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stranger
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OP
stranger
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Anybody know where the phrase "gossamer thread" was used--what book, poem or song?
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
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addict
Joined: May 2000
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Dear lotosun,
Welcome to AWAD. Hope you have fun here!
There is a poem by Walt Whitman called A Noiseless Patient Spider which goes:
A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
Is this what you were looking for?
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Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Here's part of a discussion of "gossamer" taken from word-detective.com :
Onward. I'd never heard the "gaze à Marie" story, but even if Mr. Kacirk is correct and people
have believed it for centuries, it still isn't the origin of "gossamer." The dictionaries are right:
"gossamer," meaning "a fine, filmy substance," comes directly from "goose summer," an
unusually warm period, similar to our "Indian summer," often occurring in mid-November. This
is the same time of year when spiders are wont to spread their delicate webs across lawns and
bushes and when St. Martin's day is traditionally celebrated with a goose dinner.
"Goose summer" ("gossomer" in Middle English) was originally used as a name for these warm
days in England, but beginning in the 14th century "gossamer" came to be applied to filmy spider
webs and similar material, such as fine gauze. The rationale for the transference of meaning is
unclear. Most probably it was simply that the webs were most often seen during "goose
summer," but an association between the fuzzy down plucked from the doomed geese and the
delicate webs drifting through the autumn air may also have played a part.
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Posts: 320
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320 |
From one of Cole Porter's most eloquent lyrics:
.....A trip to the moon on gossamer wings
.....Just one of those things
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Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
From Under Milk Wood Dylan Thomas
FIRST VOICE
Sinbad Sailors, over the taproom of the Sailor's Arms, hugs his damp pillow whose secret name is Gossamer Beynon.
and welcome, lotosun, - may your rays of wit and wisdom shine upon us all!
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Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
And a far less literary reference, Gossamer also happened to be the name of the big orange monster in Warner Brothers cartoons. http://home.wi.rr.com/tatay/cartoons/gossy1.html
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Posts: 475
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There were three cats from Poestenkill [Post]
who climbed up to the moon
on a ladder made from gossamer thread,
hung by a spider who stood on her head,
while listening hard (as best she could)
to the cry of a lonely loon.
The cats they took a pot of tea
and a bag of cinnamon scones,
along with a jar of marmelade,
a tablecloth made of fine brocade,
three forks, one knife, two sugar cubes,
and a pair of dried up bones.
When they arrived, they all set out
to see what they could see.
Leaping, pouncing, twisting, twirling,
suddenly still, then suddenly whirling,
having a party is oodles of fun
if there isn't much gravity.
Proceeding this way, it didn't take long
to enter a cratery gloom.
Where a great many objects of varying size
appeared before their dazzled eyes.
They couldn't believe it and started to laugh
on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON.
They could see
A thousan' toy boats torn loose from their docks,
a million stray sheep too far from their flocks,
a billion sad keys all missing their locks,
a trillion or so mismatched dirty socks.
Tattered teddy bears that once were so loved
'till into a corner they were carelessly shoved.
Buttons and ribbons and earrings galore
that had fallen through the cracks in many a floor.
Pencils and paper clips in countless array,
tons of rusty fishing hooks from the Bay of Biscay.
Plenty of homework that never went to school
'cause it fell off the table, skittered under a stool.
They had all disappeared without any trace,
or so it was thought, Your Honor, Your Grace,
but now the cats had found the place
where the many lost things of the human race
must make their way through outer space
to THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON.
Those daring three cats from Poestenkill
danced on through the long lunar night.
They drank their tea and nibbled their scones
while rhythmic'ly banging the dried up bones.
One played with the bears, one chased the sheep
and the third lept away from a meteorite.
Till by and by, they felt themselves
begin to stretch and yawn.
It was time to go home, as good cats do,
before the crack of dawn.
They scampered back down to dear old Earth
on the ladder made of gossamer thread,
that was hung by a spider who stood on her head...
They were more than ready to go to bed.
So they softly crept, with nary a sound,
to the darkness of their room,
lapped their milk from a golden spoon,
far from the cry of the lonely loon,
purring with plans for returning quite soon ...
to THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOON!
© 1999 Hallmark Music Co.
by dennis livingstone
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
three cats from PoestenkillThis is great, dody  Who's Dennis Livingstone?
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addict
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addict
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he is a jazz and cabaret musician, the lesser known son of jerry livingston, here, check out his homepage http://www.dennislivingston.com/he's not terribly cool but the lyrics are fabulous
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 9 |
I thought "gossamer wings" went back to Shakespeare, but couldn't find it. Shakespeare uses the word gossamer twice, both times as a noun.
Anyone remember the Gossamer Albatross?
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