REHupa

noun

1. The wing of a bird, specifically the outer rear edge of the wing of a bird containing the primary feathers section 

[origin: 15th century; Middle English, probably modification of Anglo-French empignon, enpenoun flight feathers, ultimately from Vulgar Latin pinnion-, pinnio, from Latin pinna feather]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

A roar of battle thundered in the hills;
All day our iron blades drank deep in blood;
Till lighted with the flame the sunset spills
We saw against our backs the river’s flood.
Among its rocks the waters screamed and raced;
We had our choice, we wild rebellious slaves,
To die beneath the horrors that we faced
Or die amid the horror of the waves.
Aye, we were men who gathered at the marge,
And spear and insult at our foemen hurled—
They were not men who gathered for the charge,
But demons of a blood-black elder world.
…
Aye, breast to breast that final charge we met,
And blind with blood and slaughter, smote and slew;
Our broken swords were ghastly red and wet,
But still the bat-like pinions beat and flew,
And fearful talons dragged us to our doom,
And fiendish eyes flamed through the deepening gloom.
Still in the west there burned a fading flame,
When I rose reeling in a field of red,
And searching for our warrior king I came
And found him dead upon a heap of dead.
Demon and man, they silent lay, and still;
With cloven skull, rent heart and torn breast.
And now the moon was rising on the hill,
And now the light was dying in the west.
Aye, I alone of all that mighty horde
Still held my life; into a rough rude ring
I bent with waning strength a broken sword,
A diadem to crown a warrior king.
And on his red brow set the bloody crown,
Then Life gave up the ghost as night came down.

[from “A Crown for a King”; to read the complete poem, see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 243, The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 481 and Always Comes Evening, p. 108]

Hope you’re resting in peace, Ol’ Two-Gun. None of us ever knew you but we like to think you were something special.

We had some fun this past weekend reading your poetry off your front porch.

Thanks for all the words.

noun

1. In Greek Mythology, a divinity presiding over forests and trees; a wood nymph

[origin: Middle English Driad, from Latin Dryas, Dryad-, from Greek Druas, from drus, tree]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

Keresa, Keresita,
An echo shivers far
To the whispering groves and the star-lit pools
Where the woodland shadows are
And over the crest of the silver hills
Hovers a quivering star.
…
Keresa, Keresita,
Great Pan’s abroad this night,
I hear them whisper among the leaves,
Dryad and nymph and sprite,
Come to my arms and the couch of ferns
And the mellow silvery light.

[from “Keresa, Keresita”; to read the complete poem, see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 326, Robert E. Howard Selected Poems, p. 90 and Shadows of Dreams, p. 28 ]

It’s time to (metaphorically) blaze our pistolas and brandish our Bowies – Robert E. Howard Days is this week in Cross Plains, Texas! If you’re a returning attendee, you know what a blast it is. If you’ve never been, when you do come on down you’ll know why there are so many returning attendees!

The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom officially starts on Friday the 7th, runs through Saturday the 8th and is chock full of All Things Howard! The Robert E. Howard Museum is open to all from 9 to 4 each day; buy REH items in the Gift Shop; purchase Howard books directly from the REH Foundation Press; you can listen to our GOH Tim Truman talk about his involvement with Ol’ Two-Gun Bob Howard; you can take a Bus Tour of Cross Plains and the surrounding countryside; a total of seven panels will be presented (one at the Ice House where REH mixed it up!); we have a REH Swap Meet at the Pavilion; there’s a Celebration Banquet and a way-cool Silent Auction; the Cross Plains Post Office will stamp your mail with a Howard Days cancellation postmark; you can enjoy some real Texas vittles at the Caddo Peak Ranch Barbeque,; read or listen to REH Porchlight Poetry; view original Howard typescripts and a great collection at the Cross Plains Library – whew, it’s one of those exhausting weekends that makes you glad to be a fan of Robert E. Howard!

And the best part about all these activities: you will be doing it among old and new friends who have gathered in Fellowship to support the Legacy of a true American (and Texas!) original – Robert E. Howard.

See you there!

adjective

1. a dull grayish-brown color; drab

[origin: before 12th century; Middle English, from Old English dunn]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

We are they

Who must forever sing the songs of defeat.
Our souls go robed in dun and sombre grey
And all the roads are broken under our feet.
Suns burn in crimson thunder down the west

Reddening the blooms that Fate’s black Titan picks
But charring skeletons inside our breast,
Each blackened sunset hangs—a crucifix.
…
For we are they that are born to songs of defeat—
The cup of gall and wormwood was our first drink—
Like ants we waver on Eternity’s brink
And cry on God in vain for a winding sheet.

