He carried a spear in Hamlet
Melanie Sands
to think of Christopher Lee, and check him out on Wikipedia - what an
amazing person, recently turned 89 and still going strong - and so
many-sided -
and in the Guiness Book of Records for having made 266 films since
1948....
QUOTE:
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ (born 27 May 1922)[1]
is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and
became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer
Horror films. Other notable roles include Lord Summerisle in The
Wicker Man (1973), Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun
(1974), Count Dooku in Star Wars episodes II and III (2002, 2005) and
Saruman in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003). Lee
considers his most important role to have been his portrayal of
Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the biopic Jinnah (1998).[2]
He is well known for his deep, strong voice.
Lee has performed roles in 266 films since 1948 making him the
Guinness book world record holder for most film acting roles ever. He
was knighted in 2009 and received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2011.
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Involvement in World War II
3 Early career
4 1970s to 1999
5 2000 to present
6 Voice work
7 Honours
8 Personal life
9 Books authored
10 Filmography
11 Albums
12 References
13 External links
[edit] Early lifeLee was born in Belgravia, Westminster, as the son of
Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Trollope Lee of the 60th King's Royal
Rifle Corps and his italian wife Contessa Estelle Marie (née Carandini
di Sarzano).[3][4] Lee's mother was a famous Edwardian beauty who was
painted by Sir John Lavery as well as by Oswald Birley and Olive
Snell, and sculpted by Clare F. Sheridan. Lee's maternal great-
grandfather was an Italian political refugee, and his great-
grandmother was Australian singer Marie Carandini.
His parents separated when he was very young, and his mother took him
and his sister to Switzerland. After enrolling in Miss Fisher's
Academy in Wengen, he played his first villainous role as
Rumpelstiltskin. The family returned to London, where Lee attended
Wagner's private school. His mother then married Harcourt "Ingle"
Rose, a banker and stepcousin of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond
novels. Lee applied unsuccessfully for a scholarship to Eton although
the interview was to prove portentous because of the presence of the
noted ghost story author M. R. James. Lee later claimed in his
autobiography that James had cut a very impressive figure; sixty years
later Lee played the part of M.R. James for the BBC.[5]
James was at that time nick-named 'Black Mouse', derived in part from
his faintly sinister black cape and mortar board, and part from his
habit of mewing unexpectedly at recalcitrant pupils. I cannot in all
honesty say that at the time I was wholly displeased in failing to
secure a scholarship; in many ways it was a relief. But I do know
this: few men have created such a profound impression upon me, and I
partially attribute my lifelong interest in the occult to my
subsequent discovery of the horror stories penned by that most
intriguing and intimidating of men.
Instead, Lee attended Wellington College, where he won scholarships in
classics.
[edit] Involvement in World War IILee volunteered to fight for the
Finnish forces during the Winter War against the Soviet Union in 1939;
however, he along with other British volunteers were kept away from
actual fighting, although he was issued winter gear and was posted on
guard duty a safe distance from the frontlines. He went on to serve in
the Royal Air Force and intelligence services during World War II,
including serving as an Intelligence officer with the Long Range
Desert Group. He trained in South Africa as a pilot, but eyesight
problems forced him to drop out. He eventually ended up in North
Africa as Cipher Officer for No. 260 Squadron RAF and was with it
through Sicily and Italy. Additionally, he has mentioned (including in
his audio commentary on the Lord of the Rings DVD) serving in Special
Operations Executive. Lee retired from the RAF after the end of the
War with the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
[edit] Early careerIn 1946, Lee gained a seven-year contract with the
Rank Organisation after discussing his interest in acting with his
mother's second cousin Nicolò Carandini, the Italian Ambassador.
Carandini related to Lee that performance was in his blood, as his
great-grandmother Marie Carandini had been a successful opera singer,
a fact of which Lee was unaware. He made his film debut in Terence
Young's Gothic romance Corridor of Mirrors in 1947.
Also in 1947, Lee made an uncredited appearance in Laurence Olivier's
film version of Hamlet as a spear carrier (marking his first film with
frequent co-star and close friend Peter Cushing, who played Osric).
Throughout the next decade, he made nearly 30 films, playing mostly
stock action characters.
Lee's first film for Hammer was The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), in
which he played Frankenstein's monster, with Cushing as the Baron. A
little later, Lee co-starred with Boris Karloff in the film Corridors
of Blood (1958), but Lee's own appearance as Frankenstein's monster
also led to his first appearance as the Transylvanian vampire in the
1958 film Dracula (known as Horror of Dracula in the US).
