William Allingham, who lived between 1824 and 1889, was a prolific Irish poet. He is famous for his often quoted poem The Faeries in which he wrote, “We daren’t go a-hunting, for fear of little men.”
In his quote, “Pluck not the wayside flower; it is the traveler's dower.” he used the word dower in the sense of a dowry: that part of an estate of a deceased spouse given by law to the surviving spouse.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines wayside thusly: If someone falls by the wayside, they fail to finish an activity, and if something falls by the wayside, people stop doing it, making it, or using it.
I tend to view “the wayside” in a less negative aspect, as it refers to that swath of ground which runs along the side of a road where wildflowers grow undisturbed, along with the occasional bus stop.
In that sense, this blog sometimes falls to the wayside, though it does not do so merely out of abandoned disuse. Rather, it bobs to the inclinations of my muse, much like a wildflower dances in a breeze.
I have learned that it is less than ideal for me to attempt to write when my muse lies obstinately silent; when no amount of prodding elicits any useful response. So it is with my poetry and with this blog.
Whenever it seems that I have run out of steam here, even for months at a time between posts, you can trust that merely waiting beside the road for my muse to arrive with a viable poetic itinerary.
In the meantime, I wish you a very Happy New Year!!!
Image: http://www.picturequotes.com
In his quote, “Pluck not the wayside flower; it is the traveler's dower.” he used the word dower in the sense of a dowry: that part of an estate of a deceased spouse given by law to the surviving spouse.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines wayside thusly: If someone falls by the wayside, they fail to finish an activity, and if something falls by the wayside, people stop doing it, making it, or using it.
I tend to view “the wayside” in a less negative aspect, as it refers to that swath of ground which runs along the side of a road where wildflowers grow undisturbed, along with the occasional bus stop.
In that sense, this blog sometimes falls to the wayside, though it does not do so merely out of abandoned disuse. Rather, it bobs to the inclinations of my muse, much like a wildflower dances in a breeze.
I have learned that it is less than ideal for me to attempt to write when my muse lies obstinately silent; when no amount of prodding elicits any useful response. So it is with my poetry and with this blog.
Whenever it seems that I have run out of steam here, even for months at a time between posts, you can trust that merely waiting beside the road for my muse to arrive with a viable poetic itinerary.
In the meantime, I wish you a very Happy New Year!!!
Image: http://www.picturequotes.com
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