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There are four things that hold back human progress. Ignorance, stupidity, committees and accountants.

quote by Charles J.C. Lyall
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy! | In Romanian

Hold Your Position (Stones)

Now here comes the great musical thing called "hold your position"
Rasta, them style ya a just levelment Uncle seen
Hold me position, Just a hold me position
I ya, hold me position, just a hold me position
Go on, hold me position, just a hold me position
Just like Jesus Christ in the valley of decision
Devil come along and tru to deceive man through him
Got him plan from the older one
Him had to hold him position, had to hold him position yeh
Hold him position, had to hold him position
Well rhythm like this makes me and me daughter
Go down at the dance, bubble on the corner
When the rhythm is sweet, we a go hold tighter
Rub-adub like this makes you go one
So you hold your position
Say you hold you position aya
Hold your position, say hold your position
Things and time was a getting slow let off the rhythm
Let the good time roll
Don't bother go a slow and stay a back row
I man come to make the rhythm
Just a rock and flow, because me hold me position
Just a hold me position
Special request to 39 Acker Tree, Frontline, everyman on Kime
UB40 say come and rhyme
Yes, Daddy Stone, me in the dance hall style
So we really come to make it versatile
Because one of a kind we come to blow your mind
So you should hold you position
Yes, hold your position, aya
Hold your position, hold your position
Hold Your Position (cont'd) Stones
Skank steady, Skank Steady
I tell you rock the rhythm
You should skank down steady
You know you say, it heavier than lead
Kinda tougher than tough
You know that Jah, Jah covers
Since he stands over us
So hold your position
Hold your position
Move to the east, and you could a move to the west
Lyrics like this Jab know never go jest
Say chunk ice water say right to your chest
Intercity, outer city everywhere the best you better
Hold you position, just hold your position
Hold you position, say hold your position
Well rhythm like this is really so hot
Let off the vilse because a legal shot
Because we hold our position

[...] Read more

song performed by Ub40
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Interpretation of Nature and

I.

MAN, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature: beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything.


II.

Neither the naked hand nor the understanding left to itself can effect much. It is by instruments and helps that the work is done, which are as much wanted for the understanding as for the hand. And as the instruments of the hand either give motion or guide it, so the instruments of the mind supply either suggestions for the understanding or cautions.

III.

Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.

IV.

Towards the effecting of works, all that man can do is to put together or put asunder natural bodies. The rest is done by nature working within.

V.

The study of nature with a view to works is engaged in by the mechanic, the mathematician, the physician, the alchemist, and the magician; but by all (as things now are) with slight endeavour and scanty success.

VI.

It would be an unsound fancy and self-contradictory to expect that things which have never yet been done can be done except by means which have never yet been tried.

VII.

The productions of the mind and hand seem very numerous in books and manufactures. But all this variety lies in an exquisite subtlety and derivations from a few things already known; not in the number of axioms.

VIII.

Moreover the works already known are due to chance and experiment rather than to sciences; for the sciences we now possess are merely systems for the nice ordering and setting forth of things already invented; not methods of invention or directions for new works.

IX.

The cause and root of nearly all evils in the sciences is this -- that while we falsely admire and extol the powers of the human mind we neglect to seek for its true helps.

X.

The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding; so that all those specious meditations, speculations, and glosses in which men indulge are quite from the purpose, only there is no one by to observe it.

XI.

As the sciences which we now have do not help us in finding out new works, so neither does the logic which we now have help us in finding out new sciences.

XII.

The logic now in use serves rather to fix and give stability to the errors which have their foundation in commonly received notions than to help the search after truth. So it does more harm than good.

XIII.

[...] Read more

poem by Sir Francis Bacon
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Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society

Epigraph

Υδραν φονεύσας, μυρίων τ᾽ ἄλλων πόνων
διῆλθον ἀγέλας . . .
τὸ λοίσθιον δὲ τόνδ᾽ ἔτλην τάλας πόνον,
. . . δῶμα θριγκῶσαι κακοῖς.

I slew the Hydra, and from labour pass'd
To labour — tribes of labours! Till, at last,
Attempting one more labour, in a trice,
Alack, with ills I crowned the edifice.

