Citatepedia^®.com

Penicillin was discovered by accident, unlike napalm.

classic quote by Jaume Perich
Added by Dan Costinaş
Comment! | Vote! | Copy! | In Spanish | In Romanian

A Little Chimney Sweep

For Duncan Wyllie
Who suggest I write this in a comment he once made.

Back in the 1800’s
in a large city in England
there lived a seven year old
and I will call him Tarn.
His hair was matted with soot,
his face and hands were black.
His clothes were old and cast offs
and didn’t fit too well.
His trousers had holes in the knees
and the elbows of his shirt were gone.
His skin was black from head to foot
from climbing chimneys
each and everyday.
He could work sometimes sixteen hours
before he finished for the day.
He never got educated,
nor did he play with friends.
He had no childhood
for as soon as he was old enough
to walk and climb out to work he had to go
to earn money to be fed.
There were no luxuries that we enjoy today.
Everyday you worked from dawn to dusk.
He didn’t smile or laugh,
just scampered up and down chimneys
to clean the soot away.
On one fateful day he found himself
wedged and couldn’t move.
No one heard his cries,
or if they did, they just ignored them.
Day after day, he struggled to get free
and all the time getting weaker and weaker.
He was soon forgotten about
and slowly his life expired.
He must have died in agony
more than most of us will ever know.
His body lay there for over a hundred years
before it was discovered by accident
when they renovated the old house.

poem by David Harris
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Reggae Accident

Reggae accident
By: lucas p. gravell
1993
-- spoken:
Okay now, get ready heres your part. now listen to me.
It was a reggae accident
I said a reggae accident
I cant here you
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
Now make room for the band
A reggae accident
Here they come here they come
A reggae accident
I say make room for them
A reggae accident
Ha ha, look out now
It was a reggae accident
A reggae accident
This is not a political statement
Nor is it a farce
In the land of the great bald bird
The rasta man is sparse
He does not like our urban jungle
Or our capitalistic nightmare
He does not believe in auto insurance
Mon I dont believe that is fair
It was a reggae accident
Four rastas in a rambler
A reggae accident
They came from out of nowhere
A reggae accident
They were smoking some spliff cigars
A reggae accident
They totaled out my car
I lost the case that sealed my fate
Last week in municipal court
The judge ruled for rasta restitution
Of a most peculiar sort
Now theres four stoned faces at my dinner table
And my wife wonders how come
She does not mind the extra mouths to feed
As much as she minds those after dinner drums
We sing was a reggae accident
Four rastas eating pasta
A reggae accident
Pass the parmesan please
A reggae accident
How does a rasta spell relief
A reggae accident
No problem mon, pass the spliff
Oh reggae down...
Now the sun shines on the isle of jamaica
As its done since time began
No problem says the rasta mon
When I asked to join his band
You see I sold my house I quit my job
I left that narrow-minded wife
And I moved to the island of jamaica ya
Just to live that rasta life
It was a reggae accident
Four rastas in a rambler
A reggae accident
They came from out of nowhere
A reggae accident
They were smoking some spliff cigars
A reggae accident
Now Ive become a rasta star
It was a reggae accident
Look out world
A reggae accident
You know the harder they come
A reggae accident
The harder they fall one and all
A reggae accident
It was just an accident one day
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
-- spoken:
Come back, come back to jamaica
Come back to the way things used to be
Ya, ya lets play some dominoes now mon
Come on...

song performed by Jimmy Buffett
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Unintentional Conclusion

My time has come perhaps to die.
I will not give in easily.
Though I can guess the reason why
Someone’s been hired to silence me

I am no longer in the game
I have retired quietly
I thought nobody knew my name.
I was mistaken obviously.

I’m not a fool I know the score.
I must kill him or he’ll kill me
It does not matter any more
someone has breached my secrecy.

I know he’s out there watching me.
Observing my daily routine,
he seeks an opportunity
make his killing quick and clean.

A single shot that’s all it takes.
A job he has been paid to do
I can’t afford to make mistakes.
Though he’s already made a few.

He does not know I am aware.
He pits his skill against my skill
and if he did I would not care
He has a contract to fulfil.

He has been paid and must succeed
to keep his reputation.
There’s no excuse which he can plead
for failure of completion.

Unless he dies by accident.
It is quite likely that he may.
In fact I am quite confident.
A stranger who has gone astray

and lost his footing carelessly
To fall five hundred feet or more
into an unforgiving sea.
To be cast up along the shore.

Nothing at all to do with me
Another loser in life’s game.
I will change my identity
and move my home base just the same.

I’m rather sad I liked it here
I’d settled in quite happily.
I think it best to disappear
Now that I know they’re on to me.

I can’t escape from my dark past
they’ll track me down eventually.
Though as the peaceful years rolled passed.
I hoped they had forgotten me.

I should have known they don’t forgive
Although I acted honourably
they can’t afford to let me live.
My past employers my country.

I know too much they don’t want known.
They’re not prepared to take a chance
That all their secrets might be blown.
That’s why I’m dying here in France

No one will guess the reason why
and aging Englishman was shot
by accident apparently.
My masters know that it was not

I kept the faith true to my word.
Their secrets were quite safe with me
To think I’d speak was quite absurd.
They should have had more faith in me

This is my only legacy
there’s nothing else that I can leave
The records I kept accurately
were not intended to deceive.

You have a choice you can believe
all that my masters will deny
I don’t believe they can survive
such negative publicity.

Its truly not revenge I seek
I want to set the records straight
My confessions are not unique
all countries employ men like me.

To carry out nefariously
Our orders which originate
but are transmitted secretly.
From high officials of the state.

We are the willing tools they use
to influence affairs of state.
But they distrust us then they choose
To silence us before too late

They think they’ve won but they have lost
Memoirs published posthumously
Will prove to them there is a cost
They could have simply trusted me

Now I am dead I can confess
the things I did for my country
and open up the whole damn mess
to closer public scrutiny.

They will plead state security
and claim their actions justified.
That’s why they murder men like me.
Because we can prove that they lied.

Our leaders thrive on secrecy.
Which they maintain at any cost.
They have no hint of decency
all sense of honour has been lost.

They practice rank dishonesty
in order to achieve their ends.
They lie both to the enemy
and to their allies and their friends.

When I decided I would not
obey their orders any more.
The verdict was I should be shot
There was no way they could restore.

The naïve trust I used to show.
My faith in their morality
because by then I’d come to know
Their corrupt veniality.

I am beyond their punishment
I’ll answer to a higher court
who will examine my intent
A court where justice can’t be bought.

Though I will plead in my defence.
That I was young and truly thought
that those I held in reverence
were Just men of the finest sort

When I discovered they were not.
My conscience would not let me stay.
Which left me in awkward spot
they would not let me break away.

Though I escaped they followed me.
I knew they would that’s why I ran.
evading them successfully.
But I became a hunted man.

I knew in time they would find me
That’s why I wrote my last report
My memoirs are my life story
non fiction of a different sort.

Although they’ll try they won’t suppress
the facts and figures I reveal.
The hidden truths which I express
are part and parcel of the deal.

To gain the most publicity
upon the international scene
Published simultaneously.
The Memoirs of a Dead Has Been.

Will hit the headlines every where.
The printers sworn to secrecy
The books are stockpiled here and there..
My masters should have trusted me.

A quiet life was all I asked
I did not seek publicity
But now they’ll find their selves unmasked.
Because they tried to silence me.

29-Dec-08

http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers

poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Nuclear Is Safe? No They Lied To You

A list of non classified nuclear disasters
chalk one up for Chalk River Canada
rating 5 a “reactor shutoff rod failure,

combined with several operator errors,
led to a major power excursion of more
than double the reactor's rated output
at AECL's NRX reactor” then a big deal.1952

Entrant two Windscale Pile United Kingdom
rating 5 a “Release of radioactive material to
the environment following a fire in a reactor
core.” Toast a good year for nuclear disasters.1957

graphite core of a British nuclear “[weapons
programme] reactor at Windscale, Cumberland
(now Sellafield, Cumbria) caught fire, releasing
substantial amounts of radioactive contamination
into the surrounding area.” Radioactive fire.

A warm welcome to entrant three. Kyshtym
Russia rating 6 a “Significant release of
radioactive material to the environment
from explosion of a high activity waste tank.” 1957

Please all welcome contestant one back
Chalk River Canada (rating?) “Due to
inadequate cooling a damaged uranium
fuel rod caught fire and was torn in two.” 1958

Champagne pops cheer another good year
Vinč a Yugoslavia (rating?) “During
a subcritical counting experiment a power
buildup went undetected - six scientists
received high doses.” What detailed detail? 1958

Applause please for our first American entry
Santa Susana Field Laboratory US (rating?)
“Partial core meltdown.” Sounds serious.
Tick one deep operations public cover up.1959

Time to take a nice country waltz in a US county
Westinghouse Waltz Mill Westmoreland County
(rating?) a core melt accident in a test reactor? 1960

Looks like American is going for a hat trick
Charlestown US (rating?) “Error by a worker
at a United Nuclear Corporation fuel facility
led to an accidental criticality”. Human error? 1964

Yes score a limelight hat trick for team USA
Monroe US (rating?) “Sodium cooling system
malfunction.” Human error or mechanical?
Again deep cover details lacking team USA.1966

Heavy duty classified dudes. (Date? Rating? Location?
Unknown?) Soviet icebreaker ‘Lenin’, “USSR’s first
nuclear-powered surface ship, suffered a major accident

(possibly a meltdown...) in one of its three reactors.
To find the leak the crew broke through the concrete and
steel radiation shield with sledgehammers, causing
irreparable damage. It was rumored that around 30 of the
crew were killed. The ship was abandoned for a year to
allow radiation levels to dropp before the three reactors

were removed, to be dumped into the Tsivolko Fjord on
the Kara Sea, along with 60% of the fuel elements packed
in a separate container.” Soviet widow maker. Winter 1966-1967

Now we return to previous country entrant two.