Stories vary as to why Lee did not feature in the 1960 sequel The
Brides of Dracula. Some[who?] state that Hammer was unwilling to pay
Lee his current fee, but most[who?] tend to believe that he simply did
not wish to be typecast. Lee did, however, return to the role in
Hammer's Dracula: Prince of Darkness in 1965. Lee's performance is
notable in that he has no lines, merely hissing his way through the
film. Again, stories vary as to the reason for this: Lee states he
refused to speak the poor dialogue he was given, but screenwriter
Jimmy Sangster claims that the script did not contain any lines for
the character. This film set the standard for most of the Dracula
sequels in the sense that half the film's running time was spent on
telling the story of Dracula's resurrection and the character's
appearances were brief. Lee has gone on record to state that he was
virtually "blackmailed" by Hammer into starring in the subsequent
films; unable or unwilling to pay him his going rate, they would
resort to reminding him of how many people he would put out of work if
he did not take part.
His roles in the films Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), Taste
the Blood of Dracula (1969), and Scars of Dracula (1970) all gave the
Count very little to do, but were all commercially successful.
Although Lee may not have liked what Hammer was doing with the
character, worldwide audiences embraced the films, which are now
considered classics of the genre. Lee starred in two further Dracula
films for Hammer in the early 1970s, both of which attempted to bring
the character into the modern-day era. These were not commercially
successful.
Lee's other work for Hammer included The Mummy (1959). Lee also
portrayed Rasputin in Rasputin, the Mad Monk (Lee apparently met
Rasputin's assassin Felix Yussupov when he was a child) and Sir Henry
Baskerville (to Cushing's Sherlock Holmes) in The Hound of the
Baskervilles (1959). Lee later played Holmes himself in 1962's
Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace, and returned to Holmes films
with Billy Wilder's British-made The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
(1970), in which he plays Sherlock's decidedly smarter brother,
Mycroft. Lee also played a leading role in the German film The Puzzle
of the Red Orchid (1962), speaking German, which he had learned during
his education in Switzerland.
He was responsible for bringing acclaimed occult author Dennis
Wheatley to Hammer. The company made two films from Wheatley's novels,
both starring Lee. The first, The Devil Rides Out (1967), is generally
considered to be one of Hammer's crowning achievements. According to
Lee, Wheatley was so pleased with it that he offered the actor the
film rights to his remaining black magic novels free of charge.
However, the second film, To the Devil a Daughter (1976), was fraught
with production difficulties and was disowned by its author. Although
financially successful, it was Hammer's last horror film and marked
the end of Lee's long association with the studio that brought him
fame.
Like Cushing, Lee also appeared in horror films for other companies
during the 20-year period from 1957 to 1977. Other films in which Lee
performed include the series of Fu Manchu films made between 1965 and
1969, in which he starred as the villain in heavy oriental make-up; I,
Monster (1971), in which he played Jekyll and Hyde; The Creeping Flesh
(1972); and his personal favourite, The Wicker Man (1973), in which he
played Lord Summerisle. Lee was attracted to the latter role by
screenwriter Anthony Shaffer and apparently gave his services for
free, as the budget was so small. Lee also appeared in Eugenie (1970),
unaware that it was softcore pornography, as the sex scenes were shot
separately. In addition to doing movies in England, Lee did movies in
Mainland Europe: he appeared in two German films, Count Dracula, where
he again played the vampire count, and The Torture Chamber of Dr.
Sadism. Other films in Europe he made include Castle of the Living
Dead and Horror Express.
[edit] 1970s to 1999Since the mid 1970s, Lee has eschewed horror roles
almost entirely. Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy novels and
his stepcousin, had offered him the role of the titular antagonist in
the first official Bond film Dr. No. Lee enthusiastically accepted,
but the producers had already chosen Joseph Wiseman for the part. In
1974, Lee finally got to play a James Bond villain when he was cast as
the deadly assassin Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden
Gun.
Because of his filming schedule in Bangkok, film director Ken Russell
was unable to sign Lee to play The Specialist in Tommy (1975). That
role was eventually given to Jack Nicholson. In an AMC documentary on
Halloween, John Carpenter states that he offered the role of Samuel
Loomis to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee before Donald Pleasence
took the role. Years later, Lee met Carpenter and told him that the
biggest regret of his career was not taking the role of Dr. Loomis.
In 1978, Lee surprised many people with his willingness to go along
with a joke by appearing as guest host on NBC's Saturday Night Live.
In 1978. he played Grand Duke Dmitri in the TV-series How the West Was
Won.
In 1979, he played German officer Capt. Wolfgang Von Kleinschmidt in
the film 1941 directed by Steven Spielberg.
