Saturday

Dec. 30, 2000

501 This World is not Conclusion.

by Emily Dickinson

Broadcast date: SATURDAY, 30 December 2000

Poem: "This World is not Conclusion," by Emily Dickinson.

This World is not Conclusion.
A Species stands beyond —
Invisible, as Music —
But positive, as Sound —
It beckons, and it baffles —
Philosphy — don't know —
And through a Riddle, at the last —
Sagacity, must go —
To guess it, puzzles scholars —
To gain it, Men have borne
Contempt of Generations
And Crucifixion, shown —
Faith slips — and laughs, and rallies —
Blushes, if any see —
Plucks at a twig of Evidence —
And asks a Vane, the way —
Much Gesture, from the Pulpit —
Strong Hallelujahs roll —
Narcotics cannot still the Tooth
That nibbles at the soul —

On this day in 1948, Kiss Me, Kate, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, had its premiere at the New Century Theatre in New York City.

It's the birthday of rhythm & blues singer Bo Diddley, born in Magnolia, Mississippi (1928). He played the violin until he was fifteen, but said, "I'll tell you what put the brakes on me. I looked around and didn't see too many black violinists. That's when I grabbed the guitar, 'cause I seen plenty of black guitarists."

It's the birthday of writer, composer and translator Paul Bowles, born in Jamaica, Queens (1910). He dropped out of college and went to Paris, where he met Gertrude Stein, Jean Cocteau and André Gide. In the late 1940s he went to Morocco, where he wrote his novels The Sheltering Sky (1948) and Let It Come Down (1952).

It's the birthday of Simon Guggenheim, born in Philadelphia (1867), to a wealthy family who'd made their money in mining and smelting. When his first son died following a mastoid operation, he and his wife established the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, which, ever since, has given one-year grants to thousands of artists and scholars, each receiving a free year of study, research, and travel.

It's the birthday of poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling, born in Bombay (1865), author of The Jungle Book, Kim (1901) and Just So Stories (1902). He married an American woman and lived for 4 years on her property near Brattleboro, Vermont, but was unable to adjust to life to America. He returned to England to become the unofficial poet laureate of imperial Britain.

Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till earth and sky stand presently at God's great Judgment seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face,
tho' they come from the ends of the earth.

It's the birthday of businessman Asa Griggs Candler, born on a farm near Villa Rica, Georgia (1851). He was a pharmacist, started a wholesale drug business, and, in his mid-twenties, bought the formula that became Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola became one of the biggest corporations in America, and, in 1919, he sold the enterprise for $25 million. A considerable philanthropist, Candler helped finance the move of Emory College, located near Atlanta, into the city, and expanded it to become Emory University.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.®

 

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