Sometimes library patrons come in and have this conversation with me:
Special Patron: I got this book from the library about 10 years ago and I don't remember the author or the title, but it was yellow. Can you help me find it?
MBC: (Because I am a librarian) Sure. What was it about?
Special Patron: I don't know, but the cover was yellow and it was hardback and it was probably about 300 pages. I think it was fiction and there was a cat in it. But it might have been non-fiction. And maybe it was a tiger, not a cat.
MBC: (In head) Okay, CrazyPants, I can't help you unless you help me by providing some actual information.
Except there are times when my library magic kicks in and I actually know exactly what the patrons are talking about from their vague descriptions. "A silver young adult book? Artemis Fowl." Which is all to say that I'm looking for a poem. It's by John Donne and I think part of it was quoted in a Dorothy Sayres book once and there's a really nice line about love in it and beyond that I can't remember any pertinent details or words. I'll give you a million dollars if you can find it for me.
5 comments:
I. Am. A. Genius. Approximately one nanosecond after posting this I found the poem. It's "Love's Growth." I don't really like Donne, but I think the line "Methinks I lied all winter, when I swore / My love was infinite, if spring make it more" is great.
So now I won't give you a million dollars, but if you'd like to jump in with some of your favorite poems here, that would be great too.
Too bad. I was going to put in a link to "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" since that would have been my guess. Glad you found it....
I think of all the metaphysical poets, I like Donne best, but, yeah... he's still a metaphysical poet.
i took a whole class about john donne and his posse. good man.
It's great that you found that! Awesome.
I love library magic moments. I've discovered that library magic is much less likely to happen when I'm in a bad mood, or when the patron rubs me the wrong way, or when I'm tired and/or hungry.
The problem with crazy-pants requests is that they ALWAYS give you at least some false information—like, it turns out the cover was really red, and it was lion, not a tiger or cat. It's like when you have a word on the tip of your tongue, and you KNOW it starts with a Q. Except when you finally remember it (in the middle of the night, two days later), it turns out it you were searching for the word "perquisite" all along. Which does not start with Q.
Alyssa--Would have been a good guess.
Rebekah--Voluntarily?
Jer--I was just talking to a co-worker the other day about what a fantastic librarian I am when I'm in a good mood and what a lousy one I am when I'm not. I feel a bad for the patrons who catch me on a bad day. Kind of.
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