 2025 at 2:34 PM
#SundaySentence
"The heart of a hurt child can shrink so that forever afterward it is hard and pitted as the seed of a peach."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
"The heart of a hurt child can shrink so that forever afterward it is hard and pitted as the seed of a peach."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
"This is why the human race goes on having children, he thought. To remind us of the bliss of being loved."
- Joan London, 2014
- Joan London, 2014
October 25, 2025 at 9:55 PM
"This is why the human race goes on having children, he thought. To remind us of the bliss of being loved."
- Joan London, 2014
- Joan London, 2014
Almost everyone wants to be the lover. And the curt truth is that, in a deep secret way, the state of being beloved is intolerable to many.
- Carson McCullers, 1951
- Carson McCullers, 1951
October 25, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Almost everyone wants to be the lover. And the curt truth is that, in a deep secret way, the state of being beloved is intolerable to many.
- Carson McCullers, 1951
- Carson McCullers, 1951
"I think it better to believe,
And be even as the children, they
The children of the early day,
Who let the kindly dream deceive,
And joyed in all the mind may weave..."
- John Vance Cheney, At Candle-Lighting (c.1890)
Early Morning by Samuel Palmer (1825)
And be even as the children, they
The children of the early day,
Who let the kindly dream deceive,
And joyed in all the mind may weave..."
- John Vance Cheney, At Candle-Lighting (c.1890)
Early Morning by Samuel Palmer (1825)
October 23, 2025 at 5:56 PM
"I think it better to believe,
And be even as the children, they
The children of the early day,
Who let the kindly dream deceive,
And joyed in all the mind may weave..."
- John Vance Cheney, At Candle-Lighting (c.1890)
Early Morning by Samuel Palmer (1825)
And be even as the children, they
The children of the early day,
Who let the kindly dream deceive,
And joyed in all the mind may weave..."
- John Vance Cheney, At Candle-Lighting (c.1890)
Early Morning by Samuel Palmer (1825)
"Such a person has an instinct which is usually found only in small children, an instinct to establish immediate and vital contact between himself and all things in the world."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
- Carson McCullers, 1951
October 22, 2025 at 11:44 PM
"Such a person has an instinct which is usually found only in small children, an instinct to establish immediate and vital contact between himself and all things in the world."
- Carson McCullers, 1951
- Carson McCullers, 1951