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To refuse graciously is to confer a favor.

quote by Publilius Syrus
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I Refuse

Everythings heaven sent
Thats what you said and went
Inside your fairy glass
Somethin you think will last
And when they crop you like a clown
You got your smile on upside down
B-baby I refuse
(I do refuse)
Uh, you can pick or choose
(I do refuse)
Find omebody else to use
(I do refuse)
cause I refuse to come along
And everythings on a whim
Thats what you said to him
Lyin in wunderlust
Are feelings you never trust
And when they pamper you with ice
I cant believe you dont think twice
Uh baby I refuse
(I do refuse)
Uh, you can pick or choose
(I do refuse)
Find somebody else to use
(I do refuse)
cause I refuse to come along
And everyone makes the play
With nothing left much to say
Theyre all in an endless line
Waiting for equal time
They keep screaming its the truth
And you keep kneelin in the booth
Oh baby I refuse
(I do refuse)
Uh, you can pick or choose
(I do refuse)
Find somebody else to use
(I do refuse)
cause I refuse to come along
Oh, I do refuse
(I do refuse)
Oh, you got nothin to lose
(I do refuse)
Find somebody else to use
(find somebody else to use)
(I do refuse)
cause I refuse to come along
I refuse
(I do refuse)
Ah, oo-oo

[...] Read more

song performed by Cars
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Refuse (Song)

burning in the blazing heat
i would tell the guitar
its time to refuse

all the souls are need in a break
going back to home
refusing the symphony
you give

time to refuse(3)
refuse refuse

life not meant to refuse
but refuse death
you refuse life

the stakes are high
id tell the guitar
its time

time to refuse

burning in the blazing heat
i would tell the guitar
its time to refuse

climb the highest tower
you were born a star
the world will know you

born that way
born to be special
yeah yeah yeah

your gonna make it
i know
i know your gonna make it

escape refuse from the paradise
refuse
You dont have to roll the dice

yeah yeah
your gonna make it
refuse! ! !

poem by Raabia Tabassum
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I Refuse to Lament

I have things to lament.
You have things to lament.
I refuse to lament.
But, you stay glued to sentiments,
With contented reasons meant.

I have things to lament.
You have things to lament.
I refuse to lament.
But, you stay glued to sentiments,
With contented reasons meant.

Growing old,
You lament.
As if you're sold,
To lament.
Inviting mold,
To convince to start a pointless argument.

Growing old,
You lament.
As if you're sold,
To lament.
Inviting mold,
To convince to start a pointless argument.

I have things to lament.
You have things to lament.
I refuse to lament.
But, you stay glued to sentiments,
With contented reasons meant.

Growing old,
You lament.
As if you're sold,
To lament.
Inviting mold,
To convince to start a pointless argument.

I refuse to lament.
But, you stay glued to sentiments,
With contented reasons meant.

I have things to lament.
You have things to lament.
Why shoiuld we be here lamenting,
When lamenting makes no sense.

I have things to lament.
You have things to lament.

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Beowulf

LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!
To him an heir was afterward born,
a son in his halls, whom heaven sent
to favor the folk, feeling their woe
that erst they had lacked an earl for leader
so long a while; the Lord endowed him,
the Wielder of Wonder, with world's renown.
Famed was this Beowulf: far flew the boast of him,
son of Scyld, in the Scandian lands.
So becomes it a youth to quit him well
with his father's friends, by fee and gift,
that to aid him, aged, in after days,
come warriors willing, should war draw nigh,
liegemen loyal: by lauded deeds
shall an earl have honor in every clan.
Forth he fared at the fated moment,
sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God.
Then they bore him over to ocean's billow,
loving clansmen, as late he charged them,
while wielded words the winsome Scyld,
the leader beloved who long had ruled….
In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel,
ice-flecked, outbound, atheling's barge:
there laid they down their darling lord
on the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings,
by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure
fetched from far was freighted with him.
No ship have I known so nobly dight
with weapons of war and weeds of battle,
with breastplate and blade: on his bosom lay
a heaped hoard that hence should go
far o'er the flood with him floating away.
No less these loaded the lordly gifts,
thanes' huge treasure, than those had done
who in former time forth had sent him
sole on the seas, a suckling child.
High o'er his head they hoist the standard,
a gold-wove banner; let billows take him,
gave him to ocean. Grave were their spirits,
mournful their mood. No man is able

