Page Five of Song

Page Four of Song

Page Three of Song

Page Two of Song

The song Säg min vallmoblomma is reproduced with the permission of Föreningen Brage, Helsinki. The work was arranged by Otto Anderson, the founder of Föreningen Brage and a professor of music and ethnology. A book about the work of Otto Anderson is on the internet, with a summary to the back of the work in English.

Säg min vallmoblomma ////Tell me, dear Wallflower
medan skyming ////While the shadows
faller over vägen.//// Fall upon the roadway.

Hör mig, liljefagra,//// Hear me, pretty flower
medan vinden tystnar//// while the wind sighs
i bland träden://// up among the treetops.
Vill du bliva? Säg mig kära/// Is life lovely, tell me dear one
min egen? ////My own one?

Faller svala daggen,//// Swallow falls in dewdrops,

svala daggen. ////Swallows dewdrops.
//////////////////////////////////////////

Säg ej till mig "Kära!"//// Don't say to me, "Dear one"
Sa min namner//// As my father
fader och min moder. ////And my mother called me.
Säg ej till mig "Kära!" ////Don't say to me, "Dear one"

Sa min namner//// As my sister

syster och min broder. ////and my brother called me.

Säg ej "Kära!" ////Don't say, "Dear one"

sa han säger,//// So he called me,

min egen. ////My own one,

Faller svala daggen, ////Swallow falls in dewdrops,

svala daggen. ////Swallows dewdrops.

////////////////////////////////////

Säg mig, du, som aldrig//// Tell me, you, who never

ur mitt hjärta ////From my heart

viker uppa jorden://// Gave up the ghost of life here.
Varför blev det ////Why does it become
plotsligt ///So dark and lonely
nu sa morkt och ödsligt ////in the woods
uti skogen?//// so quickly?

Var är vagen,//// Where the road leads,
Led mig kära! ////Lead me, dear one,
Säg vägen! ////The right way!

Faller heta tåren.. ////Falls the name in teardrops.
Heta tåren.//// Name in teardrops

Heta tåren. . ////Name in teardrops.

75th Anniversary of the Tacoma Art Museum

The Tacoma Arts Museum was stacking mini-cupcakes on tiered cake servers in the foyer and I felt it would be polite to redirect my attention. This was a free party, as I write my blog entry it is still going on. At one side near the store was a table with cards, one could answer the question on the card, so I chose a gray one that read: What makes Tacoma Art Museum Mighty?

faucett faucett
hitching posts
mounting blocks
fire stations

My card was about my earlier visits to the Art Museum at the old Weyerhauser building near the Fireman's Park, near the faucett contributed by Fawcett. The testimony to the horse-drawn vehicles along the streets, in places, reached out.

Several folks from poetry readings were in attendance. I had not planned to stay a long time. One point - the dog sculpture, Leroy, was on an upper floor, one could glimpse his face from the topmost balcony, nice to have Leroy in such a central part of the party.

October Books at Twelve-Ten: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Five met to discuss The Thirteenth Tale Tuesday, by Diane Setterfield, October 12, 2010 at Tacoma's Main Library. We started with introductions, then started off with a discussion of our experience of reading the book.

One steadily attending member came slightly tardy. She read the book but found the descriptions of degradation to be very disturbing. Others agreed, there were descriptions of sadistic behavior and self-mutilation, illness and suicide, of a dwelling place left to decline and to moulder.

I had made notes of starting to look at the book on September 19th. In a

chapter called "Rain and Cake" that caught my attention was this passage: "Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes, - characters, even - caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book they are still with you." It was true, I decided to wait. Later I noticed there was no table of contents for the chapters with titles. Sometimes I outline a little, so I outlined. I read the book on the weekend and on Monday.

Another topic in our group was reading aloud. There is, one person pointed out, a book on tape of The Thirteenth Tale. Before I went into the discussion at the library, I had listened to an interview on You Tube with Diane Setterfield. She had discussed a youthful belief that, because books were wonderful, writers had to be special people. It had taken her some time to get over that and follow her wish to write. She considers herself to be a quite ordinary person.

One person noticed a theme of discoveries and new beginings, a great interpretation. A theme of truth also emerged in our discussion. Another topic we discussed were moments remembered from the narrative after the book ended; no one had guessed what truths would be revealed as the book told the story of the real biography of Vida Winter, author of the most frequently borrowed books from England's public libraries. The ending had been a surprise to everyone.