From John Masefield’s Salt-Water Ballads

Oh I am tired of brick and stone, the heart of me is sick,For windy green, unquiet sea, the realm of Moby Dick;And I’ll be going, going, from the roaring of the wheels,For a wind’s in the heart of me, a fire’s in my heels. — A Wanderer's Song

Two Glasses by Ibn al-Tilmidh

Through my life I have gone with two glasses, And depended on them at all passes; The one glass was filled up with ink, The other was filled with wine pink: By the one, my wisdom I proved; By the other, my heart’s pains I subdued. Ibn al-Tilmidh (1074-1165) was a Christian Arab physician and … Continue reading Two Glasses by Ibn al-Tilmidh →

English politicians described

Here let those reign, whom Pensions can inciteTo vote a Patriot black, a Courtier white; Explain their Country's dear-bought Rights away,And plead for Pirates in the Face of Day;With slavish Tenets taint our poison'd Youth,And lend a Lye the Confidence of Truth. – Samuel Johnson, London (1738).