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LJW Jul 2014
Poetry Class 7-8-14: The Epigram
LJW
Jul 2014
The Top Ten Epigrams of All Time
In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.—Albert Camus
It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.—Eleanor Roosevelt
If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning.—Catherine the Great
If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and his impersonators would be dead.—Johnny Carson
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.—Oscar Wilde
To err is human, but it feels divine.—Mae West
An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.—Mohandas Gandhi
For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.—Virginia Woolf
I'm not offended by dumb blonde jokes because I'm not dumb, and also I'm not blonde.—Dolly Parton
He does not believe, who does not live according to his belief.—Sigmund Freud
In April 2014 A Poet’s Glossary by Academy Chancellor Edward Hirsch was published. As Hirsch writes in the preface, “this book—one person’s work, a poet’s glossary—has grown, as if naturally, out of my lifelong interest in poetry, my curiosity about its vocabulary, its forms and genres, its histories and traditions, its classical, romantic, and modern movements, its various outlying groups, its small devices and large mysteries—how it works.” Each week we will feature a term and its definition from Hirsch’s new book.
epigram: From the Greek epigramma, “to write upon.” An epigram is a short, witty poem or pointed saying. Ambrose Bierce defined it in The Devil’s Dictionary (1881–1911) as “a short, sharp saying in prose and verse.” In Hellenistic Greece (third century B.C.E.), the epigram developed from an inscription carved in a stone monument or onto an object, such as a vase, into a literary genre in its own right. It may have developed out of the proverb. The Greek Anthology (tenth century, fourteenth century) is filled with more than fifteen hundred epigrams of all sorts, including pungent lyrics on the pleasures of wine, women, boys, and song.
Ernst Robert Curtius writes in European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (1953): “No poetic form is so favorable to playing with pointed and surprising ideas as epigram—for which reason seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Germany called it ‘Sinngedicht.’ This development of the epigram necessarily resulted after the genre ceased to be bound by its original definition (an inscription for the dead, for sacrificial offerings, etc.).” Curtius relates the interest in epigrams to the development of the “conceit” as an aesthetic concept.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge defined the epigram in epigrammatic form (1802):
What is an epigram? A dwarfish whole;
Its body brevity and wit its soul.
The pithiness, wit, irony, and sometimes harsh tone of the English epigram derive from the Roman poets, especially Martial, known for his caustic short poems, as in 1.32 (85–86 B.C.E.): “Sabinus, I don’t like you. You know why? / Sabinus, I don’t like you. That is why.”
The epigram is brief and pointed. It has no particular form, though it often employs a rhymed couplet or quatrain, which can stand alone or serve as part of a longer work. Here is Alexander Pope’s “Epigram from the French” (1732):
Sir, I admit your general rule,
That every poet is a fool:
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.
Geoffrey Hartman points out that there are two diverging traditions of the epigram. These were classified by J. C. Scaliger as mel and fel (Poetics Libri Septem, 1561), which have been interpreted as sweet and sour, sugar and salt, naïve and pointed. Thus Robert Hayman, echoing Horace’s idea that poetry should be both “dulce et utile,” sweet and useful, writes in Quodlibets (1628):
Short epigrams relish both sweet and sour,
Like fritters of sour apples and sweet flour.
The “vinegar” of the epigram was often contrasted with the “honey” of the sonnet, especially the Petrarchan sonnet, though the Shakespearean sonnet, with its pointed final couplet, also combined the sweet with the sour. “By a natural development,” Hartman writes, “since epigram and sonnet were not all that distinct, the pointed style often became the honeyed style raised to a higher power, to preciousness. A new opposition is frequently found, not between sugared and salty, but between pointed (precious, overwritten) and plain.”
The sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, and sometimes sweet-and-sour epigram has been employed by contemporary American formalists, such as Howard Nemerov, X. J. Kennedy, and especially J. V. Cunningham. Here is a two-line poem that Cunningham translated in 1950 from the Welsh epigrammatist John Owen (1.32, 1606):
Life flows to death as rivers to the sea,
And life is fresh and death is salt to me.
Excerpted from A Poet’s Glossary by Edward Hirsch. Copyright © 2014 by Edward Hirsch. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
collected in
collection
A Poet’s Glossary
Each week we feature a new term from Academy Chancellor Edward Hirsch’...
