Latest quotes | Random quotes | Vote! | Latest comments | Submit quote

It doesn't much signify whom one marries, for one is sure to find next morning that it was someone else.

quote by Report problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Related quotes

VI. Giuseppe Caponsacchi

Answer you, Sirs? Do I understand aright?
Have patience! In this sudden smoke from hell,—
So things disguise themselves,—I cannot see
My own hand held thus broad before my face
And know it again. Answer you? Then that means
Tell over twice what I, the first time, told
Six months ago: 't was here, I do believe,
Fronting you same three in this very room,
I stood and told you: yet now no one laughs,
Who then … nay, dear my lords, but laugh you did,
As good as laugh, what in a judge we style
Laughter—no levity, nothing indecorous, lords!
Only,—I think I apprehend the mood:
There was the blameless shrug, permissible smirk,
The pen's pretence at play with the pursed mouth,
The titter stifled in the hollow palm
Which rubbed the eyebrow and caressed the nose,
When I first told my tale: they meant, you know,
"The sly one, all this we are bound believe!
"Well, he can say no other than what he says.
"We have been young, too,—come, there's greater guilt!
"Let him but decently disembroil himself,
"Scramble from out the scrape nor move the mud,—
"We solid ones may risk a finger-stretch!
And now you sit as grave, stare as aghast
As if I were a phantom: now 't is—"Friend,
"Collect yourself!"—no laughing matter more—
"Counsel the Court in this extremity,
"Tell us again!"—tell that, for telling which,
I got the jocular piece of punishment,
Was sent to lounge a little in the place
Whence now of a sudden here you summon me
To take the intelligence from just—your lips!
You, Judge Tommati, who then tittered most,—
That she I helped eight months since to escape
Her husband, was retaken by the same,
Three days ago, if I have seized your sense,—
(I being disallowed to interfere,
Meddle or make in a matter none of mine,
For you and law were guardians quite enough
O' the innocent, without a pert priest's help)—
And that he has butchered her accordingly,
As she foretold and as myself believed,—
And, so foretelling and believing so,
We were punished, both of us, the merry way:
Therefore, tell once again the tale! For what?
Pompilia is only dying while I speak!
Why does the mirth hang fire and miss the smile?
My masters, there's an old book, you should con
For strange adventures, applicable yet,

[...] Read more

poem by from The Ring and the BookReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Early In The Morning

Early in the morning and I cant get right
Had a little date with my baby last night
Now its early in the morning (early in the morning)
Well its early in the morning (early in the morning)
Now its early in the morning
And I aint got nothing but the blues
Went to all the places where we used to go
Went to your house but you dont live there no more
Now its early in the morning (early in the morning)
Well its early in the morning (early in the morning)
Early in the morning
And I aint got nothing but the blues
Went to your friends house but she was out
Knock on your fathers door and he began to shout get out there boy
Early in the morning (early in the morning)
Early in the morning (early in the morning)
Early in the morning
And I aint got nothing but the blues
Went to doogie chain to get something to eat
Waiter looked at me and said you sure look beat
Now its early in the morning (early in the morning)
Early in the morning (early in the morning)
Well its early in the morning
And I aint got nothing but the blues
Well its early in the morning
And I aint got nothing but the blues
Well its early in the morning
And I aint got nothing but the blues

song performed by Van MorrisonReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Where The River Flows

Music : rudolf schenker
Lyrics: klaus meine
Under suburban skies
Where life is bleeding
Where concrete skies are grey
Theres plenty of room for dreaming
I still keep coming here
Follow those traces
I travel back in time
Remember all those places
Feels like I never left
The houses still standing
Down by the river where
The dreams are never ending
You find me
You find me
You find me by the river
You find me
You find me
You find me where the river flows
Under the silent moon
This industrial city
Is heartland even though
Lifes been not that pretty
I still keep coming here
To that old river
To find my roots just where
The future lives forever
You find me
You find me
You find me by the river
You find me
You find me
You find me, you can find me
By the river where dreams will never die
By the river under suburban skies
You find me
You find me
You find me by the river
You find me
You find me
You find me where the river flows
By the river where dreams have never died
By the river I look through childrens eyes
You find me
You find me
You find me by the river
You find me
You find me
You find me where the river flows

[...] Read more

song performed by ScorpionsReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Father

