REVIEWSCompass Series
From four points of the compass come poems about historical figures…
COMPASS POINTS
The number of points may be only the 4 cardinal directions, or the 8 principal points adding the inter-cardinal (or ordinal) directions NE, SE, SW, and NW. Further intermediate points are added to give the sixteen points of a wind compass. Finally, at the most complete, are found the full thirty-two points of the mariner's compass.
Eleanor of Aquitaine 1122-1204:
Queen of France, wife of Louis VII, Queen of England, wife of Henry II, mother of Richard I, the Lionhearted and King John of the Magna Carta, went on the Second
Crusade.
Genghis Khan 1162-1227:
Conquered and maintained the Mongol Empire, largest in the world until the British Empire.
La Malinche 1496-1529:
Nahua guide and lover of Hernan Cortez
Tycho Brahe 1546-1601:
Danish astronomer to the Court of Denmark, mentor to Kepler, inventor of many astro-instruments still used.
COMPASS ROSE
A compass showing eight points, N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW May also be called a Windrose, although that is generally a compass of 16 points.
Sacajewia 1788-1813:
(Some accounts have her living to an old age.)
Shoshone guide and interpreter for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Alexander Selkirk 1676-1721:
British seafarer and raider for the Queen, he was the model for Robinson Crusoe.
Maria Rasputin 1899-1977:
Daughter of the Tzarina’s health advisor and mystic, Grigori Rasputin
Hiram Bingham III 1875-1956:
Academic, politician, explorer of Machu Picchu, Peru and many other locals.
TRUE NORTH
True North is the direction along the earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole. True geodetic north differs from magnetic north (the direction toward which a compass points). True north is marked in the skies by the north celestial pole or Polaris.
Matthew Henson 1866-1955:
Companion and explorer. With Robert E. Peary, he went on many expeditions and together they were the first to stand on the North Pole.
Xanthippe 4th–5th BCE:
Wife of Socrates. (see New Poems for this poem)
George Armstrong Custer 1839-1872:
United States Army office and cavalry commander in the Civil War and the Indian Wars. Killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
Ono no Komachi c. 825- c. 900
Japanese poet, one of the Rokkasen - the six best Waka poets of the Heian Court. Her name, even today, is a synonym for feminine beauty.
WIND ROSE
The fourth and final of the Compass books series. This one has persona poems by:
Charlotte Parkhurst, One-Eyed Charley 1812-1879:
One of the most famous stagecoach drivers of the ‘wild west’. Upon death skills with large teams.
Hans Christian Anderson 1805-1875:
Prolific Danish writer of plays, novels, poems, travelogs and especially fairy tales.
Mei-ling Soong, Madame Chang Kai Shek 1898-2003:
One of the three famous Soong daughters she married the Generalissimo and together they ruled China.
Denys George Finch Hatton, Honorable 1887-1931:
Charismatic big game hunter and explorer especially in British East Africa.