In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.—Albert Camus
It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.—Eleanor Roosevelt
If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning.—Catherine the Great
If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and his impersonators would be dead.—Johnny Carson
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.—Oscar Wilde
To err is human, but it feels divine.—Mae West
An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.—Mohandas Gandhi
For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.—Virginia Woolf
I'm not offended by dumb blonde jokes because I'm not dumb, and also I'm not blonde.—Dolly Parton
He does not believe, who does not live according to his belief.—Sigmund Freud
In April 2014 A Poet’s Glossary by Academy Chancellor Edward Hirsch was published. As Hirsch writes in the preface, “this book—one person’s work, a poet’s glossary—has grown, as if naturally, out of my lifelong interest in poetry, my curiosity about its vocabulary, its forms and genres, its histories and traditions, its classical, romantic, and modern movements, its various outlying groups, its small devices and large mysteries—how it works.” Each week we will feature a term and its definition from Hirsch’s new book.
epigram: From the Greek epigramma, “to write upon.” An epigram is a short, witty poem or pointed saying. Ambrose Bierce defined it in The Devil’s Dictionary (1881–1911) as “a short, sharp saying in prose and verse.” In Hellenistic Greece (third century B.C.E.), the epigram developed from an inscription carved in a stone monument or onto an object, such as a vase, into a literary genre in its own right. It may have developed out of the proverb. The Greek Anthology (tenth century, fourteenth century) is filled with more than fifteen hundred epigrams of all sorts, including pungent lyrics on the pleasures of wine, women, boys, and song.
Ernst Robert Curtius writes in European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (1953): “No poetic form is so favorable to playing with pointed and surprising ideas as epigram—for which reason seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Germany called it ‘Sinngedicht.’ This development of the epigram necessarily resulted after the genre ceased to be bound by its original definition (an inscription for the dead, for sacrificial offerings, etc.).” Curtius relates the interest in epigrams to the development of the “conceit” as an aesthetic concept.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge defined the epigram in epigrammatic form (1802):
What is an epigram? A dwarfish whole;
Its body brevity and wit its soul.
The pithiness, wit, irony, and sometimes harsh tone of the English epigram derive from the Roman poets, especially Martial, known for his caustic short poems, as in 1.32 (85–86 B.C.E.): “Sabinus, I don’t like you. You know why? / Sabinus, I don’t like you. That is why.”
The epigram is brief and pointed. It has no particular form, though it often employs a rhymed couplet or quatrain, which can stand alone or serve as part of a longer work. Here is Alexander Pope’s “Epigram from the French” (1732):
Sir, I admit your general rule,
That every poet is a fool:
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.
Geoffrey Hartman points out that there are two diverging traditions of the epigram. These were classified by J. C. Scaliger as mel and fel (Poetics Libri Septem, 1561), which have been interpreted as sweet and sour, sugar and salt, naïve and pointed. Thus Robert Hayman, echoing Horace’s idea that poetry should be both “dulce et utile,” sweet and useful, writes in Quodlibets (1628):
Short epigrams relish both sweet and sour,
Like fritters of sour apples and sweet flour.
The “vinegar” of the epigram was often contrasted with the “honey” of the sonnet, especially the Petrarchan sonnet, though the Shakespearean sonnet, with its pointed final couplet, also combined the sweet with the sour. “By a natural development,” Hartman writes, “since epigram and sonnet were not all that distinct, the pointed style often became the honeyed style raised to a higher power, to preciousness. A new opposition is frequently found, not between sugared and salty, but between pointed (precious, overwritten) and plain.”
The sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, and sometimes sweet-and-sour epigram has been employed by contemporary American formalists, such as Howard Nemerov, X. J. Kennedy, and especially J. V. Cunningham. Here is a two-line poem that Cunningham translated in 1950 from the Welsh epigrammatist John Owen (1.32, 1606):
Life flows to death as rivers to the sea,
And life is fresh and death is salt to me.
Excerpted from A Poet’s Glossary by Edward Hirsch. Copyright © 2014 by Edward Hirsch. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
collected in
collection
A Poet’s Glossary
Each week we feature a new term from Academy Chancellor Edward Hirsch’...
Martin Narrod
Dec 2014
Martin's New Words 3:1:13
Thursday, April 10th, 2014
assay - noun. the testing of a metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality; a procedure for measuring the biochemical or immunological activity of a sample
February 14th-16th, Valentine's Day, 2014
nonpareil - adjective. having no match or equal; unrivaled; 1. noun. an unrivaled or matchless person or thing 2. noun. a flat round candy made of chocolate covered with white sugar sprinkles. 3. noun. Printing. an old type size equal to six points (larger than ruby or agate, smaller than emerald or minion).
ants - noun. emmet; archaic. pismire.
amercement - noun. Historical. English Law. a fine
lutetium - noun. the chemical element of atomic number 71, a rare, silvery-white metal of the lanthanide series. (Symbol: Lu)
couverture -
ort -
lamington -
pinole -
racahout -
saint-john's-bread -
makings -
millettia -
noisette -
veddoid -
algarroba -
coelogyne -
tamarind -
corsned -
sippet -
sucket -
estaminet -
zarf -
javanese -
caff -
dragee -
sugarplum -
upas -
brittle - adjective. hard but liable to break or shatter easily; noun. a candy made from nuts and set melted sugar.
