Blog Ritemail

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life

Doctor Who Fairytale Life #1 is part one of a four part series.

From EXCLUSIVE: 'Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life' Preview - Matt Sturges Brings The Doctor To Fable Town! by Rick Marshall:

Over the last few years, "Doctor Who" fans have seen their favorite Time Lord tackle alien menaces from one end of history to the other, but in a new miniseries kicking off next week, The Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond take a page from your favorite fables.

Appropriately enough, "Doctor Who: A Fairytale Life" is written by Eisner-nominated "Jack of Fables" scribe Matt Sturges, with interior art from "Doctor Who: The Forgotten" illustrator Kelly Yates. The four-issue series sends The Eleventh Doctor and companion Amy Pond on an adventure that unfolds in a medieval fantasy world populated with knigts, castles, and yes, even a dragon.

I chatted up the "Fairytale Life" writer to get some details about The Doctor's latest adventure and pick his brain about the upcoming "Doctor Who" season premiere. You can also get an exclusive preview of the issue — which hits shelves April 20 — courtesy of IDW Publishing.

I'm not sure if there are actual fairy tale references or just a fairy tale, i.e. medieval, setting. But it is interesting all the same...

Anacreontic by Henry Howard Brownell

Sleeping Beauty, 1881

by Richard Eisermann

Anacreontic
by Henry Howard Brownell
(1820–72)

Eros, graceless Wanton! thou
Wast mine earliest playfellow.
Well I knew thee, roguish Elf!
When an infant like thyself.
And thou still must needs abide
Clinging wilful to my side.

Every other frolic mate
Long has grown to man’s estate—
Other childish sports have past,
Other toys aside are cast—
One alone could yet remain;
’Tis the vainest of the vain!

Still this fond and foolish heart
Must enact a childish part,
And in Beauty’s Presence still
Feel its wonted boyish thrill.
Chide thee—shun thee as I may,
Thou hast ever had thy way;
Many a subtle snare hast laid—
Many a wanton trick hast played.
E’en at Learning’s council sage,
Thou hast perched upon the page,
(Latin could not mar thy glee,
Greek was never Greek to thee,)
And when Wisdom should prevail,
Told me many a roguish tale,
Many a scene of vanished Love—
Dicte’s cave and Ida’s grove,
And the mountain fringed with fir,
And the paths beloved of Her,
Who the sleeping hunter eyed
Couched on Latmos’ shaggy side.
Of each old enchanted spot—
Tyrian mead—Egerian grot—
Each dim haunt, remembered yet,
Where mortal with Immortal met—
Darksome glen and sunny glade—
And all the pranks that Sylvan played.

One kind turn I owe thee—one
Kindly office thou hast done.
Ne’er shall I forget the hour,
When thy soft-persuading power
Led my footsteps, roving wide,
To the Sleeping Beauty’s side.
Wearied, like a child from play,
Lightly slumbering, there she lay.
Half a crime though it might seem
To disturb so sweet a dream—
Yet, with tender, reverent soul,
Softly to her side I stole,
And the only means did take
Such a slumber e’er should wake.

Like a half-awakened child,
Gently then she moved and smiled:
With a soft and wondering glance—
Such as Gyneth wore, perchance,
When she oped her lovely eyes
From the sleep of centuries.

from War-Lyrics and Other Poems (1866)

Friday, April 15, 2011

To a Child With a Copy of the Author's "Hansel and Gretel" by Norreys Jephson O'Conor

Hansel and Gretel by Kay Nielsen

To a Child
With a Copy of the Author's "Hansel and Gretel"
by Norreys Jephson O'Conor

Here, Nancy, let me take your hand,
And lead you back to Fairyland,
In this famed tale of long ago,
Told often in the sunset glow
By mothers, lest their children roam
In the dark forest, far from home.
This lesson learn: that mothers know
Where lurks, perchance, a hidden foe;
And though you may not understand
The reason in each kind command,
It is to keep you from the fear
That terrified the children here.
Learn, too, how God's own angels keep
Your ways by day, your dreams, asleep.

from Beside the Blackwater (1915) by Norreys Jephson O'Conor

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Sad Underwear and Other Complications: More Poems fo Children and Their Parents by Judith Viorst

Sad Underwear and Other Complications: More Poems fo Children and Their Parents by Judith Viorst is today's poetry feature as a follow-up to yesterday's first Judith Viorst post.

Today I am offering an image of Viorst's poem, "...And Beauty and the Beast, Once the Spell Had Been Broken, Lived Happily (Sort of Happily) Ever After." It's Viorst's take on Beauty and the Beast. Again, there are a few more fairy tale poems in this collection but this is one of my favorites. If you want to see the other poems, most are visible in the online Amazon preview through the Look Inside the Book feature. Again, this poem is copyrighted and offered as a preview of the book which is inexpensive and slim and totally deserves a place on your shelf whether you are a kid or a grown-up along with its companion book, If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries: Poems for Children and their Parents.