A Jeremiad 2
Thanks, Mr. Mitt,
for your thoughts on Iran.
Now we know who to vote for.
poem by Morgan Michaels
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Analysis Of Baseball
It’s about
the ball,
the bat,
and the mitt.
Ball hits
bat, or it
hits mitt.
Bat doesn’t
hit ball, bat
meets it.
Ball bounces
off bat, flies
air, or thuds
ground (dud)
or it
fits mitt.
Bat waits
for ball
to mate.
Ball hates
to take bat’s
bait. Ball
flirts, bat’s
late, don’t
keep the date.
Ball goes in
(thwack) to mitt,
and goes out
(thwack) back
to mitt.
Ball fits
mitt, but
not all
the time.
Sometimes
ball gets hit
(pow) when bat
meets it,
and sails
to a place
where mitt
has to quit
in disgrace.
That’s about
the bases
loaded,
about 40,000
[...] Read more
poem by May Swenson
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Mitt Romney Scores Home Goal
Mitt Romney was caught with pants
down in party public speech hubris
basically declared he has rewritten
sacred American Constitution rich...
has declared it is not the president's job
to look after poor disparaged 47% voters
a record number of people on food stamps
nearly one in six Americans in poverty...
23 million Americans who are struggling
desperate demanding their right to work
in jobs Mitt Romney profit backed to China
let us teach Mitt about federal government...
employment essentially guarantees citizens
are protected in their Fourth Amendment
'right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects,... (against debt)
seizures' Americans with pride want to work.
Now a lesson in history for Mitt Romney spoilt?
An honourable US President Franklin Roosevelt
inspired desired inclusion of right to an adequate
standard of living for all his responsibility citizens!
Franklin gave his famous Four Freedoms speech
in 1941 and Roosevelt declared freedom of speech,
freedom of faith, freedom from want and freedom
from fear in Universal Declaration of Human Rights!
Mitt Romney does not ask what is freedom from want?
Yes Mr Mitt Romney news flash for you a recognized
basic human right is 'right to an adequate standard
of living' established as a minimum entitlement
to food, clothing, housing at a subsistence level.
Mitt Romney's declaration it is not the president's
job to look after a poor disparaged 47% of voters
infers Romney will not support their freedom of speech
and expression, freedom of faith, and definitely implies
protecting poor freedom from want freedom from fear
will not be a on an agenda as a Romney public concern?
Does no one remember master Norman Rockwell's
oil paintings illustrations of The Four Freedoms?
I particularly like painting with the beautiful
cooked turkey and generational family blessings.
[...] Read more
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Mitt Romney 'The Tell Tale Heart' Taped Confessions
Mitt Romney our richie rich mr clean
with the million dollar smile wire clean
added a beautiful touch to 'the tell tale heart'
aside apart from Edgar Allan Poe meanings
for die hard fans Mitt Romney blow his dreams
takes on many nuances within taped confessions
former Massachusetts governor squeaky clean
in vote spin diamond smile made clear all year
he is personally concerned about growing number
of people dependent on the federal government
now news scoop sensationalist a secretly filmed
video emerges showing Mitt Romney disparaging
Barack Obama voters at a private donor dinner?
What does come clean Mitt Romney get off his chest?
Mitt Romney rants '47% of Americans who back
the president do not pay income tax and would never
vote for him.' Mitt Romney further wails 'I'll never
convince them they should take personal responsibility
and care for their lives'. Wit to woe poor suffer misery
a large percentage of slandered you could sue Mitt Romney
prove conclusively a clear majority take responsibility
for their poor impoverished lives with work courage pride.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Vote For Me
Vote for me, vote for me
I want the nomination for the presidency
Vote for me, vote for me
If I am elected, this is how it will be
Ill cut your tax in half
Ill make the russians laugh
Ill feed the hungry people everywhere
Ill bring the railroads back
New trains and new track
From waikiki to old deleware
Vote for me, vote for me
I want the nomination for the presidency
Vote for me, vote for me
If I am elected, this is how it will be
Ill give detroit one year
New cars that run on beer
Or anything except gasoline
Im looking to the sun
More power for everyone
And the cleanest sky that youve ever seen
Im not going to kid you, theres a lot to do
Little can I promise, its really up to you
But if we all work together
And I think we can
And if you want some new ideas
Then Im your man
Vote for me, vote for me
I want the nomination for the presidency
Vote for me, vote for me
If I am elected, this is how it will be
Ill work for global peace
And the sweet release
Of the love and human kindness in us all
I would give all Ive got
You just give me a shot
Somehow, I know that I can win the fall
song performed by Chicago
Added by Lucian Velea
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Mitt Romney Has Confirmed What?
Mitt Romney has confirmed that which more than
47% of US voters have felt in their citizen hearts;
excessive profit exploitation of resources by 1%
the richest money grabbing carpetbaggers is wrong.
Mitt Romney condescendingly declared a poor
over exploited 47% dependent on the federal;
government for healthcare and housing are not
a presidential responsibility in corporate policy.
Mitt Romney has no ability to provide better lives
nationally as a goal massive profits by his ruthless;
supporters capitalism of super-corporations bankers
is adding salt to US unemployed bleeding wounds.
Mitt Romney supports government failing to provide
Americans employment due to recession production;
in factories exported overseas denying an American
recovery domestic employment in America healthy.
Mitt Romney illustrates how government by the rich
for the rich has lost the faith hearts and minds of;
poor Americans need creating employment for work
starved poor by building roads bridges both literally;
and figuratively would restore faith in key leadership
and US economy with a positive invasion of the mind;
sending jobs factories to foreign sweat shop workers
strips discarded victim job stripped of right to work!
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Donde Se Fueron?
Donde se fueron , por donde se iran
Donde se fueron , por donde se iran
se fueron para una rumba? para buscar la verdad
se fueron para una rumba para buscar la verdad
Cuando se fueron y donde estaran
Cuando se fueron y donde estaran
se fueron con los santeros para buscar la verdad
se fueron con los santeros para buscar la verdad
me voy a juntar con ellos hasta la madrugaa
me voy a juntar con ellos por que soy de yemalla
me voy a juntar con ellos hasta la madrugaa
me voy a juntar con ellos por que soy de yemalla
Donde se fueron , por donde se iran
Donde se fueron , por donde se iran
se fueron para una rumba? para buscar la verdad
se fueron para una rumba para buscar la verdad
Cuando se fueron y donde estaran
Cuando se fueron y donde estaran
se fueron con los santeros para buscar la verdad
se fueron con los santeros para buscar la verdad
me voy a juntar con ellos hasta la madrugaa
me voy a juntar con ellos por que soy de yemalla
me voy a juntar con ellos hasta la madrugaa
me voy a juntar con ellos por que soy de yemalla
Donde se fueron , por donde se iran (pero que donde)
Donde se fueron , y donde estaran (pero mira como ?
Donde se fueron , por donde se iran (pero que me va a juntar atoda la banda)
Donde se fueron , y donde estaran
pero donde ,pero donde, donde se fueron se fueron a bailar con ozomatli
Donde se fueron , por donde se iran
pero que, mira que ,pero que vamonos, pero que
va-mo -nos
para mambo,mambo pa mi mambo pa ti, mambo pa
todos que rico que ve
dedicado pa nuestros amigos cubanos
song performed by Ozomatli
Added by Lucian Velea
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My Vote
A single vote may be your victory………..
my vote create the world i live.......a vote that brings my
future near to the distance i see
my vote holds me to achieve..... a reality of my dream to
Conquer, grasp according to my wish
my vote change the chaos i encounter.......a life saving
design of what will be tomorrow of my destiny
my vote wonder every breathe.......a victory to where to
go, beyond uncertain pathways
my vote remember my aspiration.....a longing of joy and
happiness, wonting to know of peace
my vote brings my life......a remembrance of my life of
today, a parting print of my thumbs forever
…..please let my vote be seen, touch and listen for the
wings of the ink, has whisper the truth of what will be
the beginning of history, made this print easy to
count my vote in you is you’re……. victory
poem by Antonio Liao
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Sohrab and Rustum
And the first grey of morning fill'd the east,
And the fog rose out of the Oxus stream.
But all the Tartar camp along the stream
Was hush'd, and still the men were plunged in sleep;
Sohrab alone, he slept not; all night long
He had lain wakeful, tossing on his bed;
But when the grey dawn stole into his tent,
He rose, and clad himself, and girt his sword,
And took his horseman's cloak, and left his tent,
And went abroad into the cold wet fog,
Through the dim camp to Peran-Wisa's tent.