Father, blessed father,
Its morning again.
I give you, father, myself, father,
Continue your plan.
I know together we can climb mountains in the sky.
No one can stop us when Im standing by your side.
Troubles knocking here again;
Ill tell him jesus has me by his hand.
Hell walk me through.
Father, loving father,
Create in me
A pure love, father, your love, father,
Instill it in me.
I remember the nights Ive cried for you;
Now I only have to die for you;
Thank you, lord, youve made it clear just for me.
I see the light;
Its burning out the night.
Oh, father,
Its morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.
Morning.

song performed by Amy GrantReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

VII. Pompilia

I am just seventeen years and five months old,
And, if I lived one day more, three full weeks;
'T is writ so in the church's register,
Lorenzo in Lucina, all my names
At length, so many names for one poor child,
—Francesca Camilla Vittoria Angela
Pompilia Comparini,—laughable!
Also 't is writ that I was married there
Four years ago: and they will add, I hope,
When they insert my death, a word or two,—
Omitting all about the mode of death,—
This, in its place, this which one cares to know,
That I had been a mother of a son
Exactly two weeks. It will be through grace
O' the Curate, not through any claim I have;
Because the boy was born at, so baptized
Close to, the Villa, in the proper church:
A pretty church, I say no word against,
Yet stranger-like,—while this Lorenzo seems
My own particular place, I always say.
I used to wonder, when I stood scarce high
As the bed here, what the marble lion meant,
With half his body rushing from the wall,
Eating the figure of a prostrate man—
(To the right, it is, of entry by the door)
An ominous sign to one baptized like me,
Married, and to be buried there, I hope.
And they should add, to have my life complete,
He is a boy and Gaetan by name—
Gaetano, for a reason,—if the friar
Don Celestine will ask this grace for me
Of Curate Ottoboni: he it was
Baptized me: he remembers my whole life
As I do his grey hair.

All these few things
I know are true,—will you remember them?
Because time flies. The surgeon cared for me,
To count my wounds,—twenty-two dagger-wounds,
Five deadly, but I do not suffer much
Or too much pain,—and am to die to-night.

Oh how good God is that my babe was born,
—Better than born, baptized and hid away
Before this happened, safe from being hurt!
That had been sin God could not well forgive:
He was too young to smile and save himself.
When they took two days after he was born,
My babe away from me to be baptized
And hidden awhile, for fear his foe should find,—

[...] Read more

poem by from The Ring and the BookReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sixth Book

THE English have a scornful insular way
Of calling the French light. The levity
Is in the judgment only, which yet stands;
For say a foolish thing but oft enough,
(And here's the secret of a hundred creeds,–
Men get opinions as boys learn to spell,
By re-iteration chiefly) the same thing
Shall pass at least for absolutely wise,
And not with fools exclusively. And so,
We say the French are light, as if we said
The cat mews, or the milch-cow gives us milk:
Say rather, cats are milked, and milch cows mew,
For what is lightness but inconsequence,
Vague fluctuation 'twixt effect and cause,
Compelled by neither? Is a bullet light,
That dashes from the gun-mouth, while the eye
Winks, and the heart beats one, to flatten itself
To a wafer on the white speck on a wall
A hundred paces off? Even so direct,
So sternly undivertible of aim,
Is this French people.
All idealists
Too absolute and earnest, with them all
The idea of a knife cuts real flesh;
And still, devouring the safe interval
Which Nature placed between the thought and act,
They threaten conflagration to the world
And rush with most unscrupulous logic on
Impossible practice. Set your orators
To blow upon them with loud windy mouths
Through watchword phrases, jest or sentiment,
Which drive our burley brutal English mobs
Like so much chaff, whichever way they blow,–
This light French people will not thus be driven.
They turn indeed; but then they turn upon
Some central pivot of their thought and choice,
And veer out by the force of holding fast.
That's hard to understand, for Englishmen
Unused to abstract questions, and untrained
To trace the involutions, valve by valve,
In each orbed bulb-root of a general truth,
And mark what subtly fine integument
Divides opposed compartments. Freedom's self
Comes concrete to us, to be understood,
Fixed in a feudal form incarnately
To suit our ways of thought and reverence,
The special form, with us, being still the thing.
With us, I say, though I'm of Italy
My mother's birth and grave, by father's grave
And memory; let it be,–a poet's heart

[...] Read more

poem by from Aurora Leigh (1856)Report problemRelated quotes
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

The Door Of Humility

ENGLAND
We lead the blind by voice and hand,
And not by light they cannot see;
We are not framed to understand
The How and Why of such as He;

But natured only to rejoice
At every sound or sign of hope,
And, guided by the still small voice,
In patience through the darkness grope;

Until our finer sense expands,
And we exchange for holier sight
The earthly help of voice and hands,
And in His light behold the Light.

