Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book Kalli, the Esquimaux Christian by Thomas Boyles Murray, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Thomas Boyles Murray ISBN: 9781465531513
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Thomas Boyles Murray
ISBN: 9781465531513
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English
THE origin of the limerick — like so much of the merrier side of mankinds story — is lost, forgotten somewhere in the grim chaos of making history. No matter. Its perpetual rebirth suffices. It may be said, however, that the limerick is the most ancient verse form known, as it were, to the human ear. It has therefore won the sanction of time if not of the puritans, who, in a shrewd effort to avoid extinction, invented sin, toward which they appear remarkably ungrateful. Dr. Oscar Wells Toomwhite, PhD, Oxford's late great Egyptologist and author of the song hit "Mummy", said that in the times of the more boisterous pharaohs such as the Ptolemys, death— and by no means a pretty one—was the penalty for a bad limerick. Unfortunately, none of the Egyptian rhymes has come down to us, perhaps due to the work of unpoetic priests who held them to be unprintable or, as the Egyptians doubtless expressed it, unchiselable. Among the Greeks, Socrates and Aristophanes were, according to chroniclers, skilled composers of limericks, though again none are preserved for our culture and guidance. (Plutarch informs us that the stanzas of Socrates were savagely destroyed by his virago-wife Xanthippe — at whom they were mostly directed — after the great philosopher's draught of the hemlock. She burned many but ate the more damaging, fearing that even ashes might be read and immortalized.) In Roman times, we find that the pungent Horace and even the stately Virgil were leaders of thought in limerick form, turning blithely from their sonorous odes and majestic epics to the more trenchant favorite. Mark Antony is said to have despatched — by fast trireme — many a blunt, soldierly rhyme to his sultry but not unhumorous queen, and she to have replied with many a quippy papyrus born on the wings of a trained ibis. (This intelligent bird made but one mistake in its discreet lifetime, when it descended absent-mindedly into Caesar's patio instead of Antony's.) XT is not surprising that during the Dark and Middle Ages the gay limerick is nowhere to be heard. With the Renaissance and the rise of English literature, especially during the glorious Elizabethan period, the limerick flowers like some merrily winking rose. Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Marlowe (unhappily knifed to his end by an inebriated limerick critic) Donne, Lyly and many Others formed their wit and philosophy to fit the epigrammatic and irresistibly rhythmic five-line frame. Indeed, Sir Philip Sidney informs us that there was no surer entree to the court of Good Queen Bess than a fetching limerick, "for her Majestie did dote upon that cheerie rhyme."
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
THE origin of the limerick — like so much of the merrier side of mankinds story — is lost, forgotten somewhere in the grim chaos of making history. No matter. Its perpetual rebirth suffices. It may be said, however, that the limerick is the most ancient verse form known, as it were, to the human ear. It has therefore won the sanction of time if not of the puritans, who, in a shrewd effort to avoid extinction, invented sin, toward which they appear remarkably ungrateful. Dr. Oscar Wells Toomwhite, PhD, Oxford's late great Egyptologist and author of the song hit "Mummy", said that in the times of the more boisterous pharaohs such as the Ptolemys, death— and by no means a pretty one—was the penalty for a bad limerick. Unfortunately, none of the Egyptian rhymes has come down to us, perhaps due to the work of unpoetic priests who held them to be unprintable or, as the Egyptians doubtless expressed it, unchiselable. Among the Greeks, Socrates and Aristophanes were, according to chroniclers, skilled composers of limericks, though again none are preserved for our culture and guidance. (Plutarch informs us that the stanzas of Socrates were savagely destroyed by his virago-wife Xanthippe — at whom they were mostly directed — after the great philosopher's draught of the hemlock. She burned many but ate the more damaging, fearing that even ashes might be read and immortalized.) In Roman times, we find that the pungent Horace and even the stately Virgil were leaders of thought in limerick form, turning blithely from their sonorous odes and majestic epics to the more trenchant favorite. Mark Antony is said to have despatched — by fast trireme — many a blunt, soldierly rhyme to his sultry but not unhumorous queen, and she to have replied with many a quippy papyrus born on the wings of a trained ibis. (This intelligent bird made but one mistake in its discreet lifetime, when it descended absent-mindedly into Caesar's patio instead of Antony's.) XT is not surprising that during the Dark and Middle Ages the gay limerick is nowhere to be heard. With the Renaissance and the rise of English literature, especially during the glorious Elizabethan period, the limerick flowers like some merrily winking rose. Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Marlowe (unhappily knifed to his end by an inebriated limerick critic) Donne, Lyly and many Others formed their wit and philosophy to fit the epigrammatic and irresistibly rhythmic five-line frame. Indeed, Sir Philip Sidney informs us that there was no surer entree to the court of Good Queen Bess than a fetching limerick, "for her Majestie did dote upon that cheerie rhyme."

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book Memoirs of Journeys to Venice and the Low Countries by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Heart's Secret; Or, the Fortunes of a Soldier: A Story of Love and the Low Latitudes by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Romance of Dollard by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Vicar's Daughter by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Welsh Fairy Book by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book Life of Henriette Sontag, Countess de Rossi with Interesting Sketches by Scudo, Hector Berlioz, Louis Boerne, Adolphe Adam, Marie Aycard, Julie de Margueriete, Prince Puckler-Muskau & Theophile Gautier by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book Bailén by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Republic of the Southern Cross and other Stories by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book Erema: My Father's Sin by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book Montgomery, the Capital City of Alabama: Her Resources and Advantages by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Common Sense of Socialism by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Lushei Kuki Clans by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Magna Carta by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution by Thomas Boyles Murray
Cover of the book Humours of Irish Life by Thomas Boyles Murray
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy