Citatepedia^®.com

Exchange is no robbery.

German proverbs
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Robbery, Assault & Battery

The streets were deserted though the police were alerted,
They considered the phone call a hoax.
Furtively glancing then jauntily prancing
The youth caught the guards unaware.
Slipping between them he ought to have seen then
The eyes and their owner so near.
With torch shining bright he strode on in the night
Till he came to the room with the safe.
"hello son, i hope you're having fun."
"you've got it wrong sir, i'm only the cleaner."
With that he fired, the other saying as he died,
"you've done me wrong," it's the same old song forever.
Robbery, assault and battery,
The felon and his felony.
Robbery, assault and battery,
The felon and his felony.
Picked up the diamonds and bundles of fivers
He pushed them well down in his sack.
But the alarm had been sounded, he was completely surrounded
But he had some more tricks up his sleeve.
"come outside with your hands held high."
"you'll not get me alive sir, i promise you that sir."
With that he fired, the other saying as he died
"you've done me wrong," it's the same old song forever.
Robbery, assault and battery,
The felon and his felony.
Robbery, assault and battery,
The felon and his felony.
"he's leaving via the roof, the bastard's got away.
God always fights on the side of the bad man."
"i've got clean away but i'll be back some day,
Just the combination will have changed.
Some day they'll catch me, to a chain they'll attach me,
Until that day i'll ride the old crime wave.
If they try to hold me for trial
I'll stay out of gaol by paying my bail
And after i'll go to the court of appeal saying
"you've done me wrong," it's the same old song forever."
Done me wrong - same old song - done me wrong.

song performed by Genesis
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Robbery, Assault Battery

The streets were deserted though the police were alerted,
They considered the phone call a hoax.
Furtively glancing then jauntily prancing
The youth caught the guards unaware.
Slipping between them he ought to have seen then
The eyes and their owner so near.
With torch shining bright he strode on in the night
Till he came to the room with the safe.
Hello son, I hope youre having fun.
Youve got it wrong sir, Im only the cleaner.
With that he fired, the other saying as he died,
Youve done me wrong, its the same old song forever.
Robbery, assault and battery,
The felon and his felony.
Robbery, assault and battery,
The felon and his felony.
Picked up the diamonds and bundles of fivers
He pushed them well down in his sack.
But the alarm had been sounded, he was completely surrounded
But he had some more tricks up his sleeve.
Come outside with your hands held high.
Youll not get me alive sir, I promise you that sir.
With that he fired, the other saying as he died
Youve done me wrong, its the same old song forever.
Robbery, assault and battery,
The felon and his felony.
Robbery, assault and battery,
The felon and his felony.
Hes leaving via the roof, the bastards got away.
God always fights on the side of the bad man.
Ive got clean away but Ill be back some day,
Just the combination will have changed.
Some day theyll catch me, to a chain theyll attach me,
Until that day Ill ride the old crime wave.
If they try to hold me for trial
Ill stay out of gaol by paying my bail
And after Ill go to the court of appeal saying
Youve done me wrong, its the same old song forever.
Done me wrong - same old song - done me wrong.

song performed by Genesis
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Raised On Robbery

He was sitting in the lounge of the empire hotel
He was drinking for diversion
He was thinking for himself
A little money riding on the maple leafs
Along comes a lady in lacy sleeves
She says...
Let me sit down
You know, drinkin alones a shame
Its a shame, its a crying shame
Look at those jokers
Glued to that damn hockey game
Hey honey-youve got lots of cash
Bring us round a bottle
And well have some laughs
Gins what Im drinking
I was raised on robbery
Im a pretty good cook
Im sitting on my groceries
Come up to my kitchen
Ill show you my best recipe
I try and I try but I cant save a cent
Im up after midnight, cooking
Trying to make my rent
Im rough but Im pleasin
I was raised on robbery
We had a little money once
They were pushing through a four iane highway
Government gave us three thousand dollars
You should have seen it fly away
First he bought a 57 biscayne
He put it in the ditch
He drunk up all the rest
That son of a bitch
His bloods bad whiskey
I was raised on robbery
You know you aint bad looking
I like the way you hold your drinks
Come home with me honey
I aint asking for no full length mink
Hey, where you going...
Dont go yet...
Your glass aint empty and we just met
Youre mean when your loaded-
I was raised on robbery

song performed by Joni Mitchell
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