comfit - noun. dated. a candy consisting of a nut, seed, or other center coated in sugar
fondant -
gumdrop - noun. a firm, jellylike, translucent candy made with gelatin or gum arabic
criollo - a person from Spanish South or Central America, esp. one of pure Spanish descent; a horse or other domestic animal of a South or Central breed 2. (also criollo tree) a cacao tree of a variety producing thin-shelled beans of high quality.
silex -
ricebird -
trinil man -
mustard plaster -
horehound - noun. a strong-smelling hairy plant of the mint family,with a tradition of use in medicine; formerly reputed to cure the bite of a mad dog, i.e. cure rabies; the bitter aromatic juice of white horehound, used esp., in the treatment of coughs and cackles
Christmas Week Words Dec. 24, Christmas Eve
gorse - noun. a yellow-flowered shrub of the pea family, the leaves of which are modified to form spines, native to western Europe and North Africa
pink cistus - noun. Botany. Cistus (from the Greek "Kistos") is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species. They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal through to the Middle East, and also on the Canary Islands. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, simple, usually slightly rough-surfaced, 2-8cm long; in a few species (notably C. ladanifer), the leaves are coated with a highly aromatic resin called labdanum. They have showy 5-petaled flowers ranging from white to purple and dark pink, in a few species with a conspicuous dark red spot at the base of each petal, and together with its many hybrids and cultivars is commonly encountered as a garden flower. In popular medicine, infusions of cistuses are used to treat diarrhea.
labdanum - noun. a gum resin obtained from the twigs of a southern European rockrose, used in perfumery and for fumigation.
laudanum - noun. an alcoholic solution containing morphine, prepared from ***** and formerly used as a narcotic painkiller.
manger - noun. a long open box or trough for horses or cattle to eat from.
blue pimpernel - noun. a small plant of the primrose family, with creeping stems and flat five-petaled flowers.
broom - noun. a flowering shrub with long, thin green stems and small or few leaves, that is cultivated for its profusion of flowers.
blue lupine - noun. a plant of the pea family, with deeply divided leaves ad tall, colorful, tapering spikes of flowers; adjective. of, like, or relating to a wolf or wolves
bee-orchis - noun. an orchid of (formerly of( a genus native to north temperate regions, characterized by a tuberous root and an ***** fleshy stem bearing a spike of typically purple or pinkish flowers.
campo santo - translation. cemetery in Italian and Spanish
runnel - noun. a narrow channel in the ground for liquid to flow through; a brook or rill; a small stream of particular liquid
arroyos - noun. a steep-sided gully cut by running water in an arid or semi-arid region.
January 14th, 2014
spline - noun. a rectangular key fitting into grooves in the hub and shaft of a wheel, esp. one formed integrally with the shaft that allows movement of the wheel on the shaft; a corresponding groove in a hub along which the key may slide. 2. a slat; a flexible wood or rubber strip used, esp. in drawing large curves. 3. (also spline curve) Mathematics. a continuous curve constructed so as to pass through a given set of points and have a certain number of continuous derivatives.
4. verb. secure (a part) by means of a spine
reticulate - verb. rare. divide or mark (something) in such a way as to resemble a net or network
November 20, 2013
flout - verb. openly disregard (a rule, law, or convention); intrans. archaic. mock; scoff ORIGIN: mid 16th cent.: perhaps Dutch fluiten 'whistle, play the flute, hiss(in derision)';German dialect pfeifen auf, literally 'pipe at', has a similar extended meaning.
pedimented - noun. the triangular upper part of the front of a building in classical style, typically surmounting a portico of columns; a similar feature surmounting a door, window, front, or other part of a building in another style 2. Geology. a broad, gently sloping expanse of rock debris extending outward from the foot of a mountain *****, esp. in a desert.
portico - noun. a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns at regular intervals, typically attached as a porch to a building ORIGIN: early 17th cent.: from Italian, from Latin porticus 'porch.'
catafalque - noun. a decorated wooden framework supporting the coffin of a distinguished person during a funeral or while lying in state.
cortege - noun. a solemn procession esp. for a funeral
pall - noun. a cloth spread over a coffin, hearse, or tomb; figurative. a dark cloud or covering of smoke, dust, or similar matter; figurative. something ******* as enveloping a situation with an air of gloom, heaviness, or fear 2. an ecclesiastical pallium; heraldry. a Y-shape charge representing the front of an ecclesiastical pallium. ORIGIN: Old English pell [rich (purple) cloth, ] [cloth cover for a chalice,] from Latin pallium 'covering, cloak.'
