Margaret’s Song

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  There was a king in Thule,  True even to the grave;  To whom his dying mistress  A golden beaker gave.  At every feast he drained it,  Naught was to him so dear,  And often as he drained it,  Gush’d from his eyes the tear.  When death came, unrepining  His cities o’er he told;  All to his heir resigning,  Except his cup of gold.  With many a knightly vassal  At a royal feast sat he,  In yon proud hall ancestral,  In his castle o’er the sea.  Up stood the jovial monarch,  And quaff’d his last life’s glow,  Then hurled the hallow’d goblet  Into the flood below.  He saw it splashing, drinking,  And plunging in the sea;  His eyes meanwhile were sinking,  And never again drank he. “Margaret’s Song” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) in “Faust. Part I.”

Family Movie-night Recommendation

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I was a small when I first learned about Kon-Tiki and read the book of the experiment/adventure a couple of times. This movie came out two years ago, limited release in America. When I saw it on Netflix Instant View, it was instantly added to my queue. This film hits the high points of the experiment/adventure with one graphic scene (I don't remember in the book, most likely added for the film) involving angry fishermen and one shark.

Beautifully photographed, not burdensome in story but (as always) the book is always better.

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