I

Let there be Light! The self-same Power
That out of formless dark and void
Endued with life's mysterious dower
Planet, and star, and asteroid;

That moved upon the waters' face,
And, breathing on them His intent,
Divided, and assigned their place
To, ocean, air, and firmament;

That bade the land appear, and bring
Forth herb and leaf, both fruit and flower,
Cattle that graze, and birds that sing,
Ordained the sunshine and the shower;

That, moulding man and woman, breathed
In them an active soul at birth
In His own image, and bequeathed
To them dominion over Earth;

That, by whatever is, decreed
His Will and Word shall be obeyed,
From loftiest star to lowliest seed;-
The worm and me He also made.

And when, for nuptials of the Spring
With Summer, on the vestal thorn
The bridal veil hung flowering,
A cry was heard, and I was born.

II

[...] Read more

poem by Report problemRelated quotes
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

I Got The Sun In The Morning

Taking stock of what I have and what I haven't
What do I find?
The things I got will keep me satisfied
Checking up on what I have and what I haven't
What do I find?
A healthy balance on the credit side
Got no diamond
Got no pearl
Still I think I'm a lucky girl
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
Got no mansion
Got no yacht
Still I'm happy with what I got
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
Sunshine
Gives me a lovely day
Moonlight
Gives me the Milky Way
Got no checkbooks
Got no banks
Still I'd like to express my thanks
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
And with the sun in the morning
And the moon in the evening
I'm all right
[2]
Got no mansion
Got no yacht
Still I'm happy with what I got
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
Got no silver
Got no gold
What I got can't be bought or sold
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
Sunshine
Gives me a lovely day
Moonlight
Gives me the Milky Way
Got no checkbooks
Got no banks
Still I'd like to express my thanks
I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night
And with the sun in the morning
And the moon in the evening
I'm all right

[...] Read more

song performed by Irving BerlinReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Find Your Way Back

You know its been a long long road
Since I packed up and left on my own
And I can carry a heavy load
Just try n get back to her heart
I sure aint got no home
I seem to find love where I ramble
And when its time to go
I hear that voice again, say n
Chorus:
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Leave a message with the rain
You can find me where the wind blows
The snow across the pain
And the frost upon the heart
You got no place to be
Still you wonder where youre goin
And why I had to leave
I hear a voice and it says to me
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
To her heart, cmon
I know its too late now
But I wish I could go back in time
And start all over somehow
And get it right from the start
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back...

song performed by StarshipReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Find Your Way Back

You know its been a long long road
Since I packed up and left on my own
And I can carry a heavy load
Just try n get back to her heart
I sure aint got no home
I seem to find love where I ramble
And when its time to go
I hear that voice again, say n
Chorus:
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Leave a message with the rain
You can find me where the wind blows
The snow across the pain
And the frost upon the heart
You got no place to be
Still you wonder where youre goin
And why I had to leave
I hear a voice and it says to me
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
To her heart, cmon
I know its too late now
But I wish I could go back in time
And start all over somehow
And get it right from the start
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back
Find your way back to her heart
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back
Find your way back (find your way back) find your way back...

song performed by StarshipReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

The Blazing Hat, Part Two

This is the morning that we burnt a cardboard hat
flames licking the inside of the brim
This is the morning that the thunder hung like great
black flags over the city
stirred by gusts of wind
This is the morning that they opened a new motorway
leading from my house to yours
This is the morning that I decided I wasn't getting enough
roughage
and went on a diet of broken milk bottles
This is the morning that Death left her cloak behind
after the party
This is the morning that a beautiful schoolgirl woke me
with a cup of coffee
in a vision
This is the morning that we saw
words written on water
This is the morning that beautiful girls with Renaissance
faces played Hindemith records
at dawn
This is the morning after the night
before
This is the morning after the night
had strewn Canning Street with purple toilet rolls
This is the morning that we saw a q.­year­old boy
whipping an imaginary blonde lovely
This is the morning that Death was a letter
that was never scented
This is the morning that the poet reached out for the
rolled­up Financial Times
followed by a dreadful explosion
This is the morning that you woke up 50 miles away
seeing sunlight on the water

and didn't think of me
This is the morning that I bought 16 different kinds of
artificial lilies­of­the­valley
all of them smelling of you
This is the morning that we sat and talked
by the embers of the blazing hat.