You have seen better days, dear? So have I —
And worse too, for they brought no such bud-mouth
As yours to lisp "You wish you knew me!" Well,
Wise men, 't is said, have sometimes wished the same,
And wished and had their trouble for their pains.
Suppose my Œdipus should lurk at last
Under a pork-pie hat and crinoline,
And, latish, pounce on Sphynx in Leicester Square?
Or likelier, what if Sphynx in wise old age,
Grown sick of snapping foolish people's heads,
And jealous for her riddle's proper rede, —
Jealous that the good trick which served the turn
Have justice rendered it, nor class one day
With friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium-ware,—
What if the once redoubted Sphynx, I say,
(Because night draws on, and the sands increase,
And desert-whispers grow a prophecy)
Tell all to Corinth of her own accord.
Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes, for Lais' sake,
Who finds me hardly grey, and likes my nose,
And thinks a man of sixty at the prime?
Good! It shall be! Revealment of myself!
But listen, for we must co-operate;
I don't drink tea: permit me the cigar!
First, how to make the matter plain, of course —
What was the law by which I lived. Let 's see:
Ay, we must take one instant of my life
Spent sitting by your side in this neat room:
Watch well the way I use it, and don't laugh!
Here's paper on the table, pen and ink:
Give me the soiled bit — not the pretty rose!
See! having sat an hour, I'm rested now,
Therefore want work: and spy no better work
For eye and hand and mind that guides them both,
During this instant, than to draw my pen
From blot One — thus — up, up to blot Two — thus —
Which I at last reach, thus, and here's my line
Five inches long and tolerably straight:

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning (1871)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Hold Me Back

(young - young)
I got a big fat cadillac built for you
I got a honk thatll blow the avenue
Got a hot dog kickin all bend my thing
Got a a sugar looking woman with a bald headed man
Give me five o here boy, thats what Ill do
Got a big fat momma who can hold a tune
Gotta slip that bone in hard and mean
A honky tonk woman get the best of me
Cant hold me back
Cant hold me back
Cant hold me back
Get a heart attack
Cant hold me back
Got a honky tonk big ball hit to thrill
I got a sugar boot money baby thatll kill
A honky tonk 15 golden mile
Gotta bald headed woman loaded in the town
You can get me to the ball man, drivin in
And dont balk the kill, call in the ville
You gotta map the wrong town, hit the road
You got the whole boppa movin on down the road
Cant hold me back
You cant hold me back
You cant hold me back
You get a heart attack
Cant hold me back
You cant hold me back
You cant hold me back
You cant hold me back
You get a heart attack
Cant hold me back
You cant hold me back, you cant hold me back
You cant hold me back, you cant hold me back
Cant hold me back, you cant hold me back
You cant hold me back, you get a heart attack
Cant hold me back (hold me back)
You cant hold me back (hold me back)
You cant hold me back (hold me back)
Cant hold me back (hold me back)
You cant hold me back (hold me back)
Cant hold me back (hold me back)
You cant hold me back (hold me back)
You cant hold me back
2000, j. albert & son, pty.

song performed by AC-DC
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Culture Of Stupidity

Open your eyes…..,
To the Culture Of Stupidity….,
It’s all around us….,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….! ! !

We can’t escape….,
From the Culture Of Stupidity ….,
It haunts and annoys us…,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….! ! !

It’s hard to believe it….,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….,
Why so many can’t see it….,
The Culture Of Stupidity …! ! !

So tell me, The Culture Of Stupidity ….,
How long will it go on….? ? ?

The answer is as simple as this….,

The Culture Of Stupidity shall live…..,
As long as humankind will exist…! ! !

poem by Trade Martin
Added by Poetry Lover
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The Culture Of Stupidity

Open your naive eyes…..,
To the Culture Of Stupidity….,
It’s all around you….,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….! !

No way to escape….,
From the Culture Of Stupidity ….,
It haunts and stalks you…,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….! !

It’s hard to believe it….,
The Culture Of Stupidity ….,
That so many can’t see it….,
The Culture Of Stupidity …! !