[...] Read more

poem by Charles Baudelaire
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Expostulation

Why weeps the muse for England? What appears
In England's case to move the muse to tears?
From side to side of her delightful isle
Is she not clothed with a perpetual smile?
Can Nature add a charm, or Art confer
A new-found luxury, not seen in her?
Where under heaven is pleasure more pursued
Or where does cold reflection less intrude?
Her fields a rich expanse of wavy corn,
Pour'd out from Plenty's overflowing horn;
Ambrosial gardens, in which art supplies
The fervor and the force of Indian skies:
Her peaceful shores, where busy Commerce waits
To pour his golden tide through all her gates;
Whom fiery suns, that scorch the russet spice
Of eastern groves, and oceans floor'd with ice
Forbid in vain to push his daring way
To darker climes, or climes of brighter day;
Whom the winds waft where'er the billows roll
From the World's girdle to the frozen pole;
The chariots bounding in her wheel-worn streets,
Her vaults below, where every vintage meets;
Her theatres, her revels, and her sports;
The scenes to which not youth alone resorts,
But age, in spite of weakness and of pain,
Still haunts, in hope to dream of youth again;
All speak her happy; let the muse look round
From East to West, no sorrow can be found;
Or only what, in cottages confined,
Sighs unregarded to the passing wind.
Then wherefore weep for England? What appears
In England's case to move the muse to tears?
The prophet wept for Israel; wish'd his eyes
Were fountains fed with infinite supplies;
For Israel dealt in robbery and wrong;
There were the scorner's and the slanderer's tongue;
Oaths, used as playthings or convenient tools,
As interest biass'd knaves, or fashion fools;
Adultery, neighing at his neighbor's door;
Oppression laboring hard to grind the poor;
The partial balance and deceitful weight;
The treacherous smile, a mask for secret hate;
Hypocrisy, formality in prayer,
And the dull service of the lip were there.
Her women, insolent and self-caress'd,
By Vanity's unwearied finger dress'd,
Forgot the blush that virgin fears impart
To modest cheeks, and borrow'd one from art;
Were just trifles, without worth or use,
As silly pride and idleness produce;

[...] Read more

poem by William Cowper
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Do Yourself A Favour

If U see me walkin' down the street one day
Don't say nothin' 2 me - no no, nothin'
Cuz U did me wrong when I was doing bad
So bad, I didn't think I was gonna make it
Now I'm alone, feelin' free
Freer than the butterfly flyin' high now - yeah yeah, baby
I don't claim no riches or any miracles
But I'm doin' better on my own
So if U see me, walk on by, baby
Don't say nothin', walk on by now
Do yourself a favor, walk on by, yeah
Don't say nothin', walk on by - yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Oh yeah {x2}
U didn't even try 2 understand
Just where I was comin' from - no no, baby
Instead of understanding, U gave me your demandings
And I couldn't stand it - uh uh, baby
Now it's much 2 late and there's no time 4 me 2 try
Not anymore - uh uh, baby
Listen - Say, I don't feel no pain, it doesn't hurt inside
And I'm doin' better on my own
So if U see me, walk on by, baby
Don't say nothin', walk on by now
Do yourself a favor, walk on by, babe
Don't say nothin', walk on by - yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Yeah {x2}
Now it's much 2 late and there's no time 4 me 2 try
Not anymore - uh uh, baby
I don't feel no pain, it doesn't hurt inside
And I'm doin' better on my own
So looka here, baby!
If U see me, walk on by now
Don't say nothin', walk on by now
Just do yourself a favor, yeah, walk on by girl
Don't say nothin', walk on by - yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Looka here, don't... don't... don't try 2 talk 2 me now, baby
I'm doin' OK
I'm makin' it on my own, baby
Looka here
(Do yourself a favor) {repeat in BG}
U know, honey, U know I ain't rich or nothin'
I ain't claimin' no miracles, but ah...
I'm a bachelor now, baby
U know what I'm sayin'?
Just do yourself a favor, baby, just walk on down the street, huh
I ain't got a damn thing 2 say 2 U now, baby - Look out!
When we was 2gether, did U try 2 understand me? No!
So just do yourself a favor and get the hell down the road
Mmmm
2 sexy