In 1982, Lee appeared in The Return of Captain Invincible. In this
film, Lee plays a fascist who plans to rid America (and afterwards,
the world) of all non-whites. Lee also sings on two tracks in the film
("Name Your Poison" and "Mister Midnight"), written by Richard O'Brien
(who had written The Rocky Horror Picture Show seven years previously)
and Richard Hartley.
Lee made his latest appearances to date as Sherlock Holmes in 1991's
Incident at Victoria Falls and 1992's Sherlock Holmes and the Leading
Lady.
In 1994, Lee played the character of the Russian commandant in Police
Academy: Mission to Moscow.
In 1998, Lee starred in the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of
modern Pakistan, in the film Jinnah. While talking about his favourite
role in film at a press conference at Brussels Fantasy film festival,
he declared that his role in Jinnah was by far his best performance.
[6]
Lee was at one point considered for the role of comic book villain/
hero Magneto in the screen adaptation of the popular comic book series
X-Men but he lost the role to Ian McKellen.
[edit] 2000 to presentHe has had many television roles, including that
of Flay in the BBC television miniseries, based on Mervyn Peake's
novels, Gormenghast (2000), and Stefan Wyszyński in the CBS film John
Paul the Second (2005). He played Lucas de Beaumanoir, the Grand
Master of the Templar Order, in the BBC/A&E co-production of Sir
Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1997). He also played a role in the made-for-
TV series La Révolution française (1989) in part 2, "Les Annees
Terribles", as the executioner, Sanson, who beheaded Louis XVI, Marie
Antoinette, Robespierre and others.
Lee at Forbidden Planet New Oxford Street, signing The Two TowersLee
played Saruman in the The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. In the
commentary he states he had a decades-long dream to play Gandalf but
that he was now too old and his physical limitations prevented his
being considered. The role of Saruman, by contrast, required no
horseback riding and much less fighting. Gandalf was given to Ian
McKellen and Lee played Saruman. Lee had met Tolkien once (making him
the only person in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy to have done so)
and makes a habit of reading the novels at least once a year.[7] In
addition, he performed for the album The Lord of the Rings: Songs and
Poems by J. R. R. Tolkien in 2003.[8] Lee's appearance in the third
film was cut from the theatrical release, resulting in a frosty
friendship with Peter Jackson. However, the scene was reinstated in
the extended edition.[citation needed]
The Lord of the Rings marked the beginning of a major career revival
that continued in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), in which he
played Count Dooku, a name allegedly chosen to reflect his fame
playing Count Dracula. His autobiography states that he did much of
the swordplay himself, though a double was required for the more
vigorous footwork. His good friend and frequent co-star, Peter
Cushing, portrayed the equally icy Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars
Episode IV: A New Hope.
Lee filming The Heavy in Westminster in 2007According to the Oracle of
Bacon website at the University of Virginia, Lee is ranked second
(just behind Rod Steiger) as the "Center of the Hollywood Universe"
due to his large number of films with a correspondingly large number
of different castmates.[9]
In addition to more than a dozen feature films together for Hammer
Films, Amicus Productions and other companies, Lee and Peter Cushing
both appeared in Hamlet (1948) and Moulin Rouge (1952) albeit in
separate scenes; and in separate instalments of the Star Wars films,
Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin in the original film, Lee years later as
Count Dooku. The last project which united them in person was a
documentary, Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994),
which they jointly narrated. It was the last time they saw each other
as Cushing died two months later. While they frequently played off
each other as mortal enemies onscreen—Lee's Count Dracula to Cushing's
Professor Van Helsing—they were close friends in real life.
Lee appeared on the cover of the 1973 Wings album Band on the Run
along with other people, including chat show host Michael Parkinson,
movie actor James Coburn, world boxing champion John Conteh and
broadcaster Clement Freud.
Lee is one of the favourite actors of Tim Burton and has become a
regular in many of Burton's films, having now worked for the director
four times since 1999. He had a small role as the Burgomaster in the
film Sleepy Hollow. In 2005 Lee then went on to voice the character of
Pastor Galswells in Corpse Bride co-directed by Burton and Mike
Johnston and play a small role in the Burton's reimagining of the
classic Roald Dahl tale Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as Willy
Wonka's strict dentist father Dr. Wilbur Wonka.