Dumfries and Galloway, Chapelcross Scotland UK
United Kingdom (rating?) reactor core “Graphite
debris partially blocked a fuel channel causing a
fuel element to melt and catch fire.” Heavy Metal Fire? 1967

A pleasant skip across to continent Europe
Lucens Switzerland (rating?) a “Total loss
of coolant led to a power excursion and
explosion of experimental reactor.” Bad? 1969

Future forecast Japan blows three reactors at
Fukushima due to coolant lacking back up power? 2011

Crossing ‘The Wall’ with ease a nuclear breeze
we enter Cold War Griefswald East Germany
rating 3 vodka toast hot partly damaged reactor
excessive heating damaged ten fuel rods.1975

Greifswald East Germany (rating?) Foot noted as
“Excessive heating which damaged ten fuel rods” 1989

Reality investigative journalism reveals near core
meltdown, the fifth dangerous incident at the plant.
“Three out of six cooling water pumps were switched
off for a test. A fourth pump broke down and control

of the reactor was lost” accident reportedly attributed
to sticky relay contacts. Sneaky cover up. December 7,1975
main trough fire destroyed current supply control lines
of 5 of 6 main coolant pumps, rating 4, declassified 1989

A quick visit to a former Soviet satellite state
rating 4 Jaslovské Bohunice Czechoslovakia
“Damaged fuel integrity, extensive corrosion
damage of fuel cladding... release of radioactivity.”

A chance to remember a really famous blow out
Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania US
rating 5 Three Mile Island US “Severe damage to
the reactor core.” A cooling system meltdown.1979

Let us adjourn sip wine in Orléans near gay Paris
rating 4 Saint Laurent des Eaux France. “Melting
of one channel of fuel in the reactor with no release
outside the site.” Nicely swept under the mat.1980

A new island entrant extreme earthquake risk Japan
rating 2 Tsuraga Japan “100 workers were exposed
to doses of up to 155 millirem per day radiation.” 1981
Wow this was a honeymoon warning not heeded?

Ontario New York (rating?) “A steam pipe burst at
the Ginna Nuclear Generating Station, resulting in a
loss of coolant and gasses were intentionally vented
to the atmosphere to reduce risks of explosion.” 1982

Japan attempted this procedure blow it three times.2011

Buenos Aires Argentina rating 4 “An operator error
during a fuel plate reconfiguration in an experimental
test reactor led to an excursion... operator absorbed
2000 rad (20 Gy) of gamma and 1700 rad (17 Gy) of
neutron radiation which killed him two days later.” 1983

Let us now speed through so many more to do?
Hamm-Uentrop Germany (rating?) “Spherical
fuel pebble became lodged in the pipe used to
deliver fuel elements to the reactor.” Sparks? 1986
Not the Flintstones Bamm-Bamm bam it’s dangerous.

Chernobyl Ukraine (USSR) rating 7 “Widespread
health and environmental effects. External release
of a significant fraction of reactor core inventory.” 1986

So brief? Someone really hid scary data on this mega
disaster. Power excursion, explosion, complete meltdown.
Fifty fatalities initially reported mostly cleanup personnel.

explosion combustion of graphite reactor core spread
radioactive material across Europe. “100,000 people
were evacuated from the areas immediately surrounding
Chernobyl in addition to 300,000 from the areas of heavy
fallout in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia” still radiating.

“An 'Exclusion Zone' was created surrounding the site
encompassing approximately 1,000 mi² (3,000 km²) ”
and deemed off-limits for human habitation... studies
by governments, UN agencies and environmental groups
have estimated the consequences and eventual number
of casualties. Their findings are subject to controversy.”

Why because the estimated kill list topped over a million!
This was a power excursion explosion, complete meltdown!
Chernobyl still stealth killing chilling data not funny haha!

Vandellos Spain rating 3 “Near accident caused by fire
resulting in loss of safety systems at the nuclear power
station” meant rain in Spain could radiate the plain.1989

Less detail given but commonality is disaster obvious.
Cadarache France rating 2 “Spread of contamination
to an area not expected by design” proves design error.1993

Back in the US, back in the US, USSR another disaster?
Tomsk Russia rating 4 “Pressure buildup led to an
explosive mechanical failure” another Soviet oops.1993

Yes big time. “The accident exposed 160 on-site
workers and almost two thousand cleanup workers
to total doses of up to 50 mSv (the threshold limit
for radiation workers is 100 mSv per 5 years) . Nasty.

Oh dear another bad disaster ridden radiated year
Ishikawa Prefecture Japan rating 2 “Control rod malfunction” 1999
No! Want accurate gossip on this shameful cover up?

“Operators attempting to inser one control rod during
an inspection neglected procedure and instead withdrew
three causing a 15 minute uncontrolled sustained reaction
at the number 1 reactor of Shika Nuclear Power Plant. The
Hokuriku Electric Company who owned the reactor did not
report this incident and falsified records, covering it up until”.2007

Oh dear really naughty Japan needs a new safe nuclear plan?
Ibaraki Prefecture Japan rating 4 “An accidental critality”
Old inadequately training, cost cutting part-time, workers trick?
Tokaimura “Fatal over exposures of workers
following a criticality event at a nuclear facility”.1999

“Twelve hours after the start of the incident residents
within 10 km were asked to stay indoors”.
Another better late than never scenario; to be reused.

Ikitelli Turkey rating 3 “Loss of a highly radioactive
Co-60 source” “combined with several operator errors,
led to a major power excursion of more than double
the reactor's output” surge juicing up the power grid.1999

Yanangio Peru rating 3 “Incident with radiography
source resulting in severe radiation burns” smarting.1999

Welcome to heralded high tech twenty first century?
Authorities have finally implemented adequate nuclear
fool proof safety procedures right? Wrong. So Sorry.

Paks Hungary rating 3 “Partially spent fuel rods
undergoing cleaning in a tank of heavy water
ruptured and spilled fuel pellets” ruptured scary.2003

Sellafield England UK rating 3 Release of a large quantity of
radioactive material, contained within the installation”.2005

Braidwood Illinois USA (rating?) a nuclear material
leak. “Tritium contamination of groundwater was
discovered at Exelon's Braidwood station.” How much? 2005

Atucha Argentina rating 2 “Overexposure of a worker
at a power reactor exceeding the annual limit” 2005

Erwin Tennessee USA rating 2 “Thirty-five litres of a
highly enriched uranium solution leaked during transfer”.2006
A “required public hearing on the licensing of the plant
was not held due to the absence of public notification.’ Naughty!

Forsmark Sweden rating 2 “Degraded safety functions
for common cause failure in the emergency power
supply system at nuclear power plant”. Maintenance? 2006

Fleurus Belgium rating 4 “Severe health effects for a
worker at a commercial irradiation facility as a result
of high doses of radiation” Human mechanical error? 2006

Onagawa Japan “Reactor shutdown after the 2011
Sendai earthquake and tsunami caused a fire”. 2011
Miyagi earthquake produced vibrations above plant design 2005

Results. Unit 1 was shut down due to test results. November 2006
Unit 2 confirmed pipe leak due to debris damage. May 2006
Pressure control difficulties prompted further inspections. June 2006

METI and Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency determined
plant's performance was not satisfactory. July 2006

Unit 3 pipe integrity concerns reactor was shut down. July 2006
Reactor repaired restarted. Tō hoku earthquake. November 2006
Damaged turbines a fire broke out; plant shut down. March 2011

Fukushima Japan (rating?) after early trickie dickie lie reports
rating 5 (later updated when data could no longer be hidden) rating 7
Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, Japan had partial meltdowns in
multiple reactors, emergency power failure,3 hydrogen explosions?

Reactor shutdown after the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami
failure of emergency cooling caused an explosion Level 3 at the
Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant, overheating plus radioactivity.

Stuart Arm incorrectly states, 'apart from Chernobyl, no nuclear
workers or members of the public have ever died as a result of
exposure to radiation due to a commercial nuclear reactor incident.'
Among cover ups lethal doses were received workers timed out?
Beware new nuclear flu especially nuclear waste escapes near you?

“Benjamin K. Sovacool has reported that worldwide
there have been 99 accidents at nuclear power plants.

Fifty-seven accidents have occurred since the Chernobyl disaster,
and 57% (56 out of 99) of all nuclear-related accidents have occurred
in the USA. Relatively few accidents involved fatalities.” Statistics?

The “Paul Scherrer Institute found in separate studies that during
the period from 1970 to 1992, there were just 39 on-the-job deaths
of nuclear power plant workers worldwide.” Stuart Arm found none?

Most sources quoted were limited to the “List of civilian nuclear accidents - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” to allow reader ease in data checking.
Copyright © Terence George Craddock
Written in March 2011 on the 18.3.2011. Data check December 2nd 2011.

poem by Terence George Craddock
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Nuclear Is Safe? No They Lied To You; Detailed Data

A list of non classified nuclear disasters
chalk one up for Chalk River Canada
rating 5 a “reactor shutoff rod failure,

combined with several operator errors,
led to a major power excursion of more
than double the reactor's rated output
at AECL's NRX reactor” then a big deal.1952

“A reactor shutoff rod failure, combined
with several operator errors, led to a major
power excursion of more than double the
reactor's rated output at AECL's NRX reactor.

The operators purged the reactor's heavy water
moderator, and the reaction stopped in under
30 seconds. A cover gas system failure led to
hydrogen explosions, which severely damaged

the reactor core. The fission products from
approximately 30 kg of uranium were released
through the reactor stack. Irradiated light-water
coolant leaked from the damaged coolant circuit

into the reactor building; some 4,000 cubic meters
were pumped via pipeline to a disposal area to avoid
contamination of the Ottawa River. Subsequent

monitoring of surrounding water sources revealed
no contamination. No immediate fatalities or injuries
resulted from the incident; a 1982 follow up study
of exposed workers showed no long-term health effects.

Future U.S. President Jimmy Carter, then a Lieutenant
in the US Navy, was among the cleanup crew.”

Entrant two Windscale Pile United Kingdom
rating 5 a “Release of radioactive material to
the environment following a fire in a reactor
core.” Toast a good year for nuclear disasters.1957

graphite core of a British nuclear “[weapons
programme] reactor at Windscale, Cumberland
(now Sellafield, Cumbria) caught fire, releasing
substantial amounts of radioactive contamination
into the surrounding area.” Radioactive fire.

A warm welcome to entrant three. Kyshtym
Russia rating 6 a “Significant release of
radioactive material to the environment
from explosion of a high activity waste tank.” 1957

“The Kyshtym disaster was a radiation
contamination incident that occurred
on 29 September 1957 at Mayak,

a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Russia
(then a part of the Soviet Union) . It measured
as a Level 6 disaster on the International

Nuclear Event Scale, making it the third most
serious nuclear accident ever recorded
(after the Chernobyl disaster, and Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear disaster, both Level 7

on the INES scale) . The cooling system in one
of the tanks containing about 70–80 tons
of liquid radioactive waste failed and was not
repaired. The temperature in it started to rise,

resulting in evaporation and a chemical explosion
of the dried waste, consisting mainly of ammonium
nitrate and acetates (see ammonium nitrate bomb) .

The explosion, estimated to have a force of about
70–100 tons of TNT threw the concrete lid,
weighing 160 tons, into the air. There were no
immediate casualties as a result of the explosion,

which released an estimated 2 to 50 MCi
(74 to 1850 PBq) of radioactivity. In the next
10 to 11 hours, the radioactive cloud moved
towards the northeast, reaching 300–350

kilometers from the accident. The fallout
of the cloud resulted in a long-term
contamination of an area of more than 800

square kilometers, primarily with caesium-137
and strontium-90. This area is usually referred
to as the East-Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT) .”

Please all welcome contestant one back
Chalk River Canada (rating?) “Due to
inadequate cooling a damaged uranium
fuel rod caught fire and was torn in two.” 1958

“Due to inadequate cooling a damaged
uranium fuel rod caught fire and was torn
in two as it was being removed from

the core at the NRU reactor. The fire was
extinguished, but not before radioactive
combustion products contaminated the interior
of the reactor building and, to a lesser degree,

an area surrounding the laboratory site.
Over 600 people were employed in the clean-up.”

Champagne pops cheer another good year
Vinč a Yugoslavia (rating?) “During
a subcritical counting experiment a power
buildup went undetected - six scientists
received high doses.” What detailed detail? 1958

“During a subcritical counting experiment
a power buildup went undetected at the Vinca
Nuclear Institute's zero-power natural uranium

heavy water moderated research reactor. Saturation
of radiation detection chambers gave the researchers
false readings and the level of moderator in the reactor

tank was raised triggering a criticality excursion
which a researcher detected from the smell of ozone.
Six scientists received radiation doses of 2—4 Sv

(200—400 rems) (p.96) . An experimental bone
marrow transplant treatment was performed on all
of them in France and five survived, despite

the ultimate rejection of the marrow in all cases.
A single woman among them later had a child without
apparent complications. This was one of the first
nuclear incidents investigated by then newly-formed IAEA.”

Applause please for our first American entry
Santa Susana Field Laboratory US (rating?)
“Partial core meltdown.” Sounds serious.
Tick one deep operations public cover up.1959

“A partial core meltdown may have taken place
when the Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE)
experienced a power excursion that caused severe

overheating of the reactor core, resulting
in the melting of one-third of the nuclear fuel
and significant releases of radioactive gases.”

Time to take a nice country waltz in a US county
Westinghouse Waltz Mill Westmoreland County
(rating?) a core melt accident in a test reactor? 1960

“one fuel element melted resulting in the disposition
of two million gallons of contaminated water generated
during the accident. At least a portion of the water was

retained on site in lagoons, a condition which eventually
lead to detectable Sr-90 in ground water plus contaminated
soil. The site is currently undergoing cleanup.” Really?

Looks like American is going for a hat trick
Charlestown US (rating?) “Error by a worker
at a United Nuclear Corporation fuel facility
led to an accidental criticality”. Human error? 1964

“An error by a worker at a United Nuclear Corporation
fuel facility led to an accidental criticality. Robert Peabody,
believing he was using a diluted uranium solution, accidentally

put concentrated solution into an agitation tank containing
sodium carbonate. Peabody was exposed to 10,000rad (100Gy)
of radiation and (died two days later) . Ninety minutes after

the criticality, a plant manager and another administrator
returned to the building and were exposed to 100rad (1Gy) ,
but suffered no ill effects.” How long in body is cancer creeping?

Yes score a limelight hat trick for team USA
Monroe US (rating?) “Sodium cooling system
malfunction.” Human error or mechanical?
Again deep cover details lacking team USA.1966

“A sodium cooling system malfunction caused
a partial meltdown at the Enrico Fermi demonstration
nuclear breeder reactor (Enrico Fermi-1 fast breeder
reactor) . The accident was attributed to a zirconium

fragment that obstructed a flow-guide in the sodium
cooling system. Two of the 105 fuel assemblies melted
during the incident, but no contamination was recorded
outside the containment vessel.” Nice demonstration?

Heavy duty classified dudes. (Date? Rating? Location?
Unknown?) Soviet icebreaker ‘Lenin’, “USSR’s first
nuclear-powered surface ship, suffered a major accident

(possibly a meltdown...) in one of its three reactors.
To find the leak the crew broke through the concrete and
steel radiation shield with sledgehammers, causing
irreparable damage. It was rumored that around 30 of the
crew were killed. The ship was abandoned for a year to
allow radiation levels to dropp before the three reactors

were removed, to be dumped into the Tsivolko Fjord on
the Kara Sea, along with 60% of the fuel elements packed
in a separate container.” Soviet widow maker. Winter 1966-1967

“The reactors were replaced with two new ones, and
the ship re-entered service in 1970, serving until 1989.”

Now we return to previous country entrant two.

Dumfries and Galloway, Chapelcross Scotland UK
United Kingdom (rating?) reactor core “Graphite
debris partially blocked a fuel channel causing a
fuel element to melt and catch fire.” Heavy Metal Fire? 1967

Contamination was confined to the Chapelcross
nuclear power station reactor core? Oh happy news.
“The core was repaired and restarted in 1969,
operating until the plant's shutdown in 2004.”

A pleasant skip across to continent Europe
Lucens Switzerland (rating?) a “Total loss
of coolant led to a power excursion and
explosion of experimental reactor.” Bad? 1969

“A total loss of coolant led to a power excursion
and explosion of an experimental nuclear reactor
in a large cave at Lucens. The underground location

of this reactor acted like a containment building
and prevented any outside contamination.
The cavern was heavily contaminated and was sealed.

No injuries or fatalities resulted. (Sure?) De-fuelling
and partial dismantling occurred from 1969 to 1973.
In 1988, the lowest caverns were filled with concrete,
and a regulatory permit was issued in December 1990.

Currently, the archives of the Canton of Vaud
are located in the caverns.” Not open to public viewing.

Future forecast Japan blows three reactors at
Fukushima due to coolant lacking back up power? 2011

Crossing ‘The Wall’ with ease a nuclear breeze
we enter Cold War Griefswald East Germany
rating 3 vodka toast hot partly damaged reactor

Greifswald East Germany (rating?) Foot noted as
“Excessive heating which damaged ten fuel rods” 1989

Reality investigative journalism reveals near core
meltdown, the fifth dangerous incident at the plant.
“Three out of six cooling water pumps were switched
off for a test. A fourth pump broke down and control

of the reactor was lost” accident reportedly attributed
to sticky relay contacts. Sneaky cover up. December 7,1975
main trough fire destroyed current supply control lines
of 5 of 6 main coolant pumps, rating 4, declassified 1989

“Operators disabled three of six cooling pumps'
electrical supply circuits to test emergency
shutoffs. Instead of the expected automatic
shutdown, a fourth pump failed causing
excessive heating which damaged ten fuel rods.

The accident was attributed to sticky relay
contacts and generally poor construction
in the Soviet-built reactor.” Welcome in.1975

A quick visit to a former Soviet satellite state
rating 4 Jaslovské Bohunice Czechoslovakia
“Damaged fuel integrity, extensive corrosion
damage of fuel cladding... release of radioactivity.” 1977

“Operators neglected to remove moisture-absorbing
materials from a fuel rod assembly before loading
it into the KS 150 reactor at power plant A-1.” Oops.

“The accident resulted in damaged fuel integrity,
extensive corrosion damage of fuel cladding
and release of radioactivity into the plant area.
The affected reactor was decommissioned following
this accident.” An irreparable damage wise decision.

A chance to remember a really famous blow out
Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania US
rating 5 Three Mile Island US “Severe damage to
the reactor core.” A cooling system meltdown.1979

“Equipment failures and worker mistakes contributed
to a loss of coolant and a partial core meltdown
at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station

15 km (9.3 mi) southeast of Harrisburg. While the reactor
was extensively damaged, on-site radiation exposure
was under 100 millirems (less than annual exposure due
to natural sources) . Area residents received a smaller

exposure of 1 millirem (10 µSv) , or about 1/3 the dose
from eating a banana per day for one year. There were
no fatalities. Follow-up radiological studies predict
between zero and one long-term cancer fatality.” It was worse!

Let us adjourn sip wine in Orléans near gay Paris
rating 4 Saint Laurent des Eaux France. “Melting
of one channel of fuel in the reactor with no release
outside the site.” Nicely swept under the mat.1980

“A brief power excursion in Reactor A2 led to a rupture
of fuel bundles and a minor release (8 x 1010 Bq) of nuclear
materials at the Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant.

The reactor was repaired and continued operation
until its decommissioning in 1992.” No health risk to you?

A new island entrant extreme earthquake risk Japan
rating 2 Tsuraga Japan “100 workers were exposed
to doses of up to 155 millirem per day radiation.” 1981
Wow this was a honeymoon warning not heeded?

“More than 100 workers were exposed to doses
of up to 155 millirem per day radiation during repairs
of the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant, violating

the Japan Atomic Power Company's limit of 100
millirems (1 mSv) per day.” Wow radioactive materials
were released into Sea of Japan? Workers radiated?
This foreshadows Japanese 2011 hot radiation remix.

Ontario New York (rating?) “A steam pipe burst at
the Ginna Nuclear Generating Station, resulting in a
loss of coolant and gasses were intentionally vented
to the atmosphere to reduce risks of explosion.” 1982

Japan attempted this procedure blow it three times.2011

Buenos Aires Argentina rating 4 “An operator error
during a fuel plate reconfiguration in an experimental
test reactor led to an excursion... operator absorbed
2000 rad (20 Gy) of gamma and 1700 rad (17 Gy) of
neutron radiation which killed him two days later.” 1983

“An operator error during a fuel plate reconfiguration
in an experimental test reactor led to an excursion
of 3×1017 fissions at the RA-2 facility. The operator

absorbed 2000 rad (20 Gy) of gamma and 1700 rad
(17 Gy) of neutron radiation which killed him two days
later. Another 17 people outside of the reactor room
absorbed doses ranging from 35 rad (0.35 Gy) to less
than 1 rad (0.01 Gy) .” Worker death not case hidden.

Chernobyl Ukraine (USSR) rating 7 “Widespread
health and environmental effects. External release
of a significant fraction of reactor core inventory.” 1986

So brief? Someone really hid scary data on this mega
disaster. Power excursion, explosion, complete meltdown.
Fifty fatalities initially reported mostly cleanup personnel.

explosion combustion of graphite reactor core spread
radioactive material across Europe. “100,000 people
were evacuated from the areas immediately surrounding
Chernobyl in addition to 300,000 from the areas of heavy
fallout in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia” still radiating.

“An 'Exclusion Zone' was created surrounding the site
encompassing approximately 1,000 mi² (3,000 km²) ”
and deemed off-limits for human habitation... studies
by governments, UN agencies and environmental groups
have estimated the consequences and eventual number
of casualties. Their findings are subject to controversy.”

Why because the estimated kill list topped over a million!
This was a power excursion explosion, complete meltdown!
Chernobyl still stealth killing chilling data not funny haha!

“An inadequate reactor safety system led to an uncontrolled
power excursion, causing a severe steam explosion, meltdown
and release of radioactive material at the Chernobyl nuclear

power plant located approximately 100 kilometers
north-northwest of Kiev. Approximately fifty fatalities
(mostly cleanup personnel) resulted from the accident

and the immediate aftermath. An additional nine fatal
cases of thyroid cancer in children in the Chernobyl
area have been attributed to the accident. The explosion

and combustion of the graphite reactor core spread
radioactive material over much of Europe.” Mass cover up!

Let us now speed through so many more to do?
Hamm-Uentrop Germany (rating?) “Spherical
fuel pebble became lodged in the pipe used to
deliver fuel elements to the reactor.” Sparks? 1986
Not the Flintstones ‘Bamm-Bamm’ Bam it’s dangerous.

“A spherical fuel pebble became lodged in the pipe used
to deliver fuel elements to the reactor at an experimental
300-megawatt THTR-300 HTGR. Attempts by an operator

to dislodge the fuel pebble damaged its cladding, releasing
radiation detectable up to two kilometers from the reactor.”

Vandellos Spain rating 3 “Near accident caused by fire
resulting in loss of safety systems at the nuclear power
station” meant rain in Spain could radiate the plain.1989

Less detail given but commonality is disaster obvious.
Cadarache France rating 2 “Spread of contamination
to an area not expected by design” proves design error.1993

Back in the US, back in the US, USSR another disaster?
Tomsk Russia rating 4 “Pressure buildup led to an
explosive mechanical failure” another Soviet oops.1993

Yes big time. “The accident exposed 160 on-site
workers and almost two thousand cleanup workers
to total doses of up to 50 mSv (the threshold limit
for radiation workers is 100 mSv per 5 years) . Nasty.

“A pressure buildup led to an explosive mechanical
failure in a 34 cubic meter stainless steel reaction vessel
buried in a concrete bunker under building 201 of the

radiochemical works at the Tomsk-7 Siberian Chemical
Enterprise plutonium reprocessing facility. The vessel
contained a mixture of concentrated nitric acid, uranium
(8757 kg) , plutonium (449 g) along with a mixture of

radioactive and organic waste from a prior extraction cycle.
The explosion dislodged the concrete lid of the bunker
and blew a large hole in the roof of the building, releasing
approximately 6 GBq of Pu 239 and 30 TBq of various

other radionuclides into the environment. The contamination
plume extended 28 km NE of building 201,20 km beyond
the facility property. The small village of Georgievka (pop.200)

was at the end of the fallout plume, but no fatalities,
illnesses or injuries were reported. The accident exposed
160 on-site workers and almost two thousand cleanup
workers to total doses of up to 50 mSv (the threshold
limit for radiation workers is 100 mSv per 5 years) .”

Oh dear another bad disaster ridden radiated year
Ishikawa Prefecture Japan rating 2 “Control rod malfunction”.1999
No! Want accurate gossip on this shameful cover up?

“Operators attempting to inser one control rod during
an inspection neglected procedure and instead withdrew
three causing a 15 minute uncontrolled sustained reaction

at the number 1 reactor of Shika Nuclear Power Plant. The
Hokuriku Electric Company who owned the reactor did not
report this incident and falsified records, covering it up until...2007.”

Oh dear really naughty Japan needs a new safe nuclear plan?
Ibaraki Prefecture Japan rating 4 “An accidental critality”
Old inadequately training, cost cutting part-time, workers trick?
Tokaimura “Fatal over exposures of workers
following a criticality event at a nuclear facility”.1999

“Inadequately trained part-time workers prepared
a uranyl nitrate solution containing about 16.6 kg
of uranium, which exceeded the critical mass, into

a precipitation tank at a uranium reprocessing
facility in Tokai-mura northeast of Tokyo, Japan.
The tank was not designed to dissolve this type

of solution and was not configured to prevent
eventual criticality. Three workers were exposed
to (neutron) radiation doses in excess of allowable

limits. Two of these workers died.116 other workers
received lesser doses of 1 mSv or greater though not
in excess of the allowable limit.” Cost cutting measures?

“Twelve hours after the start of the incident residents
within 10 km were asked to stay indoors”.
Another better late than never scenario; to be reused.

Ikitelli Turkey rating 3 “Loss of a highly radioactive
Co-60 source” “combined with several operator errors,
led to a major power excursion of more than double
the reactor's output” surge juicing up the power grid.1999

Yanangio Peru rating 3 “Incident with radiography
source resulting in severe radiation burns” smarting.1999

Welcome to heralded high tech twenty first century?
Authorities have finally implemented adequate nuclear
fool proof safety procedures right? Wrong. So Sorry.