One-sided Love Affair

(words & music by bill campbell)
If you want to be loved,
Baby, youve got to love me, too.
If you want to be loved,
Baby, youve got to love me, too.
Oh yeah, cause I aint for no one-sided love affair.
If you wanna be kissed,
Well, youve gotta kiss me, too.
Oh yeah, if you wanna be kissed,
Well, you gotta kiss me, too.
cause I aint for no one-sided love affair.
Well, fair exchange bears no robbery,
And the whole world will know that its true.
Understanding solves all problems, baby,
Thats why Im telling you
If you wanna be hugged,
Well, you gotta hug me, too.
Oh yeah, if you wanna be hugged,
Well, youve gotta hug me, too.
Yeah, cause I aint for no one-sided love affair.
If you know you cant take it,
Baby, why try to give it?
If you know you cant take it,
Then baby, why try to give it?
cause I aint for no one-sided love affair.
Well, fair exchange bears no robbery,
And the whole world will know that its true.
Understanding solves all problems, baby,
Thats why Im telling you
If you wanna be hugged,
Well, you gotta hug me, too.
Oh yeah, if you wanna be hugged,
Baby, you gotta hug me, too.
cause I aint for no one-sided love affair.
cause I aint for no one-sided love affair.
cause I aint for no one-sided love affair.

song performed by Elvis Presley
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Columbiad: Book X

The vision resumed, and extended over the whole earth. Present character of different nations. Future progress of society with respect to commerce; discoveries; inland navigation; philosophical, med and political knowledge. Science of government. Assimilation and final union of all languages. Its effect on education, and on the advancement of physical and moral science. The physical precedes the moral, as Phosphor precedes the Sun. View of a general Congress from all nations, assembled to establish the political harmony of mankind. Conclusion.

Hesper again his heavenly power display'd,
And shook the yielding canopy of shade.
Sudden the stars their trembling fires withdrew.
Returning splendors burst upon the view,
Floods of unfolding light the skies adorn,
And more than midday glories grace the morn.
So shone the earth, as if the sideral train,
Broad as full suns, had sail'd the ethereal plain;
When no distinguisht orb could strike the sight,
But one clear blaze of all-surrounding light
O'erflow'd the vault of heaven. For now in view
Remoter climes and future ages drew;
Whose deeds of happier fame, in long array,
Call'd into vision, fill the newborn day.

Far as seraphic power could lift the eye,
Or earth or ocean bend the yielding sky,
Or circling sutis awake the breathing gale,
Drake lead the way, or Cook extend the sail;
Where Behren sever'd, with adventurous prow,
Hesperia's headland from Tartaria's brow;
Where sage Vancouvre's patient leads were hurl'd,
Where Deimen stretch'd his solitary world;
All lands, all seas that boast a present name,
And all that unborn time shall give to fame,
Around the Pair in bright expansion rise,
And earth, in one vast level, bounds the skies.

They saw the nations tread their different shores,
Ply their own toils and wield their local powers,
Their present state in all its views disclose,
Their gleams of happiness, their shades of woes,
Plodding in various stages thro the range
Of man's unheeded but unceasing change.
Columbus traced them with experienced eye,
And class'd and counted all the flags that fly;
He mark'd what tribes still rove the savage waste,
What cultured realms the sweets of plenty taste;
Where arts and virtues fix their golden reign,
Or peace adorns, or slaughter dyes the plain.

He saw the restless Tartar, proud to roam,
Move with his herds and pitch a transient home;
Tibet's long tracts and China's fixt domain,
Dull as their despots, yield their cultured grain;
Cambodia, Siam, Asia's myriad isles
And old Indostan, with their wealthy spoils

[...] Read more

poem by Joel Barlow
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

IV. Tertium Quid

True, Excellency—as his Highness says,
Though she's not dead yet, she's as good as stretched
Symmetrical beside the other two;
Though he's not judged yet, he's the same as judged,
So do the facts abound and superabound:
And nothing hinders that we lift the case
Out of the shade into the shine, allow
Qualified persons to pronounce at last,
Nay, edge in an authoritative word
Between this rabble's-brabble of dolts and fools
Who make up reasonless unreasoning Rome.
"Now for the Trial!" they roar: "the Trial to test
"The truth, weigh husband and weigh wife alike
"I' the scales of law, make one scale kick the beam!"
Law's a machine from which, to please the mob,
Truth the divinity must needs descend
And clear things at the play's fifth act—aha!
Hammer into their noddles who was who
And what was what. I tell the simpletons
"Could law be competent to such a feat
"'T were done already: what begins next week
"Is end o' the Trial, last link of a chain
"Whereof the first was forged three years ago
"When law addressed herself to set wrong right,
"And proved so slow in taking the first step
"That ever some new grievance,—tort, retort,
"On one or the other side,—o'ertook i' the game,
"Retarded sentence, till this deed of death
"Is thrown in, as it were, last bale to boat
"Crammed to the edge with cargo—or passengers?
"'Trecentos inseris: ohe, jam satis est!
"'Huc appelle!'—passengers, the word must be."
Long since, the boat was loaded to my eyes.
To hear the rabble and brabble, you'd call the case
Fused and confused past human finding out.
One calls the square round, t' other the round square—
And pardonably in that first surprise
O' the blood that fell and splashed the diagram:
But now we've used our eyes to the violent hue
Can't we look through the crimson and trace lines?
It makes a man despair of history,
Eusebius and the established fact—fig's end!
Oh, give the fools their Trial, rattle away
With the leash of lawyers, two on either side—
One barks, one bites,—Masters Arcangeli
And Spreti,—that's the husband's ultimate hope
Against the Fisc and the other kind of Fisc,
Bound to do barking for the wife: bow—wow!
Why, Excellency, we and his Highness here
Would settle the matter as sufficiently

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

We continue to be exasperated by the view, apparently gaining momentum in certain circles, that armed robbery is okay as long as nobody gets hurt! The proper solution to armed robbery is a dead robber, on the scene.

quote by Jeff Cooper
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Sacrifice

Oh all ye, who pass by, whose eyes and mind
To worldly things are sharp, but to me blind;
To me, who took eyes that I might you find:
Was ever grief like mine?

The Princes of my people make a head
Against their Maker: they do wish me dead,
Who cannot wish, except I give them bread:
Was ever grief like mine?

Without me each one, who doth now me brave,
Had to this day been an Egyptian slave.
They use that power against me, which I gave:
Was ever grief like mine?

Mine own Apostle, who the bag did bear,
Though he had all I had, did not forebear
To sell me also, and to put me there:
Was ever grief like mine?

For thirty pence he did my death devise,
Who at three hundred did the ointment prize,
Not half so sweet as my sweet sacrifice:
Was ever grief like mine?

Therefore my soul melts, and my heart's dear treasure
Drops blood (the only beads) my words to measure:
O let this cup pass, if it be thy pleasure:
Was ever grief like mine?

These drops being temper'd with a sinner's tears,
A Balsam are for both the Hemispheres:
Curing all wounds but mine; all, but my fears,
Was ever grief like mine?

Yet my Disciples sleep: I cannot gain
One hour of watching; but their drowsy brain
Comforts not me, and doth my doctrine stain:
Was ever grief like mine?

Arise, arise, they come. Look how they run.
Alas! what haste they make to be undone!
How with their lanterns do they seek the sun!
Was ever grief like mine?

With clubs and staves they seek me, as a thief,
Who am the way of truth, the true relief;
Most true to those, who are my greatest grief:
Was ever grief like mine?

