If you aren't in the moment, you are either looking forward to uncertainty, or back to pain and regret.
quote by Jim Carrey
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Related quotes
Looking for Water
Still the leaves are spinning 'round
Take my hand as we go down, and down, and down
Looking for water
Well, our light's gone in a New York minute
Don't know about you, but my heart's not in it
(Looking, looking, looking)
I'm looking for water
I'm looking for water
(Looking, looking, looking)
I can't breathe the air, can't raise a fact
'Cause all we've got left is a beat in the night, and I'm
(Looking for water)
Looking for water
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
Take my hand as we go down, and down
Leave it all behind, nothing could be found
(I'm, looking for water)
I'm looking for water
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
(I, looking for water)
Looking everywhere
(Looking for water)
Looking here and there
(I'm looking for water)
I'm looking for water
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
I can't live in this cage, I can't eat this candy
The edge of the earth to the spin in my head
The look in your eyes and never means never
The dawn's early light, baby, dark is forever
(Looking, looking)
(Looking, looking)
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
I
(Looking for water)
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
I
(Looking for water)
(Looking for water)
(Looking, looking)
I
(Looking for water)
(Looking for watter)
Looking, looking)
I
[...] Read more
song performed by David Bowie, music by David Bowie, lyrics by David Bowie from Reality
Added by Lucian Velea
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[9] O, Moon, My Sweet-heart!
O, Moon, My Sweet-heart!
[LOVE POEMS]
POET: MAHENDRA BHATNAGAR
POEMS
1 Passion And Compassion / 1
2 Affection
3 Willing To Live
4 Passion And Compassion / 2
5 Boon
6 Remembrance
7 Pretext
8 To A Distant Person
9 Perception
10 Conclusion
10 You (1)
11 Symbol
12 You (2)
13 In Vain
14 One Night
15 Suddenly
16 Meeting
17 Touch
18 Face To Face
19 Co-Traveller
20 Once And Once only
21 Touchstone
22 In Chorus
23 Good Omens
24 Even Then
25 An Evening At ‘Tighiraa’ (1)
26 An Evening At ‘Tighiraa’ (2)
27 Life Aspirant
28 To The Condemned Woman
29 A Submission
30 At Midday
31 I Accept
32 Who Are You?
33 Solicitation
34 Accept Me
35 Again After Ages …
36 Day-Dreaming
37 Who Are You?
38 You Embellished In Song
[...] Read more
poem by Mahendra Bhatnagar
Added by Poetry Lover
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Ordinary Pain
When by the phone
In vain you sit
You very soon in your mind realize that its not just
An ordinary pain in your heart
When you by chance
Go knock on her door
Walkin away youre convinced that its much more
Than just an ordinary pain in your heart
Its more than just
An ordinary pain in your heart
When you catch up
But she says goodbye
Hold back your tears and before you start to cry
Say you feel unnecessary pain in your heart
Tell her youre glad
Its over in fact
Can she take with her the pain she brought you back
Takin that ordinary pain from your heart
Its more than just
An ordinary pain from your heart
Dont fool yourself
But tell no one else
That its more than just
An ordinary pain
In your heart
In your heart
In your heart
Part ii
Youre just a masachistic fool
Because you knew my love was cruel
You never listened when they said
Dont let that girl go to your head
But like a play boy you said no
Or*di*nary pain
This little girl mind you will blow
Or*di*nary pain
But then I blew you out the box
Or*di*nary pain
When I put my stuff on key and lock
Or*di*nary pain
It makes me feel kind of sick
Or*di*nary pain
To know love put you in a trick
Or*di*nary pain
I knew our love would have to end
Or*di*nary pain
The day I made it with your friend
Or*di*nary pain
Giving your love to one unreal
Or*di*nary pain
[...] Read more
song performed by Stevie Wonder
Added by Lucian Velea
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Moment To Moment
Written by gerry beckley and phil galdston, 1998
Found on human nature.
There was a time I knew
All that there was to know
No one could tell me then
I was wrong
I wasnt strong enough
To see where my weakness lay
The world that you hold so tight
Could slip away
And from moment to moment
Your life can change
Theres a storm over the horizon
A sea no one can see
Somewhere around the bend
Right when you least expect
Someone can walk away
With no regret
Leaving an empty space
Breaking a sacred trust
All of your shiny dreams
Begin to rust
Yes from moment to moment your life can change
Theres a storm over the horizon
The sea you cannot see
Yes from moment to moment
Promise me youll never change
Promise me youll stay the same
Promise me youll never change
Yes from moment to moment your life can change
Theres a storm over the horizon
A sea youll never see
Yes from moment to moment your life can change
Theres a light when the sun is rising
A day after today
Promise me youll never change (promise me youll never change)
Promise me youll stay the same (the same)
Promise me youll never change
Every moment is a shining light
Every moment is the darkest night
Every moment gotta get it right
Every single moment
Every moment is a shining light
Every moment is the darkest night
Every moment gotta get it right
Every moment is a shining light
Every moment is the darkest night
Every moment gotta get it right
Every single moment
Every moment is a shining light
[...] Read more
song performed by America
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Undying One- Canto III
'THERE is a sound the autumn wind doth make
Howling and moaning, listlessly and low:
Methinks that to a heart that ought to break
All the earth's voices seem to murmur so.
The visions that crost
Our path in light--
The things that we lost
In the dim dark night--
The faces for which we vainly yearn--
The voices whose tones will not return--
That low sad wailing breeze doth bring
Borne on its swift and rushing wing.
Have ye sat alone when that wind was loud,
And the moon shone dim from the wintry cloud?
When the fire was quench'd on your lonely hearth,
And the voices were still which spoke of mirth?
If such an evening, tho' but one,
It hath been yours to spend alone--
Never,--though years may roll along
Cheer'd by the merry dance and song;
Though you mark'd not that bleak wind's sound before,
When louder perchance it used to roar--
Never shall sound of that wintry gale
Be aught to you but a voice of wail!
So o'er the careless heart and eye
The storms of the world go sweeping by;
But oh! when once we have learn'd to weep,
Well doth sorrow his stern watch keep.
Let one of our airy joys decay--
Let one of our blossoms fade away--
And all the griefs that others share
Seem ours, as well as theirs, to bear:
And the sound of wail, like that rushing wind
Shall bring all our own deep woe to mind!
'I went through the world, but I paused not now
At the gladsome heart and the joyous brow:
I went through the world, and I stay'd to mark
Where the heart was sore, and the spirit dark:
And the grief of others, though sad to see,
Was fraught with a demon's joy to me!
'I saw the inconstant lover come to take
Farewell of her he loved in better days,
And, coldly careless, watch the heart-strings break--
Which beat so fondly at his words of praise.
She was a faded, painted, guilt-bow'd thing,
Seeking to mock the hues of early spring,
When misery and years had done their worst
[...] Read more
poem by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton
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Looking Up
Looking up, again
Im coming back to life
Im coming back to life
Looking up, to you
If was really up to you
You had to pull me through
Looking up
Looking up, a change is
Coming over me
I know now that Im free
Looking up, I find
Im walking tall and proud
And happy all the time
Looking up
Im looking up
Looking up
I see my troubles far behind
Looking up
(Im looking up)
Looking up
I feel Im rising to the top
Looking up
Looking up, a change is
Coming over me
I know now that Im free
Looking up, I find
Im walking tall and proud
And happy all the time
Looking up
Im looking up
Looking up
I see my troubles far behind
Looking up
(Im looking up)
Looking up
I feel Im rising to the top
Looking up
Someone that understands
Is there until the end
To hold the light for me
The light that help me see
And in my darkest hours
Will come with sunny showers
To help me to forget
Oh I so glad we met
And since that rainy day
The clouds just stay away
You chase them with your love
The greatest love Ive known
cause in the darkest hour
[...] Read more
song performed by Donna Summer
Added by Lucian Velea
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Looking At The Many People
Looking at the many people.
Looking at the many people,
Waiting to live a life they like.
The many people...
In a luxurized hype.
Looking at the people,
Waiting for a life they like.
The many people.
Looking at the many people.
Embittered and lamenting.
Looking at the many people.
Living venting and resenting.
Looking at the many people.
Condescending and offending.
Looking at the many people.
Expressing their sad sentiments...
And in their minds they're losing sense.
Looking at the many people.
Looking at the many people.
Waiting for a life they like.
The many people.
Looking at the many people.
Looking at the many people.
Waiting for a life they like.
The many people.
Looking at the many people.
Embittered and lamenting.
Looking at the many people.
Living venting and resenting.
Looking at the many people.
Condescending and offending.
Looking at the many people.
Expressing their sad sentiments...
And in their minds they're losing sense.
Looking at the many people.
Looking at the many people.
Expressing their sad sentiments...
And in their minds they're losing sense.
Looking at the many people.
Looking at the many people.
Expressing their sad sentiments...
[...] Read more
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Pain Pain by cedrick dennis
Pain Pain over here pain over there Pain in my heart pain in my soul Pain in my mind Pain in my skin pain in my bones Pain being caused left and right Pain being caused till the heart bleeds red Pain being caused till the skin and bone rip Pain being caused till you break into tears Pain at school Pain at home Pain in my head, pain in my heart Pain in my mind, pain in my soul Pain happening in my sleep Pain happening in my thoughts Pain happening when I’m alone Pain happening in the shower, in my room, in my bed, in my house where I’m all alone Pain happening every hour, every minute, every second of my life Pain caused by anger and hate Pain caused by hurt Pain caused by greed Pain caused by sorrow and depression Pain caused by grief and confusion Pain caused by your family and friends Pain caused by the world Pain caused by people you love Pain driving me crazy Causing me to take pills till it fills up my veins I go to sleep never to wake up and see that light The light that will end my pain for good
poem by Cedrick Dennis
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Moment To Moment
Too many nights of isolation
Too many echoes in my head
Too many fires left burning
In this bed
Too many thoughts of desperation
So much pain deep down below
So mych a slave to my senses
I cant let go
From moment to moment
I live and I die
This cant go on anymore
Another day, another lie
From moment to moment
I stand and I fall
This cant go on anymore
Unless we both give it all
I ask you how can a man keep his distance
How can he reason with his heart
How can you hold me so near
Yet keep me so far
From moment to moment
I live and I die
This cant go on anymore
Another day, another lie
From moment to moment
I stand and I fall
This cant go on anymore
Unless we both give it all
Sometimes Id like to break you down
To see if theres a trace of woman in you that could be found
But I just keep prayin youll come around
And live from moment to moment
I live from moment to moment
I live from moment to moment
So much a slave to my senses
I cant let go
From moment to moment
I live and I die
This cant go on anymore
Another day, another lie
From moment to moment
I stand and I fall
This cant go on anymore
Unless we both give it all
You know I want to give it all
I live from moment to moment
Everyday of my life
I live from moment to moment
song performed by Gino Vanelli
Added by Lucian Velea
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Calling All Girls
She was insatiable, you know the type
And she was young, but she was ripe
And she was vicious, and she took a bite
Baby dont wanna feel this pain anymore
Ive got a message, put it through emergency
I wanna hear it on the radio tonight
Calling all girls, if youre looking for love (you got it)
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a hot time
Calling all girls, if youre looking for fun
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a good time tonight
Seems all the good girls are home in bed
Were gonna party to raise the dead
Im gonna love that girl right out of my head
Baby dont wanna feel this pain anymore
Ive got a message, put it through emergency
I wanna see it on the video tonight
Calling all girls, if youre looking for love
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a hot time
Calling all girls, if youre looking for fun
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a good time tonight
Calling all girls, calling all girls
Calling all girls, calling all girls
Calling all girls, calling all girls
Baby dont wanna feel this pain anymore
Ive got a message, put it through emergency
I wanna hear it on the radio tonight
Calling all girls, if youre looking for love (youve got it)
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a hot time
Calling all girls, if youre looking for fun
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a good time tonight
Calling all girls, if youre looking for love
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a hot time
Calling all girls, if youre looking for fun
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a good time tonight
Calling all girls, if youre looking for love
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a hot time
Calling all girls, if youre looking for fun
Calling all girls, if youre looking for a good time tonight
song performed by Rick Springfield
Added by Lucian Velea
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Bo Weevil
You may talk about the ladies
The ladies of your own
These boweevils they'll rub you up at home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
The first time I seen a bo weevil
He was sitting on the stair
The next time I seen a boweevil
He had his own family there
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
The farmer he took the boweevil
And put him on the ice
The boweevil said to the farmer
You treat me mighty nice
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
Alright
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
Alright now this next verse
Is about myself, and when im done I hope
You'll all sing along with me on 'he's looking for a home'
I said if anybody asks you people
Who sang you this song
You tell 'em its Jackie White
He's just been here and gone
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
Alright
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
They're all looking for a home
song performed by White Stripes
Added by Lucian Velea
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Moments
Of all the Graces praised
least in the West
but better understood in the East
is that of the ability
to Endure.
Not passivity,
but deep understanding given.
The Western view is that all is chard
and moments are all that matter.
But incidents and moment-pieces
are not lives or even a day given.
But enduring each moment
is better done
from understanding the whole
from which the moment comes.
Moments, the Easterners say
are not aggregated
to be taken together to make a day.
Rather a day is given as a whole
but in the West we pluck moments stray
and munch them according to our appetites.
But the East says each day the sun does not rise to greet a new moment;
the Sun inaugurates a New Day.
So if this moment is now overwhelming
it means you missed the Sun-Rise Last
and will miss the Sun-Rise Next
because you latched onto a stray moment
which is but a chard of the whole day.
So, the wisdom here,
at least I think,
says
Live not for the moment
for but the whole day
there is where salvation,
hope, love, and peace lay.
So if my life-goal is moment placed
there can be no peace
only schizophrenia.
[...] Read more
poem by Lonnie Hicks
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The Loves of the Angels
'Twas when the world was in its prime,
When the fresh stars had just begun
Their race of glory and young Time
Told his first birth-days by the sun;
When in the light of Nature's dawn
Rejoicing, men and angels met
On the high hill and sunny lawn,-
Ere sorrow came or Sin had drawn
'Twixt man and heaven her curtain yet!
When earth lay nearer to the skies
Than in these days of crime and woe,
And mortals saw without surprise
In the mid-air angelic eyes
Gazing upon this world below.
Alas! that Passion should profane
Even then the morning of the earth!
That, sadder still, the fatal stain
Should fall on hearts of heavenly birth-
And that from Woman's love should fall
So dark a stain, most sad of all!
One evening, in that primal hour,
On a hill's side where hung the ray
Of sunset brightening rill and bower,
Three noble youths conversing lay;
And, as they lookt from time to time
To the far sky where Daylight furled
His radiant wing, their brows sublime
Bespoke them of that distant world-
Spirits who once in brotherhood
Of faith and bliss near ALLA stood,
And o'er whose cheeks full oft had blown
The wind that breathes from ALLA'S throne,
Creatures of light such as still play,
Like motes in sunshine, round the Lord,
And thro' their infinite array
Transmit each moment, night and day,
The echo of His luminous word!