Paks Hungary rating 3 “Partially spent fuel rods
undergoing cleaning in a tank of heavy water
ruptured and spilled fuel pellets” ruptured scary.2003

Paks Nuclear Power Plant. “It is suspected that inadequate
cooling of the rods during the cleaning process combined
with a sudden influx of cold water thermally shocked fuel

rods causing them to split. Boric acid was added to the tank
to prevent the loose fuel pellets from achieving criticality.
Ammonia and hydrazine were also added to absorb iodine-131.”

Sellafield England UK rating 3 ”Release of large quantity of
radioactive material, contained within the installation”.2005

“20 metric tons of uranium and 160 kilograms of plutonium
dissolved in 83,000 litres of nitric acid leaked over several
months from a cracked pipe into a stainless steel sump chamber

at the Thorp nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. The partially
processed spent fuel was drained into holding tanks outside
the plant.” Adds extra colour to the neighbourhood. Creepy.

Braidwood Illinois USA (rating?) a nuclear material
leak. “Tritium contamination of groundwater was
discovered at Exelon's Braidwood station.” How much? 2005

“Tritium contamination of groundwater was discovered
at Exelon's Braidwood station. Groundwater off site remains
within safe drinking standards though the NRC is requiring
the plant to correct any problems related to the release.”
Always within safe levels later but locals start dying like flies?

Atucha Argentina rating 2 “Overexposure of a worker
at a power reactor exceeding the annual limit” 2005

Erwin Tennessee USA rating 2 “Thirty-five litres
of a highly enriched uranium solution leaked during
transfer into a lab at Nuclear Fuel Services Erwin Plant.

The incident caused a seven-month shutdown. A required
public hearing on the licensing of the plant was not held
due to the absence of public notification.” Naughty.2006

Forsmark Sweden rating 2 “Degraded safety functions
for common cause failure in the emergency power
supply system at nuclear power plant”. Maintenance? 2006

Fleurus Belgium rating 4 “Severe health effects for a
worker at a commercial irradiation facility as a result
of high doses of radiation” Human mechanical error? 2006

Onagawa Japan “Reactor shutdown after the 2011
Sendai earthquake and tsunami caused a fire”. 2011
Miyagi earthquake produced vibrations above plant design 2005

Results. Unit 1 was shut down due to test results. November 2006
Unit 2 confirmed pipe leak due to debris damage. May 2006
Pressure control difficulties prompted further inspections. June 2006

METI and Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency determined
plant's performance was not satisfactory. July 2006

Unit 3 pipe integrity concerns reactor was shut down. July 2006
Reactor repaired restarted. Tō hoku earthquake. November 2006
Damaged turbines a fire broke out; plant shut down. March 2011

Fukushima Japan (rating?) after early trickie dickie lie reports
rating 5 (later updated when data could no longer be hidden) rating 7
Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, Japan had partial meltdowns in
multiple reactors, emergency power failure,3 hydrogen explosions?

“After the 2011 Tō hoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11,
the emergency power supply of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear
power plant failed. This was followed by deliberate releases

of radioactive gas from reactors 1 and 2 to relieve pressure. On
March 12, triggered by falling water levels, a hydrogen explosion
occurred at reactor 1, resulting in the collapse of the concrete outer

structure. Although the reactor containment itself was confirmed
to be intact, the hourly radiation from the plant reached 1,015
microsievert (0.1015 rem) - an amount equivalent to that allowable

for ordinary people in one year.' Residents of the Fukushima area
were advised to stay inside, close doors and windows, turn off
air conditioning, and to cover their mouths with masks, towels or
handkerchiefs as well as not to drink tap water. By the evening of

March 12, the exclusion zone had been extended to 20 kilometres
(12 mi) around the plant and 70,000 to 80,000 people had been
evacuated from homes in northern Japan. A second, nearly identical
hydrogen explosion occurred in the reactor building for Unit 3 on

March 14, with similar effects. A third explosion in the “pressure
suppression room” of Unit 2 initially was said not to have breached
the reactor’s inner steel containment vessel, but later reports indicated
that the explosion damaged the steel containment structure of Unit 2
and much larger releases of radiation were expected than previously.

Disposed rods of reactor Unit 4 were stored outside the reactor
in a separate pool which ran dry, yielding fire and risk of serious
contamination.” Danger posed a severe risk outbreak nuclear flu.

“Staff was brought down from 800 Fukushima, who have been
named the 'Fukushima 50' by the press. Events are still developing.”

Reactor shutdown after the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami
failure of emergency cooling caused an explosion Level 3 at the
Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant, overheating plus radioactivity

“After the 2011 Tō hoku earthquake and tsunami of March 11,
the cooling systems for three reactors (numbers 1,2 and 4) of
the Fukushima-Daini nuclear power plant were compromised

due to damage from the tsunami. Nuclear Engineering International
reported that all four units were successfully automatically shut
down, but emergency diesel generators at the site were Damaged

by the 9.2 magnitude earthquake People were evacuated around
10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the plant. An evacuation order
was issued, because of possible radioactive contamination.”

Stuart Arm incorrectly states, 'apart from Chernobyl, no nuclear
workers or members of the public have ever died as a result of
exposure to radiation due to a commercial nuclear reactor incident.'
Among cover ups lethal doses were received workers timed out.
Beware new nuclear flu especially nuclear waste escapes near you.

“Benjamin K. Sovacool has reported that worldwide
there have been 99 accidents at nuclear power plants.

Fifty-seven accidents have occurred since the Chernobyl disaster,
and 57% (56 out of 99) of all nuclear-related accidents have occurred
in the USA. Relatively few accidents involved fatalities.” Statistics?

The “Paul Scherrer Institute found in separate studies that during
the period from 1970 to 1992, there were just 39 on-the-job deaths
of nuclear power plant workers worldwide.” Stuart Arm found none?

Most sources quoted were limited to the “List of civilian nuclear accidents - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia” to allow reader ease in data checking.
Copyright © Terence George Craddock
Written in March 2011 on the 18.3.2011. Data check December 2nd 2011.

poem by Terence George Craddock
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Mazeppa

'Twas after dread Pultowa's day,
When fortune left the royal Swede--
Around a slaughtered army lay,
No more to combat and to bleed.
The power and glory of the war,
Faithless as their vain votaries, men,
Had passed to the triumphant Czar,
And Moscow’s walls were safe again--
Until a day more dark and drear,
And a more memorable year,
Should give to slaughter and to shame
A mightier host and haughtier name;
A greater wreck, a deeper fall,
A shock to one--a thunderbolt to all.

II.
Such was the hazard Of the die;
The wounded Charles was taught to fly
By day and night through field and flood,
Stained with his own and subjects' blood;
For thousands fell that flight to aid:
And not a voice was heard to upbraid
Ambition in his humbled hour,
When truth had nought to dread from power,
His horse was slain, and Gieta gave
His own--and died the Russians’ slave.
This too sinks after many a league
Of well sustained, but vain fatigue;
And in the depth of forests darkling,
The watch-fires in the distance sparkling--
The beacons of surrounding foes--
A king must lay his limbs at length.
Are these the laurels and repose
For which the nations strain their strength?
They laid him by a savage tree,
In outworn nature’s agony;
His wounds were stiff, his limbs were stark,
The heavy hour was chill and dark;
The fever in his blood forbade
A transient slumber's fitful aid:
And thus it was; but yet through all,
Kinglike the monarch bore his fall,
And made, in this extreme of ill,
His pangs the vassals of his will:
All silent and subdued were they,
As owe the nations round him lay.

III.
A band of chiefs!--alas! how few,
Since but the fleeting of a day
Had thinned it; but this wreck was true
And chivalrous: upon the clay
Each sate him down, all sad and mute,
Beside his monarch and his steed;
For danger levels man and brute,
And all are fellows in their need.
Among the rest, Mazeppa made
His pillow in an old oak's shade--
Himself as rough, and scarce less old,
The Ukraine's hetman, calm and bold:
But first, outspent with this long course,
The Cossack prince rubbed down his horse,
And made for him a leafy bed,
And smoothed his fetlocks and his mane,
And slacked his girth, and stripped his rein,
And joyed to see how well he fed;
For until now he had the dread
His wearied courser might refuse
To browse beneath the midnight dews:
But he was hardy as his lord,
And little cared for bed and board;
But spirited and docile too,
Whate'er was to be done, would do.
Shaggy and swift, and strong of limb,
All Tartar-like he carried him;
Obeyed his voice, and came to call,
And knew him in the midst of all.
Though thousands were around,--and night,
Without a star, pursued her flight,--
That steed from sunset until dawn
His chief would follow like a fawn.

