Source: English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809), Line 75.
“God gave His children memory
That in life's garden there might be
June roses in December.”
Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (1883–1929) British saint
Source: from Roses in December, in Songs of Faith and Doubt (1922) https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/roses-december
Jacopo Sannazaro (1458–1530) Italian writer
Ne l'onde solca, e ne l'arena semina,
E'l vago vento spera in rete accogliere
Chi sue speranze fonda in cor di femina.
Ecloga Octava; "Plough the sands" found in Juvenal, Satires, VII. Jeremy Taylor, Discourse on Liberty of Prophesying (1647), Introduction.
Francesco Berni (1497–1535) Italian poet
Sia maladetto chi si fidò mai,
O vuol fidarsi di donna che sia;
Che false sono e maladette tutte;
E più anche le belle che le brutte.
XXII, 49
Rifacimento of Orlando Innamorato
Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton (1831–1891) English statesman and poet
Part ii, canto ii.
Lucile (1860)
Kate Bush (1958) British recording artist; singer, songwriter, musician and record producer
Song lyrics, Singles and rarities
Mark Twain book Pudd'nhead Wilson
Variant: December is the toughest month of the year. Others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, October, August, and February.
Source: Pudd'nhead Wilson
Shirley Jackson book The Lottery
The Lottery (1948)
Kurt Vonnegut Happy Birthday, Wanda June
"Wanda June"
Happy Birthday, Wanda June (1970)
Context: Hello, I am Wanda June. Today was going to be my birthday, but I was hit by an ice-cream truck before I could have my party. I am dead now. I am in Heaven. That is why my parents did not pick up my cake at the bakery. I am not mad at the ice-cream truck driver, even though he was drunk when he hit me. It didn't hurt much. It wasn't even as bad as the sting of a bumblebee. I am really happy here! It's so much fun. I'm glad the driver was drunk. If he hadn't been, I might not have gone to Heaven for years and years and years. I would have had to go to high school first, and then beauty college. I would have had to get married and have babies and everything. Now I can just play and play and play. Any time I want any pink cotton candy I can have some. Everybody up here is happy — the animals and the dead soldiers and people who went to the electric chair and everything. They're all glad for whatever sent them here. Nobody is mad. We're all too busy playing shuffleboard. So if you think of killing somebody, don't worry about it. Just go ahead and do it. Whoever you do it to should kiss you for doing it. The soldiers up here just love the shrapnel and the tanks and the bayonets and the dum dums that let them play shuffleboard all the time — and drink beer.
“The truth every man and woman seeks is in themselves.”
Barry Long (1926–2003) Australian spiritual teacher and writer
The Way In (2000)