[...] Read more

poem by George Herbert
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Soboba

soccer camp brevard county
soccer camp boys
soccer camp boys ohio
soccer camp boys gay
soccer camp boys dirty
soccer camp buffalo
soccer camp by the ocean
soccer camp central maine
soccer camp chardon
soccer camp britian
soccer camp byu youth
soccer camp central florida
soccer camp burlington north carolina
soccer camp clinic indiana
soccer camp calgary
soccer camp california
soccer camp chapel
soccer camp by soccerplus camps
soccer camp carlsbad
soccer camp chambersburg area middle sch
soccer camp britain
soccer camp chandler mesa june boys
soccer camp byu
soccer camp buckley washington
soccer camp camps
soccer camp couer dalene
soccer camp clinic training southern cal
soccer camp directories
soccer camp clovis ca
soccer camp coral springs
soccer camp coupon from challenger
soccer camp cumming ga
soccer camp clinic ny
soccer camp del mar
soccer camp columbia md
soccer camp connecticut college
soccer camp csu columbus
soccer camp dayton
soccer camp durant ok
soccer camp darlington
soccer camp colorado
soccer camp coupon
soccer camp dallas
soccer camp connecticut summer
soccer camp de lasalle
soccer camp for adults
soccer camp for 17 and up
soccer camp fraser michigan
soccer camp florida tech
soccer camp fall 2007 dallas tx

[...] Read more

poem by Rwetewrt Erwtwer
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Coal Train Robberies

Yesterdays coal train came to rest in the bitter cutting
And as the signals took an age to change it was easy pickings
So you go to the movies where they smash it up
You want to feel your heart pumping it makes you feel good
All through the karaoke girls were squealing the hits
As another mercedes-benz gets blown to bits
While all the time in the camptown theatres of piccadilly
Theyre going to throw a black-face minstrel show for the barefoot children
That theyre always selling
Theyll say its quaint as the guilty ones faint and claim they aint underneath this paint
We interrupt these liberal saints with their whips and watermelon
Reports are coming in of a coal-train robbery
Its like another world, or it had better be
So we return to whitewashed pout of his committed lips
Since he was declared the long lost fountain
Of youth that drips and drips and drips
Theyll be sending him round from door to door,
To sell you back whats already yours
So many good deeds, so little time
Say the advertising agency swine
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
If you dont believe that Im going for good
You can count the days Im gone and chop up
The chairs for firewood
Reports are coming in of a coal-train robbery
Its like another world, or it had better be

song performed by Elvis Costello
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Coal Train Robberies (demo)

Yesterday's coal train came to rest in the bitter cutting
And as the signals took an age to change it was easy pickings
So you go to the movies where they smash it up
You want to feel your heart pumping it makes you feel good
All through the karaoke girls were squealing the hits
As another mercedes-benz gets blown to bits
While all the time in the camptown theatres of piccadilly
They're going to throw a black-face minstrel show for the barefoot children
That they're always selling
They'll say "it's quaint" as the guilty ones faint and claim they ain't underneath this paint
We interrupt these liberal saints with their whips and watermelon
Reports are coming in of a coal-train robbery
It's like another world, or it had better be
So we return to whitewashed pout of his committed lips
Since he was declared the long lost fountain
Of youth that drips and drips and drips
They'll be sending him round from door to door,
To sell you back what's already yours
"so many good deeds, so little time"
Say the advertising agency swine
When man has destroyed what he thinks he owns
I hope no living thing cries over his bones
If you don't believe that i'm going for good
You can count the days i'm gone and chop up
The chairs for firewood
Reports are coming in of a coal-train robbery
It's like another world, or it had better be

song performed by Elvis Costello
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Stick Up

