Spirits of the Dead - Edgar Allan Poe

For your ghoulish Halloween reading pleasure: Poe’s “The Spirits of the Dead”

(from: The Complete Poems and Stories of Edgar Allan Poe )

I

Thy soul shall find itself alone

’Mid dark thoughts of the gray tombstone—

Not one, of all the crowd, to pry

Into thine hour of secrecy.

       II

Be silent in that solitude,

   Which is not loneliness—for then

The spirits of the dead who stood

   In life before thee are again

In death around thee—and their will

Shall overshadow thee: be still.

       III

The night, tho’ clear, shall frown—

And the stars shall look not down

From their high thrones in the heaven,

With light like Hope to mortals given—

But their red orbs, without beam,

To thy weariness shall seem

As a burning and a fever

Which would cling to thee for ever.

       IV

Now are thoughts thou shalt not banish,

Now are visions ne’er to vanish;

From thy spirit shall they pass

No more—like dew-drop from the grass.

       V

The breeze—the breath of God—is still—

And the mist upon the hill,

Shadowy—shadowy—yet unbroken,

Is a symbol and a token—

How it hangs upon the trees,

A mystery of mysteries.

Top Five Friday: Whistling in the Semi-Dark of Morning

The following post was meant to be published last Friday, 28 October, but my home internet was being its usual 3G pain.  So here it is ~ just in time for Halloween!

Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite,

All are on their rounds tonight;

In the wan moon's silver ray,

Thrives their helter-skelter play.

~ Joel Benton

Not only elves, but other creatures are out as well, and not quite as friendly.  As you know, I moved back to the country recently.  I love being back in the midst of nature, but there are some things that I had forgotten about.  Such as, you can’t put food down the kitchen sink because there’s no garbage disposal.  [I want to compost anyway.]  And there’s no landlord to call when things break down, you need to call the repair guy yourself.  And there’s a good reason to buy a shotgun when you have medium to large wild animals prowling around your backyard in the wee hours of the morning.

Gulp. Did you say large wild animals?

Yes sirree bob.  And what’s worse, I didn’t get a good look at them [yes, there were two], but they were charcoal gray to black and very agile.  One of them jumped over the woodpile to get away from the truck’s headlights as I drove closer for a better look.  Coyote? They’ve been sighted around.  Mountain lion?  Well, I did hear a sound like a woman screaming one morning, and they sound like that. [Remember Pa in Little House in the Big Woods? That can still send shivers down my back!]

The next morning, as I left the comfort and safety of the garage and walked to the truck to leave for work, I sang.  Some people whistle when they’re afraid.  I sing.  Or talk out loud to myself.  Maybe it actually makes the things get a better sense for where I am.  But since a shotgun’s a little too big to take to work with me. . . .

So in honor of the Halloween festivities going on this weekend, today’s Top Five Friday list is of the best songs to sing [or whistle] when trying to convince the resident coyotes or mountain lions that you’re really not afraid. [Although personally I’d feel safer with Mossberg at my side!]

Whistling in the Dark – They Might Be Giants.  They cater to a slightly younger audience these days [and by young, I mean under 12], but their old tunes are still wonderfully quirky and singable.  Or whistle-able in this case.

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf - Disney  Does anyone else have a tape or 45 vinyl record of Disney’s The Three Little Pigs?  The song went something like “Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf?  Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf, la la la la la.”

Beat It – Michael Jackson Aha!  You thought I was going to say Thriller, didn’t you?  I do love that song, but Vincent Price’s voice is too creepy, and the beat is not conducive to calming the nerves or showing how “strong is [my] fight.”  Beat It is your best bet when showing the wild creepies who's boss.

Monster Mash – Bobby Boris Pickett  A classic.  And still very fun to sing.  Especially if you’re afraid of the big bad wolf.  Just say Transylvania Twist and then laugh like the Count on

Sesame Street

and the world is bright and sunny again.

Ghostbusters Theme – Ray Parker, Jr.  No stick-it-in-their-creepy-shiny-eye playlist is complete without this ‘80s gem.  “Who ya gonna call?”  Need I say more? I ain’t afraid of no ghosts! 

Just coyotes. And mountain lions.  And panthers.  And bears.  And spiders.  And . . .

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela