A cobalt vase.
Modern cobalt miners in Africa.
It happened in old Germany centuries ago
When miners dug for silver in the earth.
Silver was a precious metal everyone desired
And it was treasured for its certain worth.
Now the miners had some problems as they worked there underground;
There was something there that seemed to cause a block,
And they named the problem 'kobold', meaning goblin, evil sprite,
And they said this 'kobold' lived within the rock.
The mines were way deep underground, where air was hard to find,
Men were working in unpleasant airless tombs,
And the 'kobold' causing trouble added greatly to their pain,
As it gave off evil gases, noxious fumes.
Then, in the eighteenth century a chemist called George Brandt
Said 'kobold' was a metal coloured blue,
And he christened it 'King Cobalt' for he found it coloured glass
With a deep and almost indigo-dark hue.
So now we see 'King Goblin' in delightful ornaments;
In vases, bottles, every kind of glass.
No doubt the King of Goblins has a chuckle to himself
To think such magic ever came to pass.
A tragic poem about colour here:
http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/2009/01/278-turquoise.html
A tragic poem about colour here:
http://rinklyrimes.blogspot.com/2009/01/278-turquoise.html
