Friday, February 11, 2005

Where are the snows of yesteryear?

Sometimes the way words sound are very soothing. I remember seeing a TV program when I was young; a program where Groucho Marx was the host (the one with the duck). On this particular program, the bit of information I gathered was that "cellar door" were the most pleasing sounds in English, and Groucho actually had a lady on the program whose name was Cellar Door (I can't imagine what her parents were thinking!).

Anyway, one of the most pleasing sounding poems I've ever read is in French: Les dames du temps jadis. It just flows so beautifully, in a melancholy and sonorous sort of way, rippling like water in a dream. Villon may have been a very bad man but I wish he would have written more poetry.

Some other words which are fun or pleasing to say:

Aluminum

mimosa

onomatopoiea (I THINK that's how it's spelled)

metallurgy

serendipity

and the last few lines of Edgar Allen Poe's Annabel Lee:

"And neither the angels in heaven above
nor the demons down under the sea
shall ever dissever my soul from the soul
of the beautiful Annabel Lee"

oooooo....shivers.

Today is actually a pretty good day. Went to lunch with Bev & Amy (former coworkers). Alex called, made a 90 on a pharmacology test she hadn't studied for (not only that, but had talked to her seatmate while the prof explained how to do conversions). And Mom went out with Meals on Wheels, first time for her to do that without Dad. And my sister bought a painting on ebay -- I have brought her over to the dark side...bwaaahaaahaa!

2 comments:

Holli said...

Thanks for the comment on my site. I think I would owe you a bagel if I didn't comment:) I love Poe so when I saw you quote him I got happy.

Wyrfu said...

Professor Tolkien (he of Lord of the Rings fame) said that, if you spell the words cellar door as celador, it sounds wonderful. Words can be so expressive and it's hearing their music that makes you want to write. I reckon you have it in you... ;)