Today is the second day of my ‘three day three quotes’ challenge, which I’m taking on thanks to Deeksha and Erin. As a reminder, here’s how the challenge is supposed to work:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Share one new quote on three consecutive days on your blog. They can be from anywhere, anyone or anything.
3. On each of the three days, nominate three more bloggers to carry on with the fun! No pressure – nominees are free to decline.
Now, because I’m not great at sticking to a plan, I’m going to throw in an extra quote today because I couldn’t choose between these two and I’ve got a different one lined up for tomorrow! The first is from a poem I’ve always loved:
O talk not to me of a name great in story
The days of our youth are the days of our glory
“All for Love” – Lord Byron
These are the opening lines of a poem which I think is basically saying that he doesn’t care about living to a ripe old age and being well thought of for his great achievements, nothing will ever compare to the feeling of being young and in love. I first read it when I was in my early twenties and totally agreed with him! Not sure if I still do – after all, Byron never experienced the deep satisfaction of pairing his children’s socks! But it’s still a cracking poem.
In the same spirit, my second quote is this:
Of this I am certain you could not be visited by a band of friends half so fine as surround me here
These were the closing words of the last letter which the First World War poet Wilfred Owen wrote to his mother, describing a cheerful company of soldiers smoking, relaxing and preparing their evening meal in what he describes as the “smoky cellar of the Forester’s house” where they were billeted before advancing on enemy lines. He was killed four days later, aged 25, having already written some of the most amazing poetry of the 20th century.
And now, it’s time to nominate three more bloggers to take up the challenge:
ConfessionsofaLitAddict
Lit.Gaz
Sarah and/or Lucy of Hard Book Habit
These three nominees are some pretty serious readers, so if they decide to take up the challenge I’m very excited to see what quotes they’ll share!
kirstwrites 
Was that the beginning of Don Juan?
You were an English major, weren’t you? Totally getting an English major vibe (I was an English major)
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I don’t *think* so (may have done English at university but breezed through reading the bare minimum, so never got near Don Juan!) – it’s a poem called “All for Love” which is in an ancient anthology called Palgrave’s Golden Treasury – the full text is here: http://www.bartleby.com/106/169.html
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Oh, it’s lovely! You would’ve been a perfect English major, with famous quotes floating through your head while sock-pairing. Maybe one of your doppelgängers majored in English in a parallel universe.
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I’m honoured to be nominated, and thinking about this… it’s hard, not because of having no quotations to offer, but because I’m not sure who I could pass the challenge on to…
But, I wanted to say how moved I was by the Owen quotation you shared today. A couple of years ago I visited that forester’s house near St Quentin. It has been turned into an artwork and a tribute to Owen, and there is an installation of readings of his poetry. And you can go and sit in the very cellar where he wrote those lines. The French have finally realised the association between the area and a famous (if non-French) poet and have done him justice. http://en.tourisme-cambresis.fr/page-22780.html
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I won’t mind if you don’t do the whole ‘3 people every day’ thing but I’d love to hear your favourite quotes regardless. And how amazing to be able to visit the cellar where Owen wrote that letter, I hope to be able to go there one day. I read John Stallworthy’s biography many years ago and always found the account of his death really moving. His battalion were attempting to build a bridge across a canal while the Germans fired at them from the other side. Just horrific.
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