Through the black Tartar tents he pass'd, which stood
Clustering like bee-hives on the low flat strand
Of Oxus, where the summer-floods o'erflow
When the sun melts the snows in high Pamere
Through the black tents he pass'd, o'er that low strand,
And to a hillock came, a little back
From the stream's brink--the spot where first a boat,
Crossing the stream in summer, scrapes the land.
The men of former times had crown'd the top
With a clay fort; but that was fall'n, and now
The Tartars built there Peran-Wisa's tent,
A dome of laths, and o'er it felts were spread.
And Sohrab came there, and went in, and stood
Upon the thick piled carpets in the tent,
And found the old man sleeping on his bed
Of rugs and felts, and near him lay his arms.
And Peran-Wisa heard him, though the step
Was dull'd; for he slept light, an old man's sleep;
And he rose quickly on one arm, and said:--
"Who art thou? for it is not yet clear dawn.
Speak! is there news, or any night alarm?"
But Sohrab came to the bedside, and said:--
"Thou know'st me, Peran-Wisa! it is I.
The sun is not yet risen, and the foe
Sleep; but I sleep not; all night long I lie
Tossing and wakeful, and I come to thee.
For so did King Afrasiab bid me seek
Thy counsel, and to heed thee as thy son,
In Samarcand, before the army march'd;
And I will tell thee what my heart desires.
Thou know'st if, since from Ader-baijan first
I came among the Tartars and bore arms,
I have still served Afrasiab well, and shown,
At my boy's years, the courage of a man.
This too thou know'st, that while I still bear on
The conquering Tartar ensigns through the world,
[...] Read more
poem by Matthew Arnold (1853)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Adam Lambert Gay or Straight Part 1
Rewrite of the hit Katy Perry song, Hot N' Cold
Don't change your mind about voting for him
Just because sometimes he likes to get dressed up
In women's clothes
Yeah, for him, I'm sending out this urgent S.O.S.
Winning this show can be a b, I know
But still I think he deserves the title
More than that other lame he-ho
So no need to overthink
Or speak of him overly critically
'Cause by now I think we all know
He's the one to let be
Idol's 2009 rockstar for sure
So if you think he's hot
Then don't you be so cold
Say yes to him
Never no
Take him in
Into your heart
Even through he's come out
Cheer him on
Vote him up
Don't let him down
Leave behind that prejudice wrong
To embrace what's right
Vote for Adam and show the world
Rather he's gay or he's straight
His talent is all that really matters tonight
Before our superstar came along
Idol used to be to me
Just like that old boy band, N'Sync
Empty of anything orignal
Lacking that spark of energy
Now that's all changed
Thanks to him
Lighting up that stage like a non-stop energizer battery
Used to think this reality show hype was all about nothin'
Just so plain boring
Now I know better
That thanks to him it can all change
So if you think he's hot
Then don't you be so cold
Say yes to him
Never no
[...] Read more
poem by Ramona Thompson
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A Series of Tubes
That there Internet thingy
is like a series of tubes
All the smart fellas
in the hole world
got tagether and
they put smart stuff in them tubes
An now all ya gotta do
to larn stuff
is getcha self connected to that
Internet thingy
(You will need a computer for this)
(and some other stuff + electricty)
They you can pull stuff
up from them tubes
smart reading stuff
(if ya like that kinda thing)
or even important stuff
like how to knock down your old barn or shed
or even how to build a real bomb
(not for knocking down the barn though)
I know all this cause my congress man talked about it on TV
And George W. Bush says so two (I think cause he outta no)
The End (only the end of this poem)
If you like this poem a whole lot I think you should vote 9-10
(mostly 10 i hope)
If you like it some but not the very most maybe vote 6-8
(but you could still vote 9 or 10 to be nice)
If you only think it is middlin they go head and vote 5
(cause that's in the middle of 1-10)
If you kinda don't care for it you could vote it a 2,3, or 4
(that would be kinda low though)
If you hate this poem then you are left with only a 1
(there are no zero votes)
(But I think a 1 vote is not called for unless you are pretty mean though the last time I looked this was still a free country so you can vote 1 if that is how your mind runs)
Thanks for voting or not. (and tell your friends if you liked this poem)
probably don't tell them if you did not vote more than a 5
Billy Bob
poem by Billy Bob Noes
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Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan
I
In a nation of one hundred fine, mob-hearted, lynching, relenting, repenting millions,
There are plenty of sweeping, swinging, stinging, gorgeous things to shout about,
And knock your old blue devils out.