As liberals keep shying away…..,
From the overwhelming threat…..,
Of radical terrorism today…..,
How long will The Culture Of Stupidity go on….? ?
My answer is as simple as this….,
The Culture Of Stupidity shall live on…..,
As long as humankind and liberalism will exist…! !

poem by Trade Martin
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Hold Back

Written by ricky & marty wilde
Now when we started - no interventions
I wanted everything with no conditions
You took my love and told it to the world
But now it really changes things
The ring you wear belongs to someone else
Somebody else and my heart keeps saying
Hold back - hold back your love
Baby its just a crazy thing to start
Hold back - hold back your love
Maybe its just the easy way to part
Hold back - hold back (hold back, hold back...)
No denials - no introspection
Im not competing for some true perfection
I wanted something thats fine and thats for sure
And now I wonder how she feels
cos in her heart she knows theres someone else
Somebody else and I hear her saying
Hold back - hold back your love
Baby its just a crazy thing to start
Hold back - hold back your love
Maybe its just the easy way to part
Hold back - hold back
Hold back (hold back)
Hold back your love
Hold back (hold back)
Hold back your love
(baby...) hold back (hold back)
Hold back your love
Baby its just a crazy thing to start
Baby its just a crazy thing
You gotta hold back - hold back your love
(hold back) - hold back your love
(hold back) - you gotta hold back your love
(ooh) you gotta hold back your love
(ooh) hold back your love
Hold back (hold back)
(ooh)
(ooh)
Hold back
(ad lib to fade)

song performed by Kim Wilde
Added by Lucian Velea
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Hold On

Written by: myles goodwyn
Why do I speak if no one hears
Who can I turn to if youre not there
And why do I carry on the way that I do
Why do I question myself like this over you
cos trouble and sorrow - its all I can feel
Theres so much confusion it seems so unreal
Hold on - to our own selves be true
Hold on hold on
Hold on - lets see this love through
Hold on hold on
Why do we have to act so foolishly
Hurting one another - you and me
All we have to do is try more now and then
And whos to say that we cant make things right again
Heartaches and sorrow its bringin us down
Theres so much to give lets turn this love around
Hold on - to our own selves be true
Hold on hold on
Hold on - lets see this love through
Hold on hold on
Hold on just hold on to me
Hold on hold on
Hold on you know our love will be
Hold on
I dont wanna hear that loving you is wrong
I only know these words will have to make us strong
Its the things we say but more the things we do
And what I wanna say is baby I love you
Heartaches and sorrow its bringin us down
Theres so much to give lets turn this love around
Hold on - to our own selves be true
Hold on hold on
Hold on - lets see this love through
Hold on hold on
Hold on just hold on to me
Hold on hold on
Hold on you know our love will be
Hold on hold on
Hold on

song performed by April Wine
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Beginning

The beginning saw existence of a chosen dream
But then came pain
With energy striking on those she knew would uncover her lies
She knew she must destroy everything that we had prayed for
So she sent shameful claim in her lies
She wants us to be what's going on in her mind
Music takes you round and round and round and round and round
Hold on to the love
Hold on to the love
The music takes you round and round and round and round and round
Hold on to the love
Nah Nah Nah Nah
Hold on to thelove
We are smiling
She wants us to be what's going on in her mind
If she is to take over she must prevent unity
But oh how cold her life must be
She knows she must destroy everything that we had prayed for
So here comes shameful claim in her lies
Music takes you round and round and round and round and round
Hold on to the love
Hold on to the love
Music takes you round and round and round and round and round
Hold on to the love
Smiling again
Hold on to the love
Nah Nah Nah Nah
Hold on
Nah Nah Nah Nah
Hold on
Nah Nah Nah Nah
Nah Nah Nah Nah
Hold on
Nah Nah Nah Nah
Hold on
Hold on to the love
The music takes you round and round and round and round and round
Hold on to the love
Hold on to the love
Music takes you round and round and round and round and round
Hold on to the love
Hold on to the love
Hold on
Round and round and round and round and round
Hold on to thelove
Go round go round but Hold on to love
Hold on to the love
Music takes you round and round and round and round and round
Hold on to thelove
Go round