Of Heaven they spoke and, still more oft,
Of the bright eyes that charmed them thence;
Till yielding gradual to the soft
And balmy evening's influence-
The silent breathing of the flowers-
The melting light that beamed above,
As on their first, fond, erring hours,-
Each told the story of his love,
The history of that hour unblest,
When like a bird from its high nest
[...] Read more
poem by Thomas Moore
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Give Your Heart To The Hawks
1 he apples hung until a wind at the equinox,
That heaped the beach with black weed, filled the dry grass
Under the old trees with rosy fruit.
In the morning Fayne Fraser gathered the sound ones into a
basket,
The bruised ones into a pan. One place they lay so thickly
She knelt to reach them.
Her husband's brother passing
Along the broken fence of the stubble-field,
His quick brown eyes took in one moving glance
A little gopher-snake at his feet flowing through the stubble
To gain the fence, and Fayne crouched after apples
With her mop of red hair like a glowing coal
Against the shadow in the garden. The small shapely reptile
Flowed into a thicket of dead thistle-stalks
Around a fence-post, but its tail was not hidden.
The young man drew it all out, and as the coil
Whipped over his wrist, smiled at it; he stepped carefully
Across the sag of the wire. When Fayne looked up
His hand was hidden; she looked over her shoulder
And twitched her sunburnt lips from small white teeth
To answer the spark of malice in his eyes, but turned
To the apples, intent again. Michael looked down
At her white neck, rarely touched by the sun,
But now the cinnabar-colored hair fell off from it;
And her shoulders in the light-blue shirt, and long legs like a boy's
Bare-ankled in blue-jean trousers, the country wear;
He stooped quietly and slipped the small cool snake
Up the blue-denim leg. Fayne screamed and writhed,
Clutching her thigh. 'Michael, you beast.' She stood up
And stroked her leg, with little sharp cries, the slender invader
Fell down her ankle.
Fayne snatched for it and missed;
Michael stood by rejoicing, his rather small
Finely cut features in a dance of delight;
Fayne with one sweep flung at his face
All the bruised and half-spoiled apples in the pan,
[...] Read more
poem by Robinson Jeffers
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A New Decade
A new decade
A new decade
The radio plays the sounds we made
The radio plays the sounds we made
And everything seems to feel just right
And everything seems to feel just right
Coming through your lonely mind
Coming through your lonely mind
Well Ive seen things
Well Ive seen things
That scarred and bruised and left me blind
That scarred and bruised and left me blind
So come on, listen along with me
So come on, listen along with me
I think you need a little company
I think you need a little company
And how long will I run for?
Who am I running from?
And how long will I run for?
Who am I running from?
And it makes sense
The youth coming up and making you dance
cause Ive got some living inside of me
And it makes sense
So come on I could use the company
The youth coming up and making you dance
cause Ive got some living inside of me
And how long will I run for?
So come on I could use the company
Who am I running from?
But now Ive seen my face in a cardboard wall
Nobody comes, nobody calls
And how long will I run for?
Who am I running from?
How long will I run for?
But now Ive seen my face in a cardboard wall
Who am I running from?
Nobody comes, nobody calls
Teenage tears sting my eyeballs
In a town where I wasnt born
And I will never suffer
How long will I run for?
So come on, come on, come on
Who am I running from?
But now I see my face in a cardboard wall
Teenage tears sting my eyeballs
Nobody comes, nobody calls
In a town where I wasnt born
And I will never suffer
If youre looking for me
[...] Read more
song performed by Verve
Added by Lucian Velea
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Canto the Second
I
Oh ye! who teach the ingenuous youth of nations,
Holland, France, England, Germany, or Spain,
I pray ye flog them upon all occasions,
It mends their morals, never mind the pain:
The best of mothers and of educations
In Juan's case were but employ'd in vain,
Since, in a way that's rather of the oddest, he
Became divested of his native modesty.