In 2007, Lee collaborated with Burton on Sweeney Todd: The Demon
Barber of Fleet Street playing the spirit of Sweeney Todd's victims
called The Gentleman Ghost alongside Anthony Head, with both singing
"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", its reprises and the Epilogue. These
songs were recorded, but eventually cut since director Tim Burton felt
that the songs were too theatrical for the film. Lee's appearance was
completely cut from the film, but Head still has an uncredited one-
line cameo.[10][11]
In 2010, Lee marked their fourth collaboration by voicing the
Jabberwocky in Burton's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic book
Alice in Wonderland alongside Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and
Anne Hathaway. While it only had a couple of lines, Burton said that
he felt Lee to be a good match for the iconic character because he is
"an iconic guy".[12] Also in 2009, Lee starred in Stephen Poliakoff's
British period drama Glorious 39 with Julie Christie, Bill Nighy,
Romola Garai and David Tennant, Academy Award-nominated director Danis
Tanović's war film Triage with Colin Farrell and Paz Vega, and also
Duncan Ward's comedy Boogie Woogie alongside Amanda Seyfried, Gillian
Anderson, Stellan Skarsgård and Joanna Lumley.
Lee narrated in late November 2009 the Science+Fiction Festival in
Trieste, Italy.[13]
Lee won the "Spirit of Hammer" award in the Metal Hammer Golden Gods
2010. The award was presented by Tony Iommi.
2011 saw Lee in The Resident alongside Hilary Swank.[14]
Christopher Lee had entered into negotiations to reprise the role of
Saruman for the prequel film The Hobbit. Lee had originally said he
would have liked to have shown Saruman's corruption by Sauron, but
would not be comfortable flying to New Zealand at his age. Lee went on
to say that if a film were made, he would love to voice Smaug, as it
would mean he could record his part in England, and not have to
travel. On January 11, 2011, Lee announced on his website that he
would be reprising his role as well. Filming began in February 2011.
In 2010 Lee received the Steiger Award (Germany), and in February 2011
Lee was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship.
[edit] Voice workWith his classically-trained bass voice, Lee sings on
the The Wicker Man soundtrack, performing Paul Giovanni's psych folk
composition, "The Tinker of Rye".[15] He also sings the closing
credits song of the 1994 horror movie Funny Man.[16] His most notable
musical work on film, however, appears in the strange superhero comedy/
rock musical The Return of Captain Invincible (1983) in which Lee
performs with a song and dance number called "Name Your Poison",
written by Richard O'Brien.
In the 1980s, during the height of Italo Disco, Lee provided vocals to
Kathy Joe Daylor's "Little Witch".
Lee reprised his role as Saruman in the video game The Lord of the
Rings: Battle for Middle Earth along with the other actors of the
films.
Lee provided the off-camera voice of "U. N. Owen", the mysterious host
who brings disparate characters together in Agatha Christie's Ten
Little Indians (1965). The film was produced by Harry Alan Towers, for
whom Lee had worked repeatedly in the 1960s. Even though he is not
credited on the film, the voice is unmistakable.
Lee appears on Peter Knight and Bob Johnson's (of Steeleye Span) 1970s
concept album The King of Elfland's Daughter. Lee also provided the
voices for the roles of DiZ (Ansem the Wise) in the video games
Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, but was replaced by
veteran voice actor Corey Burton for Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of
Memories and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.
He contributed his voice as Death in the animated versions of Terry
Pratchett's Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters and reprised the role in the
Sky1 live action adaptation The Colour of Magic, taking over the role
from the late Ian Richardson.
He is fluent in English, Italian, French, Spanish and German, and
moderately proficient in Swedish, Russian and Greek.[17] He was the
original voice of Thor in the German dubs in the Danish 1986 animated
movie Valhalla, and of King Haggard in both the English and German
dubs of the 1982 animated adaptation of The Last Unicorn.[18][19]
Lee bridged two disparate genres of music by performing a heavy metal
variation of the Toreador Song from the opera Carmen with the band
Inner Terrestrials.[20] Lee narrated and sang for the Danish musical
group The Tolkien Ensemble, taking the role of Treebeard, King Théoden
and others in the readings or singing of their respective poems or
songs.[21] Lee also appeared as a narrator for Italian symphonic
fantasy power metal band Rhapsody of Fire, playing the Wizard King in
the latest three albums, Symphony of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark
Secret, Triumph or Agony and The Frozen Tears of Angels. He narrates
several tracks on the albums, as well as singing a duet with lead
vocalist Fabio Lione in the single "The Magic of the Wizard's Dream"
from the Symphony of Enchanted Lands II album. Lee was the voice of
Lucan D'Lere in the trailers for Everquest II.
Some thirty years after playing Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with
the Golden Gun, Lee provided the voice of Scaramanga in the video game
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent.[22]
In 2005 Lee provided the voice of the Pastor Galswells in The Corpse
Bride co-directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnston. He also served as
the narrator on The Nightmare Before Christmas's poem written by Tim
Burton as well.