Let's go
I've been loving you for years
I know that I was never clear
But I have no fear today
Cause I'm gonna say
What I gotta say
I don't wanna play no more
I'm busting through the door
I'm gonna take your heart for sure
Put your hands up in the air
It's a stick up
I'm go'n take your heart from here
Now let's fix up
Put your hands in the air, in the air, in the air
I'm gonna play my cards from here
and take this gamble
sure, my words are gonna fumble
but this being hard and humble
Ain't got me nowhere
Sure I'm scared but my life's a dare
And baby you just got so much flare
We'd be the perfect pair
I'm gonna share my mind with you
You've been blind and my life's blue
I'm taking you, I'm taking you
Put your hands up in the air
It's a stick up
I'm go'n take your heart from here
Now let's fix up
Put your hands in the air, in the air, in the air
Put your hands up in the air
It's a stick up
I'm gone take your heart from here
Now let's fix up
Put your hands in the air, in the air, in the air
In the air, in the air, in the air
When I first met you, I wanted to wet you
Not a gun, but a different content sexual
You try to run I still get you
Steel metal, not needed
A whole nother meaning
Don't want your gold, want your soul
Control ya heartbeating
Cause when I start squeezing that muscle
That's the trigger then I got you nigga
In your drop with spinners
Got your bodyguards with you
Diamond dog tag chain swinging
I have them thangs ringing
This is a robbery, and no one's getting free

[...] Read more

song performed by Kelis
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Magneto & Titanium Man

Well I was talking last night
Magneto and titanium man . . .
We were talking about you, babe,
Oo --- they said ---
You were involved in a robbery
That was due to happen
At a quarter to three
In the main street.
I didnt believe them
Magneto and titanium man . . .
But when the crimson dynamo
Finally assured me, well, I knew
You were involved in a robbery
That was due to happen
At a quarter to three
In the main street.
So we went out
Magneto and titanium man . . .
And the crimson dynamo
Came along for the ride
We went to town with the library
And we swung all over that
Long tall bank in the main street
Well there she were and to my despair
Shes a five-star criminal
Breaking the code
Magneto said now the time come
To gather our forces and run!!!
Oh no . . . . . .
This cant be so . . . . . .
And then it occurred to me!
You couldnt be bad
Magneto was mad!
Titanium too!
And the crimson dynamo
Just couldnt cut it no more
You were the law . . . . . .

song performed by Paul McCartney
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Birth Of The Rail

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

LELAND, THE KID _a Road Agent_
COWBOY CHARLEY _Same Line of Business_
HAPPY HUNTY _Ditto in All Respects_
SOOTYMUG _a Devil_

_Scene_-the Dutch Flat Stage Road, at 12 P.M., on a Night
of 1864.

COWBOY CHARLEY:

My boss, I fear she is delayed to-night.
Already it is past the hour, and yet
My ears have reached no sound of wheels; no note
Melodious, of long, luxurious oaths
Betokens the traditional dispute
(Unsettled from the dawn of time) between
The driver and off wheeler; no clear chant
Nor carol of Wells Fargo's messenger
Unbosoming his soul upon the air
his prowess to the tender-foot,
And how at divers times in sundry ways
He strewed the roadside with our carcasses.
Clearly, the stage will not come by to-night.

LELAND, THE KID:

I now remember that but yesterday
I saw three ugly looking fellows start
From Colfax with a gun apiece, and they
Did seem on business of importance bent.
Furtively casting all their eyes about
And covering their tracks with all the care
That business men do use. I think perhaps
They were Directors of that rival line,
The great Pacific Mail. If so, they have
Indubitably taken in that coach,
And we are overreached. Three times before
This thing has happened, and if once again
These outside operators dare to cut
Our rates of profit I shall quit the road
And take my money out of this concern.
When robbery no longer pays expense
It loses then its chiefest charm for me,
And I prefer to cheat-you hear me shout!

HAPPY HUNTY:

[...] Read more

poem by Ambrose Bierce
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

God Help You If You Drive

I've burgled, raped and pillaged,
But I find it really funny,
The police don't tend bother me,
It would cost them too much money.

I've committed countless other crimes,
But I know I won't be sought,
It means that they would have to work,
That's why I won't get caught.

The reason they won't come after me,
Is all to do with logistics,
Drivers are an easy touch,
We boost their crime statistics.

Leave your vehicle without road tax,
The police will be in a rush,
You'll be fined, they'll steal your car,
Saying sorry but we have to crush.

Overstay the parking lot,
You'll soon feel put upon,
When you come back to drive away,
You'll find your car has gone.