[...] Read more

song performed by Prince
Added by Lucian Velea
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War And Peace—A Poem

THOU, bright Futurity! whose prospect beams,
In dawning radiance on our day-light dreams;
Whose lambent meteors and ethereal forms
Gild the dark clouds, and glitter thro' the storms;
On thy broad canvas fancy loves to trace,
Her brilliant Iris, drest in vivid grace;
Paints fair creations in celestial dyes,
Tints of the morn and blushes of the skies;
And bids her scenes perfection's robe assume,
The mingling flush of light, and life, and bloom.
Thou bright Futurity! whose morning-star
Still beams unveil'd, unclouded, from afar;
Whose lovely vista smiling Hope surveys,
Thro' the dim twilight of the silvery haze;

Oh! let the muse expand her wing on high,
Thy shadowy realms, thy worlds unknown descry;
Let her clear eye-beam, flashing lucid light,
Chase from thy forms th' involving shades of night;
Pierce the dark clouds that veil thy noontide rays,
And soar, exulting, in meridian blaze!
In bliss, in grief, thy radiant scenes bestow,
The zest of rapture, or the balm of woe!
For, as the sun-flower to her idol turns,
Glows in his noon, and kindles as he burns;
Expands her bosom to th' exalting fire,
Lives but to gaze, and gazes to admire;
E'en so to thee, the mind incessant flies,
From thy pure source the fount of joy supplies;
And steals from thee the sunny light that throws
A brighter blush on pleasure's living rose!
To thee pale sorrow turns her eye of tears,
Lifts the dim curtain of unmeasur'd years;
And hails thy promis'd land, th' Elysian shore,
Where weeping virtue shall bewail no more!

Now, while the sounds of martial wrath assail,
While the red banner floats upon the gale;
While dark destruction, with his legion-bands,
Waves the bright sabre o'er devoted lands;
While war's dread comet flashes thro' the air,
And fainting nations tremble at the glare;
To thee, Futurity! from scenes like these,
Pale fancy turns, for heav'n-imparted ease;
Turns to behold, in thy unclouded skies,
The orb of peace in bright perspective rise;
And pour around, with joy-diffusing ray,
Life, light, and glory, in a flood of day!

Thou, whose lov'd presence and benignant smile

[...] Read more

poem by Felicia Dorothea Hemans
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I Could Not Love You

There're a billion people in the world
All of them equal but of different worth
I find you to have a value equaled by no other
You are a rare and beautiful flower
But I'm sorry that I could not favor you
And make you the queen of my heart as I should
That instead I chose a different group
And I chose to favor them more than you

To favor a person means that you are two
And I'm sorry that I could not be with you
And a favored another one more fair
Although you are a true queens heir
And amongst a million kings and princesses
You always claimed that you were the fairest
And though your heart is the kindest I knew
I apologies that I could not favor you
And instead I chose to favor another
Not your equal, but not your better

I see a million faces each day but only acquaint with a few
You and I went different ways so I could not favor you
You and I once had our chance but I chose to let it go
You had no fault at all as I made the choice alone
And instead I chose to look for another
And I did favor them more than you
Although in my eyes you are a flower
I'm sorry that I could not be with you
And value you as a queen like I should
But just as I favored another more than you
Another favors you more than any other
And chose to be with you and no-other

poem by Hafeni Nghidinua
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We Reserve The Right To Refuse Service To You

(kinky friedman, rick goldberg, j. maizel)
While traveling through the lone star state
I lost my lunch before I ate,
It happened in a pull-ahead caf. yahoo!
I felt my bones begin to crunch
I saw my name on the businessmans lunch
And the neck who owned the place stepped up to say:
hey buddy, are you blind,
Say, partner, cant you read the sign ?
We reserve the right to refuse service to you,
Take your business back to walgreens,
Have you tried your local zoo ?
You smell just like a communist,
You come on through just like a jew,
We reserve the right to refuse service to you.
Well, I walked on in to my house of god
Congregation on the nod,
Just chosen folks are doing their weekly thing.
Hear, o israel, yes indeed,
My book was backwards, couldnt read,
But I got a good rise when I heard that rabbi sing,
boruch atoh adonoi,
What the hell are you doing back there, boy ?
We reserve the right to refuse services to you,
Your friends are all on welfare
You call yourself a jew ?
You need your ticket and your tie
To zip your prayers on through,
We reserve the right to refuse services unto you.
Life from laos and cambodia
No more tears tonight they showed ya
The latest old war movies on tv.
You know its bound to escalate
So go and turn on channel eight,
Watch channel seven border channel three.
Well, I wont mind your tanks and jets and jeeps
And speaking on behalf of all my fellow creeps:
We reserve the right to refuse service to you,
Right, face, forward, move
And get the children, too.
Let saigons be bygones,
Dont you blow this world in two.
We reserve the right to refuse service to you.
Well, its just my luck that gods a texan
One big sonbitchin anglo-saxon,
Some crazy tall norwegian bore
Just to help my body shipped air-freight
From texas to the pearly gate
Just ring the bell and leave me at the door.
Ill be somewhere over jordan swinging low,

[...] Read more

song performed by Kinky Friedman
Added by Lucian Velea
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Jericho

Hey poor, you don't have to be poor anymore!
Hey poor, you don't have to be poor anymore!
Hey poor, you don't have to be poor anymore!
And you thought the beat slowed down, come on!
The horns of jericho
The horns of jericho
And you thought the beat slowed down, come on!
And you thought the beat slowed down, come on!
You want a favor, find a favor
You want a favor, find a favor
You want a favor, find a favor

song performed by Prodigy
Added by Lucian Velea
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See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

(first releaseblind lemon jefferson)
Well theres one kind of favor Ill ask for you
Well theres one kind of favor Ill ask for you
Theres just one kind of favor Ill ask for you
You can see that my grave is kept clean.
And theres two white horses following me
And theres two white horses following me
I got two white horses following me
Waiting on my burying ground.
Did you ever hear that coffin sound
Did you ever hear that coffin sound
Did you ever hear that coffin sound
Means another poor boy is underground.
Did you ever hear them church bells toll
Did you ever hear them church bells toll
Did you ever hear them church bells toll
Means another poor boy is dead and gone.
And my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
And my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
And my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
Now I believe what the Bible told.
Theres just one last favor Ill ask for you
And theres one last favor Ill ask for you
Theres just one last favor Ill ask for you
See that my grave is kept clean.

song performed by Bob Dylan
Added by Lucian Velea
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Cry Now Laugh Later

Cry now, laugh later.
Its time now to return the favor,
Cry now, laugh laugh later.
I dont know why Im laughing,
Im still wet from the rain,
I dont know why Im laughing,
Im still spotted from the stain.
I dont know why Im laughing,
Im burning from the flame,
I dont know why Im laughing,
Theres a storm running through my veins.
Cry now, laugh later,
Cry now, laugh later,
Sign out, Ill see you later,
Time now to return the favor.
You know I aint lying,
Its so unreal on the other side,
Ill tell you why Im crying,
Dads ten grand on a 4 wheel drive,
I thought they wanted money,
Two thieves as they were passing by,
They tied me up so lonely,
And took the car out from under my eyes.
Cry now, laugh later,
Cry now, Ill get you later,
Im just too tired now to return the favor,
Cry now laugh later.
I dont know why Im laughing,
Immigration breathing down my back,
Aint got no money for a pay off,
Stay in jail until they send me back,
I dont know why Im laughing,
Im still hurting from the pain,
A foreigner in this hell hole,
He aint never gunna touch me again.
Cry now, laugh later,
Its time now to return the favor,
Youe got me crying now,
Ill laugh at you later,
Time now to return the favor.
I dont know why Im laughing,
Im still wet from the rain,
I dont know why Im crying,
Im still spotted from the stain.
You know I aint lying,
Im burning burning up from the flame,
I dont know why Im laughing,
Ive got the storm running through my veins.
Cry now, laugh later,
Baby got to sign out return later,

[...] Read more

song performed by Grace Jones
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Playing For Keeps