II
Had he but been placed at a public school,
In the third form, or even in the fourth,
His daily task had kept his fancy cool,
At least, had he been nurtured in the north;
Spain may prove an exception to the rule,
But then exceptions always prove its worth -—
A lad of sixteen causing a divorce
Puzzled his tutors very much, of course.
III
I can't say that it puzzles me at all,
If all things be consider'd: first, there was
His lady-mother, mathematical,
A—never mind; his tutor, an old ass;
A pretty woman (that's quite natural,
Or else the thing had hardly come to pass);
A husband rather old, not much in unity
With his young wife—a time, and opportunity.
IV
Well—well, the world must turn upon its axis,
And all mankind turn with it, heads or tails,
And live and die, make love and pay our taxes,
And as the veering wind shifts, shift our sails;
The king commands us, and the doctor quacks us,
The priest instructs, and so our life exhales,
A little breath, love, wine, ambition, fame,
Fighting, devotion, dust,—perhaps a name.
V
I said that Juan had been sent to Cadiz -—
A pretty town, I recollect it well -—
'T is there the mart of the colonial trade is
(Or was, before Peru learn'd to rebel),
And such sweet girls—I mean, such graceful ladies,
Their very walk would make your bosom swell;
I can't describe it, though so much it strike,
Nor liken it—I never saw the like:
[...] Read more
poem by Byron from Don Juan (1824)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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A City of The Old
A mature old man from the myth raised a question, 'Who is the oldest poet on earth? . '
when you are old, you will understand more about hope.The city of the Old without hope is the city with lots of hope in the myth.
kitchen, bathroom, market, forest, stock-market, shares prices, bank accounts, logistics plus and minus; the archeology of the old men's skills on carrying travelling bags.
what is the difference between old-aged homes and theatres?
the tide is rising up.
what is your last words?
A sandwithed present moment between the past and the future
congested aesthetics
Buddha said, 'Human beings exist only for a moment'
for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment vfor a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment for a moment
where is your hope escaping?
Is this bank account important for you?
Is the kitchen important for you?
Is the bathroom important important for you?
The bathroom said, 'I clean it again and again and who is making dirty again and again?
Let's listen to the birthrooms' voices.
A mature old man from the myth raised a big question, 'Who is the oldest poet on earth?
waling to the east and looking backwards,
this is the oldest myth on earth.
In ther city of the old, nothingness, autobiography, biography, courage, nurseries, paddy fields,
internet, goggle-earth and butterflies
old man in the myth, the myth in old man; old man in the city, the city in the old man
a matur, old man raised a infant question, 'who is the oldest poet on earth now? '
I saw the youngest poet on earth in Phenom Penh in 2004.
poem by Nyein Way
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Purple Pain-A Parody
Inspired by Barny the purple dinosaur
Parody of Prince's song Purple Rain
Purple pain
You were always meant I know
To cause me sorrow
You were always meant I know
To make me wanna bleed my own blood and gouge out my eyes
You were always meant I know
To cause me pain
Now all I ever want
Since I saw you on my tv screen is for you
You damm purple pain to drown
In the purple rain
Purple pain
Purple pain
Purple pain
Purple pain
Purple pain
Purple pain
I only want to see you drowning in the purple rain
Oh you damm purple pain
I never wanted my kids to love you
I only thought of you as some kind of fiend
Barney, I could never stand you for another minute
So my television now I must turn off
Even through I know it would make my babies cry
It's such a shame that your lifetime has't come to a end
Oh, oh yes it is
Purple pain
Purple pain
Purple pain
Purple pain
Purple pain
Purple pain
I only wanted to see you drown
You damm purple pain
In the purple rain
[...] Read more
poem by Ramona Thompson
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The House Of Dust: Complete
I.
The sun goes down in a cold pale flare of light.
The trees grow dark: the shadows lean to the east:
And lights wink out through the windows, one by one.
A clamor of frosty sirens mourns at the night.
Pale slate-grey clouds whirl up from the sunken sun.