In 2007, Lee voiced the transcript of The Children of Húrin, by J. R.
R. Tolkien for the audiobook version of the novel.
Lee reprised his role of Count Dooku in the 2009 animated film Star
Wars: The Clone Wars but did not appear in the TV series. Corey Burton
takes his place for Count Dooku.
Lee has been signed by Falcon Picture Group to host the syndicated
radio series "Mystery Theater", a nightly two-hour program featuring
classic radio mystery shows. The program is distributed by Syndication
Networks Corporation with a launch date of 2 March 2009.
In 2010 Lee collaborated again with Tim Burton, this time by voicing
the Jabberwocky in Burton's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic book
Alice in Wonderland.
Lee has provided the vocals for a symphonic metal concept album called
Charlemagne.[23] It was released on 15 March 2010.[24]
Lee is working with Manowar while they are recording a new version of
their first album, Battle Hymns. The original voice was done by Orson
Welles.[25] The new album, Battle Hymns MMXI was released on 26
November 2010.
[edit] HonoursIn 2001, Lee was appointed Commander of the Order of the
British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II[26] and was knighted in the
Queen's Birthday Honours in 2009 by Prince Charles.[27][28][29] Lee
was named 2005's 'most marketable star in the world' in a USA Today
newspaper poll, after three of the films he appeared in grossed US$640
million.[30] In 2011 Lee was awarded the BAFTA Academy Fellowship by
Tim Burton.
[edit] Personal life
Lee with his wife, the Danish former model Birgit Kroencke LeeThe
Carandinis, Lee's maternal ancestors, were given the right to bear the
coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Frederick
Barbarossa. Cinemareview cites: "Cardinal Consalvi was Papal Secretary
of State at the time of Napoleon and is buried at the Pantheon in Rome
next to the painter Raphael. His painting, by Lawrence, hangs in
Windsor Castle".[17][31]
Lee is a step-cousin of Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond spy
novels.
He has been married to the Danish model Birgit "Gitte" Kroencke Lee
since 1961. They have a daughter named Christina Erika Carandini Lee.
[31] He is also the uncle of the British actress Harriet Walter.[17]
Lee has a longstanding personal interest in the occult, maintaining a
library of over 12,000 books which is largely devoted to the topic.
This is discussed in his autobiography, Tall, Dark and Gruesome.
In 1973, Lee agreed to appear on the cover of Paul McCartney's album,
Band on the Run, along with James Coburn Paul, and Linda McCartney,
and several other famous people, appearing as convicts escaping from
prison.
Lee is a supporter of the British Conservative Party.[32]
In 1999, Lee confirmed he has lost an inch in height and is now 6 ft 4
in (1.93 m)[citation needed]
neufer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Lee
<<Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English
biographer and critic. He was born Solomon Lazarus Lee at 12 Keppel
Street, Bloomsbury, London and educated at the City of London School
and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in modern history
in 1882. In the next year he became assistant-editor of the Dictionary
of National Biography. In 1890 he became joint editor, and on the
retirement of Sir Leslie Stephen in 1891 succeeded him as editor.
Lee himself contributed voluminously to the Dictionary, writing some
800 articles, mainly on Elizabethan authors or statesmen. His sister
Elizabeth Lee also contributed. While still at Balliol he had written
two articles on Shakespearean questions, which were printed in The
Gentleman's Magazine, and in 1884 he published a book about Stratford-
on-Avon. His article on Shakespeare in the fifty-first volume (1897)
of the Dictionary of National Biography formed the basis of his Life
of William Shakespeare (1898), which reached its fifth edition in
1905.
In 1902, Lee edited the Oxford facsimile edition of the first folio of
Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies, followed in 1902 and
1904 by supplementary volumes giving details of extant copies, and in
1906 by a complete edition of Shakespeare's works.
Lee received a knighthood in 1911. Between 1913-24 he was Professor of
English Literature and Language at East London College, what is now
Queen Mary, University of London.
Besides editions of English classics his works include a Life of Queen
Victoria (1902), Great Englishmen of the Sixteenth century (1904),
based on his Lowell Institute lectures at Boston, Massachusetts, in
1903, Shakespeare and the Modern Stage (1906), and King Edward VII, a
Biography (1925). There are personal letters from Lee, including
during his last illness, in the T.F. Tout Collection, John Rylands
Library, Manchester.>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*William Shakspere* ... *ANNE LEE* [ob metum mortis]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.sourcetext.com/sourcebook/index.htm
.
