FASCINATION WITH THE MOON

THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ARTS

Quotes to Ponder

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

 President John F. Kennedy, Houston, TX 1962

Kennedy continued:

I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth," Kennedy said. "No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important to the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

Both of these quotes figure prominently in day-to-day life.Carpe Diem. Seize the day. They are wise words deep in meaning and importance. These words can still guide and inspire.

What are your thoughts?

POEMSSILVERWalks the night in her silver shoon;This way, and that, she

peers, and seesSilver fruit upon silver trees;One by one the casements catchHer beams beneath the silvery thatch;Couched in his kennel, like a log,With paws of silver sleeps the dog;From their shadowy cote the white breasts peepOf doves in silver feathered sleepA harvest mouse goes scampering by,With silver claws, and silver eye;And moveless fish in the water gleam,By silver reeds in a silver stream.

Walter de la Mare

The Moon

The moon has a face like the clock in the hall; She shines on thieves on the garden wall, On streets and fields and harbour quays, And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees. The squalling cat and the

squeaking mouse, The howling dog by the door of the house, The bat that lies in bed at noon, All love to be out by the light of the moon. But all of the things that belong to the day Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way; And flowers and children close their eyes Till up in the morning

the sun shall arise.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Is the moon tired? she looks so paleWithin her misty veil:She scales the sky from east to west,And takes no rest.Before the coming of the nightThe moon shows papery white;Before the dawning of the dayShe fades away.

From Sing-Song by Christina Rossetti

Under the Harvest Moon

Under the harvest moon,When the soft silverDrips shimmeringOver the garden nights,Death, the gray mocker,Comes and whispers to youAs a beautiful friendWho remembers.Under the summer rosesWhen the flagrant crimsonLurks in the duskOf the wild red leaves,Love, with little hands,Comes and touches youWith a thousand memories,And asks youBeautiful, unanswerable questions.

By Carl Sandburg

Books

•From the Earth to the Moon (1865) by Jules Verne •The First Men in The Moon (1901) by H. G. Wells •Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien •Trends is a 1939 short story by Isaac Asimov•Goodnight Moon (1947) by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd.

ART

Comics

• Justice League• Marvel• Judge Dredd - Luna City One

PaintingsStarry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

Rising MoonHans Hoffman 1965

Van GoghEvening Landscape

MUSICTop Ten Songs about the moon:

1. Kiko And The Lavender Moon - Los Lobos 2. Moondance - Van Morrison 3. Whole Of The Moon - The Waterboys 4. Harvest Moon - Neil Young 5. Pink Moon - Nick Drake 6. Yellow Moon - The Neville Brothers 7. There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon) - The B-52's 8. Moon River - Louis Armstrong 9. Bark At The Moon - Ozzy Osbourne 10. Blue Moon - The Marcels

Movies and Documentaries

• Apollo 13

• In the Shadow of the Moon

• From the Earth to the Moon (TV mini-series)

Sayings about the MoonWhat do they mean?

•Over the moon•Once in a blue moon•Shoot for the moon•I know as much about it as the Man In The Moon•The moon is made of Green cheese•Casting beyond the moon•Moon about

Moons and MythsHarvest Moon

Blue Moon

Constructed Response

How are you influenced by the moon? Do you share the world’s fascination with it?

Possible activities for moon study:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.cfm?page=123  (JPL education)

Apollo 11 landed on the moon July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, later followed by 11 others. Only 8 men who have set foot on the moon are still alive

today.

Do we still have a fascination with the moon?

Do you think we will return soon?