IV.
This done, Mazeppa spread his cloak,
And laid his lance beneath his oak,
Felt if his arms in order good
The long day's march had well withstood--
If still the powder filled the pan,
And flints unloosened kept their lock--
His sabre's hilt and scabbard felt,
And whether they had chafed his belt;
And next the venerable man,
From out his haversack and can,
Prepared and spread his slender stock
And to the monarch and his men
The whole or portion offered then
With far less of inquietude
Than courtiers at a banquet would.
And Charles of this his slender share
With smiles partook a moment there,
To force of cheer a greater show,
And seem above both wounds and woe;-
And then he said -'Of all our band,
Though firm of heart and strong of hand,
In skirmish, march, or forage, none
Can less have said or more have done
Than thee, Mazeppa! On the earth
So fit a pair had never birth,
Since Alexander's days till now,
As thy Bucephalus and thou:
All Scythia's fame to thine should yield
For pricking on o'er flood and field.'
Mazeppa answered--'Ill betide
The school wherein I learned to ride!
Quoth Charles--'Old Hetman, wherefore so,
Since thou hast learned the art so well?
Mazeppa said--'Twere long to tell;
And we have many a league to go,
With every now and then a blow,
And ten to one at least the foe,
Before our steeds may graze at ease,
Beyond the swift Borysthenes:
And, sire, your limbs have need of rest,
And I will be the sentinel
Of this your troop.'--'But I request,'
Said Sweden's monarch, 'thou wilt tell
This tale of thine, and I may reap,
Perchance, from this the boon of sleep;
For at this moment from my eyes
The hope of present slumber flies.'
'Well, sire, with such a hope, I'll track
My seventy years of memory back:
I think 'twas in my twentieth spring,--
Ay, 'twas,--when Casimir was king--
John Casimir,--I was his page
Six summers, in my earlier age:
A learned monarch, faith! was he,
And most unlike your majesty:
He made no wars, and did not gain
New realms to lose them back again;
And (save debates in Warsaw's diet)
He reigned in most unseemly quiet;
Not that he had no cares to vex,
He loved the muses and the sex;
And sometimes these so froward are,
They made him wish himself at war;
But soon his wrath being o'er, he took
Another mistress--or new book;
And then he gave prodigious fetes--
All Warsaw gathered round his gates
To gaze upon his splendid court,
And dames, and chiefs, of princely port.
He was the Polish Solomon,
So sung his poets, all but one,
Who, being unpensioned, made a satire,
And boasted that he could not flatterI
It was a court of jousts and mimes,
Where every courtier tried at rhymes;
Even I for once produced some verses,
And signed my odes 'Despairing Thyrsis.'
There was a certain Palatine,
A Count of far and high descent,
Rich as a salt or silver mine;
And he was proud, ye may divine,
As if from heaven he had been sent:
He had such wealth in blood and ore
As few could match beneath the throne;
And he would gaze upon his store,
And o'er his pedigree would pore,
Until by some confusion led,
Which almost looked like want of head,
He thought their merits were his own.
His wife was not of his opinion;
His junior she by thirty years;
Grew daily tired of his dominion;
And, after wishes, hopes, and fears,
To virtue a few farewell tears,
A restless dream or two, some glances
At Warsaw's youth, some songs, and dances,
Awaited but the usual chances,
Those happy accidents which render
The coldest dames so very tender,
To deck her Count with titles given,
'Tis said, as passports into heaven;
But, strange to say, they rarely boast
Of these, who have deserved them most.

V.
'I was a goodly stripling then;
At seventy years I so may say,
That there were few, or boys or men,
Who, in my dawning time of day,
Of vassal or of knight's degree,
Could vie in vanities with me;
For I had strength, youth, gaiety,
A port, not like to this ye see,
But smooth, as all is rugged now;
For time, and care, and war, have ploughed
My very soul from out my brow;
And thus I should be disavowed
By all my kind and kin, could they
Compare my day and yesterday;
This change was wrought, too, long ere age
Had ta'en my features for his page:
With years, ye know, have not declined
My strength, my courage, or my mind,
Or at this hour I should not be
Telling old tales beneath a tree,
With starless skies my canopy.
But let me on: Theresa's form--
Methinks it glides before me now,
Between me and yon chestnut's bough,
The memory is so quick and warm;
And yet I find no words to tell
The shape of her I loved so well:
She had the Asiatic eye,
Such as our, Turkish neighbourhood,
Hath mingled with our Polish blood,
Dark as above us is the sky;
But through it stole a tender light,
Like the first moonrise of midnight;
Large, dark, and swimming in the stream,
Which seemed to melt to its own beam;
All love, half langour, and half fire,
Like saints that at the stake expire,
And lift their raptured looks on high,
As though it were a joy to die.
A brow like a midsummer lake,
Transparent with the sun therein,
When waves no murmur dare to make,
And heaven beholds her face within.
A cheek and lip--but why proceed?
I loved her then--I love her still;
And such as I am, love indeed
In fierce extremes--in good and ill.
But still we love even in our rage,
And haunted to our very age
With the vain shadow of the past,
As is Mazeppa to the last

VI.
'We met--we gazed--I saw, and sighed,
She did not speak, and yet replied;
There are ten thousand tones and signs
We hear and see, but none defines -
Involuntary sparks of thought,
Which strike from out the heart o’erwrought,
And form a strange intelligence,
Alike mysterious and intense,
Which link the burning chain that binds,
Without their will, young hearts and minds
Conveying, as the electric wire,
We know not how, the absorbing fire.
I saw, and sighed--in silence wept,
And still reluctant distance kept,
Until I was made known to her,
And we might then and there confer
Without suspicion--then, even then,
I longed, and was resolved to speak;
But on my lips they died again,
The accents tremulous and weak,
Until one hour.--There is a game,
A frivolous and foolish play,
Wherewith we while away the day;
It is--I have forgot the name--
And we to this, it seems, were set,
By some strange chance, which I forget:
I reck'd not if I won or lost,
It was enough for me to be
So near to hear, and oh! to see
The being whom I loved the most.--
I watched her as a sentinel,
(May ours this dark night watch as well!)
Until I saw, and thus it was,
That she was pensive, nor perceived
Her occupation, nor was grieved
Nor glad to lose or gain; but still
Played on for hours, as if her win
Yet bound her to the place, though not
That hers might be the winning lot.
Then through my brain the thought did pass
Even as a flash of lightning there,
That there was something in her air
Which would not doom me to despair;
And on the thought my words broke forth,
All incoherent as they were--
Their eloquence was little worth,
But yet she listened--'tis enough--
Who listens once will listen twice;
Her heart, be sure, is not of ice,
And one refusal no rebuff.

VII.
I loved, and was beloved again--
They tell me, Sire, you never knew
Those gentle frailties; if 'tis true,
I shorten all my joy or pain;
To you 'twould seem absurd as vain
But all men are not born to reign,
Or o'er their passions, or as you
Thus o'er themselves and nations too.
I am--or rather was--a prince,
A chief of thousands, and could lead
Them on where each would foremost bleed;
But could not o'er myself evince
The like control--but to resume:
I loved, and was beloved again;
In sooth, it is a happy doom,
But yet where happiest ends in pain.--
We met in secret, and the hour
Which led me to that lady's bower
Was fiery expectation's dower.
My days and nights were nothing--all
Except that hour which doth recall
In the long lapse from youth to age
No other like itself--I'd give
The Ukraine back again to live
It o'er once more--and be a page,
The happy page, who was the lord
Of one soft heart, and his own sword,
And had no other gem nor wealth
Save nature's gift of youth and health.
We met in secret--doubly sweet,
Some say, they find it so to meet;
I know not that--I would have given
My life but to have called her mine
In the full view of earth and heaven;
For I did oft and long repine
That we could only meet by stealth.

VIII.
'For lovers there are many eyes,
And such there were on us; the devil
On such occasions should be civil--
The devil!--I'm loth to do him wrong,
It might be some untoward saint,
Who would not be at rest too long,
But to his pious bile gave vent--
But one fair night, some lurking spies
Surprised and seized us both.
The Count was something more than wroth--
I was unarmed; but if in steel,
All cap from head to heel,
What 'gainst their numbers could I do?
'Twas near his castle, far away
From city or from succour near,
And almost on the break of day;
I did not think to see another,
My moments seemed reduced to few;
And with one prayer to Mary Mother,
And, it may be, a saint or two,
As I resigned me to my fate,
They led me to the castle gate:
Tleresa's doom I never knew,
Our lot was henceforth separate.
An angry man, ye may opine,
Was he, the proud Count Palatine;
And he had reason good to be,
But he was most enraged lest such
An accident should chance to touch
Upon his future pedigree;
Nor less amazed, that such a blot
His noble 'scutcheon should have got,
While he was highest of his line
Because unto himself he seemed
The first of men, nor less he deemed
In others' eyes, and most in mine.
'Sdeath! with a page--perchance a king
Had reconciled him to the thing;
But with a stripling of a page--
I felt--but cannot paint his rage.

IX.
''Bring forth the horse!'--the horse was brought;
In truth, he was a noble steed,
A Tartar of the Ukraine breed,
Who looked as though the speed of thought
Were in his limbs; but he was wild,
Wild as the wild deer, and untaught,
With spur and bridle undefiled--
'Twas but a day he had been caught;
And snorting, with erected mane,
And struggling fiercely, but in vain,
In the full foam of wrath and dread
To me the desert-born was led:
They bound me on, that menial throng,
Upon his back with many a thong;
They loosed him with a sudden lash--
Away!--away!--and on we dash!--
Torrents less rapid and less rash.