I brag and chant of Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan,
Candidate for president who sketched a silver Zion,
The one American Poet who could sing outdoors,
He brought in tides of wonder, of unprecedented splendor,
Wild roses from the plains, that made hearts tender,
All the funny circus silks
Of politics unfurled,
Bartlett pears of romance that were honey at the cores,
And torchlights down the street, to the end of the world.
There were truths eternal in the gap and tittle-tattle.
There were real heads broken in the fustian and the rattle.
There were real lines drawn:
Not the silver and the gold,
But Nebraska's cry went eastward against the dour and old,
The mean and cold.
It was eighteen ninety-six, and I was just sixteen
And Altgeld ruled in Springfield, Illinois,
When there came from the sunset Nebraska's shout of joy:
In a coat like a deacon, in a black Stetson hat
He scourged the elephant plutocrats
With barbed wire from the Platte.
The scales dropped from their mighty eyes.
They saw that summer's noon
A tribe of wonders coming
To a marching tune.
Oh the longhorns from Texas,
The jay hawks from Kansas,
The plop-eyed bungaroo and giant giassicus,
The varmint, chipmunk, bugaboo,
The horn-toad, prairie-dog and ballyhoo,
From all the newborn states arow,
Bidding the eagles of the west fly on,
Bidding the eagles of the west fly on.
The fawn, prodactyl, and thing-a-ma-jig,
The rackaboor, the hellangone,
The whangdoodle, batfowl and pig,
The coyote, wild-cat and grizzly in a glow,
In a miracle of health and speed, the whole breed abreast,
The leaped the Mississippi, blue border of the West,
From the Gulf to Canada, two thousand miles long:-
Against the towns of Tubal Cain,
[...] Read more
poem by Vachel Lindsay
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The 47% Mitt Romney Calls Welfare Slobs
61% of these 47% percent of Americans that Mitt Romney calls irresponsible and welfare trash work and pay payroll taxes. Many of these 47% are vets, elderly on social security, crippled and hurting people. He doesn't mention soldiers at war during his acceptance speech NOW THIS....24%% of the people voting for the Romney ticket are in this 47% Romney called welfare slobs; they were voting for him but not no more! ! ! ! ! ! I'm sorry the zombies still will. Romney is an outsourcing business man who hid his money in tax shelters around the world. His 47% perspective is just more of his elitist antics. This 47%number has, elderly people on social security, vets and many hurting people. This shows his perspective on social security and medicare way back to the New Deal and President Roosevelt; it shows that he detests entitlement programs for the middle class and poor. He calls them irresponsible and seeing themselves as victims. So condescending, so out of touch....President Obama wants the private sector to lower this statistic of 47% getting government aid by creating jobs. He doesn't want everyone on the government dole but until jobs are created he wants everyone to get a fair shake at the American Dream not just the rich. The republicans and tea party resist any creation of jobs so they don't give him any credit or help. They paint him as a big government socialist because he uses the government to help the people, all of the people. Romney is a 1% representative and disdains a huge portion of the American people. These fat cats outsourced the jobs and now so many industrial jobs are in China with cheap labor and no environmental standards by people like Mitt Romney and Bain Capital. They hide their money in tax shelters then use that same money for lobbyists and use the right wing Supreme Courts ruling on Citizens United calling a corporation a person with first amendment rights so they can pour money into elections without disclosure. Mitt Romney represents this movement of the power of money not freedom. They even define rape or tried to as they bring their sexist elitist perspective into play....we must resist these new rich elites and power hungry shills
poem by Joseph Narusiewicz
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Mitt Romney True Colours
Mitt Romney in surrealist sensationalism
inadvertently modernized 'the tell tale heart'
when he bare all branded 47% of US voters
with a rich condescending flippant remark
pitilessly stating a poor over exploited 47%
are dependent on the national government
adding salt to unemployed bleeding wounds
Romney who grew richer on corporate policy...
send jobs factories to foreign sweat shop workers
declared his victim job stripped 47% have nerve
to think believe they are discarded nobody victims
who believe their government has a responsibility
to care for them but Mitt Romney dropped smart
bomb declaration the poor are not his responsibility...
remember earlier in Mitt Romney presidential
campaign when election hopeful Mr Romney
said he 'wants to help all Americans struggling in
the Obama economy' well he was lying friends...
Mr Romney will remain privileged out of touch
but when will he learn arrogance loses elections?
poem by Terence George Craddock
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My Lost Youth
Often I think of the beautiful town
That is seated by the sea;
Often in thought go up and down
The pleasant streets of that dear old town,
And my youth comes back to me.
