The Bridal Ballad: Edgar Allan Poe

Scroll down and play the video first. :D

 

I love Edgar Allan Poe, and while this is not one of his most popular works or, in my opinion, one of his best, this illustration really made me take notice of the somber tones of the poem that at first glance seems childishly "rhymey."   

 

The poem itself is one of only a few poems from Poe written using a women speaker. The lines are simple and read very much like an old English Rhyme or song. Some think that this poem deals with what is modernly called "Post-nuptial Depression." This interpretation could have merit as the poem was published in 1837, and Poe was married to his cousin,Virginia, in 1836.  

 

Poe was fond of the drink and easily became intoxicated. Shortly after this poem was published in the Southern Literary Messenger, his drinking had become so bad that he was forced to leave the paper. It is entirely possible that Poe acknowledged that he really was not the best thing for his 13 year old bride and this poem may indicate his guilty conscious. 

 

Following their marriage, there were many rumors that Poe was not faithful to her. One of the ladies accused was Elizabeth Fries Lummis Ellet, a poet. Anonymous letters written to Virginia which told her of a relationship between Poe and Ellet made Virginia remark on her deathbed that Ellet had "been her murderer." It is believed that Ellet wrote them to Virginia herself. Ellet had been guilty of writing seductive letters to Poe inviting him to meet with her that he did not act upon.  

 

The ring is on my hand,
And the wreath is on my brow;
Satin and jewels grand
Are all at my command,
And I am happy now.

And my lord he loves me well;
But, when first he breathed his vow,
I felt my bosom swell-
For the words rang as a knell,
And the voice seemed his who fell
In the battle down the dell,
And who is happy now.

But he spoke to re-assure me,
And he kissed my pallid brow,
While a reverie came o'er me,
And to the church-yard bore me,
And I sighed to him before me,
Thinking him dead D'Elormie,
"Oh, I am happy now!"

And thus the words were spoken,
And this the plighted vow,
And, though my faith be broken,
And, though my heart be broken,
Here is a ring, as token
That I am happy now!

Would God I could awaken!
For I dream I know not how!
And my soul is sorely shaken
Lest an evil step be taken,-
Lest the dead who is forsaken
May not be happy now.

 

The poem is beautifully put to music by Hayley Westerna. The sadness of the poem is so intricately captured by the music.

Alternative Knitted Sontag Patterns

The major complain I hear about the Knitted Sontag from Godey's Lady's Book is that EVERYONE has the same one (however cute they are.) I've found two rarer patterns that I have never seen anyone wear.

What is fortunate about the first sontag pictured here is that this pattern might actually make a medium sized sontag. It also calls for a crochet border which is lucky for those of you who know how to crochet.

The second pattern, while a little awkward looking at first, really could look cute with a Civil War Era dress. The pattern was made for beginners which is really good and also details a little about knitting needles of the time, different yarns and how to knit. It has imitation ermine spots just like the popular Godey's pattern. This pattern seems like it would make a small sontag as the patten was made for younger girls. I would suggest making one the same size in the directions (and give it to a young girl) and make written notes while you knit of where you need to make adjustments to make one your size.  The "elastic band" mentioned is probably referring to "elastic knitting," according to the pictures. Elastic did exist but was only used for accessories. The elastic knitting referenced below is a modern day "Brioche Stitch," and you much cast on a number of stitches divisible by 3 or it will not work.

You might be wondering whatever happened to my Sontag. I am still waiting to buy new yarn. I need one more skein of green yards but refuse to spend that much to ship one skein of yarn. So I am waiting until I have a new project so I can combine shipping. It's been so cold lately, I wish I would finish it just so I can wear it around the house!  

Civil War Knitted Garters from Godey's Lady's Book

Weather permitting, I will hopefully be going to my friend's house for a knitting group tomorrow. I plan to finish my Civil War garters from a Godey's pattern that I had been meaning to try for a good few years. The pattern can be found here.

I think that the first garter turned out very similar to the etching. It is being modeled on one of my Christmas presents. I used 100% cotton crochet thread. It is stretchy enough to fit on my upper leg or lower leg which is great depending on what kind of reenacting socks you wear.