poem by Report problemRelated quotes
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Jacta Alea Est

JACTA ALEA EST

One world penetrates another:
roleplay cad-I-lack, Rolls, turn into casino.

One stage upstages another:
dice roll at sixes and sevens.

One wish collides with another,
shuffled hands wrung sans sleight of hand.

One ball follows another reel
steals into black hole, alack
sees red upon green baize.

One card hides behind another
where kings and queens signify nothing.

One [s]take's raised: another
ace outbluffs poker face buff.

Bank deal breaks idyll: another
soul's goals slide from real-I-tease.

1 October 1997 revised 1 July 2007,26 January 2010 and 5 March 2011
robi03_0852_robi03_0000 VXX_CJX

Previous title Alea

for previous versions see below
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII


ALEA

One world rides into another
as roleplay cad-I-lack rolls turns into casino.

Short stack folds as another
fans shorter lived self-conceit.

One role folds into another
as dice roll at sixes and sevens.

Long face blows hot and cold as another
buff advances a round bound to chance bluff.

One wish collides with another

[...] Read more

poem by Report problemRelated quotes
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Lily In One Hand

The frong jumps into the water and,
The tadpole swims with joy!
But, how was it when you first made love?

Give me my medicine and i will tell you the truth,
Give me the roses of love and i will tell you the past,
Give me the peace of the mind and i will tell you the future;
For sex to some people is like taking tea daily!

Whether they are married or not,
Whether they are in love or not,
So learn how to plant a cocoa tree at the rigt time,
For broad is the way that leads to hell!

The sun for the blacks and the cold for the whites,
Summer for the blacks and winter for the whites,
But, what are people suppose to do in heaven?
For the great wine is now on the table.

Misruled by kings,
Misruled by queens,
Misruled by rulers,
Living in a foll's regime;
But the earth fades away,
And i will blossom like a lily.

You have tasted the flowers of her love,
But i will shine like a star!
And like an olive tree in the land of joy! !
But in plausible situation,
The trees of her garden are what attracted you!

A man 46 marries a 20 year old lady,
The difference is 26;
A man 58 marries a 32 year old lady,
The difference is 26;
A man 43 marries a 17 year old lady,
The difference is 26;
And they all ate the food of love!
But, a nude woman bestrides a lion with a lily in one hand.

poem by Report problemRelated quotes
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

(Love Poems) Make Up Your Mind

Hard are the stark choices and Lingi M.
Knows she must sit down and weigh up her options
She must make up her mind or be the sore loser

She must choose between kindness and
The demands of her own wants and needs or starve
Her inner most feeling cry out to be pleasured

Life's demands are ruthless and merciless they're
Uncompromising and baby in the time we're living in
You must snatch the advantage and pursue relentlessly i

The other man will kill you with kindness and the other
Man takes her to the night club in a luxury cruise ship
The last has the looks of the gods of the silver screens

Mister A.has inherited his dad's poverty
Mister B.is rich he fires people on the spot
Mister C is fabulous the girls don't know who he'll marry

She can choose kindness and be plagued by poverty for life
She can choose money and compete with other women for life
She can choose glamor and expect the unexpected for life

They're the relentless uncompromising times we live in
The constrains of time want us to take momentous decisions
We're alone in the hostile world we can't afford to falter

Lingi M.has a king size problem she's alone
In the world if she fumbles and falters now the chance
Slips out of her hands her world crashes down on her

If she marries into poverty dirt and disease will get her
If she marries for convenience the abuse will not stop if
She marries to please her lust her position is uncertain

Academicians and the pillars of society have mulled over the
Problem for years and sages haven't solved it satisfactorily
Oh poet what would you advice The Sonnet Girl to do now?

poem by Report problemRelated quotes
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Early Mornin'