And a verse of a Lapland song
Is haunting my memory still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."
I can see the shadowy lines of its trees,
And catch, in sudden gleams,
The sheen of the far-surrounding seas,
And islands that were the Hesperides
Of all my boyish dreams.
And the burden of that old song,
It murmurs and whispers still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."
I remember the black wharves and the ships,
And the sea-tides tossing free;
And Spanish sailors with bearded lips,
And the beauty and mystery of the ships,
And the magic of the sea.
And the voice of that wayward song
Is singing and saying still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."
I remember the bulwarks by the shore,
And the fort upon the hill;
The sunrise gun, with its hollow roar,
The drum-beat repeated o'er and o'er,
And the bugle wild and shrill.
And the music of that old song
Throbs in my memory still:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."
I remember the sea-fight far away,
How it thundered o'er the tide!
And the dead captains, as they lay
In their graves, o'erlooking the tranquil bay
Where they in battle died.
And the sound of that mournful song
Goes through me with a thrill:
"A boy's will is the wind's will,
And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts."
[...] Read more
poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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My Thoughts
Thought in the eyes,
The ears.
Thought in mind,
The brain,
Thought in heart,
The soul.
Great thought is great
when it becomes great deeds.
With my thoughts within
Building my world within
Learning with thought;
Is great learning wisdom.
Learning without thought,
Is opportunity lost.
Thought for others
Thought for God
Thought for good
Thought for God’s blessing
Thoughts teach me,
Thoughts educate me,
Thoughts clarify me,
Thoughts enlighten me.
Thoughts make me wise
Thoughts make me patience
Thoughts make me trust others
Thoughts make me clam.
Thoughts before act
Is smart and wise
Act before thoughts
Is stupid and foolish
That’s my thoughts
They make thinking clear
They make belief deepen
They make confidence high.
In thoughts, my world
In my world, make my thoughts.
In thoughts, my words
In my words, make my speech
It’s my thoughts count
Counting my thoughts
To endless counting thoughts
[...] Read more
poem by Lawrence Hiung
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Vote for the Future of Big Bird
Please vote for the future of our children.
Vote to fund PBS, an oasis of knowledge, get even
On Election Day. Vote for Sesame Street,
Vote for Main Street, not Wall Street.
Vote for the re-election of the President,
Who supports student loans for our college students.
Vote for the man who is a strong proponent
Of investing in America, and in the future of our citizens.
The Hedge Fund Managers have sufficient money;
The wealthy ought to pay their fair share of taxes accordingly.
Vote for Big Bird and Main Street,
An tell Wall Street that the party is over,
No more business as usual; it is over.
Give a chance to Big Bird and Main Street.
poem by Hebert Logerie
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The God-Forgotten Election
Pat M'Durmer brought the tidings to the town of God-Forgotten :
‘There are lively days before ye—commin Parlymint’s dissolved!’
And the boys were all excited, for the State, of course, was ‘rotten,’
And, in subsequent elections, God-Forgotten was involved.
There was little there to live for save in drinking beer and eating;
But we rose on this occasion ere the news appeared in print,
For the boys of God-Forgotten, at a wild, uproarious meeting,
Nominated Billy Blazes for the commin Parlymint.
Other towns had other favourites, but the day before the battle
Bushmen flocked to God-Forgotten, and the distant sheds were still;
Sheep were left to go to glory, and neglected mobs of cattle
Went a-straying down the river at their sweet bucolic will.
William Spouter stood for Freetrade (and his votes were split by Nottin),
He had influence behind him and he also had the tin,
But across the lonely flatlands came the cry of God-Forgotten,
‘Vote for Blazes and Protection, and the land you’re living in!’
Pat M‘Durmer said, ‘Ye schaymers, please to shut yer ugly faces,
‘Lend yer dirty ears a momint while I give ye all a hint:
‘Keep ye sober till to-morrow and record yer vote for Blazes
‘If ye want to send a ringer to the commin Parlymint.
‘As a young and growin’ township God-Forgotten’s been neglected,
‘And, if we’d be ripresinted, now’s the moment to begin—
‘Have the local towns encouraged, local industries purtected:
‘Vote for Blazes, and Protection, and the land ye’re livin’ in.
