Day Marks

"Of our greatest acts we are ignorant – " (Emily Dickinson Letter 330, June 1869)

Feeling a little dispirited one day, I took a hike in the Rocky Mountains of southern Alberta . I was not very hopeful about my progress towards perfection, and my weaknesses lay heavy in my heart. It was late spring in the valley. The flowers were out, the trees full of leaves, and warm breezes were blowing. The higher I climbed, the less green I saw. Snow lay in patches on the trail. After a few hours of climbing, I saw very few signs of spring. All around it was still cold, still winter. I sat down on a rock to rest and began to ponder and pray. I noticed a little bush in front of me; it had tiny green buds on it—just the promise of spring. As I stared at it, the little plant seemed to whisper these words, “In the highest mountains, spring comes late.” I wondered what these words meant until I had studied the green buds long enough to realize that our lives can be much like that little bush. We’ll never be content with the valley and the spring that comes early at the foot of th...

. . . Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass. And the eyes of those two Indian ponies Darken with kindness . . . Suddenly I realize That if I stepped out of my body I would break Into blossom. (James Wright)

. . . I look down now. It is all changed. Whatever it was I lost, whatever I wept for Was a wild, gentle thing, the small dark eyes Loving me in secret. It is here. At a touch of my hand, The air fills with delicate creatures From the other world. (James Wright)

In a pine tree, A few yards away from my window sill, A brilliant blue jay is springing up and down, up and down, On a branch. I laugh, as I see him abandon himself To entire delight, for he knows as well as I do That the branch will not break. (James Wright)

" . . . We are not exhausted. We are not angry, or lonely, Or sick at heart. We are in love lightly, lightly. We know we are shining, Though we cannot see one another . . . We breathe light." (James Wright)

President Gordon B. Hinckley’s Wishes for Students: Intellectual Discipline Social Ease Unassailable Spiritual Strength

The main elements of a stylistic analysis: 1. Divide the passage into sub-texts or sub-scenes by character entrances and exits. 2. Read the sub-scene passage aloud. 3. Underline, highlight, or parse the main clauses. 4. Discuss significant rhetorical figures in the passage. 5. Analyze phonetic, orthographic, morphological, syntactic, semantic, and lexical features of the text. 6. Identify cultural, sociolinguistic, historical, dialectal, and pragmatic contexts for the texts. 7. Evaluate the tone, message, and effect of the passage as a whole.

All landscapes lie under a veiling sky. Each one embraces ten views, each view a hundred sights, each sight a thousand shapes, each separate shape a million discriminations made from inward darkness by instrument, and every single one some apprehension of infinitude. (Arthur H. King)

Our schools ought to recognize and promote the highest and the best in art, to espouse a standard which – as represented by great writers like Shakespeare, Homer, and Dante – mediates between the extremes of the naively optimistic and the faithlessly pessimistic visions of life. (Whitsitt)

The most powerful human incentive, in families or organizations, is the opportunity to grow in an atmosphere that is free of accusing attitudes and evasion. (C. Terry Warner)

There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. (Samuel Johnson)

Once, there were no specialized branches of inquiry, no separate mathematics, physics, psychology, etc. Everyone who desired knowledge thought carefully about all of experience, including its theological dimensions. This knowledge of experience was wisdom, and the search for wisdom was called philosophy. (C. Terry Warner)

Seeing sights feeds the mind ideas. (Earl Wilson)

This life is but an interlude between two eternities. (Thorpe B. Isaacsen)

Goin’ Home, Goin’ Home, I'm a Goin’ Home; Quiet-like, some still day, I'm jes' Goin’ Home. It's not far, jes' close by, Through an open door; Work all done, care laid by, Gwine to fear no more. Mother's there 'spectin' me, Father's waitin' too; Lots o' folk gather'd there, All the friends I knew, All the friends I knew. Home, I'm Goin’ Home! Nothin lost, all's gain, No more fret nor pain, No more stumblin' on the way, No more longin' for the day, Gwine (or Going) to roam no more! Mornin' star lights the way, Res'less dream all done; Shadows gone, break o' day, Real life jes' begun. Dere's no break, ain't no end, Jes' a livin' on; Wide awake, with a smile Goin' on and on. Goin’ Home, Goin’ Home, I'm jes' Goin’ Home. It's not far, jes' close by Through an open door. I'm a Goin’ Home. I'm jes' Goin’ Home. [copyright 1922 by Oliver Ditson Company]