Do me a favor
Would you sing this to me slow?
'Cause I'm thinking it's my song
Do me a favor
Would you tell me when to let go?
'Cause I think I'm holding on
Would you do it for me?
Would you do it for me?
'Cause I'm playing for keeps
Tell me tomorrow has come
With open arms, open arms, open arms.
If you say it's time to move on
Then I'll stop holding on, holding on.
If you say that it's time for moving on, yeah
Time for moving on
Do me a favor
Would you tell me which way's up?
'Cause I don't know where I fit
Do me a favor
Would you tell me when to stop
'Cause I don't know how to quit
Would you do it for me?
Would you do it for me?
'Cause I'm playing for keeps
Tell me tomorrow has come
With open arms, open arms, open arms.
If you say it's time to move on
Then I'll stop holding on, holding on.
If you say that it's time for moving on, yeah
Time for moving on
Do me a favor
Do me a favor
Would you do it for me?
Would you do it for me?
'Cause I'm playing for keeps
Tell me tomorrow has come
With open arms, open arms, open arms.
If you say it's time to move on
Then I'll stop holding on, holding on.
If you say that it's time for moving on, yeah
Time for moving on
Time for moving on

song performed by Switchfoot
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Favor

I just did you a favor
No thanks for it
A moment you will have to always savor
Ungrateful till you last breath
You want to blame anyone for your mess
But let it not be of my success.
An orchestrated collaboration.
Let me tell you it is so fascinating.
Lets stay on the topic at hand if we can

I just did you a favor
No thanks for it
A moment you will always have to savor
Ungrateful till you last breath
Let it be the test.
Lets pass it around.
Study it very closely
Blame with the word mostly
I think their is some you missed
It could be just me
Maybe the sun has blinded my sight
I'm sorry but I just can't see
With my finger tips I feel for the light

I just did your a favor
No thanks for it
A moment you will always have to savor
Ungrateful till you last breath
As I confess
You sit there and laugh
Look at him so pitiful
Well let me tell my emotions I control
If I want to let go
I do
It is my choice in which I choose
It is my voice in which I lose

I just did you a favor
No thanks for it
A moment you will always have to savor
Ungrateful till your very last breath
Stop avoiding the topic
Lets just it put it on the chopping block
Get it over with
Smoke and mirrors
A misdirection of the lights reflection
Looking through a telescope towards your direction
Don't worry I can trace it back
And their lies the facts
You think I won't react.

[...] Read more

poem by Ace Of Black Hearts
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Suicide

Hey there killer, where you goin'?
I see you got a gun and your anger is showing
What you about to do? Gonna kill her man?
I know that you are, but you don't really understand
You wanna be scary, wanna freak her out
Knock on her door, and put the gun in your own mouth
Let her try to stop you, it doesn't work
Turn so she can see you, and make the back of your head squirt!
Before you go and commit, a homicide!
Do us all a favor, you should try suicide!
If your gonna commit, a homicide
Spare us all the drama, you should try suicide!
Hey there killer, where you been?
Plotting out the murder on the perfect ten
Wanna make scary on her, I assume
Break in her house and hang yourself in her bedroom
Hey there killer, your unstoppable
Out of control and yo, she's irresistible
Go to her job and drink some gasoline
Swallow a match, and show her just what she means to ya!
Before you go and commit, a homicide!
Do us all a favor, you should try suicide!
If your gonna commit, a homicide
Spare us all the drama, you should try suicide!
Suicide
Before you go and commit, a homicide! (killer)
Do us all a favor, you should try suicide! (come on and try it)
If your gonna commit, a homicide (try it)
Spare us all the drama, you should try suicide! (suicide)
Before you go and commit, a homicide! (killer)
Do us all a favor, you should try suicide! (come on and try it)
If your gonna commit, a homicide (try it)
Spare us all the drama, you should try suicide! (suicide)
Please don't commit, a homicide! (killer)
Do us all a favor, you should try suicide! (come on and try it)
If your gonna commit, a homicide (try it)
Spare us all the drama, you should try suicide!!!

song performed by Zug Izland
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Hind And The Panther, A Poem In Three Parts : Part II.