Early mornin'
All right, I was out real late last night
Got a little messy
Early morning
Can't be like that anymore, oh
I was shaking my ass in the streets this morning
Just walked in and it's early morning
Bump, bump till the break of dawn and
It don't stop till the early morning
Passed out on the couch I'm yawning
Just walked in and it's early morning
Bump, bump till the break of dawn and
It don't stop till the early morning
Wanna talk to
When he walked up someone grabbed him
But I liked him to come here
Kinda cool
Baby, we can make plans
Where ya live
Does your mama live there
We can hook up at the hotel
Hands down so
I told him, let's go
But waht happened next, guess?
But you don't wanna know
I was shaking my ass in the streets this morning
Just walked in and it's early morning
Bump, bump till the break of dawn and
It don't stop till the early morning
Passed out on the couch I'm yawning
Just walked in and it's early morning
Bump, bump till the break of dawn and
It don't stop till the early morning
Oh, in love
So I approached him
We gotta give him his friends
There's something bout him that show
So I said, what the hell
Let's go
Got up, got on the dance floor
Hooked up with a guy named Joe
When the music was fast and slow
But waht happened next, guess?
But you don't wanna know
I was shaking my ass in the streets this morning
Just walked in and it's early morning
Bump, bump till the break of dawn and
It don't stop till the early morning
Passed out on the couch I'm yawning
Just walked in and it's early morning

[...] Read more

song performed by Britney SpearsReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Good Morning Girl

Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
But I cant pass this time of day
Cause Im on my way to rest my head
And Ive lost the mind that I used to have
And I dont have a dime to spare
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
But I cant pass this time of day
So go tell the man that collects the dues
That you saw a guy without any shoes
Who would do the job if he was built that way
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
But I cant pass this time of day, no
I cant pass this time of day
Cause Im on my way to rest my head
And Ive lost the mind that I used to have
I dont have a dime to spare
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
But I cant pass this time of day
So go tell the man that collects the dues
That you saw a guy without any shoes
Who would do the job if he was built that way
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
Hey, hey, good morning girl
But I cant pass this time of day, no
I cant pass this time of day
No I cant pass this time of day

song performed by David BowieReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Somebody To Love

Can anybody find me
Somebody to love?
Each morning I get up I die a little
Cant barely stand on my feet
Take a look in the mirror and cry
Lord, what youre doing to me
I have spent all my years in believing you
But I just cant get no relief, lord
Somebody, somebody
Can anybody find me someone to love
I work hard everyday of my life
I work till I ache my bones
At the end I take home my
Hard earned pay all of my own
I get down on my knees and I start to pray
til the tears run down from my eyes, lord
Somebody, somebody
Can anybody find me somebody to love
Everyday I try and I try
But everybody want to put me down
They say Im goin crazy
They say I got a lot of water in my brain
Got no common sense
I got nobody to believe
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ooh, somebody
Somebody can anybody find me
Somebody to love
Got no feel, I got no rhythm
I just keep losing my beat
Im ok, Im alright
Aint gonna face no defeat
I just got to get out of this prison cell
One day Im gonna be free, lord
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Find me somebody to love
Somebody, somebody, somebody, somebody
Somebody find me somebody
Find me somebody to love
Can anybody find me
Somebody to love
Find me somebody to love!
Find me somebody to love!

[...] Read more

song performed by George MichaelReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

Find Out

Ive seen em doing battle
Ive heard in times of war
Still I keep on going
Though its different than before
Theyve been riding high
Up where the cold winds blow
Miles above that highway
Where the rest of us all go
To find out
You have to find out
Its good to find out
Before you open your mouth
Find out
Now dont you find out
You better find out
Before you fill in the blanks
Go find out what it takes
To make a boy break down and cry
Go find out his young mistake
Is a premature goodbye (its a privilege you can buy)
Find out
Where it goes
Find out
Faster roads
Find out
It never grows
Find out
For yourself
You never tried to find the time it takes
To work it out
Its not a waste to taste
The sweat it takes
To work it out
Work!
You dont need a battle
You dont need a war
You dont need any lessons
To find out whats in store
You been riding high
You felt the cold winds blow
Now get back on the highway
Where the others have to go
And find out
And maybe when you do
Youll even find out
You havent got a clue
Unless you find out
Its never like they say
Your gonna find out
Youll take it all the way

[...] Read more

song performed by DevoReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share