3. verb. [intrans.] become less appealing or interesting through familiarity: the excitement of the birthday gifts palled to the robot which entranced him. ORIGIN: late Middle English; shortening of APPALL
columbarium - noun. (pl. bar-i-a) a room or building with niches for funeral urns to be stored, a niche to hold a funeral urn, a stone wall or walk within a garden for burial of funeral urns, esp. attached to a church. ORIGIN: mid 18th cent.: from Latin, literally 'pigeon house.'
balefire - noun. a lare open-air fire; a bonfire.
eloge - noun. a panegyrical funeral oration.
panegyrical - noun. a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something
In Praise of Love(film) - In Praise of Love(French: Eloge de l'amour)(2001) is a French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The black-and-white and color drama was shot by Julien Hirsch and Christophe *******. Godard has famously stated, "A film should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order. This aphorism is illustrated by In Praise of Love.
aphorism - noun. a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."; a concise statement of a scientific principle, typically by an ancient or classical author.
elogium - noun. a short saying, an inscription. The praise bestowed on a person or thing; a eulogy
epicede - noun. dirge elegy; sorrow or care. A funeral song or discourse, an elegy.
exequy - noun. plural ex-e-quies. usually, exequies. Funeral rites or ceremonies; obsequies. 2. a funeral procession.
loge - noun. (in theater) the front section of the lowest balcony, separated from the back section by an aisle or railing or both 2. a box in a theater or opera house 3. any small enclosure; booth. 4. (in France) a cubicle for the confinement of art students during important examinations
obit - noun. informal. an obituary 2. the date of a person's death 3. Obsolete. a Requiem Mass
obsequy - noun. plural ob-se-quies. a funeral rite or ceremony.
arval - noun. A funeral feast ORIGIN: W. arwy funeral; ar over + wylo, 'to weep' or cf. arf["o]; Icelandic arfr: inheritance + Sw. ["o]i ale. Cf. Bridal.
knell - noun. the sound made by a bell rung slowly, especially fora death or a funeral 2. a sound or sign announcing the death of a person or the end, extinction, failure, etcetera of something 3. any mournful sound 4. verb. (used without object). to sound, as a bell, especially a funeral bell 5. verb. to give forth a mournful, ominous, or warning sound.
bier - noun. a frame or stand on which a corpse or coffin containing it is laid before burial; such a stand together with the corpse or coffin
coronach - noun. (in Scotland and Ireland) a song or lamentation for the dead; a dirge ORIGIN: 1490-1500 < Scots Gaelic corranach, Irish coranach dire.
epicedium - noun. plural epicedia. use of a neuter of epikedeios of a funeral, equivalent to epi-epi + kede- (stem of kedos: care, sorrow)
funerate - verb. to bury with funeral rites
inhumation - verb(used with an object). to bury
nenia - noun. a funeral song; an elegy
pibroch - noun. (in the Scottish Highlands) a piece of music for the bagpipe, consisting of a series of variations on a basic theme, usually martial in character, but sometimes used as a dirge
pollinctor - noun. one who prepared corpses for the funeral
saulie - noun. a hired mourner at a funeral
thanatousia - noun. funeral rites
ullagone - noun. a cry of lamentation; funeral lament. also, a cry of sorrow ORIGIN: Irish-Gaelic
ulmaceous - of or like elms
uloid - noun. a scar
flagon - noun. a large bottle for drinks such as wine or cide
ullage - noun. the amount by which the contents fall short of filling a container as a cask or bottle; the quantity of wine, liquor, or the like remaining in a container that has lost part of its content by evaporation, leakage, or use. 3. Rocketry. the volume of a loaded tank of liquid propellant in excess of the volume of the propellant; the space provided for thermal expansion of the propellant and the accumulation of gases evolved from it
suttee - (also, sati) noun. a Hindu practice whereby a widow immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her husband: now abolished by law; A Hindu widow who so immolates herself
myriologue - noun. the goddess of fate or death. An extemporaneous funeral song, composed and sung by a woman on the death of a friend.
threnody - noun. a poem, speech, or song of lamentation, especially for the dead; dirge; funeral song
charing cross - noun. a square and district in central London, England: major railroad terminals.
feretory - noun. a container for the relics of a saint; reliquary. 2. an enclosure or area within a church where such a reliquary is kept 3. a portable bier or shrine
bossuet - noun. Jacques Benigne. (b. 1627-1704) French bishop, writer, and orator.