[...] Read more

song performed by Seal from Debut
Added by Lucian Velea
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Hold On Hold Out

Hold on hold out, keep a hold on strong
The moneys in and the bets are down
You wont hold out long
They say youll fall in no time at all
But you know theyre wrong
Known it all along
Hold on hold out, keep a hold on still
If you dont see what your love is worth
No one ever will
Youve done your time on the bottom line
And it aint no thrill
Theres got to be something more
Keep a hold on still
You know what it is youre waiting for
Now you just hold on
Hold on hold out, hold on
Give up your heart and you lose your way
Trusting another to feel that way
Give up your heart and you find yourself
Living for something in somebody else
Sometimes you wonder what happens to love
Sometimes the touch of a friend is enough
Hold a place for the human race
Keep it open wide
Give it time to fall or climb
But let the time decide
Sometimes you wonder whats in this for you
But you wait, and you see
cause its all you can do
Just to hold on
Hold on hold out, hold on
For the countless souls beaten by their goals
Keep a hold on now
And the ones betrayed by the deals they made
Keep a hold on
If you hold your ground itll turn around
Keep a hold somehow
Hold on hold out, keep a hold on tight
Tonights the night
Wake up and turn on the light
You fight, and youre right--
Its gonna take all your might...
Youre a hold out
Well Im a hold out too
But it took me all this time to figure out
Something you already knew
Will love be true? can it pull you through?
How long? how strong?
Somethings depend on you
See-- I always figured I was going to meet somebody here

[...] Read more

song performed by Jackson Browne
Added by Lucian Velea
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Mother Dawn

Hold me, hold me
Breathe the light into me
Hold me, hold me
Mother dawn
Mother dawn
Dancing round the fire
Circling the flame
Listen to the shadows calling out my name
They say
Rock me like a baby
Cradle me in the light
Bathe me in a rainbow
Sun restore my sight
Hold me, hold me
Breathe the light into me
Hold me, hold me
Mother dawn (all night long yeah)
Hold me, hold me
Breathe the light into me (all night long yeah)
Hold me, hold me
Mother dawn
Look into the light
Come and take a journey through the land of night
Darkness strokes the face and
Steals away the sight
Night is all around me
Stars are in my hair
I feel them tangled in the secrets well
Find hidden there all right
Reaching through the madness
To the other side
Where the sun is rising
With her arms held wide
Hold me, hold me
Breathe the light into me
Hold me, hold me
Mother dawn (all night long yeah)
(till the dawn light comes)
Hold me, hold me
Breathe the light into me (all night long yeah)
Hold me, hold me
Mother dawn (all night long)
(I know youre gonna love me)
(I know youre gonna love me)
One star flew against the tapestry of the night
And the earth revolved in perfect symmetry
To a symphony of sun
The moon danced its final bow
As the birth of day
Exploded

[...] Read more

song performed by Billy Idol
Added by Lucian Velea
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Ramdas Choi Chang poems 4

Poem 1

Wonderful is life,
Wonderful to live and enjoy,
Enjoy stupidity of own in
laughing at stupidity of others, Mr. Bean and Chaplin are great
ones,
Bringing out that frozen
stupidity in all of us melt and
flow!

Poem2

Great was that dance
Of Michael Jackson,
Great was dance of greater
dancers but no one can dance on
our heart like our own ignorance
hand in hand with our stupidity!

Poem3

They say God is Love,
God is great, as great as love,
Both are great mysteries
but not as great as men and
woman!
They can use or misuse both God and Love,
as they can use or misuse fire or
knife!

Poem4

Come come my dear fountain of
Love,
Come come my dear spirit,
tell me please in which flavour,
You are at your best, which form
of spirit, Wine or divine?

