I have a passion for the name of "Mary,"
For once it was a magic sound to me,
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I have a passion for the name of "Mary,"
For once it was a magic sound to me,
And still it half calls up the realms of fairy,
Where I beheld what never was to be.

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving
favour rather than silver and gold.

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving
favour rather than silver and gold.

Oh! no! we never mention her,
Her name is never heard;
My lips are now forbid to read more

Oh! no! we never mention her,
Her name is never heard;
My lips are now forbid to speak
That once familiar word.
- Thomas Haynes Bayly,

Known by the sobriquet of "The Artful Dodger."

Known by the sobriquet of "The Artful Dodger."

Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.

Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them.

One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die

One forgets words as one forgets names. One's vocabulary needs constant fertilizing or it will die

I was learning the importance of names -- having them, making them -- but at the same time I sensed read more

I was learning the importance of names -- having them, making them -- but at the same time I sensed the dangers. Recognition was followed by oblivion, a yawning maw whose victims disappeared without a trace.

I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name. How could I be anything else but what read more

I sometimes think I was born to live up to my name. How could I be anything else but what I am having been named Madonna? I would either have ended up a nun or this.

Called me wessel, Sammy--a wessel of wrath.

Called me wessel, Sammy--a wessel of wrath.