At first you'll think it's stolen,
It's nowhere to be found,
Then when you phone the police for help,
They'll say, ‘'it's in the pound''.

You will not be shown sympathy,
Of common sense there'll be a lack,
You'll have to pay big money,
If you want to get it back.

The fines can be worth more than the car,
They'll cost you a bloody mint,
If and when you claim it back,
Either way you'll end up ''skint''

It's akin to highway robbery,
But they think it's really deft,
In effect they steal your car,
But don't get charged with theft.

If I get caught committing murder,
My lawyer will be misleading,
But woe betide the drivers,
Whenever they're caught speeding.

[...] Read more

poem by Bri Mar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

But how long will this peace last

The night that peace comes
torches are launched into the sky
like stars
to glide hanging to the ground
and as far as I look
I see fireworks near and far,
but how long will this peace last?

Nelson Mandela walks out of jail
and there are people cheering
and dancing from joy
and some think
that now they are totally free,
but how long will this peace last?

His rainbow nation disappears
into the naught
and although the sun still shines
work are reserved for some
and people begin to leave the country
while others from all over Africa stream in
and South Africans are jobless,
but how long will this peace last?

There are incapable people getting positions
and the country goes years back
and murder and killings
are totally out of control
and the police are powerless
to stop it,
but how long will this peace last?

The government takes legal firearms in
while crime spreads wider
and the state are trying to control lives
more and more
and corruption, fraud, rape,
murder and robbery
happens every day,
but how long will this peace last?

l’Envoi
The slaughter of black on white
and robbery are urged on
and reverse racism
talked good
and the country is in chaos
with incapables controlling it
and the dilapidation nobody can stop
but how long will this peace last

[...] Read more

poem by Gert Strydom
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Sudden Arrival of Reality

Almost with the label of tragedy of ambition,
With an allegation of dreaming too big,
When I am simply standing my ground,
My key in my hand,
In the ring finger,
With the remote control of my car,
The dearest thing I have held till now,
And the building security arrives,
Suddenly,
Surprisingly,
To assist in backing out of the parking lot,
Sending no sirens buzzing in my head,
None what so ever,
About car robbery,
Car theft,
The theft of my rights.
Talking settlement after the robbery,
Is a very different matter,
The constant asking for compromise,
With a constant allegation of wanting more,
Asking for more,
And doing less.

poem by Pankhuri Sinha
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

My Chinee Cook

They who say the bush is dull are not so very far astray,
For this eucalyptic cloisterdom is anything but gay;
But its uneventful dulness I contentedly could brook,
If I only could get back my lost, lamented Chinee cook.

We had tried them without number—cooks, to wit—my wife and I;
One a week, then three a fortnight, as my wife can testify;
But at last we got the right one; I may say 'twas by a fluke,
For he dropped in miscellaneous-like, that handy Chinee cook,

He found the kitchen empty, laid his swag down, and commenced;
My wife, surprised, found nothing to say anything against;
But she asked him for how much a year the work he undertook—
“Me workee for me ration,” said that noble Chinee cook.

Then right off from next to nothing such a dinner he prepared,
That the Governor I'm certain less luxuriously fared;
And he waited, too, in spotless white, with such respectful look,
And bowed his head when grace was said, that pious Chinee cook.

He did the work of man and maid—made beds and swept out rooms;
Nor cooled he in his zeal, as is the manner of new brooms:
Oh, he shed celestial brightness on the most sequestered nook,
For his mop and pail were everywhere—my cleanly Chinee cook.

We got fat upon his cooking; we were happy in those days,
For he tickled up our palates in a thousand pleasant ways.
Oh his dinners! Oh his dinners! they were fit for any duke!
Oh delectable Mongolian! Oh celestial Chinee cook!

There was nothing in creation that he didn't put to use,
And the less he got to cook with, all the more he could produce,
All nature was his kitchen range, likewise his cook'ry book—
Neither Soyer nor Meg Dod could teach that knowing Chinee cook.