1596 Nov 29 Michaelmas Term Court order containing "petitions for
sureties of the peace" entries. (The rolls of the Court of the Queen's
Bench, Public Records Office, London.) Schoenbaum states: "To obtain
such a writ, the complainant swore before a Judge of Queen's Bench
that
he stood in danger of death, or bodily hurt, from a certain party."
The link to Shakspere/Shakespeare seems to be the mention of Langley,
a money-broker who had built the Swan playhouse in Paris Garden.
.
Translated from Latin:
.
. England. Be it known that *William Shakspere* , Francis Langley,
. Dorothy Soer wife of John Soer, and *ANNE LEE* , for fear of death
. [ob metum mortis] and so forth. Writ of Attachment issued & directed
. to the Sheriff of Surrey, returnable the eighteenth of *St. Martin*
----------------------------------------------------------------
. Edgar Allan Poe
.
. It was many and many a year ago,
. In a kingdom by the sea,
. That a maiden there lived whom you may know
. By the name of *ANNABEL LEE* ;
. And this maiden she lived with no other thought
. Than to love and be loved by me.
.
. I was a child and she was a child,
. In this kingdom by the sea;
. But we loved with a love that was more than love-
. I and my *ANNABEL LEE* ;
. With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
. Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful *ANNABEL LEE* ;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my *ANNABEL LEE* .
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can EVER dissEVER my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful *ANNABEL LEE* .
For the moon nEVER beams without bringing me DREAMs
Of the beautiful *ANNABEL LEE* ;
And the stars nEVER rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful *ANNABEL LEE* ;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annabel_Lee
"Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem [1849] composed by American
author Edgar Allan Poe. There has been debate over who, if anyone, was
the inspiration for "Annabel Lee". Though many women have been
suggested, Poe's wife Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe (d. January 30, 1847)
is one of the more credible candidates. Written in 1849, it was not
published until shortly after Poe's death that same year.
The poem's narrator describes his love for Annabel Lee, which began
many years ago in an unnamed "kingdom by the sea". Though they were
young, their love for one another burned with such an intensity that
angels became jealous. For that reason, the narrator believes, the
angels caused her death. Even so, their love is strong enough that it
extends beyond the grave and the narrator believes their two souls are
still entwined. Every night, he dreams of Annabel Lee and sees the
brightness of her eyes in the stars. He admits that every night he
lies down by her side in her tomb by the sea.
Like many other Poe poems including "The Raven", "Ulalume", and "To
One in Paradise", "Annabel Lee" follows Poe's favorite theme: the
death of a beautiful woman, which Poe called "the most poetical topic
in the world". Also like women in many other works by Poe, she is
struck with illness and marries young. The poem focuses on an ideal
love which is unusually strong. In fact, the narrator's actions show
that he not only loves Annabel Lee, but he worships her, something he
can only do after her death. The narrator admits that he and Annabel
Lee were both children when they fell in love, but his explanation
that angels murdered her is in itself childish, suggesting he has not
grown up much since then. His repetition of this assertion suggests he
is trying to rationalize his own excessive feelings of loss.
Unlike "The Raven", in which the narrator believes he will "nevermore"
be reunited with his love, "Annabel Lee" says the two will be together
again, as not even demons "can ever dissever" their souls.
The poem has been described containing "shades of necrophilia."
"Annabel Lee" consists of six stanzas, three with six lines, one with
seven, and two with eight, with the rhyme pattern differing slightly
in each one. Though it is not technically a ballad, Poe referred to it
as one. Like a ballad, the poem utilizes repetition of words and
phrases purposely to create its mournful effect. The name Annabel Lee
emphasizes the letter "L", a frequent device in Poe's female
characters such as "Eulalie", "Lenore", and "Ulalume".
There is debate on the last line of the poem. The Edgar Allan Poe
Society of Baltimore, Maryland has identified 11 different versions of
the poem that were published between 1849 and 1850. However, the
biggest variation is in the final line:
Original manuscript – In her tomb by the side of the sea
Alternative version – In her tomb by the sounding sea
It is unclear to whom the eponymous character Annabel Lee is
referring. Biographers and critics often suggest Poe's frequent use of
the "death of a beautiful woman" theme stems from the repeated loss of
women throughout his own life, including his mother Eliza Poe and his
foster mother Frances Allan. Biographers often interpret that "Annabel
Lee" was written for Poe's wife Virginia, who had died two years
prior, as was suggested by poet Frances Sargent Osgood, though Osgood
is herself a candidate for the poem's inspiration. A strong case can
be made for Poe's wife Virginia: she was the one he loved as a child,
and the only one that had been his bride, and the only one that had
died. Autobiographical readings of the poem have also been used to
support the theory that Virginia and Poe never consummated their
marriage, as "Annabel Lee" was a "maiden". Critics, including T.O.
