# Unsolved Riddle from 1873 **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-riddle-from-1873/655530 "2013-04-12T18:36:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-riddle-from-1873/655530/61 "2014-06-13T19:58:19Z")
I think I’ve got it – and it has nothing to do with whales. The key, for me, was the author and the time of publication The original poem/riddle is reposted below in ALL CAPS My justifications are in Mixed Case (regular sentences). I’ve even included some urls to pages that can further explain my justifications. Ember: Embertides of Christian tradition are fasting periods that came to celebrate the four seasons (at least as far back as 1298). At some point they were just called the Embers, Ember days (of the week) and Ember Weeks (four in a year). An English bishop (particularly one rumored to have a Roman bias) would certainly be familiar with such seasonal rituals. > **[Ember days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ember_days)** > > Ember days are quarterly periods (Latin: quatuor tempora) of prayer and fasting in the liturgical calendar of Western Christian churches. These fasts traditionally take place on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following St Lucy's Day (13 December), the first Sunday in Lent, Pentecost (Whitsun), and Holy Cross Day (14 September), though some areas follow a different pattern. Ordination ceremonies are often held on Ember Saturdays or the following Sunday. > The word ember originates from the Lat... [http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/09/ember-week-in-september](http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2013/09/ember-week-in-september) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel\_Wilberforcehtml](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Wilberforcehtml) I’M THE SWEETEST OF SOUNDS IN ORCHESTRA HEARD, Father Antonio Lucio Vivaldi’s _The Four Seasons_, composed and published in 1725, celebrates the seasons (or perhaps each of the Embers). By 1873 a hundred-fifty years later, it’s quite likely Bishop Wilberforce would have heard that music – it’s well recognized and popular even today – but it requires an orchestra, rather than the more common instruments of banjo, guitar, etc. of the late 1800’s. > **[Antonio Vivaldi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi)** > > Antonio Lucio Vivaldi\[n 2\] (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was a Venetian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Along with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, Vivaldi is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe, giving origin to many imitators and admirers. He pioneered many developments in orchestration, violin technique and programmatic music. He consolidated the emerging concer Viv... > **[The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivaldi_four_seasons)** > > The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concertos by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718−1720, when Vivaldi was the court chapel master in Mantua. They were published in 1725 in Amsterdam, together with eight additional concerti, as Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention). > The Four Seasons is the best known of Vivaldi's work... YET IN ORCHESTRA NEVER WAS SEEN. You don’t see embers in the orchestra. None of the instruments use flame or combustion to work I’M A BIRD OF GAY PLUMAGE, Embers travel through the air and are typically colored in bright reds, oranges, and yellows. [See my ‘title’ above.] YET LESS LIKE A BIRD, NOTHING EVER IN NATURE WAS SEEN. No birds look like burning embers – and the phoenix is considered mythological rather than natural/real TOUCH THE EARTH I EXPIRE, Embers which land in the dirt will fade (nothing to burn) or get smothered (ex-spire). IN WATER I DIE, Embers are extinguished by water IN AIR I LOSE BREATH, Embers merely floating in the air will eventually fade as they exhaust their fuel source YET CAN SWIM AND CAN FLY; Floating embers seem to fly and swim on the air/wind currents DARKNESS DESTROYS ME, complete darkness means the ember has consumed all its fuel; it’s gone AND LIGHT IS MY DEATH, An abundance of light overpowers the faint glow of an ember AND I ONLY KEEP GOING BY HOLDING MY BREATH. Without oxygen (air) an ember will fade out IF MY NAME CAN’T BE GUESSED BY A BOY OR A MAN, It’s not typically a man’s name\* --, unless the namer is Hungarian. > **[Ember](http://bewitchingnames.blogspot.com/2011/10/ember.html)** > > If you've watched a television show that featured witches, you can bet that one of them was probably named Ember. Ember is one of the trin... BY A WOMAN OR GIRL IT CERTAINLY CAN. It is more commonly a name given to females – Ember or Emberly > **[Ember: Name Meaning, Popularity and Info on BabyNames.com](https://babynames.com/name/Ember)** > > The name Ember is primarily a gender-neutral name of English origin that means Spark, Low Burning Wood. Click through to find out more information about the name Ember on BabyNames.com. –Grestarian the Wanderer So what do I win? \*Wouldn’t someone trying to invoke the concept for a male call him “Sparky”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unsolved-riddle-from-1873/655530.md?page=3)