wyla -
rostrum -
aaron's rod -
common mullein -
verbascum thapsus -
peignoir -
pledget -
vestiary -
bushhamer -
beneficiation -
keeve -
frisure -
castigation -
slaw -
strickle -
vestry -
iodoform -
moslings -
bedizenment -
pomatum -
velure -
apodyterium -
macasser oil -
equipage -
tendance -
bierbalk -
joss paper -
lichgate -
parentation -
prink -
bedizen -
allogamy -
matin -
dizen -
disappendency -
photonosus -
spanopnoea -
abulia -
sequela -
lagophthalmos -
cataplexy -
xerasia -
anophelosis -
chloralism -
chyluria -
infarct -
tubercle -
pyuria -
dyscrasia -
ochlesis -
cachexy -
abulic -
sthenic - adjective. dated Medicine. of or having a high or excessive level of strength and energy
pinafore -
toff -
swain -
bucentaur -
coxcomb -
fakir -
hominid -
mollycoddle -
subarrhation -
surtout -
milksop -
tommyrot -
ginglymodi -
harlequinade -
jackpudding -
pickle-herring -
japer -
golyardeys -
scaramouch -
pantaloon -
tammuz -
cuckold -
nabob -
gaffer -
grass widower -
stultify -
stultiloquence -
batrachomyomachia -
exsufflicate -
dotterel -
fadaise -
blatherskite -
footling -
dingmat -
shlemiel -
simper -
anserine -
flibbertgibbet -
desipient -
nugify -
spooney -
inaniloquent -
liripoop -
******* -
seelily -
stulty -
taradiddle -
thimblewit -
tosh -
gobemouche -
hebephrenia -
cockamamie -
birdbrained -
featherbrained -
wiseacre -
lampoon -
Guy Fawke's night -
maclean -
vang -
wisenheimer -
herod -
vertiginous -
raillery -
galoot -
camus -
gormless -
dullard -
funicular -
duffer -
laputan -
fribble -
dolt -
nelipot -
discalced -
footslog -
squelch -
coggle -
peregrinate -
pergola -
gressible -
superfecundation -
mufti -
reveille -
dimdl -
peplum -
phylactery -
moonflower -
bibliopegy -
festinate -
doytin -
****** -
red trillium -
reveille - noun. [in sing. ] a signal sounded esp. on a bugle or drum to wake personnel in the armed forces.
trillium - noun. a plant with a solitary three-petaled flower above a whorl of three leaves, native to North America and Asia
contrail - noun. a trail of condensed water from an aircraft or rocket at high altitude, seen as a white streak against the sky. ORIGIN: 1940s: abbreviation of condensation trail. Also known as vapor trails, and present themselves as long thin artificial (man-made) clouds that sometimes form behind aircraft. Their formation is most often triggered by the water vapor in the exhaust of aircraft engines, but can also be triggered by the changes in air pressure in wingtip vortices or in the air over the entire wing surface. Like all clouds, contrails are made of water, in the form of a suspension of billions of liquid droplets or ice crystals. Depending on the temperature and humidity at the altitude the contrail forms, they may be visible for only a few seconds or minutes, or may persist for hours and spread to be several miles wide. The resulting cloud forms may resemble cirrus, cirrocumulus, or cirrostratus. Persistent spreading contrails are thought to have a significant effect on global climate.
psychopannychism -
restoril -
temazepam -
catafalque -
obit -
pollinctor -
ullagone -
thanatousia -
buckram -
tatterdemalion - noun. a person in tattered clothing; a shabby person. 2. adjective. ragged; unkempt or dilapidated
curtal - adjective. archaic. shortened, abridged, or curtailed; noun. historical. a dulcian or bassoon of the late 16th to early 18th century.
dulcian - noun. an early type of bassoon made in one piece; any of various ***** stops, typically with 8-foot funnel-shaped flue pipes or 8- or 16-foot reed pipes
withe - noun. a flexible branch of an osier or other willow, used for tying, binding, or basketry
osier - noun. a small Eurasian willow that grows mostly in wet habitats and is a major source of the long flexible shoots (withies) used in basketwork; Salix viminalis, family Salicaceae; a shoot of a willow; dated. any willow tree 2. noun. any of several North American dogwoods.
directoire - adjective. of or relating to a neoclassical decorative style intermediate between the more ornate Louis XVI style and the Empire style, prevalent during the French Directory (1795-99)
guimpe -
ip
Thursday, April 10th, 2014
assay - noun. the testing of a metal or ore to determine its ingredients and quality; a procedure for measuring the biochemical or immunological activity of a sample
February 14th-16th, Valentine's Day, 2014
nonpareil - adjective. having no match or equal; unrivaled; 1. noun. an unrivaled or matchless person or thing 2. noun. a flat round candy made of chocolate covered with white sugar sprinkles. 3. noun. Printing. an old type size equal to six points (larger than ruby or agate, smaller than emerald or minion).
ants - noun. emmet; archaic. pismire.
amercement - noun. Historical. English Law. a fine
lutetium - noun. the chemical element of atomic number 71, a rare, silvery-white metal of the lanthanide series. (Symbol: Lu)
couverture -
ort -
lamington -
pinole -
racahout -
saint-john's-bread -
makings -
millettia -
noisette -
veddoid -
algarroba -
coelogyne -
tamarind -
corsned -
sippet -
sucket -
estaminet -
zarf -
javanese -
caff -
dragee -
sugarplum -
upas -
brittle - adjective. hard but liable to break or shatter easily; noun. a candy made from nuts and set melted sugar.
comfit - noun. dated. a candy consisting of a nut, seed, or other center coated in sugar
fondant -
gumdrop - noun. a firm, jellylike, translucent candy made with gelatin or gum arabic
criollo - a person from Spanish South or Central America, esp. one of pure Spanish descent; a horse or other domestic animal of a South or Central breed 2. (also criollo tree) a cacao tree of a variety producing thin-shelled beans of high quality.