And day by day upon my wife and me the mystery grew,
How his virtues were so many and his earnings were so few;
And we laid our heads together to find out by hook or crook,
The secret of the cheapness of that priceless Chinee cook.
And still the sense of mystery grew on us day by day,
Till it came to be a trouble, and we wished him well away;
But we could not find a fault in one so far above rebuke—
Ah, we didn't know the value of that valuable cook.

But one day when I was out he brought my wife a lot of things,
Turquoise earrings, opal bracelets, ruby brooches, diamond rings,

And he ran their various prices o'er as glibly as a book,
And dirt cheap, too, were the jewels of that jewel of a cook.

[...] Read more

poem by James Brunton Stephens
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Restaurant Keeper

In the City of Toronto there was once
a restaurant owned by a man named Imre Finta.
Born in 1912 in Austria-Hungary, Finta spent
his years of youth in my hometown Szeged,
immigrating to Canada after the Second World War.

Settling in Toronto, in 1953 Finta bought
the Candlelight Restaurant but it did not go well,
so he closed it. Then he opened The Moulin Rouge
on Avenue Road at DuPont Street.
The old fashioned Hungarian gentleman greeted
his guests warmly, politely kissing the right hand
of his female patrons.

I had never dined at the Moulin Rouge
but I encountered Finta in a brickyard and
at the railway station of Szeged in the summer
of 1944. At that time I was eight years old
and Finta, aged 32, was a Captain
of the Royal Hungarian Gendarmerie.
He was also a Nazi collaborator who supervised
the deportation of 8,617 Jews to slave labour lagers
and death camps. I was one of them.

A few months earlier, on March 19,1944,
the German Army occupied Hungary
and Adolf Eichmann arrived in Budapest.
His Mission was to implement in Hungary
the “Final Solution”, a Euphemism the Nazis
used to disguise the mass murder of the Jews.

In June 1944, swearing gendarmes pushed
a group of Jewish prisoners from the ersatz ghetto
of Kistelek onto a freight train. My mother,
my three year old sister Vera and I were
among them. We travelled thirty kilometres to
Szeged where the gendarmes led us to
an abandoned brick factory that was turned into
a makeshift concentration camp.

The brickyard camp commandant was
SS captain Angermayer, whom I remember
as a tall and lanky silhouette moving among
the prisoners in a black uniform.
He was assisted by ruthless gendarmes
in cock-feathered hats, armed with
bayoneted rifles and swords,
who terrorized the captives.

Living conditions in the makeshift ghetto

[...] Read more

poem by Paul Hartal
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Orlando Furioso Canto 20

ARGUMENT
Guido and his from that foul haunt retire,
While all Astolpho chases with his horn,
Who to all quarters of the town sets fire,
Then roving singly round the world is borne.
Marphisa, for Gabrina's cause, in ire
Puts upon young Zerbino scathe and scorn,
And makes him guardian of Gabrina fell,
From whom he first learns news of Isabel.

I
Great fears the women of antiquity
In arms and hallowed arts as well have done,
And of their worthy works the memory
And lustre through this ample world has shone.
Praised is Camilla, with Harpalice,
For the fair course which they in battle run.
Corinna and Sappho, famous for their lore,
Shine two illustrious light, to set no more.

II
Women have reached the pinnacle of glory,
In every art by them professed, well seen;
And whosoever turns the leaf of story,
Finds record of them, neither dim nor mean.
The evil influence will be transitory,
If long deprived of such the world had been;
And envious men, and those that never knew
Their worth, have haply hid their honours due.

III
To me it plainly seems, in this our age
Of women such is the celebrity,
That it may furnish matter to the page,
Whence this dispersed to future years shall be;
And you, ye evil tongues which foully rage,
Be tied to your eternal infamy,
And women's praises so resplendent show,
They shall, by much, Marphisa's worth outgo.

IV
To her returning yet again; the dame
To him who showed to her such courteous lore,
Refused not to disclose her martial name,
Since he agreed to tell the style be bore.
She quickly satisfied the warrior's claim;
To learn his title she desired so sore.
'I am Marphisa,' the virago cried:
All else was known, as bruited far and wide.

[...] Read more

poem by Ludovico Ariosto
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!