“Dame,” said the Panther, “times are mended well,
Since late among the Philistines you fell.
The toils were pitched, a spacious tract of ground
With expert huntsmen was encompassed round;
The inclosure narrowed; the sagacious power
Of hounds and death drew nearer every hour.
'Tis true, the younger lion 'scaped the snare,
But all your priestly calves lay struggling there,
As sacrifices on their altars laid;
While you, their careful mother, wisely fled,
Not trusting destiny to save your head.
For, whate'er promises you have applied
To your unfailing Church, the surer side
Is four fair legs in danger to provide;
And whate'er tales of Peter's chair you tell,
Yet, saving reverence of the miracle,
The better luck was yours to 'scape so well.”
“As I remember,” said the sober Hind,
“Those toils were for your own dear self designed,
As well as me; and with the selfsame throw,
To catch the quarry and the vermin too,—
Forgive the slanderous tongues that called you so.
Howe'er you take it now, the common cry
Then ran you down for your rank loyalty.
Besides, in Popery they thought you nurst,
As evil tongues will ever speak the worst,
Because some forms, and ceremonies some
You kept, and stood in the main question dumb.
Dumb you were born indeed; but, thinking long,
The test, it seems, at last has loosed your tongue:
And to explain what your forefathers meant,
By real presence in the sacrament,
After long fencing pushed against a wall,
Your salvo comes, that he's not there at all:
There changed your faith, and what may change may fall.
Who can believe what varies every day,
Nor ever was, nor will be at a stay?”
“Tortures may force the tongue untruths to tell,
And I ne'er owned myself infallible,”
Replied the Panther: “grant such presence were,
Yet in your sense I never owned it there.
A real virtue we by faith receive,
And that we in the sacrament believe.”
“Then,” said the Hind, “as you the matter state,
Not only Jesuits can equivocate;
For real, as you now the word expound,
From solid substance dwindles to a sound.
Methinks, an Æsop's fable you repeat;
You know who took the shadow for the meat:
Your Church's substance thus you change at will,

[...] Read more

poem by John Dryden
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The Tower

SAILING TO BYZANTIUM
I

THAT is no country for old men. The young
In one another's arms, birds in the trees
-- Those dying generations -- at their song,
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas,
Fish, flesh, or fowl, commend all summer long
Whatever is begotten, born, and dies.
Caught in that sensual music all neglect
Monuments of unageing intellect.
An aged man is but a paltry thing,
A tattered coat upon a stick, unless
Soul clap its hands and sing, and louder sing
For every tatter in its mortal dress,
Nor is there singing school but studying
Monuments of its own magnificence;
And therefore I have sailed the seas and come
To the holy city of Byzantium.
O sages standing in God's holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.
Once out Of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.

WHAT shall I do with this absurdity --
O heart, O troubled heart -- this caricature,
Decrepit age that has been tied to me
As to a dog's tail?
Never had I more
Excited, passionate, fantastical
Imagination, nor an ear and eye
That more expected the impossible --
No, not in boyhood when with rod and fly,
Or the humbler worm, I climbed Ben Bulben's back
And had the livelong summer day to spend.
It seems that I must bid the Muse go pack,
Choose Plato and Plotinus for a friend
Until imagination, ear and eye,

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poem by William Butler Yeats
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The Tower Beyond Tragedy

I
You'd never have thought the Queen was Helen's sister- Troy's
burning-flower from Sparta, the beautiful sea-flower
Cut in clear stone, crowned with the fragrant golden mane, she
the ageless, the uncontaminable-
This Clytemnestra was her sister, low-statured, fierce-lipped, not
dark nor blonde, greenish-gray-eyed,
Sinewed with strength, you saw, under the purple folds of the
queen-cloak, but craftier than queenly,
Standing between the gilded wooden porch-pillars, great steps of
stone above the steep street,
Awaiting the King.
Most of his men were quartered on the town;
he, clanking bronze, with fifty
And certain captives, came to the stair. The Queen's men were
a hundred in the street and a hundred
Lining the ramp, eighty on the great flags of the porch; she
raising her white arms the spear-butts
Thundered on the stone, and the shields clashed; eight shining
clarions
Let fly from the wide window over the entrance the wildbirds of
their metal throats, air-cleaving
Over the King come home. He raised his thick burnt-colored
beard and smiled; then Clytemnestra,
Gathering the robe, setting the golden-sandaled feet carefully,
stone by stone, descended
One half the stair. But one of the captives marred the comeliness
of that embrace with a cry
Gull-shrill, blade-sharp, cutting between the purple cloak and
the bronze plates, then Clytemnestra:
Who was it? The King answered: A piece of our goods out of
the snatch of Asia, a daughter of the king,
So treat her kindly and she may come into her wits again. Eh,
you keep state here my queen.
You've not been the poorer for me.- In heart, in the widowed
chamber, dear, she pale replied, though the slaves
Toiled, the spearmen were faithful. What's her name, the slavegirl's?
AGAMEMNON Come up the stair. They tell me my kinsman's
Lodged himself on you.
CLYTEMNESTRA Your cousin Aegisthus? He was out of refuge,
flits between here and Tiryns.
Dear: the girl's name?
AGAMEMNON Cassandra. We've a hundred or so other
captives; besides two hundred
Rotted in the hulls, they tell odd stories about you and your
guest: eh? no matter: the ships
Ooze pitch and the August road smokes dirt, I smell like an
old shepherd's goatskin, you'll have bath-water?
CLYTEMNESTRA
They're making it hot. Come, my lord. My hands will pour it.