Poem5

There were great men,
some worked for all and some
worked for
Themselves,
God is that great,
as mysterious as life and universe,
a few penetrated some of them,
yet mystery continued as

[...] Read more

poem by Ramdas Bhandarkar
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The Idols

An Ode
Luce intellettual, piena d' amore

Prelude
Lo, the spirit of a pulsing star within a stone
Born of earth, sprung from night!
Prisoned with the profound fires of the light
That lives like all the tongues of eloquence
Locked in a speech unknown!
The crystal, cold and hard as innocence,
Immures the flame; and yet as if it knew
Raptures or pangs it could not but betray,
As if the light could feel changes of blood and breath
And all--but--human quiverings of the sense,
Throbs of a sudden rose, a frosty blue,
Shoot thrilling in its ray,
Like the far longings of the intellect
Restless in clouding clay.

Who has confined the Light? Who has held it a slave,
Sold and bought, bought and sold?
Who has made of it a mystery to be doled,
Or trophy, to awe with legendary fire,
Where regal banners wave?
And still into the dark it sends Desire.
In the heart's darkness it sows cruelties.
The bright jewel becomes a beacon to the vile,
A lodestar to corruption, envy's own:
Soiled with blood, fought for, clutched at; this world's prize,
Captive Authority. Oh, the star is stone
To all that outward sight,
Yet still, like truth that none has ever used,
Lives lost in its own light.

Troubled I fly. O let me wander again at will
(Far from cries, far from these
Hard blindnesses and frozen certainties!)
Where life proceeds in vastness unaware
And stirs profound and still:
Where leafing thoughts at shy touch of the air
Tremble, and gleams come seeking to be mine,
Or dart, like suddenly remembered youth,
Like the ache of love, a light, lost, found, and lost again.
Surely in the dusk some messenger was there!
But, haunted in the heart, I thirst, I pine.--
Oh, how can truth be truth
Except I taste it close and sweet and sharp
As an apple to the tooth?

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Laurence Binyon
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Hold Me Now

(gordon kennedy/tommy sims)
(track 8 - time 3:15)
Oopsie daisy Im losin my mind
Hold me now, hold me now
Clock on the wall says
Im outta time
Hold me now, hold me now
I gotta reason but
Im all outta rhyme
Hold me now, hold me now
Sometimes the answers are just so hard to find
Hold me now
When my grip on the day
Starts slippin away
If Im gonna fall at all
Im gonna fall in love with you
Here I go Im fallin again
Hold me now, hold me now
It always happens when your love comes in
Hold me now, hold me now
My hopes and dreams have been left out in the cold
Hold me now, hold me now
Feels like the world is spinnin outta control
Hold me now
When my grip on the day (when my grip on the day)
Starts slippin away (starts slippin away)
If Im gonna fall at all
Im gonna fall in love with you
Here I go Im fallin again
Hold me now, hold me now
It all gets better when your love comes in
Hold me now
Im gonna fall in love with you
Here I go Im fallin again
Hold me now, hold me now
It always happens when your love comes in
Hold me now, hold me now
Here I go Im fallin again
Hold me now, hold me now
It all gets better when your love comes in
Hold me now, hold me now
Hold me now

song performed by Diamond Rio
Added by Lucian Velea
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Hold On

(written by natalie cole, marvin yancy and kevin yancy)
You know, of all the things in the world Id miss
It would probably be music and love
They say you dont know what youve got til its gone
Thats so true
Even though we still take it for granted
And I used to be like that but not anymore
cause I found out what love really means
Love means happiness and dedication
Love will sometimes bring complications
But you must have faith and a whole lot of trust
Most of all you can never give up just
(hold on, hold on)
Hold on to your good thing, yeah
(hold on, hold on) forget about the small things
(hold on, hold on) do it for love, do it for love
And remember that love is a feeling
But its also an action, yes
Youve got to give sometime
If you want to get back some, well
And when all the kings horses
And even all the kings men
Cant put it together again
That is exactly when youve got to
(hold on, hold on) hold on to what youve got
(hold on, hold on)
Its the little things that mean alot
(hold on, hold on) do it for love, do it for love
In spite of everything, no matter what
Youve got to h-o-l-d on (you gotta hold on)
Hold on, hmm, hmm, hmm, ooh, oh, oh
Youre so hard headed
cause you feel that youre right
Well, tell me how you gonna feel
In the middle of the night
All alone, all alone
I know, I know
It doesnt matter whos right or wrong
If you feel so inclined
To blame that shame on someone else
Ooh, stop and think about it
Point the finger at yourself
Ooh, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo
Hold on to your good thing (hold on)
Forget about the small (hold on) things
(hold on) and hold on
Hold on, oh hold on (hold on)
Real tight in spite of everything
Hold on (hold on)
When you feel like walking out that door

song performed by Natalie Cole
Added by Lucian Velea
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Breathless

All these posers keep you awake
I guess Im just too tired to sleep
And God only knows Im too lost to cry
Kissing last has kept me true
Ill fall (hold me tight)
But Ill leave (hold me tight)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
Ill fall (hold me tight)
But Ill leave (hold me tight)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
He hates so much its love he says
Inside his dark I need to smile
He shouts so loud I never hear
Thats why the truths always abused
As I slip into unconsciousness
I never felt so much to blame
Ill fall (hold me tight)
But Ill leave (hold me tight)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
Ill fall (hold me tight)
But Ill leave (hold me tight)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
As I slip into unconsciousness
I never felt so much to blame
Ill fall (hold me tight)
But Ill leave (hold me tight)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
Ill fall (hold me tight)
But Ill leave (hold me tight)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
Ill fall (hold me tight)
But Ill leave (hold me tight)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
Ill fall (hold me tight)
But Ill leave (hold me tight)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
Ill fall (another day another night)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely
Ill fall (another day another night)
So hold me tight
Cause Im so lonely

song performed by Texas
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Columbiad: Book IX

The Argument

Vision suspended. Night scene, as contemplated from the mount of vision. Columbus inquires the reason of the slow progress of science, and its frequent interruptions. Hesper answers, that all things in the physical as well as the moral and intellectual world are progressive in like manner. He traces their progress from the birth of the universe to the present state of the earth and its inhabitants; asserts the future advancement of society, till perpetual peace shall be established. Columbus proposes his doubts; alleges in support of them the successive rise and downfal of ancient nations; and infers future and periodical convulsions. Hesper, in answer, exhibits the great distinction between the ancient and modern state of the arts and of society. Crusades. Commerce. Hanseatic League. Copernicus. Kepler. Newton, Galileo. Herschel. Descartes. Bacon. Printing Press. Magnetic Needle. Geographical discoveries. Federal system in America. A similar system to be extended over the whole earth. Columbus desires a view of this.

But now had Hesper from the Hero's sight
Veil'd the vast world with sudden shades of night.
Earth, sea and heaven, where'er he turns his eye,
Arch out immense, like one surrounding sky
Lamp'd with reverberant fires. The starry train
Paint their fresh forms beneath the placid main;
Fair Cynthia here her face reflected laves,
Bright Venus gilds again her natal waves,
The Bear redoubling foams with fiery joles,
And two dire dragons twine two arctic poles.
Lights o'er the land, from cities lost in shade,
New constellations, new galaxies spread,
And each high pharos double flames provides,
One from its fires, one fainter from the tides.

Centred sublime in this bivaulted sphere,
On all sides void, unbounded, calm and clear,
Soft o'er the Pair a lambent lustre plays,
Their seat still cheering with concentred rays;
To converse grave the soothing shades invite.
And on his Guide Columbus fixt his sight:
Kind messenger of heaven, he thus began,
Why this progressive laboring search of man?
If men by slow degrees have power to reach
These opening truths that long dim ages teach,
If, school'd in woes and tortured on to thought,
Passion absorbing what experience taught,
Still thro the devious painful paths they wind,
And to sound wisdom lead at last the mind,
Why did not bounteous nature, at their birth,
Give all their science to these sons of earth,
Pour on their reasoning powers pellucid day,
Their arts, their interests clear as light display?
That error, madness and sectarian strife
Might find no place to havock human life.

