Here are the quotations for this week (January 19th to 25th):

1.  'Well, there we lay - engines stopped, rollin' to the swell, all dark,

yards cock-billed, an' that merry tune yowlin' from the upper bridge. We

fell in on the foc'sle, leavin' a large open space by the capstan, where our

sail-maker was sittin' sewin' broken firebars into the foot of an old

'ammick.'

 

2.  The sea … drummed tackily to gather my attention, coughed, spat,

cleared its throat, and, on the eve of that portentous communication,

retired up stage as a multitude whispering. Anon, I caught the tramp of

armies afoot, the hum of crowded cities awaiting the event, the single

sob of a woman, and a dry roaring of wild beasts...

3.  Very far to the west an elongated blur of red, low down, shows us

the North Banks Mark Boat. There are specks of fire round her rising

and falling - bewildered planets about an unstable sun - helpless

shipping hanging on to her light for company's sake. No wonder she

could not quit station... 

The sources of this week's extracts (Jan 12th to 18th) are as follows:

1.  ( '...Hark ye, Ben. Here is the sun going up to over-run and possess all

Heaven for evermore. Therefore (Still, man!) we'll harness the horses of

the dawn...)  This is from "Proofs of Holy Writ", Kipling's last story.

2.  (...Evidently he was snared by the rhymes of his first verse, for he

wrote and rewrote 'gold - cold - mould' many times. Again he sought

inspiration from the advertisement...) This is from  "Wireless", in A Diversity of

Creatures.

3.  (Can't you imagine the sunlight just squeezing through between the

handle and the hole and wobbling about as the ship moves?'
 'I can, but I can't imagine your imagining it'...' )  This is from "The Finest

Story in the World" in Many Inventions

Between 1892 and 1896, when the Kipling's were living in Vermont, one

of their closest friends was Mary Cabot. a local historian from an old

New England family.  She wrote a vivid memoir of the those years.

which is a prime source for students of Kipling's life. We have just

published it on the web-site, by permission of the Landmark Trust.

Good wishes to all

John R