X.
'Away!--away!--my breath was gone--
I saw not where he hurried on:
'Twas scarcely yet the break of day,
And on he foamed--away!--away!--
The last of human sounds which rose,
As I was darted from my foes,
Was the wild shout of savage laughter,
Which on the wind came roaring after
A moment from that rabble rout:
With sudden wrath I wrenched my head,
And snapped the cord, which to the mane
Had bound my neck in lieu of rein,
And, writhing half my form about,
Howled back my curse; but 'midst the tread,
The thunder of my courser's speed,
Perchance they did not hear nor heed:
It vexes me--for I would fain
Have paid their insult back again.
I paid it well in after days:
There is not of that castle gate.
Its drawbridge and portcullis' weight,
Stone, bar, moat, bridge, or barrier left;
Nor of its fields a blade of grass,
Save what grows on a ridge of wall,
Where stood the hearth-stone of the hall;
And many a time ye there might pass,
Nor dream that e'er the fortress was.
I saw its turrets in a blaze,
Their crackling battlements all cleft,
And the hot lead pour down like rain
From off the scorched and blackening roof,
Whose thickness was not vengeance-proof.
They little thought that day of pain,
When launched, as on the lightning's flash,
They bade me to destruction dash,
That one day I should come again,
With twice five thousand horse, to thank
The Count for his uncourteous ride.
They played me then a bitter prank,
'When, with the wild horse for my guide,
The bound me to his foaming flank:
At length I played them one as frank--
For time at last sets all things even--
And if we do but watch the hour,
There never yet was human power
Which could evade, if unforgiven,
The patient search and vigil long
Of him who treasures up a wrong.

XI.
'Away, away, my steed and I,
Upon the pinions of the wind.
All human dwellings left behind,
We sped like meteors through the sky,
When with its crackling sound the night
Is chequered with the northern light:
Town--village--none were on our track,
But a wild plain of far extent,
And bounded by a forest black;
And, save the scarce seen battlement
On distant heights of some strong hold,
Against the Tartars built of old,
No trace of man. The year before
A Turkish army had marched o'er;
And where the Spahi's hoof hath trod,
The verdure flies the bloody sod:--
The sky was dull, and dim, and grey,
And a low breeze crept moaning by--
I could have answered with a sigh--
But fast we fled, away, away--
And I could neither sigh nor pray--
And my cold sweat-drops fell like rain
Upon the courser's bristling mane;
But, snorting still with rage and fear,
He flew upon his far career:
At times I almost thought, indeed,
He must have slackened in his speed;
But no--my bound and slender frame
Was nothing to his angry might,
And merely like a spur became:
Each motion which I made to free
My swoln limbs from their agony
Increased his fury and affright:
I tried my voice,--'twas faint and low,
But yet he swerved as from a blow;
And, starting to each accent, sprang
As from a sudden trumpet's clang:
Meantime my cords were wet with gore,
Which, oozing through my limbs, ran o'er;
And in my tongue the thirst became
A something fierier far than flame.

XII.
'We neared the wild wood--'twas so wide,
I saw no bounds on either side;
'Twas studded with old sturdy trees,
That bent not to the roughest breeze
Which howls down from Siberia's waste,
And strips the forest in its haste,--
But these were few and far between,
Set thick with shrubs more young and green,
Luxuriant with their annual leaves,
Ere strown by those autumnal eves
That nip the forest's foliage dead,
Discoloured with a lifeless red,
Which stands thereon like stiffened gore
Upon the slain when battle's o'er,
And some long winter's night hath shed
Its frost o'er every tombless head,
So cold and stark, the raven's beak
May peck unpierced each frozen cheek:
'Twas a wild waste of underwood,
And here and there a chestnut stood,
The strong oak, and the hardy pine;
But far apart--and well it were,
Or else a different lot were mine--
The boughs gave way, and did not tear
My limbs; and I found strength to bear
My wounds, already scarred with cold--
My bonds forbade to loose my hold.
We rustled through the leaves like wind,
Left shrubs, and trees, and wolves behind;
By night I heard them on the track,
Their troop came hard upon our back,
With their long gallop, which can tire
The hound's deep hate, and hunter's fire:
Where'er we flew they followed on,
Nor left us with the morning sun;
Behind I saw them, scarce a rood,
At day-break winding through the wood,
And through the night had heard their feet
Their stealing, rustling step repeat.
Oh! how I wished for spear or sword,
At least to die amidst the horde,
And perish--if it must be so--
At bay, destroying many a foe
When first my courser's race begun,
I wished the goal already won;
But now I doubted strength and speed:
Vain doubt! his swift and savage breed
Had nerved him like the mountain-roe--
Nor faster falls the blinding snow
Which whelms the peasant near the door
Whose threshold he shall cross no more,
Bewildered with the dazzling blast,
Than through the forest-paths--he passed--
Untired, untamed, and worse than wild;
All furious as a favoured child
Balked of its wish; or fiercer still
A woman piqued--who has her will.

XIII.
'The wood was passed; 'twas more than noon,
But chill the air, although in June;
Or it might be my veins ran cold--
Prolonged endurance tames the bold;
And I was then not what I seem,
But headlong as a wintry stream,
And wore my feelings out before
I well could count their causes o'er:
And what with fury, fear, and wrath,
The tortures which beset my path,
Cold, hunger, sorrow, shame, distress,
Thus bound in nature's nakedness;
Sprung from a race whose rising blood
When stirred beyond its calmer mood,
And trodden hard upon, is like
The rattle-snake's, in act to strike--
What marvel if this worn-out trunk
Beneath its woes a moment sunk?
The earth gave way, the skies rolled round,
I seemed to sink upon the ground;
But erred, for I was fastly bound.
My heart turned sick, my brain grew sore,
And throbbed awhile, then beat no more:
The skies spun like a mighty wheel;
I saw the trees like drunkards reel,
And a slight flash sprang o'er my eyes,
Which saw no farther. He who dies
Can die no more than then I died;
O’ertortured by that ghastly ride.
I felt the blackness come and go,
And strove to wake; but could not make
My senses climb up from below:
I felt as on a plank at sea,
When all the waves that dash o'er thee,
At the same time upheave and whelm,
And hurl thee towards a desert realm.
My undulating life was as
The fancied lights that flitting pass
Our shut eyes in deep midnight, when
Fever begins upon the brain;
But soon it passed, with little pain,
But a confusion worse than such:
I own that I should deem it much,
Dying, to feel the same again;
And yet I do suppose we must
Feel far more ere we turn to dust:
No matter; I have bared my brow
Full in Death's face--before--and now.

XIV.
'My thoughts came back; where was I? Cold,
And numb, and giddy: pulse by pulse
Life reassumed its lingering hold,
And throb by throb--till grown a pang;
Which for a moment would convulse,
My blood reflowed, though thick and chill;
My ear with uncouth noises rang,
My heart began once more to thrill;
My sight returned, though dim; alas!
And thickened, as it were, with glass.
Methought the dash of waves was nigh.,
There was a gleam too of the sky
Studded with stars;--it is no dream;
The wild horse swims the wilder stream!
The bright broad river's gushing tide
Sweeps, winding onward, far and wide,
And we are half-way, struggling o'er
To yon unknown and silent shore.
The waters broke my hollow trance,
And with a temporary strength
My stiffened limbs were rebaptized.
My courser's broad breast proudly braves,
And dashes off the ascending waves,
And onward we advance
We reach the slippery shore at length,
A haven I but little prized,
For all behind was dark and drear
And all before was night and fear.
How many hours of night or day
In those suspended pangs I lay,
I could not tell; I scarcely knew
If this were human breath I drew.

XV.
'With glossy skin, and dripping mane,
And reeling limbs, and reeking flank,
The wild steed's sinewy nerves still strain
Up the repelling bank.
We gain the top. a boundless plain
Spreads through the shadow of the night,
And onward, onward, onward, seems,
Like precipices in our dreams,
To stretch beyond the sight;
And here and there a speck of white,
Or scattered spot of dusky green,
In masses broke into the light,
As rose the moon upon my right:
But nought distinctly seen
In the dim waste would indicate
The omen of a cottage gate;
No twinkling taper from afar
Stood like a hospitable star;'
Not even an ignis-fatuus rose
To make him merry with my woes:
That very cheat had cheered me then!
Although detected, welcome still,
Reminding me, through every ill,
Of the abodes of men.

XVI.
'Onward we went--but slack and slow
His savage force at length o'erspent,
The drooping courser, faint and low,
All feebly foaming went.
A sickly infant had had power
To guide him forward in that hour!
But, useless all to me,
His new-born tameness nought availed--
My limbs were bound; my force had failed,
Perchance, had they been free.
With feeble effort still I tried
To rend the bonds so starkly tied,
But still it was in vain;
My limbs were only wrung the more,
And soon the idle strife gave o'er,
Which but prolonged their pain:
The dizzy race seemed almost done,
Although no goal was nearly won.
Some streaks announced the coming sun--
How slow, alas! he came!
Methought that mist of dawning grey
Would never dapple into day;
How heavily it rolled away--
Before the eastern flame
Rose crimson, and deposed the stars,
And called the radiance from their cars,
And filled the earth, from his deep throne,
With lonely lustre, all his own.