silex -
ricebird -
trinil man -
mustard plaster -
horehound - noun. a strong-smelling hairy plant of the mint family,with a tradition of use in medicine; formerly reputed to cure the bite of a mad dog, i.e. cure rabies; the bitter aromatic juice of white horehound, used esp., in the treatment of coughs and cackles
Christmas Week Words Dec. 24, Christmas Eve
gorse - noun. a yellow-flowered shrub of the pea family, the leaves of which are modified to form spines, native to western Europe and North Africa
pink cistus - noun. Botany. Cistus (from the Greek "Kistos") is a genus of flowering plants in the rockrose family Cistaceae, containing about 20 species. They are perennial shrubs found on dry or rocky soils throughout the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal through to the Middle East, and also on the Canary Islands. The leaves are evergreen, opposite, simple, usually slightly rough-surfaced, 2-8cm long; in a few species (notably C. ladanifer), the leaves are coated with a highly aromatic resin called labdanum. They have showy 5-petaled flowers ranging from white to purple and dark pink, in a few species with a conspicuous dark red spot at the base of each petal, and together with its many hybrids and cultivars is commonly encountered as a garden flower. In popular medicine, infusions of cistuses are used to treat diarrhea.
labdanum - noun. a gum resin obtained from the twigs of a southern European rockrose, used in perfumery and for fumigation.
laudanum - noun. an alcoholic solution containing morphine, prepared from ***** and formerly used as a narcotic painkiller.
manger - noun. a long open box or trough for horses or cattle to eat from.
blue pimpernel - noun. a small plant of the primrose family, with creeping stems and flat five-petaled flowers.
broom - noun. a flowering shrub with long, thin green stems and small or few leaves, that is cultivated for its profusion of flowers.
blue lupine - noun. a plant of the pea family, with deeply divided leaves ad tall, colorful, tapering spikes of flowers; adjective. of, like, or relating to a wolf or wolves
bee-orchis - noun. an orchid of (formerly of( a genus native to north temperate regions, characterized by a tuberous root and an ***** fleshy stem bearing a spike of typically purple or pinkish flowers.
campo santo - translation. cemetery in Italian and Spanish
runnel - noun. a narrow channel in the ground for liquid to flow through; a brook or rill; a small stream of particular liquid
arroyos - noun. a steep-sided gully cut by running water in an arid or semi-arid region.
January 14th, 2014
spline - noun. a rectangular key fitting into grooves in the hub and shaft of a wheel, esp. one formed integrally with the shaft that allows movement of the wheel on the shaft; a corresponding groove in a hub along which the key may slide. 2. a slat; a flexible wood or rubber strip used, esp. in drawing large curves. 3. (also spline curve) Mathematics. a continuous curve constructed so as to pass through a given set of points and have a certain number of continuous derivatives.
4. verb. secure (a part) by means of a spine
reticulate - verb. rare. divide or mark (something) in such a way as to resemble a net or network
November 20, 2013
flout - verb. openly disregard (a rule, law, or convention); intrans. archaic. mock; scoff ORIGIN: mid 16th cent.: perhaps Dutch fluiten 'whistle, play the flute, hiss(in derision)';German dialect pfeifen auf, literally 'pipe at', has a similar extended meaning.
pedimented - noun. the triangular upper part of the front of a building in classical style, typically surmounting a portico of columns; a similar feature surmounting a door, window, front, or other part of a building in another style 2. Geology. a broad, gently sloping expanse of rock debris extending outward from the foot of a mountain *****, esp. in a desert.
portico - noun. a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns at regular intervals, typically attached as a porch to a building ORIGIN: early 17th cent.: from Italian, from Latin porticus 'porch.'
catafalque - noun. a decorated wooden framework supporting the coffin of a distinguished person during a funeral or while lying in state.
cortege - noun. a solemn procession esp. for a funeral
pall - noun. a cloth spread over a coffin, hearse, or tomb; figurative. a dark cloud or covering of smoke, dust, or similar matter; figurative. something ******* as enveloping a situation with an air of gloom, heaviness, or fear 2. an ecclesiastical pallium; heraldry. a Y-shape charge representing the front of an ecclesiastical pallium. ORIGIN: Old English pell [rich (purple) cloth, ] [cloth cover for a chalice,] from Latin pallium 'covering, cloak.'