IX. Juris Doctor Johannes-Baptista Bottinius, Fisci et Rev. Cam. Apostol. Advocatus

Had I God's leave, how I would alter things!
If I might read instead of print my speech,—
Ay, and enliven speech with many a flower
Refuses obstinate to blow in print,
As wildings planted in a prim parterre,—
This scurvy room were turned an immense hall;
Opposite, fifty judges in a row;
This side and that of me, for audience—Rome:
And, where yon window is, the Pope should hide—
Watch, curtained, but peep visibly enough.
A buzz of expectation! Through the crowd,
Jingling his chain and stumping with his staff,
Up comes an usher, louts him low, "The Court
"Requires the allocution of the Fisc!"
I rise, I bend, I look about me, pause
O'er the hushed multitude: I count—One, two—

Have ye seen, Judges, have ye, lights of law,—
When it may hap some painter, much in vogue
Throughout our city nutritive of arts,
Ye summon to a task shall test his worth,
And manufacture, as he knows and can,
A work may decorate a palace-wall,
Afford my lords their Holy Family,—
Hath it escaped the acumen of the Court
How such a painter sets himself to paint?
Suppose that Joseph, Mary and her Babe
A-journeying to Egypt, prove the piece:
Why, first he sedulously practiseth,
This painter,—girding loin and lighting lamp,—
On what may nourish eye, make facile hand;
Getteth him studies (styled by draughtsmen so)
From some assistant corpse of Jew or Turk
Or, haply, Molinist, he cuts and carves,—
This Luca or this Carlo or the like.
To him the bones their inmost secret yield,
Each notch and nodule signify their use:
On him the muscles turn, in triple tier,
And pleasantly entreat the entrusted man
"Familiarize thee with our play that lifts
"Thus, and thus lowers again, leg, arm and foot!"
—Ensuring due correctness in the nude.
Which done, is all done? Not a whit, ye know!
He,—to art's surface rising from her depth,—
If some flax-polled soft-bearded sire be found,
May simulate a Joseph, (happy chance!)—
Limneth exact each wrinkle of the brow,
Loseth no involution, cheek or chap,
Till lo, in black and white, the senior lives!
Is it a young and comely peasant-nurse

[...] Read more

poem by from The Ring and the BookReport problemRelated quotes
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Second Book

TIMES followed one another. Came a morn
I stood upon the brink of twenty years,
And looked before and after, as I stood
Woman and artist,–either incomplete,
Both credulous of completion. There I held
The whole creation in my little cup,
And smiled with thirsty lips before I drank,
'Good health to you and me, sweet neighbour mine
And all these peoples.'
I was glad, that day;
The June was in me, with its multitudes
Of nightingales all singing in the dark,
And rosebuds reddening where the calyx split.
I felt so young, so strong, so sure of God!
So glad, I could not choose be very wise!
And, old at twenty, was inclined to pull
My childhood backward in a childish jest
To see the face of't once more, and farewell!
In which fantastic mood I bounded forth
At early morning,–would not wait so long
As even to snatch my bonnet by the strings,
But, brushing a green trail across the lawn
With my gown in the dew, took will and way
Among the acacias of the shrubberies,
To fly my fancies in the open air
And keep my birthday, till my aunt awoke
To stop good dreams. Meanwhile I murmured on,
As honeyed bees keep humming to themselves;
'The worthiest poets have remained uncrowned
Till death has bleached their foreheads to the bone,
And so with me it must be, unless I prove
Unworthy of the grand adversity,–
And certainly I would not fail so much.
What, therefore, if I crown myself to-day
In sport, not pride, to learn the feel of it,
Before my brows be numb as Dante's own
To all the tender pricking of such leaves?
Such leaves? what leaves?'
I pulled the branches down,
To choose from.
'Not the bay! I choose no bay;
The fates deny us if we are overbold:
Nor myrtle–which means chiefly love; and love
Is something awful which one dare not touch
So early o' mornings. This verbena strains
The point of passionate fragrance; and hard by,
This guelder rose, at far too slight a beck
Of the wind, will toss about her flower-apples.
Ah–there's my choice,–that ivy on the wall,
That headlong ivy! not a leaf will grow

[...] Read more

poem by from Aurora Leigh (1856)Report problemRelated quotes
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Share
 

Search


Recent searches | Top searches