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poem by Robinson Jeffers
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With No Regrets That Can Take My Breath

Oh...
I am a fighter!
With a decision made long ago,
How it was I will live my life.
On my terms.
Knowing I would have to sacrifice.

I have had no doubts about it.
And will do what I feel is right,
For me.
With a living of my life to be,
My own.

I've turned away from those things I can't use.
I've turned away those things I refuse.
I've turned away from everyday headaches.
I've turned away from anything petty,
To get me fed up and upset.

I've turned away from anything petty.
I've turned away from everyday headaches.
I've turned away those things I refuse.
I've turned away from those things I can't use.

Oh...
I am a fighter!
And will do what I feel is right,
For me.

I've turned away from anything petty.
I've turned away from everyday headaches.
I've turned away those things I refuse.
I've turned away from those things I can't use,
To get me fed up and upset.

Oh...
I am a fighter!
And refuse to be fed up and upset!

Oh I know that I am fighter.
And refuse to be fed up and upset!
I refuse to be fed up and upset,
With regrets that can take my breath.

Oh I know that I am a fighter.
With no regrets that can take my breath,
Away.
With no regrets that can take my breath.
With no regrets that can take my breath,
Away.

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poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The Aeneid of Virgil: Book 2

ALL were attentive to the godlike man,
When from his lofty couch he thus began:
“Great queen, what you command me to relate
Renews the sad remembrance of our fate:
An empire from its old foundations rent, 5
And ev’ry woe the Trojans underwent;
A peopled city made a desart place;
All that I saw, and part of which I was:
Not ev’n the hardest of our foes could hear,
Nor stern Ulysses tell without a tear. 10
And now the latter watch of wasting night,
And setting stars, to kindly rest invite;
But, since you take such int’rest in our woe,
And Troy’s disastrous end desire to know,
I will restrain my tears, and briefly tell 15
What in our last and fatal night befell.
“By destiny compell’d, and in despair,
The Greeks grew weary of the tedious war,
And by Minerva’s aid a fabric rear’d,
Which like a steed of monstrous height appear’d: 20
The sides were plank’d with pine; they feign’d it made
For their return, and this the vow they paid.
Thus they pretend, but in the hollow side
Selected numbers of their soldiers hide:
With inward arms the dire machine they load, 25
And iron bowels stuff the dark abode.
In sight of Troy lies Tenedos, an isle
(While Fortune did on Priam’s empire smile)
Renown’d for wealth; but, since, a faithless bay,
Where ships expos’d to wind and weather lay. 30
There was their fleet conceal’d. We thought, for Greece
Their sails were hoisted, and our fears release.
The Trojans, coop’d within their walls so long,
Unbar their gates, and issue in a throng,
Like swarming bees, and with delight survey 35
The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay:
The quarters of the sev’ral chiefs they show’d;
Here Phœnix, here Achilles, made abode;
Here join’d the battles; there the navy rode.
Part on the pile their wond’ring eyes employ: 40
The pile by Pallas rais’d to ruin Troy.
Thymoetes first (’t is doubtful whether hir’d,
Or so the Trojan destiny requir’d)
Mov’d that the ramparts might be broken down,
To lodge the monster fabric in the town. 45
But Capys, and the rest of sounder mind,
The fatal present to the flames designed,
Or to the wat’ry deep; at least to bore
The hollow sides, and hidden frauds explore.
The giddy vulgar, as their fancies guide, 50

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poem by Publius Vergilius Maro
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