[from “A Song of Defeat”; to read the complete poem, see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 388 and Echoes From an Iron Harp, p. 76]

The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom start next Friday, June 7, at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas!

It’s never too late to decide to saddle up your pinto and come to Texas. All the activities, house & bus tours, panels and even a real Texas chuck-wagon brisket barbeque are presented at no charge. The only real fee is the $15.00 Friday night Banquet, which I understand is sold out – however, there might be a spot for you if you show up and plunk down 15 smackers.

Howard Days has become more like a family reunion, where we all celebrate the Legacy of our most famous relative.

I guarantee it’ll be a great time in the name of Robert E. Howard. Check the REH DAYS 2013 tab at the top of this page for all the info you’ll ever need about Howard Days. If that’s not enough, e-mail me at 2cavaliers@sbcglobal.net and I can help you out!

Hope to see all my old and new friends at Howard Days! Y’all come!

See you soon!

(photo: Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra)

noun

1. a preparation used especially in Arabia and Egypt to darken the edges of the eyelids

[origin: ca. 1799; Arabic kuḥl]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

Along the road to Babel
When dawn was in the sky
I met you, girl of magic,
A morn of sorcery.

Your smile I still envision,
The splendor of your eyes,
The roses in your cincture
That paled beside your thighs.

As Luna dimmed to westward
You flung a golden chain
To snare the web of morning
Sun woven o’er the plain.

Your eyes were meres of magic
That hinted skylines far
Beneath your kohl dark lashes;
Each armlet held a star.

I took a belt of silver,
A silken veil from Crete,
A treasure of ambergris
And flung them at your feet.

Mylitta’s girdle stolen
From Punic lecterns high,
A golden fruit from Atlas
Who once upheld the sky.

[from “The Road to Babel”; to read the complete poem, see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 305 and Shadows of Dreams, p. 67]

noun

1. a usually two-masted ship with lugsails; a small open boat propelled by oars or sails and used chiefly in shallow waters

[origin: ca. 1578; Middle French chaloupe]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

Toil, cares, annoyances all fade away;
I care not who may run for President.
I drowse and swig my rum the live-long day,
And watch the shallops skimming o’er the bay.

[from “Toper”; This is the complete poem as it appears in The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 628 and Robert E. Howard Selected Poems, p.145]

(photo: Forest bowman of the hills in Central India: the wiry archer, with his body’s weight “laid” to his well-stretched arc, is one of the Bhil tribe, a semi-savage people found mainly in Rajputana, the Central India Agency, and Bombay. They are a remnant of a Caucasian race, and owing to years of oppression took to the hills, where they became expert foresters. The archer’s cummerbund serves both as a sword-belt and quiver. )

noun

1. a member of an indigenous people of central India; a hill people of west central India having a bow-and-arrow culture

[origin: Hindi Bhīl, fr. Skt Bhilla]

HOWARD’S USAGE:

Men I have slain with naked steel,
Mahratta, Afghan, Jat and Bhil,
And German too, though they were white,
I’ve smote and slain in many a fight.
The Turk and Arab too, I’ve slain
Upon Arabia’s level plain.

And still the British sahibs say,
“Come, draw thy sword, Lal Singh, and slay!
“The foes press in on every hand
“And only thou canst save the land.”

Why should I sail beyond the sea
To slay the men of Arabee?
To do this but at the command
Of people of a foreign land?

[from “The Sword of Lal Singh”; to read the complete poem, see The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard, p. 68 and A Rhyme of Salem Town, p. 165]

Robert E. Howard Days is happening June 7th & 8th and we certainly hope to see you there! A month is still plenty of time to make plans and besides, Texas is a really big state, so there’s room for everybody. Check out the REH DAYS tab at the top of this page for complete, updated information. If you’re planning on coming to the Celebration Banquet, please pre-register by June 1st. It’s only $15.00 per person and that will provide you with four meals! You can pay by check or Pay Pal at: ProjPride@yahoo.com

Speaking of the Banquet, the REH Silent Auction that takes place there on Friday night is always looking for donations to be auctioned! You can help support Project Pride and the Robert E. Howard Museum by donating your REH and related items. Books, magazines, fanzines, artwork, posters, movies, photos, t-shirts – anything related to Ol’ Two-Gun Bob Howard would help support the continuing of the Legacy of REH.

You can send both your auction items and your pre-registration directly to: PROJECT PRIDE, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443.

Indy thanks you very much!

Any questions or comments: 2cavaliers@sbcglobal.net.