To whom the guardian Power: To thee is given
To hold high converse and inquire of heaven,
To mark untraversed ages, and to trace
Whate'er improves and what impedes thy race.
Know then, progressive are the paths we go
In worlds above thee, as in thine below
Nature herself (whose grasp of time and place
Deals out duration and impalms all space)

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poem by Joel Barlow
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Gotham - Book III

Can the fond mother from herself depart?
Can she forget the darling of her heart,
The little darling whom she bore and bred,
Nursed on her knees, and at her bosom fed;
To whom she seem'd her every thought to give,
And in whose life alone she seem'd to live?
Yes, from herself the mother may depart,
She may forget the darling of her heart,
The little darling whom she bore and bred,
Nursed on her knees, and at her bosom fed,
To whom she seem'd her every thought to give,
And in whose life alone she seem'd to live;
But I cannot forget, whilst life remains,
And pours her current through these swelling veins,
Whilst Memory offers up at Reason's shrine;
But I cannot forget that Gotham's mine.
Can the stern mother, than the brutes more wild,
From her disnatured breast tear her young child,
Flesh of her flesh, and of her bone the bone,
And dash the smiling babe against a stone?
Yes, the stern mother, than the brutes more wild,
From her disnatured breast may tear her child,
Flesh of her flesh, and of her bone the bone,
And dash the smiling babe against a stone;
But I, (forbid it, Heaven!) but I can ne'er
The love of Gotham from this bosom tear;
Can ne'er so far true royalty pervert
From its fair course, to do my people hurt.
With how much ease, with how much confidence--
As if, superior to each grosser sense,
Reason had only, in full power array'd,
To manifest her will, and be obey'd--
Men make resolves, and pass into decrees
The motions of the mind! with how much ease,
In such resolves, doth passion make a flaw,
And bring to nothing what was raised to law!
In empire young, scarce warm on Gotham's throne,
The dangers and the sweets of power unknown,
Pleased, though I scarce know why, like some young child,
Whose little senses each new toy turns wild,
How do I hold sweet dalliance with my crown,
And wanton with dominion, how lay down,
Without the sanction of a precedent,
Rules of most large and absolute extent;
Rules, which from sense of public virtue spring,
And all at once commence a Patriot King!
But, for the day of trial is at hand,
And the whole fortunes of a mighty land
Are staked on me, and all their weal or woe
Must from my good or evil conduct flow,

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poem by Charles Churchill
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Stupidity

Stupidity, woe's anodyne,
Be kind and comfort me in mine;
Smooth out the furrows of my brow,
Make me as carefree as a cow,
Content to sleep and eat and drink
And never think

Stupidity, let me be blind
To all the ills of humankind;
Fill me with simple sentiment
To walk the way my father went;
School me to sweat with robot folk
Beneath the yoke.

Stupidity, keep in their place
The moiling masses of my race,
And bid the lowly multitude
Be humble as a people should;
Learn us with patient hearts, I pray,
Lords to obey.

Stupidity and Ignorance,
Be you our buffers 'mid mischance;
Endoctrine us to do your will,
And other stupid people kill;
Fool us with hope of Life to be,
Great god to whom we bow the knee,
--STUPIDITY.

poem by Robert William Service
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Plain Truth and Blind Ignorance

Truth
'God speed you, ancient father,
And give you a good daye;
What is the cause, I praye you,
So sadly here you staye?
And that you keep such gazing
On this decayed place,
The which, for superstition,
Good princes down did raze?'

Ignorance
'Chill tell thee, by my vazen,
That zometimes che have knowne
A vair and goodly abbey
Stand here of bricke and stone;
And many a holy vrier,
As ich may say to thee,
Within these goodly cloysters
Che did full often zee.'

Truth.
'Then I must tell thee, father,
In truthe and veritie,
A sorte of greater hypocrites
Thou couldst not likely see;
Deceiving of the simple
With false and feigned lies:
But such an order truly
Christ never did devise.'

Ignorance.
'Ah! ah! che zmell the enow, man;
Che know well what thou art;
A vellow of mean learning,
Thee was not worth a vart;
Vor when we had the old lawe,
A merry world was then,
And every thing was plenty
Among all zorts of men.'

Truth.
'Thou givest me an answer,
As did the Jewes sometimes
Unto the prophet Jeremye,
When he accus'd their crimes:
' 'Twas mercy,' sayd the people,
'And joyfull in our rea'me,
When we did offer spice-cakes
Unto the queen of hea'n.''

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poem by Anonymous Olde English
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