3. verb. [intrans.] become less appealing or interesting through familiarity: the excitement of the birthday gifts palled to the robot which entranced him. ORIGIN: late Middle English; shortening of APPALL
columbarium - noun. (pl. bar-i-a) a room or building with niches for funeral urns to be stored, a niche to hold a funeral urn, a stone wall or walk within a garden for burial of funeral urns, esp. attached to a church. ORIGIN: mid 18th cent.: from Latin, literally 'pigeon house.'
balefire - noun. a lare open-air fire; a bonfire.
eloge - noun. a panegyrical funeral oration.
panegyrical - noun. a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something
In Praise of Love(film) - In Praise of Love(French: Eloge de l'amour)(2001) is a French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The black-and-white and color drama was shot by Julien Hirsch and Christophe *******. Godard has famously stated, "A film should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order. This aphorism is illustrated by In Praise of Love.
aphorism - noun. a pithy observation that contains a general truth, such as, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."; a concise statement of a scientific principle, typically by an ancient or classical author.
elogium - noun. a short saying, an inscription. The praise bestowed on a person or thing; a eulogy
epicede - noun. dirge elegy; sorrow or care. A funeral song or discourse, an elegy.
exequy - noun. plural ex-e-quies. usually, exequies. Funeral rites or ceremonies; obsequies. 2. a funeral procession.
loge - noun. (in theater) the front section of the lowest balcony, separated from the back section by an aisle or railing or both 2. a box in a theater or opera house 3. any small enclosure; booth. 4. (in France) a cubicle for the confinement of art students during important examinations
obit - noun. informal. an obituary 2. the date of a person's death 3. Obsolete. a Requiem Mass
obsequy - noun. plural ob-se-quies. a funeral rite or ceremony.
arval - noun. A funeral feast ORIGIN: W. arwy funeral; ar over + wylo, 'to weep' or cf. arf["o]; Icelandic arfr: inheritance + Sw. ["o]i ale. Cf. Bridal.
knell - noun. the sound made by a bell rung slowly, especially fora death or a funeral 2. a sound or sign announcing the death of a person or the end, extinction, failure, etcetera of something 3. any mournful sound 4. verb. (used without object). to sound, as a bell, especially a funeral bell 5. verb. to give forth a mournful, ominous, or warning sound.
bier - noun. a frame or stand on which a corpse or coffin containing it is laid before burial; such a stand together with the corpse or coffin
coronach - noun. (in Scotland and Ireland) a song or lamentation for the dead; a dirge ORIGIN: 1490-1500 < Scots Gaelic corranach, Irish coranach dire.
epicedium - noun. plural epicedia. use of a neuter of epikedeios of a funeral, equivalent to epi-epi + kede- (stem of kedos: care, sorrow)
funerate - verb. to bury with funeral rites
inhumation - verb(used with an object). to bury
nenia - noun. a funeral song; an elegy
pibroch - noun. (in the Scottish Highlands) a piece of music for the bagpipe, consisting of a series of variations on a basic theme, usually martial in character, but sometimes used as a dirge
pollinctor - noun. one who prepared corpses for the funeral
saulie - noun. a hired mourner at a funeral
thanatousia - noun. funeral rites
ullagone - noun. a cry of lamentation; funeral lament. also, a cry of sorrow ORIGIN: Irish-Gaelic
ulmaceous - of or like elms
uloid - noun. a scar
flagon - noun. a large bottle for drinks such as wine or cide
ullage - noun. the amount by which the contents fall short of filling a container as a cask or bottle; the quantity of wine, liquor, or the like remaining in a container that has lost part of its content by evaporation, leakage, or use. 3. Rocketry. the volume of a loaded tank of liquid propellant in excess of the volume of the propellant; the space provided for thermal expansion of the propellant and the accumulation of gases evolved from it
suttee - (also, sati) noun. a Hindu practice whereby a widow immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her husband: now abolished by law; A Hindu widow who so immolates herself
myriologue - noun. the goddess of fate or death. An extemporaneous funeral song, composed and sung by a woman on the death of a friend.
threnody - noun. a poem, speech, or song of lamentation, especially for the dead; dirge; funeral song
charing cross - noun. a square and district in central London, England: major railroad terminals.
feretory - noun. a container for the relics of a saint; reliquary. 2. an enclosure or area within a church where such a reliquary is kept 3. a portable bier or shrine
bossuet - noun. Jacques Benigne. (b. 1627-1704) French bishop, writer, and orator.