XVII.
'Up rose the sun; the mists were curled
Back from the solitary world
Which lay around--behind--before;
What booted it to traverse o'er
Plain, forest, river? Man nor brute,
Nor dint of hoof, nor print of foot,
Lay in the wild luxuriant soil;
No sign of travel--none of toll;
The very air was mute:
And not an insect's shrill small horn,
Nor matin bird's new voice was borne
From herb nor thicket. Many a werst,
Panting as if his heart would burst,
The weary brute still staggered on;
And still we were--or seemed--alone:
At length, while reeling on our way,
Methought I heard a courser neigh,
From out yon tuft of blackening firs.
Is it the wind those branches stirs?
No, no! from out the forest prance
A trampling troop; I see them come I
In one vast squadron they advance!
I strove to cry--my lips were dumb.
The steeds rush on in plunging pride;
But where are they the reins to guide?
A thousand horse--and none to ride!
With flowing tail, and flying mane,
Wide nostrils never stretched by pain,
Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein,
And feet that iron never shod,
And flanks unscarred by spur or rod,
A thousand horse, the wild, the free,
Like waves that follow o'er the sea,
Came thickly thundering on,
As if our faint approach to meet;
The sight re-nerved my courser's feet,
A moment staggering, feebly fleet,
A moment, with a faint low neigh,
He answered, and then fell!
With gasps and glazing eyes he lay,
And reeking limbs immoveable,
His first and last career is done!
On came the troop--they saw him stoop,
They saw me strangely bound along
His back with many a bloody thong.
They stop--they start--they snuff the air,
Gallop a moment here and there,
Approach, retire, wheel round and round,
Then plunging back with sudden bound,
Headed by one black mighty steed,
Who seemed the patriarch of his breed,
Without a single speck or hair
Of white upon his shaggy hide;
They snort--they foam--neigh--swerve aside,
And backward to the forest fly,
By instinct, from a human eye.
They left me there to my despair,
Linked to the dead and stiffening wretch,
Whose lifeless limbs beneath me stretch,
Relieved from that unwonted weight,
From whence I could not extricate
Nor him nor me--and there we lay
The dying on the dead!
I little deemed another day
Would see my houseless, helpless head.
And there from morn till twilight bound,
I felt the heavy hours toll round,
With just enough of life to see
My last of suns go down on me,
In hopeless certainty of mind,
That makes us feel at length resigned
To that which our foreboding years
Presents the worst and last of fears
Inevitable--even a boon,
Nor more unkind for coming soon,
Yet shunned and dreaded with such care,
As if it only were a snare
That prudence might escape:
At times both wished for and implored,
At times sought with self-pointed sword,
Yet still a dark and hideous close
To even intolerable woes,
And welcome in no shape.
And, strange to say, the sons of pleasure,
They who have revelled beyond measure
In beauty, wassail, wine, and treasure,
Die calm, or calmer, oft than he
Whose heritage was misery.
For he who hath in turn run through
All that was beautiful and new,
Hath nought to hope, and nought to leave;
And, save the future, (which is viewed
Not quite as men are base or good,
But as their nerves may be endued,)
With nought perhaps to grieve:
The wretch still hopes his woes must end,
And death, whom he should deem his friend,
Appears, to his distempered eyes,
Arrived to rob him of his prize,
The tree of his new Paradise.
Tomorrow would have given him all,
Repaid his pangs, repaired his fall;
Tomorrow would have been the first
Of days no more deplored or curst,
But bright, and long, and beckoning years,
Seen dazzling through the mist of tears,
Guerdon of many a painful hour;
Tomorrow would have given him power
To rule, to shine, to smite, to save--
And must it dawn upon his grave?

XVIII.
'The sun was sinking--still I lay
Chained to the chill and stiffening steed,
I thought to mingle there our clay;
And my dim eyes of death had need,
No hope arose of being freed.
I cast my last looks up the sky,
And there between me and the sun
I saw the expecting raven fly,
Who scarce would wait till both should die,
Ere his repast begun;
He flew, and perched, then flew once more,
And each time nearer than before;
I saw his wing through twilight flit,
And once so near me he alit
I could have smote, but lacked the strength;
But the slight motion of my hand,
And feeble scratching of the sand,
The exerted throat's faint struggling noise,
Which scarcely could be called a voice,
Together scared him off at length.
I know no more--my latest dream
Is something of a lovely star
Which fixed my dull eyes from afar,
And went and came with wandering beam,
And of the cold, dull, swimming, dense,
Sensation of recurring sense,
And then subsiding back to death,
And then again a little breath,
A little thrill, a short suspense,
An icy sickness curdling o'er
My heart, and sparks that crossed my brain
A gasp, a throb, a start of pain,
A sigh, and nothing more.

XIX.
'I woke--where was I?--Do I see
A human face look down on me?
And doth a roof above me close?
Do these limbs on a couch repose?
Is this a chamber where I lie
And is it mortal yon bright eye,
That watches me with gentle glance?
I closed my own again once more,
As doubtful that the former trance
Could not as yet be o'er.
A slender girl, long-haired, and tall,
Sate watching by the cottage wall.
The sparkle of her eye I caught
Even with my first return of thought;
For ever and anon she threw
A prying, pitying glance on me
With her black eyes so wild and free:
I gazed, and gazed, until I knew
No vision it could be,--
But that I lived, and was released
From adding to the vulture's feast:
And when the Cossack maid beheld
My heavy eyes at length unsealed,
She smiled--and I essayed to speak,
But failed--and she approached, and made
With lip and finger signs that said,
I must not strive as yet to break
The silence, till my strength should be
Enough to leave my accents free;
And then her hand on mine she laid,
And smoothed the pillow for my head,
And stole along on tiptoe tread,
And gently oped the door, and spake
In whispers--ne'er was voice so sweet!
Even music followed her light feet.
But those she called were not awake,
And she went forth; but, ere she passed,
Another look on me she cast,
Another sign she made, to say,
That I had nought to fear, that all
Were near, at my command or call,
And she would not delay
Her due return:--while she was gone,
Methought I felt too much alone.
'She came with mother and with sire--
What need of more?--I will not tire
With long recital of the rest,
Since I became the Cossack's guest.
They found me senseless on the plain.
They bore me to the nearest hut,
They brought me into life again
Me--one day o'er their realm to reign!
Thus the vain fool who strove to glut
His rage, refining on my pain,
Sent me forth to the wilderness,
Bound, naked, bleeding, and alone,
To pass the desert to a throne,--
What mortal his own doom may guess?
Let none despond, let none despair!
Tomorrow the Borysthenes
May see our coursers graze at ease
Upon his Turkish bank,--and never
Had I such welcome for a river
As I shall yield when safely there.
Comrades good night!'--The Hetman threw
His length beneath the oak-tree shade,
With leafy couch already made,
A bed nor comfortless nor new
To him, who took his rest whene'er
The hour arrived, no matter where:
His eyes the hastening slumbers steep.
And if ye marvel Charles forgot
To thank his tale, he wondered not,--
The king had been an hour asleep.

poem by Byron
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The long-lived K meson was discovered at Brookhaven.

quote by James Cronin
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

It was just an accident; I was never going to come out here.

quote by Dick Van Patten
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Before printing was discovered, a century was equal to a thousand years.

quote by Henry David Thoreau
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

I played a scene at the end of my first year, and that's how I was discovered.

quote by Olivier Martinez
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.

quote by Betty Grable
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

When the violation of parity was discovered I began a series of electronic experiments to investigate parity violation in hyperon decays.

quote by James Cronin
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The invention of basketball was not an accident. It was developed to meet a need. Those boys simply would not play 'Drop the Handkerchief.'

quote by James Naismith
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

I started in 1946 in radio. I was ten years old. I was discovered singing in a school play. Someone was in the audience and it's six degrees of separation.

quote by Hector Elizondo
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Sad (but True)

a poet in residence
published his last book
in 1982

his body was discovered
several weeks later

at 49
it was found next to a bottle
of gin and a
.44 caliber gun

poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Mammograms are really sort of a gift. You can either catch something early or count your lucky stars because nothing was discovered. Either way, you're ahead of the game.

quote by Charlotte Ross
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

We have no general conceptual thrust for the band, other than trying to make music that keeps our interest. When things are novel, they are probably things we have discovered by accident or investigation rather than by design.

quote by Steve Albini
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The case of Iran, a nuclear program that the Iranians admit was 18 years on, that we underestimated. And, in fact, we didn't discover it. It was discovered by a group of Iranian dissidents outside the country who pointed the international community at the location.

quote by David Kay
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

I Know Me

It was a freak accident of epithelium
under anaesthesia.
You place a window
on to a hollow brain.

The money makes the monkey out of you.
A green light
blocks the fish, your memory,
to swim in black thoughts.

The yellow rose burns
in your hand. It was beginning of
a domestic race. The nightmares will
take care of the sleep.

poem by Satish Verma
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Cookie Cutter Shudders

The cookie cutter shudders.
Quivering in disbelief,
The taste of cookies prepared...
No longer meets the satisfaction,
Of those seeking originality.
An ingredient wished is missed.

That shake and bake appeal,
Has lost its zest and zeal.
People of substance hunger for it.
And the cookie cutter shudders.
Since a recipe used,
Was discovered to be illegitimate.

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!