 

The garter is a lot bigger than how I pictured it when looking at the etching. But they fit perfectly. I was very worried at trying to loop the knitting because I had never tried to pick up stitches from a cast on but it worked out perfectly with very little issues. 

Hope you enjoy!

Colonial Games: How to play Fives

Fives, the Game of Fives or Hand Tennis has many game variations and can be played in teams of 1 to 5 players. A line is drawn down a suitable wall. The starting team throws the ball at the wall and, once the ball ricochets back, uses their hands like moderns day tennis rackets to hit the ball to the other teams' part of the wall. The ball may hit the ground once or be intercepted from the wall, if the ball is missed, the other team gets a point. The ball is then thrown again and the game continued.   

A favorite place to play was against church walls because they provided the best kind of wall for the game. The book, The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England from the Earliest Times  (1901,) stated that "The custom of playing fives in churchyards continued in many a country district until quite recent years, notably in Somersetshire and Staffordshire. Ball-playing in such a place no doubt prevailed because the church tower often afforded so suitable a wall for fives. It was usually practised on the north side, because there were generally no graves on that side, and the sport created less scandal. A painted line for the game still remains on some of our church towers, but a string-course of suitable elevation more usually sufficed. " 

The ball was typically a soft leather ball but later the game came to include wood rackets or gloves, especially with the upper classes to protect the hands.

Spending Way Too Much Time on the Computer

I got a new computer for Christmas and it is absolutely amazing! My old computer was so slow that even though i needed to use it a lot, I really couldn't use it for unnecessary things. Youtube videos took too long to load to watch more than one, Stumbleupon would freeze the computer after 10 clicks and opening up more than 3 tabs at a time would make Firefox call animal control. But now that I've have this new computer that turns on faster than I can press the button, I've found that I can open up 18 tabs in Firefox at once, listen to music, and watch videos all at once.

Subsequently I have realized that I've been getting very little done. I thought faster computer would equal more accomplished but it has not turned out that way. It used to take about 3 minutes to boot up my computer and so I would collect things that I wanted to look up or research throughout the day and look them all up at once when I had the computer on. But this new computer makes it so easy for me to turn on the computer 8 times a day if necessary and look something up immediately. Unfortunately, every time I look one thing up, I get distracted by a whole lot of nothing.

So in the interest of actually doing other things, like I used to (knitting, reading, practicing guitar, drawing, and researching properly,) I've decided to put a computer time limit on myself. I am giving myself 2 hours a day during the week, which may seem very excessive to most people but most of my school papers and homework requires the internet. It is amazing the number of things you have to do on the computer now, e-mails, banking, shopping, writing, etc.. I am actually very nervous about having these time limits--it seems way too short, but I am sure I will enjoy actually having my life back even better. Today was a snow day from college, and I got to see just how little I did today.   

For those who have been thinking that they'd like some limits for themselves, Here is how to do it:

Go to Control Panel.

Select User Accounts and Family Safety.  

Select Parental Controls. If you only have one user account on the computer, you will need to make a separate one for the time limit as you can't put parental controls if you only have one user account.

Select the Account you want the time limit on. In my picture it is labeled "2 Hour Time Limit."

Make sure the Parental Control button is switched to "on." and Click on Time Limits

Drag the Time Limit Sliders where you want them. I want two hours after school each day and all day on the weekends. I have them backwards for this photo, the white is for allow and the blue is for restricted.

If you have a Mac, here are the instructions: Parental Controls. I like the Mac settings better, I would rather be able to spread my two hours over the day by minutes.

Other ways to limit computer time:

• Minutes Please: This is a website that will limit the amount of time you spend on the websites you spend the most time wasting time. It is free and easy to use. This is probably perfect for people who need to be using the computer for work but don't want to be checking Facebook every three seconds. 
• 6 Firefox Tools That Monitor your Time Online: If you want to be alarmed at where you really are wasting time, check out these Firefox Tools.  
• Leech Block: A Firefox add-on designed to make your use of the internet more productive.