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Oct. 8th, 2026
Apparently it's National Poetry Day
Oct. 8th, 2026 09:59 amHave this rather atypical piece by Dr Johnson (it's a) short b) funny):
Hermit hoar, in solemn cell,
Wearing out life's evening gray,
Smite thy bosom, Sage, and tell,
What is bliss? And which the way?
Thus I spoke; and speaking sigh'd;
Scarce repress'd the starting tear;
When the hoary sage reply'd:
"Come, my lad, and drink some beer."
According to PoetryNook:
"Hermit Hoar" is a comic impromptu by Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), the great English critic, lexicographer, and poet. Johnson dashed it off as a parody of the solemn, archaizing manner of Thomas Percy's ballad The Hermit of Warkworth (1771), which he found absurdly ponderous; the lines were recorded by Boswell and by Hester Thrale.
I think this sustains the case I made about Cold Comfort Farm, invoking Don Quixote, apropos hilarious works which last, riffing off largely forgotten solemn predecessors.
Geriatric tortoises keep on Doing It
Oct. 8th, 2026 02:35 pmSome while since I posted about Jonathan, The World's Oldest Tortoise, who lives on St Helena but is not quite old enough to be able to say he knew that there Napoleon Bonaparte -
And he is still Going Strong, bless: Jonathan the giant tortoise, 194, offers up insight into secrets of longevity:
Jonathan certainly appears to be enjoying life. A few months ago, he was found mating with Emma, who shares his paddock. Shortly afterwards, the wife of the governor, who is also called Emma, checked on Jonathan and found him upside down. “Emma [the tortoise] has a very semicircular shell,” said Hollis. “So if you slip sideways fast enough the momentum will flip you right over. It’s phenomenal though. He’s 194. You’re going to have an accident, aren’t you, at 194?”
(I do not have a tortoise icon, bonking or otherwise. So let's celebrate hedgehogs who were the most popular mammal picked for the new banknotes.)