Mabbott, believed that Annabel Lee was merely the product of Poe's
gloomy imagination and that Annabel Lee was no real person in
particular.
Local legend in Charleston, South Carolina tells the story of a sailor
who met a woman named *ANNABEL LEE* . Her father disapproved of the
pairing and the two met privately in a graveyard before the sailor's
time stationed in Charleston was up. While away, he heard of Annabel's
death from yellow fever, but her father would not allow him at the
funeral. Because he did not know her exact burial location, he instead
kept vigil in the cemetery where they had often secretly met. There is
no evidence that Edgar Allan Poe had heard of this legend, but locals
insist it was his inspiration, especially considering Poe was briefly
stationed in Charleston while in the army in 1827.
"Annabel Lee" was likely composed in May 1849. Poe took steps to
ensure the poem would be seen in print. He gave a copy to Rufus Wilmot
Griswold, his literary executor and personal rival, gave another copy
to John Thompson to repay a $5 debt, and sold a copy to Sartain's
Union Magazine for publication. Though Sartain's was the first
authorized printing in January 1850, Griswold was the first to publish
it on October 9, 1849, two days after Poe's death as part of his
obituary of Poe in the New York Daily Tribune. Thompson had it
published in the Southern Literary Messenger in November 1849.
"Annabel Lee" was an inspiration for Vladimir Nabokov, especially for
his novel Lolita (1955), in which the narrator, as a child, falls in
love with the terminally ill Annabel Leigh "in a princedom by the
sea". Originally, Nabokov titled the novel The Kingdom by the Sea.
Nabokov would later use this as the title of the Lolita "doppelganger
novel" in Look at the Harlequins!.>>
---------------------------------------------------------
KATHARINE: Shall not thou and I,
. between Saint DENIS and Saint GEORGE, compound a
. boy, half French, half English, that shall go to
. Constantinople and take the TURK by the beard?
......................................................
. Edware de Vere [i.e., the Turk (Celtic for Ox)]
. half French, half English
---------------------------------------------------------------
. The feast day of St Denis, October 9
.............................................................
October 9, c 275, St Denis was beheaded on a hill north of
. Paris (afterwards called Montmartre) and then
. walked to Notre Dame with his head in his hand.
.
October 9, 1002, Leif Erikson lands in North America.
.
October 9, 1469, Florentine artist Frà Lippo Lippi dies.
. Teacher of Boticelli, he was known for his madonnas and murals,
. Taking his lead from Vasari's Lives of the Painters, Browning
. depicted him in a famous dramatic monologue as a man of this world
. concerned with capturing worldly, not other-worldly, passions.
FW 15.25: Lave a whale a while in a whillbarrow (isn't it
*THE TRUATH* I'm tallin ye?) to have fins and *FLIPPers* that
shimmy and *SHAKE* . Tim Timmycan timped hir, tampting Tam.
Fleppety! *FLIPPety* ! Fleapow!
.
FW 133.14: against lightning, explosion, fire, earthquake, flood,
whirlwind, burglary, third party, rot, loss of cash, loss of credit,
impact of vehicles; can rant *as grave as OXTAIL soup* and chat
as gay as a *porto FLIPPant; is unhesitent in his unionism
and yet a *PIGotted* nationalist;
.
FW 524.27: And, rEVEREnD, he says, summat problematical, by yon
socialist sun, gut me, but them errings was as gladful as Wissixy
kippers could be considering, *FLIPPing* their little coppingers,
.
October 9, 1547, Cervantes baptized
.
October 9, 1604, Mars/Jupiter conjunction brings on Kepler's NOVA
.
October 9, 1615, the suit of (Thomasina) Ostler v. Heminges
.
October 9, 1635, colonial American Separatist Roger Williams was
. banished from Massachusetts because he had spoken out against
. punishments for religious offenses and giving away land that
. belonged to the Indians. Williams had founded Providence,
. Rhode Island, as a place for people to seek religious freedom.
.
October 9, 1757, Charles X, king of France (1824-1830), born.
.
October 9, 1792, U.S Mint in Philadelphia issues silver half-dimes.
.
October 9, 1815, Operatic composer Giuseppe Verdi born. His name
became a patriotic rallying cry in the Italian unification period,
because it was an acronym for Vittorio Emmanuele Rei di Italia [Victor
Emmanuel being the Sardinian king that would became the first king of
Italy].
.
