By Castle and River: Branimir

The Brook

By: Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)

I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorps, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret
by many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I wind about, and in and out,
with here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling,

And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel
With many a silver water-break
Above the golden gravel,

And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers;
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses;
I linger by my shingly bars;
I loiter round my cresses;

And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Branimir

The monument of duke Branimir in Nin, Croatia

My last post was about a place in Croatia; now this post is about a Croat: Branimir, Duke of Dalmatian Croatia. He reigned from 879 to 892.

His name is an old Slavic name, and could be translated as "defender of the realm", or "defender of peace", as the word "mir" means peace in Slavic languages.

Branimir's predecessor was Zdeslav of Croatia and he was succeeded by Muncimir of Croatia

Under Branimir, Croatia was recognized as a state, totally independent from both Frankish and Byzantine rule. Throughout his life, Duke Branimir worked on increasing Croatian independence.

I looked for websites about and/or pictures of Branimir and could not find much of anything except on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branimir_of_Croatia

The picture is from Wikipedia and not my own.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Branimir

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