wyla -
rostrum -
aaron's rod -
common mullein -
verbascum thapsus -
peignoir -
pledget -
vestiary -
bushhamer -
beneficiation -
keeve -
frisure -
castigation -
slaw -
strickle -
vestry -
iodoform -
moslings -
bedizenment -
pomatum -
velure -
apodyterium -
macasser oil -
equipage -
tendance -
bierbalk -
joss paper -
lichgate -
parentation -
prink -
bedizen -
allogamy -
matin -
dizen -
disappendency -
photonosus -
spanopnoea -
abulia -
sequela -
lagophthalmos -
cataplexy -
xerasia -
anophelosis -
chloralism -
chyluria -
infarct -
tubercle -
pyuria -
dyscrasia -
ochlesis -
cachexy -
abulic -
sthenic - adjective. dated Medicine. of or having a high or excessive level of strength and energy
pinafore -
toff -
swain -
bucentaur -
coxcomb -
fakir -
hominid -
mollycoddle -
subarrhation -
surtout -
milksop -
tommyrot -
ginglymodi -
harlequinade -
jackpudding -
pickle-herring -
japer -
golyardeys -
scaramouch -
pantaloon -
tammuz -
cuckold -
nabob -
gaffer -
grass widower -
stultify -
stultiloquence -
batrachomyomachia -
exsufflicate -
dotterel -
fadaise -
blatherskite -
footling -
dingmat -
shlemiel -
simper -
anserine -
flibbertgibbet -
desipient -
nugify -
spooney -
inaniloquent -
liripoop -
******* -
seelily -
stulty -
taradiddle -
thimblewit -
tosh -
gobemouche -
hebephrenia -
cockamamie -
birdbrained -
featherbrained -
wiseacre -
lampoon -
Guy Fawke's night -
maclean -
vang -
wisenheimer -
herod -
vertiginous -
raillery -
galoot -
camus -
gormless -
dullard -
funicular -
duffer -
laputan -
fribble -
dolt -
nelipot -
discalced -
footslog -
squelch -
coggle -
peregrinate -
pergola -
gressible -
superfecundation -
mufti -
reveille -
dimdl -
peplum -
phylactery -
moonflower -
bibliopegy -
festinate -
doytin -
****** -
red trillium -
reveille - noun. [in sing. ] a signal sounded esp. on a bugle or drum to wake personnel in the armed forces.
trillium - noun. a plant with a solitary three-petaled flower above a whorl of three leaves, native to North America and Asia
contrail - noun. a trail of condensed water from an aircraft or rocket at high altitude, seen as a white streak against the sky. ORIGIN: 1940s: abbreviation of condensation trail. Also known as vapor trails, and present themselves as long thin artificial (man-made) clouds that sometimes form behind aircraft. Their formation is most often triggered by the water vapor in the exhaust of aircraft engines, but can also be triggered by the changes in air pressure in wingtip vortices or in the air over the entire wing surface. Like all clouds, contrails are made of water, in the form of a suspension of billions of liquid droplets or ice crystals. Depending on the temperature and humidity at the altitude the contrail forms, they may be visible for only a few seconds or minutes, or may persist for hours and spread to be several miles wide. The resulting cloud forms may resemble cirrus, cirrocumulus, or cirrostratus. Persistent spreading contrails are thought to have a significant effect on global climate.
psychopannychism -
restoril -
temazepam -
catafalque -
obit -
pollinctor -
ullagone -
thanatousia -
buckram -
tatterdemalion - noun. a person in tattered clothing; a shabby person. 2. adjective. ragged; unkempt or dilapidated
curtal - adjective. archaic. shortened, abridged, or curtailed; noun. historical. a dulcian or bassoon of the late 16th to early 18th century.
dulcian - noun. an early type of bassoon made in one piece; any of various ***** stops, typically with 8-foot funnel-shaped flue pipes or 8- or 16-foot reed pipes
withe - noun. a flexible branch of an osier or other willow, used for tying, binding, or basketry
osier - noun. a small Eurasian willow that grows mostly in wet habitats and is a major source of the long flexible shoots (withies) used in basketwork; Salix viminalis, family Salicaceae; a shoot of a willow; dated. any willow tree 2. noun. any of several North American dogwoods.
directoire - adjective. of or relating to a neoclassical decorative style intermediate between the more ornate Louis XVI style and the Empire style, prevalent during the French Directory (1795-99)
guimpe -
ip
dictionary wordlist list lists word words definition definitions wordplay play fun game paragraph language english chicago loveofwords languagelove love beauty peace yew mew sheep colors curiosity logolepsy
Morrigan LaFaye King May 2010
Pencil And Pen
Morrigan LaFaye King
May 2010
The white parchment has nothing on it
No poetry to add,
Nor the story of a bleeding comet.
This writer’s block, it used to be bad.
Things go from bad to worse.
The paper beneath my hand feels sad.
Should I start with the rolling of a Hirsch,
Or should I resort to a sonnet?
Either way my pen is about to burst.
I can picture the lady, wearing her summer bonnet.
Brushing away another shadow’s kiss.
The pain of her life, painted clearly on it.
Only one more thing, will this picture miss.
It’s the pleasure of the pain,
While cupids taking a ****.
There is a difference, now and then.
Then you could taste the rain.
Now its just me, my pencil, and my pen.
No poetry to add,
Nor the story of a bleeding comet.
This writer’s block, it used to be bad.
Things go from bad to worse.
The paper beneath my hand feels sad.
Should I start with the rolling of a Hirsch,
Or should I resort to a sonnet?
Either way my pen is about to burst.
I can picture the lady, wearing her summer bonnet.
Brushing away another shadow’s kiss.
The pain of her life, painted clearly on it.
Only one more thing, will this picture miss.
It’s the pleasure of the pain,
While cupids taking a ****.
There is a difference, now and then.
Then you could taste the rain.
Now its just me, my pencil, and my pen.