And the wandering one, the inquisitive dreamer of dreams,
The eternal asker of answers, stands in the street,
And lifts his palms for the first cold ghost of rain.
The purple lights leap down the hill before him.
The gorgeous night has begun again.
'I will ask them all, I will ask them all their dreams,
I will hold my light above them and seek their faces.
I will hear them whisper, invisible in their veins . . .'
The eternal asker of answers becomes as the darkness,
Or as a wind blown over a myriad forest,
Or as the numberless voices of long-drawn rains.
We hear him and take him among us, like a wind of music,
Like the ghost of a music we have somewhere heard;
We crowd through the streets in a dazzle of pallid lamplight,
We pour in a sinister wave, ascend a stair,
With laughter and cry, and word upon murmured word;
We flow, we descend, we turn . . . and the eternal dreamer
Moves among us like light, like evening air . . .
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night! We go our ways,
The rain runs over the pavement before our feet,
The cold rain falls, the rain sings.
We walk, we run, we ride. We turn our faces
To what the eternal evening brings.
Our hands are hot and raw with the stones we have laid,
We have built a tower of stone high into the sky,
We have built a city of towers.
Our hands are light, they are singing with emptiness.
Our souls are light; they have shaken a burden of hours . . .
What did we build it for? Was it all a dream? . . .
Ghostly above us in lamplight the towers gleam . . .
And after a while they will fall to dust and rain;
Or else we will tear them down with impatient hands;
And hew rock out of the earth, and build them again.
II.
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poem by Conrad Potter Aiken
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Solomon on the Vanity of the World, A Poem. In Three Books. - Power. Book III.
The Argument
Solomon considers man through the several stages and conditions of life, and concludes, in general, that we are all miserable. He reflects more particularly upon the trouble and uncertainty of greatness and power; gives some instances thereof from Adam down to himself; and still concludes that All Is Vanity. He reasons again upon life, death, and a future being; finds human wisdom too imperfect to resolve his doubts; has recourse to religion; is informed by an angel what shall happen to himself, his family, and his kingdom, till the redemption of Israel; and, upon the whole, resolves to submit his inquiries and anxieties to the will of his Creator.
Come then, my soul: I call thee by that name,
Thou busy thing, from whence I know I am;
For, knowing that I am, I know thou art,
Since that must needs exist which can impart:
But how thou camest to be, or whence thy spring,
For various of thee priests and poets sing.
Hearest thou submissive, but a lowly birth,
Some secret particles of finer earth,
A plain effect which Nature must beget,
As motion orders, and as atoms meet,
Companion of the body's good or ill,
From force of instinct more than choice of will,
Conscious of fear or valour, joy or pain,
As the wild courses of the blood ordain;
Who, as degrees of heat and cold prevail,
In youth dost flourish, and with age shalt fail,
Till, mingled with thy partner's latest breath,
Thou fliest, dissolved in air and lost in death.
Or, if thy great existence would aspire
To causes more sublime, of heavenly fire
Wert thou a spark struck off, a separate ray,
Ordain'd to mingle with terrestrial clay,
With it condemn'd for certain years to dwell,
To grieve its frailties, and its pains to feel,
To teach it good and ill, disgrace or fame,
Pale it with rage, or redden it with shame,
To guide its actions with informing care,
In peace to judge, to conquer in the war;
Render it agile, witty, valiant, sage,
As fits the various course of human age,
Till, as the earthly part decays and falls,
The captive breaks her prison's mouldering walls,
Hovers awhile upon the sad remains,
Which now the pile or sepulchre contains,
And thence, with liberty unbounded, flies,
Impatient to regain her native skies?
Whate'er thou art, where'er ordain'd to go,
(Points which we rather may dispute than know)
Come on, thou little inmate of this breast,
Which for thy sake from passions'l divest
For these, thou say'st, raise all the stormy strife,
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poem by Matthew Prior
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