‘I don’t say that William Blazes is a perfect out-an’ outer,
‘I don’t say he have the larnin’, for he never had the luck;
‘I don’t say he have the logic, or the gift of gab, like Spouter,
‘I don’t say he have the practice—BUT I SAY HE HAVE THE PLUCK!
‘Now the country’s gone to ruin, and the Governments are rotten,
‘But he’ll save the public credit and purtect the public tin;
‘To the iverlastin’ glory of the name of God-Forgotten
‘Vote for Blazes and Protection, and the land ye’re livin’ in!’
Pat M‘D. went on the war-path, and he worked like salts and senna,
For he organised committees full of energy and push;
And those wild committees riding through the whisky-fed Gehenna
Routed out astonished voters from their humpies in the bush.
Everything on wheels was ‘rinted,’ and half-sobered drunks were shot in;
Said M‘Durmer to the driver, ‘If ye want to save yer skin,
‘Never stop to wet yer whistles—drive like hell to God-Forgotten,
‘Make the villains plump for Blazes, and the land they’re livin, in.’
Half the local long-departed (for the purpose resurrected)
Plumped for Blazes and Protection, and the country where they died;
So he topped the poll by sixty, and when Blazes was elected
There was victory and triumph on the God-Forgotten side.
Then the boys got up a banquet, and our chairman, Pat M‘Durmer,
[...] Read more
poem by Henry Lawson
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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:
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poem by Robert Browning (1871)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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How Shirwi ascended the Throne
From the Shahnameh
Now when Shirwi sat on the goodly throne,
And donned the royal crown so much desired,
The leaders of the Iranians each drew near
To proffer him the homage due to kings,
Exclaiming: 'Worshipful and honoured Sháh!
Know, God gave thee the crown, and now thou sittest
Securely on the throne of ivory,
And may thy sons and scions have the world.'
Kubád replied: 'Be ever conquering
And happy. Never will we practice ill.
How good is justice with benevolence!
The world will we keep peaceful and cut off
The works of Ahriman by every right,
Ancestral precedent that greateneth
The Glory of our Faith. I will dispatch
A message to my sire and tell him all.
He is in evil odour in the world
Through his ill deeds: let him excuse his faults
To God and turn to custom and the way.
If he shall heed me he will not resent
My conduct. Then will I devote myself
To state affairs and strive to compass justice
Both publicly and privily, do good
Where good is due, and break no poor man's heart.
I need two honest men of goodly speech,
Whose memories are charged with ancient lore.'
He asked the assembly: 'Whom shall I employ?
Who is most shrewd and honest in Iran?'
The warriors suggested by their looks
Two men of lore if they should give consent.
Kubád perceived whom the Iránians
Agreed to choose: one of them was Ashtád,
The other was Kharrád, son of Barzin,
The old-two sages eloquent and heedful.
Kubád addressed them thus: 'O ye wise men,
Ye chiefs experienced and veteran!
Deem not the conduct of the world too toilsome,
Because the Great by travail compass treasure.
It is for you now to approach the Sháh;
Perchance through you he may conform himself.
Appeal to him by instance new or old
As there is need.'
With tears unwilling
Those sages made them ready. When Kharrád,
Son of Barzin, and when Ashtád, who had
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poem by Hakim Abu'l-Qasim Ferdowsi Tusi Firdowsi
Added by Poetry Lover
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The Bride of Abydos
"Had we never loved so kindly,
Had we never loved so blindly,
Never met or never parted,
We had ne'er been broken-hearted." — Burns
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD HOLLAND,
THIS TALE IS INSCRIBED,
WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF REGARD AND RESPECT,
BY HIS GRATEFULLY OBLIGED AND SINCERE FRIEND,
BYRON.
THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS
CANTO THE FIRST.
I.
Know ye the land where cypress and myrtle
Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime,
Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle,
Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime?
Know ye the land of the cedar and vine,
Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine;
Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppress'd with perfume,
Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gúl in her bloom; [1]
Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit,
And the voice of the nightingale never is mute;
Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky,
In colour though varied, in beauty may vie,
And the purple of Ocean is deepest in dye;
Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine,
And all, save the spirit of man, is divine?
'Tis the clime of the East; 'tis the land of the Sun —
Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done? [2]
Oh! wild as the accents of lovers' farewell
Are the hearts which they bear, and the tales which they tell.
II.
Begirt with many a gallant slave,
Apparell'd as becomes the brave,
Awaiting each his lord's behest
To guide his steps, or guard his rest,
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