Summer nights and H.I.P. for change****

PART I

Summer Night

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 – 1892)

Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;
Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;
Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font:
The firefly wakens: waken thou with me.

Now droops the milk-white peacock like a ghost,
And like a ghost she glimmers on to me.

Now lies the Earth all Danaë to the stars,
And all thy heart lies open unto me.

Now slides the silent meteor on, and leaves
A shining furrow, as thy thoughts in me.

Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,
And slips into the bosom of the lake:
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
Into my bosom and be lost in me.

PART II



The U.S. mint website for children, H.I.P. pocket change is a cool site which is fun in addition to being truly informational. The letters stand for History In your Pocket, a nice way of describing the coins this site is all about. There are the usual games, albeit related in one way or the other to coinage -



You can view these games according to the child's age, and if you wish, there are suggested lesson plans and other ideas for teachers related to each game. Here is a view of the dollar dive game. Note how the game helps in identification of coins, and teaches addition, plus mouse handling.



However, the other sections are just as much fun as the games. The time machine has the whole history of the US mint, and coins, in an animation, with some fun and games thrown in. There are informational cartoons about the currency of other countries, and about how a coin is minted. It is actually much cooler than it sounds here, and you might discover things you never knew! Do check it out!



There is also a section on coin news which features news about new coins as well as some features which probably wouldn't fit anywhere else. And another sectioned camp coin, which you had better check out because we haven't ever reached that far!

The url for HIP change - http://www.usmint.gov/kids/

P.S. Summer is ending for the northern hemisphere, and already some of us are feeling the chilly breath of winter to come. I am feeling a little romantic - as you already noticed I suppose from the Tennyson quoted, and a little nostalgic...



the heart searches for those days and nights of leisure again
when, free of care, we sat blissful...

in the toasty winter sun, lying in the yard,
(my eyes pulling the shade of your aanchal to me)
prone, or on my side...
the heart searches for those days and nights of leisure again...

or those summer nights when the easterlies blew,
lying awake till late on cool white sheets
watching the stars from the rooftop...
the heart searches for those days and nights of leisure again...

in the frosty winters, on any mountain,
listening to silence echoing in the vales,
holding some wet moments in my eyes...
the heart searches for those days and nights of leisure again...

P.P.S. What a beautiful song from Gulzar! Madan Mohan made the perfect lazy going melody, and Bhupinder has sung it with such ease that I can't help remembering hot summer nights on the rooftop myself...

For more information on Gulzar, try http://www.gulzar.info/

For another translation, slightly more literal I suspect, check Atul's songaday blog.