All that Glitters

GRADE SCHOOL SWEATER CLIP
ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

Cat and Mouse

On the sheep-cropped summit, under hot sun,
The mouse crouched, staring out the chance
It dared not take.

Time and a world Too old to alter, the five mile prospect—
Woods, villages, farms hummed its heat-heavy
Stupor of life. Whether to two Feet or four, how are prayers contracted!
Whether in God’s eye or the eye of a cat.

Ted Hughes

I no longer have my 1965 vintage cat and mouse sweater chain. But I remember it well and was able to track down a few photos on the internet. I must have worn it to school every day in 2nd grade, until the mouse's tail snapped in two. Even after that, I saved at the bottom of my trinket box for a long time, along with my broken Snow White Watch (3rd grade).

These two poems -- above by Ted Hughes, below by William Blake
-- align perfectly with the drama of the sweater guard. Look! There is the glittering "eye of a cat," pursuing the anxious mouse. And there is the "end of a golden string," enticing the cat in its perpetual conflict with the universe.

I give you the end of a golden string;
Only wind it into a ball,
It will lead you in at Heaven’s gate,
Built in Jerusalem’s wall.

William Blake

Poetic connections to gold abound;
here are a few glittering examples:

Robert Frost:
"nothing gold can "

Barbara Kunz Loots:
"watch the gold illusion drift away"

Joseph Parry:
"Make new friends,
but keep the old;
Those are silver, these are gold."

Johnny Marks:
"Silver and gold . . .
How do you measure its worth?
Just by the pleasure
It gives here on Earth."

Shakespeare:
"all that
glisters / glistens / glitters
is not gold"

Spandau Ballet:
"Gold!
Always believe in your soul
You've got the power to know
You're indestructible
Always believe in, 'cause you are
Gold . . ."

Yeats:
" . . . pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun."

The Cloths of Heaven
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Previously in this series of jewelry inspired posts:
Re: Jewel, Rainbow, Splendor
Heirloom Jewelry
Diamond Studs Are Forever
Choose Dearests, Choose
Where is Fancy Bred
AND MORE

Also in my jewelry box:
Three Sisters' Pin & Pendant
that my sisters and I wear whenever we're together

Next Fortnightly Post
Saturday, October 14th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Where is Fancy Bred

LIFELONG NECKLACES
ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS

Pewter Gemini Necklace
A gift from my sister Peggy on my 19th birthday.
Once a Gemini, always a Gemini!

I've always liked the way the twins kind of
resemble two adults holding up a child --
Lion King style!

These two necklaces have been
with me for most of my life.

For my high school graduation picture,
I wore this tiny floral locket that
I had received back in first grade,
a sixth birthday present from my mother.

Some Shakespearean Connections
in continuation of jewelry box theme . . .
The Merchant of Venice, features three very important jewelry boxes, referred to as "caskets, resembling small treasure chests, and serving as a hurdle for all the suitors proposing marriage to Portia. There are three caskets, each with an appropriate inscription on the outside, and a related, illustrative token and moralistic verse inside:

"The first, of gold, who this inscription bears,
'Who chooseth me shall get what many men desire';

The second, silver, which this promise carries,
'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves';

This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt,
'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.'”
(Act II, scene vii)

****************

Gold ~ A Skull

"All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been inscrolled
Fare you well. Your suit is cold.
Cold, indeed: and labor lost:
Then, farewell, heat, and welcome, frost!"
(Act II, scene vii)


Silver ~ A Fool's Head

"The fire seven times tried this:
Seven times tried that judgment is,
That did never choose amiss.
Some there be that shadows kiss;
Such have but a shadow's bliss:
There be fools alive, I wis,
Silvered o'er: and so was this.
Take what wife you will to bed,
I will ever be your head.
So be gone. You are sped.
Still more fool I shall appear
By the time I linger here.
With one fool's head I came to woo,
But I go away with two."
(Act II, scene ix, 63 - 75)


Lead ~ A Portrait of Fair Portia

“You that choose not by the view,
Chance as fair and choose as true.
Since this fortune falls to you,
Be content and seek no new.
If you be well pleased with this
And hold your fortune for your bliss,
Turn you where your lady is
And claim her with a loving kiss.”
(Act III, scene ii, 139 - 146)
The message of the caskets is clear: whatever treasures are in your jewelry box, always choose for love, never for vanity.

Before Bassanio -- Portia's favorite beau -- correctly chooses the lead casket, Portia gives him a few hints by calling on the players to perform a song whose first three lines rhyme with "lead." Silver and gold might be nice, but they are not all. Follow your heart; use your head:

"Tell me where is fancy bred,
Or in the heart or in the head?
How begot, how nourished?
Reply, reply.
It is engender’d in the eyes,
With gazing fed; and fancy dies
In the cradle, where it lies.
Let us all ring fancy’s knell;
I’ll begin it – Ding, dong, bell.
Ding, dong, bell."
(Act III, scene ii)

******************

Another long ago favorite from my childhood jewelry box:

Next time, more on the cat & mouse sweater chain!

Previously in this series of jewelry inspired posts:
Re: Jewel, Rainbow, Splendor
Heirloom Jewelry
Diamond Studs Are Forever
Choose Dearests, Choose
AND MORE
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, July 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com