October 9, 1817 in Venice, Lord Byron finished his satire Beppo.
.
October 9, 1835, Camille Saint-Saëns born.
.
October 9, 1844, The New York Tribune published Edgar Allen Poe's
. "*ANNABEL LEE* ."
.
October 9, 1845, one of the founders of the Oxford Movement, churchman
John Henry Newman made his celebrated conversion from Anglicanism to
Catholicism. Nearly 250 other English clergy followed Newman.
.
October 9, 1855, calliope patented by Joshua Stoddard
.
October 9, 1865, oil pumped for the first time
. through a [5 mile] pipeline Titusville, PA
.
October 9-11, 1871, The original draft of the Emancipation
. Proclamation burns up in the Chicago Fire
.
October 9, 1872, Aaron Montgomery delivers the first mail-order
catalog
.
October 9, 1875, the International Postal Union established in Berne.
.
October 9, 1876, 1st telephone conversation through above-the-ground
. lines using existing telegraph wires. Alexander Graham Bell &
. Thomas Watson talked between Cambridge & Boston, Massachusetts.
.
October 9, 1888, the public was admitted to the Washington Monument.
.
October 9, 1890, 888 years after Eric the Red's son landed in America:
. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED October 9, 1890.
.
October 9, 1895, The first magic lantern show opens
----------------------------------------------------------------------
October 9, 1876, 1st telephone conversation through above-the-ground
. lines using existing telegraph wires. Alexander Graham *BELL* &
. Thomas *WATSON* talked between Cambridge & Boston, Massachusetts.
--------------------------------------------------------------
____ *THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED*
.
7 POPE's Court, Fleet Street, London (October 9, 1890)
______________________________ -888
___________________________ ---------------
_____ Eric the RED's son arrives: October 9, 1002
-------------------------------------------------------------
October 9, 1776, Spanish missionaries dedicated the first mission
. chapel on the northern California coast at Yerba Buena.
. In 1847, the city which grew up around the mission
. changed its name to San Francisco.
...........................................................
_________ 1776 = 2 x 888
----------------------------------------------------------------
Common Errors in "Star of Bethlehem" Planetarium Shows
. by John Mosley, Griffith Observatory
.
<<The massing of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in 1604 was awaited with
anticipation. "Somee watched to correct their ephemerides, some for
the sake of pleasure, some because of the rarity of the occasion,
some to verify their predictions, and others, indeed, to see
if there would be a comet as had been expressly predicted
by the astrology of the Arabs,"
.
Kepler wrote (Kepler) Opera Omnia vol. II, p.617, as quoted by
. BurkeGaffney). Mars came first into conjunction with Saturn,
. on September 26, and then with Jupiter on October 9.
. Although Kepler missed this last event because of clouds,
. others in Europe saw the two planets and noted nothing amiss.
.
On October 10 a new star, as bright as Jupiter, was spotted
essentially between Jupiter & Saturn, which themselves were only
9 degrees apart. Kepler observed it carefully until it faded into
the sun's glare the following year, and later wrote a book De Stella
Nova in Pede Serpentarti (About the New Star in the Serpent's Foot).
.
While writing this book, Kepler came across a work by Laurence
SUSlyga of Poland that argued that Christ was born in 4 B.C.
Kepler noticed that this was shortly after a triple conjunction
that he calculated had occurred in 7 B.C., and wondered if there
was a connection. In 1614 he published his conclusions: the triple
conjunction of 7 B.C. was followed by a massing of Mars, Jupiter,
and Saturn in 6 B.C., and just as the conjunction and massing of
1603/4 had produced a new star, so the events of 7/6 B.C. had
produced a miraculous nova, and THAT NOVA was the Star of Bethlehem.
The biblical triple conjunction took place in Pisces, but the
massing that followed took place in Aries -- one of the fiery signs
- just as the massing of 1604 had also taken place in a fiery sign.
.
Kepler believed that the star over Bethlehem was a nova placed
there specifically to alert and guide the magi. He wrote,
"I do not doubt but that God would have condescended
. to cater to the credulity of the Chaldeans.>>
----------------------------------------------------------------
October 9, 1604, Mars/Jupiter conjunction brings on Kepler's NOVA
October 9, 1615, the suit of ( *THOMASINA* ) Ostler v. Heminges
-----------------------------------------------------------------
. [ *THAMES* = Thame & ISIS]
.
. Around his throne the sea-born brothers stood;
. Who swell with tributary urns his flood:-
. First the famed authors of his ancient name,
. The winding ISIS and the fruitful THAME!
. -- _Windsor Forest_ by Alexander Pope
-------------------------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer