Air Guitar
for Tad
Now that the radiance of day
has been sucked into the hole
beyond those distant hills,
I am lying alone and listening,
hands clasped behind my head,
staring at the ceiling.
I take up the guitar,
on which I am a virtuoso,
and take a bottle-neck slide riff
for Bonnie, a bass-line tumble
for Flea. Eric, you're the man,
but you concentrate on the lyrics,
I'll rip on this solo. Neil,
you cajole the crowd,
I'll strike the thunderous chords,
the cacophonic feedback. Hey hey
my my, listen to me tear up
this thirty-two bar, one note solo.
Sit down here, Keith, and smoke
that cigarette. Looks like you
need a break. I'll take this one
for you. Just sit and watch Mick prance.
When I'm winded and had enough,
I put down my guitar,
out of mind, wipe the sweat
from my forehead and neck,
stand in the hall outside
your closed bedroom door
and just listen to you play,
not wanting to take the guitar from your hands.
poem by Thomas Meade
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Related quotes
XI. Guido
You are the Cardinal Acciaiuoli, and you,
Abate Panciatichi—two good Tuscan names:
Acciaiuoli—ah, your ancestor it was
Built the huge battlemented convent-block
Over the little forky flashing Greve
That takes the quick turn at the foot o' the hill
Just as one first sees Florence: oh those days!
'T is Ema, though, the other rivulet,
The one-arched brown brick bridge yawns over,—yes,
Gallop and go five minutes, and you gain
The Roman Gate from where the Ema's bridged:
Kingfishers fly there: how I see the bend
O'erturreted by Certosa which he built,
That Senescal (we styled him) of your House!
I do adjure you, help me, Sirs! My blood
Comes from as far a source: ought it to end
This way, by leakage through their scaffold-planks
Into Rome's sink where her red refuse runs?
Sirs, I beseech you by blood-sympathy,
If there be any vile experiment
In the air,—if this your visit simply prove,
When all's done, just a well-intentioned trick,
That tries for truth truer than truth itself,
By startling up a man, ere break of day,
To tell him he must die at sunset,—pshaw!
That man's a Franceschini; feel his pulse,
Laugh at your folly, and let's all go sleep!
You have my last word,—innocent am I
As Innocent my Pope and murderer,
Innocent as a babe, as Mary's own,
As Mary's self,—I said, say and repeat,—
And why, then, should I die twelve hours hence? I—
Whom, not twelve hours ago, the gaoler bade
Turn to my straw-truss, settle and sleep sound
That I might wake the sooner, promptlier pay
His due of meat-and-drink-indulgence, cross
His palm with fee of the good-hand, beside,
As gallants use who go at large again!
For why? All honest Rome approved my part;
Whoever owned wife, sister, daughter,—nay,
Mistress,—had any shadow of any right
That looks like right, and, all the more resolved,
Held it with tooth and nail,—these manly men
Approved! I being for Rome, Rome was for me.
Then, there's the point reserved, the subterfuge
My lawyers held by, kept for last resource,
Firm should all else,—the impossible fancy!—fail,
And sneaking burgess-spirit win the day.
The knaves! One plea at least would hold,—they laughed,—
One grappling-iron scratch the bottom-rock
[...] Read more
poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society
Epigraph
Υδραν φονεύσας, μυρίων τ᾽ ἄλλων πόνων
διῆλθον ἀγέλας . . .
τὸ λοίσθιον δὲ τόνδ᾽ ἔτλην τάλας πόνον,
. . . δῶμα θριγκῶσαι κακοῖς.
I slew the Hydra, and from labour pass'd
To labour — tribes of labours! Till, at last,
Attempting one more labour, in a trice,
Alack, with ills I crowned the edifice.
You have seen better days, dear? So have I —
And worse too, for they brought no such bud-mouth
As yours to lisp "You wish you knew me!" Well,
Wise men, 't is said, have sometimes wished the same,
And wished and had their trouble for their pains.
Suppose my Œdipus should lurk at last
Under a pork-pie hat and crinoline,
And, latish, pounce on Sphynx in Leicester Square?
Or likelier, what if Sphynx in wise old age,
Grown sick of snapping foolish people's heads,
And jealous for her riddle's proper rede, —
Jealous that the good trick which served the turn
Have justice rendered it, nor class one day
With friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium-ware,—
What if the once redoubted Sphynx, I say,
(Because night draws on, and the sands increase,
And desert-whispers grow a prophecy)
Tell all to Corinth of her own accord.
Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes, for Lais' sake,
Who finds me hardly grey, and likes my nose,
And thinks a man of sixty at the prime?
Good! It shall be! Revealment of myself!
But listen, for we must co-operate;
I don't drink tea: permit me the cigar!
First, how to make the matter plain, of course —
What was the law by which I lived. Let 's see:
Ay, we must take one instant of my life
Spent sitting by your side in this neat room:
Watch well the way I use it, and don't laugh!
Here's paper on the table, pen and ink:
Give me the soiled bit — not the pretty rose!
See! having sat an hour, I'm rested now,
Therefore want work: and spy no better work
For eye and hand and mind that guides them both,
During this instant, than to draw my pen
From blot One — thus — up, up to blot Two — thus —
Which I at last reach, thus, and here's my line
Five inches long and tolerably straight:
[...] Read more
poem by Robert Browning (1871)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Give Your Heart To The Hawks
1 he apples hung until a wind at the equinox,
That heaped the beach with black weed, filled the dry grass
Under the old trees with rosy fruit.
In the morning Fayne Fraser gathered the sound ones into a
basket,
The bruised ones into a pan. One place they lay so thickly
She knelt to reach them.
Her husband's brother passing
Along the broken fence of the stubble-field,
His quick brown eyes took in one moving glance
A little gopher-snake at his feet flowing through the stubble
To gain the fence, and Fayne crouched after apples
With her mop of red hair like a glowing coal
Against the shadow in the garden. The small shapely reptile
Flowed into a thicket of dead thistle-stalks
Around a fence-post, but its tail was not hidden.
The young man drew it all out, and as the coil
Whipped over his wrist, smiled at it; he stepped carefully
Across the sag of the wire. When Fayne looked up
His hand was hidden; she looked over her shoulder
And twitched her sunburnt lips from small white teeth
To answer the spark of malice in his eyes, but turned
To the apples, intent again. Michael looked down
At her white neck, rarely touched by the sun,
But now the cinnabar-colored hair fell off from it;
And her shoulders in the light-blue shirt, and long legs like a boy's
Bare-ankled in blue-jean trousers, the country wear;
He stooped quietly and slipped the small cool snake
Up the blue-denim leg. Fayne screamed and writhed,
Clutching her thigh. 'Michael, you beast.' She stood up
And stroked her leg, with little sharp cries, the slender invader
Fell down her ankle.
Fayne snatched for it and missed;
Michael stood by rejoicing, his rather small
Finely cut features in a dance of delight;
Fayne with one sweep flung at his face
All the bruised and half-spoiled apples in the pan,
[...] Read more
poem by Robinson Jeffers
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Bonnie Cat
Bonnie cat o!
Bonnie cat... don't go away
Bonnie cat look! you make funny bunny crying,
Bonnie cat see it is cold and will not you
come and have me sleep in your warmth
Bonnie cat will not we play the strings of a piano together
one which made the days of summer like a swallow bird
humming into the chilly wintry nights in the command of a nightingale
Bonnie cat o!
Bonnie cat o!
Bonnie cat look i have carrot soup for you
Shall not we chase and try to fly like those duffy ducks
they now bully me bonnie cat
Bunny is so scored without you
Shall not we play in the sunshine meadows
and steal milk from the chocolate hut
Shall not you tell me again to run and get you the rainbow past you
Shall not we see the fountains emerge again and quench our thirst
Bonnie cat o!
Bonnie cat o!
Bonnie cat see our life lacks subtlety
without our sinewy power of bonding
Bonnie cat o bonnie cat!
Don't leave me for a panjandrum center
in your heart...cavort back dear!
See the bunny too have fish and chips for you
Flesh for your heart and not syringes made of bones
And heart for your flesh never ever in the mesh of bandages
Bonnie cat will not you come as Latin song
in satin clothes for my prayer's christmas gift
Bonnie cat o!
Bonnie cat o!
Bonnie cat look you made funny bunny no more irascible
In your zany droplets of fear which in i grew up
Bonnie cat without you i am lost in the turbine
where noxious gases take my breath away
It now stings like an urchin and groans like a swine
Is not it you testing my patience bonnie cat
Tell me bonnie cat don't walk away
Word does make an image of fascination
but pain does not when i convey am really in
Bonnie cat...
my sweet bonnie cat
Bonnie cat o!
poem by Amit Ray
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Sweet Bonnie Brown
Sweet bonnie brown, looking like a baby
Coming down all over me
She looked real good, like a real nice lady
Coming down all over me
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Oh, roll me over, like Im coming home
Well, she looked really like another ...
Coming down all over me
She looked real good, like a real low lady
Coming down all over me, yeah
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
She looked real good, like I know she would
Ive been loving mary-ann so long
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
And every time I see her, you know, I go too long
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
Well, I aint lying, baby, I aint crying
Ive been this way for a long, long time, wow, wow ...
Sweet bonnie brown, looking like a baby
Coming down all over me
She looked real good, just like a real low lady
Coming down all over me
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
She looked real good, like I know she would
Oh, wow, Im up on a pony, spending all my money
Dont you come on after me
Oh, she looked real good, just like a real low lady
Coming down all over me, oh
Sweet bonnie brown
Oh, sweet bonnie brown
Oh, sweet bonnie brown
She looked real good, like I know she would, oh, oh
Oh, Ive been loving mary-lou, but so long
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
Everytime I know her I ....
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
Well I like baby, I aint crying
Ive been this way for a long, long, long this time, oh
Wow, wow, oh, baby ...
song performed by Velvet Underground
Added by Lucian Velea
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Sweet Bonnie Brown
Sweet bonnie brown, looking like a baby
Coming down all over me
She looked real good, like a real nice lady
Coming down all over me
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Oh, roll me over, like Im coming home
Well, she looked really like another ...
Coming down all over me
She looked real good, like a real low lady
Coming down all over me, yeah
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
She looked real good, like I know she would
Ive been loving mary-ann so long
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
And every time I see her, you know, I go too long
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
Well, I aint lying, baby, I aint crying
Ive been this way for a long, long time, wow, wow ...
Sweet bonnie brown, looking like a baby
Coming down all over me
She looked real good, just like a real low lady
Coming down all over me
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
Sweet bonnie brown (sweet bonnie brown)
She looked real good, like I know she would
Oh, wow, Im up on a pony, spending all my money
Dont you come on after me
Oh, she looked real good, just like a real low lady
Coming down all over me, oh
Sweet bonnie brown
Oh, sweet bonnie brown
Oh, sweet bonnie brown
She looked real good, like I know she would, oh, oh
Oh, Ive been loving mary-lou, but so long
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
Everytime I know her I ....
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
Well I like baby, I aint crying
Ive been this way for a long, long, long this time, oh
Wow, wow, oh, baby ...
song performed by Velvet Underground
Added by Lucian Velea
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We The Cats
And the time is right
And tonight's the night
Alreed-alright
Come on, old man, come on
We the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Here's the beat to hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Well, you gotta come on like gi's
You dig the repeat with me and sigh
Put it right on the lee high
Then you can really get by, oh my
We the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Now you're hep i'll betcha
So reap this righteous riff
Well, we the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Here's the beat to hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Well, you gotta come on like gi's
You dig the repeat with me and sigh
Put it right on the lee high
Then you can really get by, oh my
We the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Now you're hep i'll betcha
So reap this righteous riff
Well, we the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Here's the beat to hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Well, you gotta come on like gi's
You dig the repeat with me and sigh
Put it right on the lee high
Then you can really get by, oh my
We the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Now you're hep i'll betcha
Skibble-de-dooba
Skibble-de-boy-boy
Skibble-de-reeba
This righteous, this righteous riff
song performed by Joe Jackson
Added by Lucian Velea
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We The Cats (Shall Hep Ya)
(words and music by Cab Calloway and Jack Palmer)
And the time is right
And tonight's the night
Alreed-alright
Come on, old man, come on
We the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Here's the beat to hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Well, you gotta come on like GI's
You dig the repeat with me and sigh
Put it right on the lee high
Then you can really get by, oh my
We the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Now you're hep I'll betcha
So reap this righteous riff
Well, we the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Here's the beat to hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Well, you gotta come on like GI's
You dig the repeat with me and sigh
Put it right on the lee high
Then you can really get by, oh my
We the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Now you're hep I'll betcha
So reap this righteous riff
(instrumnetal break)
Well, we the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Here's the beat to hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Well, you gotta come on like GI's
You dig the repeat with me and sigh
Put it right on the lee high
Then you can really get by, oh my
We the cats shall hep ya
So reap this righteous riff
Now you're hep I'll betcha
Skibble-de-dooba
Skibble-de-boy-boy
Skibble-de-reeba
This righteous, this righteous riff
song performed by Joe Jackson
Added by Lucian Velea
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Tannhauser
The Landgrave Hermann held a gathering
Of minstrels, minnesingers, troubadours,
At Wartburg in his palace, and the knight,
Sir Tannhauser of France, the greatest bard,
Inspired with heavenly visions, and endowed
With apprehension and rare utterance
Of noble music, fared in thoughtful wise
Across the Horsel meadows. Full of light,
And large repose, the peaceful valley lay,
In the late splendor of the afternoon,
And level sunbeams lit the serious face
Of the young knight, who journeyed to the west,
Towards the precipitous and rugged cliffs,
Scarred, grim, and torn with savage rifts and chasms,
That in the distance loomed as soft and fair
And purple as their shadows on the grass.
The tinkling chimes ran out athwart the air,
Proclaiming sunset, ushering evening in,
Although the sky yet glowed with yellow light.
The ploughboy, ere he led his cattle home,
In the near meadow, reverently knelt,
And doffed his cap, and duly crossed his breast,
Whispering his 'Ave Mary,' as he heard
The pealing vesper-bell. But still the knight,
Unmindful of the sacred hour announced,
Disdainful or unconscious, held his course.
'Would that I also, like yon stupid wight,
Could kneel and hail the Virgin and believe!'
He murmured bitterly beneath his breath.
'Were I a pagan, riding to contend
For the Olympic wreath, O with what zeal,
What fire of inspiration, would I sing
The praises of the gods! How may my lyre
Glorify these whose very life I doubt?
The world is governed by one cruel God,
Who brings a sword, not peace. A pallid Christ,
Unnatural, perfect, and a virgin cold,
They give us for a heaven of living gods,
Beautiful, loving, whose mere names were song;
A creed of suffering and despair, walled in
On every side by brazen boundaries,
That limit the soul's vision and her hope
To a red hell or and unpeopled heaven.
Yea, I am lost already,-even now
Am doomed to flaming torture for my thoughts.
O gods! O gods! where shall my soul find peace?'
He raised his wan face to the faded skies,
Now shadowing into twilight; no response
Came from their sunless heights; no miracle,
As in the ancient days of answering gods.
[...] Read more
poem by Emma Lazarus
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Vision of Columbus – Book 3
Now, twice twelve years, the children of the skies
Beheld in peace their growing empire rise;
O'er happy realms, display'd their generous care,
Diffused their arts and soothd the rage of war;
Bade yon tall temple grace the favourite isle.
The gardens bloom, the cultured valleys smile,
The aspiring hills their spacious mines unfold.
Fair structures blaze, and altars burn, in gold,
Those broad foundations bend their arches high,
And heave imperial Cusco to the sky;
From that fair stream that mark'd their northern sway,
Where Apurimac leads his lucid way,
To yon far glimmering lake, the southern bound,
The growing tribes their peaceful dwellings found;
While wealth and grandeur bless'd the extended reign,
From the bold Andes to the western main.
When, fierce from eastern wilds, the savage bands
Lead war and slaughter o'er the happy lands;
Thro' fertile fields the paths of culture trace,
And vow destruction to the Incan race.
While various fortune strow'd the embattled plain,
And baffled thousands still the strife maintain,
The unconquer'd Inca wakes the lingering war,
Drives back their host and speeds their flight afar;
Till, fired with rage, they range the wonted wood,
And feast their souls on future scenes of blood.
Where yon blue summits hang their cliffs on high;
Frown o'er the plains and lengthen round the sky;
Where vales exalted thro' the breaches run;
And drink the nearer splendors of the sun,
From south to north, the tribes innumerous wind,
By hills of ice and mountain streams confined;
Rouse neighbouring hosts, and meditate the blow,
To blend their force and whelm the world below.
Capac, with caution, views the dark design,
From countless wilds what hostile myriads join;
And greatly strives to bid the discord cease,
By profferd compacts of perpetual peace.
His eldest hope, young Rocha, at his call,
Leaves the deep confines of the temple wall;
In whose fair form, in lucid garments drest,
Began the sacred function of the priest.
In early youth, ere yet the genial sun
Had twice six changes o'er his childhood run,
The blooming prince, beneath his parents' hand,
Learn'd all the laws that sway'd the sacred land;
With rites mysterious served the Power divine,
Prepared the altar and adorn'd the shrine,
Responsive hail'd, with still returning praise,
Each circling season that the God displays,
[...] Read more
poem by Joel Barlow
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Ode To Eric Clapton
Hear Eric Clapton's got the blues
did he pay his dues
have you heard the news
hear Eric Clapton's got the blues.
Nicknamed old slow hand in band
Eric is the master blues guitar hand
always with his back against the wall
yet Eric Clapton stands noble and tall.
Started out over thirty years ago
his guitar style developed blues flow
an second only too late Jimi Hendrix
Eric played with heavy cream mix.
Through the high times and the bad
sometimes feeling crazy and mad
battling wild destructive stardom scene
taking trips both right and wrong dream.
Road to excess leads to wisdom song
although the road is often long
I'm quoting Eric's favourite line
these words that spring to mine.
Having self confessed addictive personality
is Eric's dark blues self analysis key
but today Eric lets his guitar talk
all the way from London to New York.
Doing the prince charity time trust
each and every year is indeed a must
playing regularly London's Albert Hall
Eric stands tall and isn't about to fall.
Admired by every guitar slinger around
Eric's guitar creates the blues sound
with master blues ace calling card
Eric Clapton plays honest and hard.
And the blues is always played real
let's you have honest emotion to feel
singing about love affairs of the heart
blows all our false pretense apart.
Nineties Eric wears his blues mantle proud
playing his guitar notes inspired and loud
with both subtle and heavy born emotion
laying down blues flavour stylish devotion.
[...] Read more
poem by Wayne Falconer
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Shake My Tree
(coverdale)
You talk too much,
Never saying whats on your mind,
Its written on your face,
An in the words you hide behind
I know what you want,
I can see what youre looking for,
I know what you want from me,
An Im gonna give you more
Im gonna slide it in
Right to the top,
Slide it in,
I aint never gonna stop
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
Im gonna slide it in, slide it in,
Slide it, in baby...
Sometimes you seem
Just like a stranger to me,
But, all the games you play
Make it so easy to see
Youre looking for love,
Tho you try to deny,
The things you put me through
Tell me what Ive got to do to you
Im gonna slide it in,
Right to the top,
Slide it in,
I aint never gonna stop
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
Im gonna slide it in, slide it in...
You talk too much,
Always treating me so unkind,
I know what Ive got to do,
To get me some peace of mind
Im gonna slide it in,
Right to the top,
Slide it in,
I aint never gonna stop
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
Im gonna slide it in, slide it in,
Slide it in,
Right to the top
Slide it in,
I aint never gonna stop
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
Im gonna slide it in, slide it in, slide it,
[...] Read more
song performed by Whitesnake
Added by Lucian Velea
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Slide It In
You talk too much,
Never saying what's on your mind,
It's written on your face,
An' in the words you hide behind.
I know what you want,
I can see what you're looking for,
I know what you want from me,
An' I'm gonna give you more.
I'm gonna slide it in
Right to the top,
Slide it in,
I ain't never gonna stop.
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
I'm gonna slide it in, slide it in,
Slide it, in baby.
Sometimes you seem
Just like a stranger to me,
But, all the games you play
Make it so easy to see.
You're looking for love,
Tho' you try to deny,
The things you put me through
Tell me what I've got to do to you.
I'm gonna slide it in,
Right to the top,
Slide it in,
I ain't never gonna stop.
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
I'm gonna slide it in, slide it in.
(Solo)
You talk too much,
Always treating me so unkind,
I know what I've got to do,
To get me some peace of mind.
I'm gonna slide it in,
Right to the top,
Slide it in,
I ain't never gonna stop.
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
I'm gonna slide it in, slide it in,
Slide it in,
Right to the top.
Slide it in,
I ain't never gonna stop.
Slide it in,
Right to the top,
I'm gonna slide it in, slide it in, slide it,
[...] Read more
song performed by Whitesnake
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Columbiad: Book I
The Argument
Natives of America appear in vision. Their manners and characters. Columbus demands the cause of the dissimilarity of men in different countries, Hesper replies, That the human body is composed of a due proportion of the elements suited to the place of its first formation; that these elements, differently proportioned, produce all the changes of health, sickness, growth and decay; and may likewise produce any other changes which occasion the diversity of men; that these elemental proportions are varied, not more by climate than temperature and other local circumstances; that the mind is likewise in a state of change, and will take its physical character from the body and from external objects: examples. Inquiry concerning the first peopling of America. View of Mexico. Its destruction by Cortez. View of Cusco and Quito, cities of Peru. Tradition of Capac and Oella, founders of the Peruvian empire. Columbus inquires into their real history. Hesper gives an account of their origin, and relates the stratagems they used in establishing that empire.
I sing the Mariner who first unfurl'd
An eastern banner o'er the western world,
And taught mankind where future empires lay
In these fair confines of descending day;
Who sway'd a moment, with vicarious power,
Iberia's sceptre on the new found shore,
Then saw the paths his virtuous steps had trod
Pursued by avarice and defiled with blood,
The tribes he foster'd with paternal toil
Snatch'd from his hand, and slaughter'd for their spoil.
Slaves, kings, adventurers, envious of his name,
Enjoy'd his labours and purloin'd his fame,
And gave the Viceroy, from his high seat hurl'd.
Chains for a crown, a prison for a world
Long overwhelm'd in woes, and sickening there,
He met the slow still march of black despair,
Sought the last refuge from his hopeless doom,
And wish'd from thankless men a peaceful tomb:
Till vision'd ages, opening on his eyes,
Cheer'd his sad soul, and bade new nations rise;
He saw the Atlantic heaven with light o'ercast,
And Freedom crown his glorious work at last.
Almighty Freedom! give my venturous song
The force, the charm that to thy voice belong;
Tis thine to shape my course, to light my way,
To nerve my country with the patriot lay,
To teach all men where all their interest lies,
How rulers may be just and nations wise:
Strong in thy strength I bend no suppliant knee,
Invoke no miracle, no Muse but thee.
Night held on old Castile her silent reign,
Her half orb'd moon declining to the main;
O'er Valladolid's regal turrets hazed
The drizzly fogs from dull Pisuerga raised;
Whose hovering sheets, along the welkin driven,
Thinn'd the pale stars, and shut the eye from heaven.
Cold-hearted Ferdinand his pillow prest,
Nor dream'd of those his mandates robb'd of rest,
Of him who gemm'd his crown, who stretch'd his reign
To realms that weigh'd the tenfold poise of Spain;
Who now beneath his tower indungeon'd lies,
Sweats the chill sod and breathes inclement skies.
[...] Read more
poem by Joel Barlow
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Thurso’s Landing
I
The coast-road was being straightened and repaired again,
A group of men labored at the steep curve
Where it falls from the north to Mill Creek. They scattered and hid
Behind cut banks, except one blond young man
Who stooped over the rock and strolled away smiling
As if he shared a secret joke with the dynamite;
It waited until he had passed back of a boulder,
Then split its rock cage; a yellowish torrent
Of fragments rose up the air and the echoes bumped
From mountain to mountain. The men returned slowly
And took up their dropped tools, while a banner of dust
Waved over the gorge on the northwest wind, very high
Above the heads of the forest.
Some distance west of the road,
On the promontory above the triangle
Of glittering ocean that fills the gorge-mouth,
A woman and a lame man from the farm below
Had been watching, and turned to go down the hill. The young
woman looked back,
Widening her violet eyes under the shade of her hand. 'I think
they'll blast again in a minute.'
And the man: 'I wish they'd let the poor old road be. I don't
like improvements.' 'Why not?' 'They bring in the world;
We're well without it.' His lameness gave him some look of age
but he was young too; tall and thin-faced,
With a high wavering nose. 'Isn't he amusing,' she said, 'that
boy Rick Armstrong, the dynamite man,
How slowly he walks away after he lights the fuse. He loves to
show off. Reave likes him, too,'
She added; and they clambered down the path in the rock-face,
little dark specks
Between the great headland rock and the bright blue sea.
II
The road-workers had made their camp
North of this headland, where the sea-cliff was broken down and
sloped to a cove. The violet-eyed woman's husband,
Reave Thurso, rode down the slope to the camp in the gorgeous
autumn sundown, his hired man Johnny Luna
Riding behind him. The road-men had just quit work and four
or five were bathing in the purple surf-edge,
The others talked by the tents; blue smoke fragrant with food
and oak-wood drifted from the cabin stove-pipe
And slowly went fainting up the vast hill.
Thurso drew rein by
a group of men at a tent door
And frowned at them without speaking, square-shouldered and
heavy-jawed, too heavy with strength for so young a man,
He chose one of the men with his eyes. 'You're Danny Woodruff,
[...] Read more
poem by Robinson Jeffers
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Guitar & Pen
Youre alone above the street somewhere
Youre alone above the street somewhere
Wondering how youll ever count out there
Wondering how youll ever count out there
You can walk, you can talk, you can fight
You can walk, you can talk, you can fight
But inside youve got something to write
But inside youve got something to write
In your hand you hold your only friend
In your hand you hold your only friend
Never spend your guitar or your pen
Never spend your guitar or your pen
Your guitar or your pen
Your guitar or your pen
Your guitar or your pen
Your guitar or your pen
Your guitar or your pen
Your guitar or your pen
Your guitar or your pen
Your guitar or your pen
When you take up a pencil and sharpen it up
When you take up a pencil and sharpen it up
When youre kicking the fence and still nothing will budge
When youre kicking the fence and still nothing will budge
When the words are immobile until you sit down
When the words are immobile until you sit down
Never feel theyre worth keeping, theyre not easily found
Never feel theyre worth keeping, theyre not easily found
Then you know in some strange, unexplainable way
Then you know in some strange, unexplainable way
You must really have something
You must really have something
Jumping, thumping, fighting, hiding away
Jumping, thumping, fighting, hiding away
Important to say
Important to say
When you sing through the verse and you end in a scream
When you sing through the verse and you end in a scream
And you swear and you curse cause the rhyming aint clean
And you swear and you curse cause the rhyming aint clean
But it suddenly comes after years of delay
But it suddenly comes after years of delay
You pick up your guitar, you can suddenly play
You pick up your guitar, you can suddenly play
When your fingers are bleeding and the knuckles are white
When your fingers are bleeding and the knuckles are white
Then you can be sure, you can open the door
Then you can be sure, you can open the door
Get off of the floor tonight
Get off of the floor tonight
[...] Read more
song performed by Who
Added by Lucian Velea
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Vision Of Columbus - Book 1
Long had the Sage, the first who dared to brave
The unknown dangers of the western wave,
Who taught mankind where future empires lay
In these fair confines of descending day,
With cares o'erwhelm'd, in life's distressing gloom,
Wish'd from a thankless world a peaceful tomb;
While kings and nations, envious of his name,
Enjoy'd his toils and triumph'd o'er his fame,
And gave the chief, from promised empire hurl'd,
Chains for a crown, a prison for a world.
Now night and silence held their lonely reign,
The half-orb'd moon declining to the main;
Descending clouds, o'er varying ether driven,
Obscured the stars and shut the eye from heaven;
Cold mists through opening grates the cell invade,
And deathlike terrors haunt the midnight shade;
When from a visionary, short repose,
That raised new cares and temper'd keener woes,
Columbus woke, and to the walls address'd
The deep-felt sorrows of his manly breast.
Here lies the purchase, here the wretched spoil,
Of painful years and persevering toil:
For these dread walks, this hideous haunt of pain,
I traced new regions o'er the pathless main,
Dared all the dangers of the dreary wave,
Hung o'er its clefts and topp'd the surging grave,
Saw billowy seas, in swelling mountains roll,
And bursting thunders rock the reddening pole,
Death rear his front in every dreadful form,
Gape from beneath and blacken in the storm;
Till, tost far onward to the skirts of day,
Where milder suns dispens'd a smiling ray,
Through brighter skies my happier sails descry'd
The golden banks that bound the western tide,
And gave the admiring world that bounteous shore
Their wealth to nations and to kings their power
Oh land of transport! dear, delusive coast,
To these fond, aged eyes forever lost!
No more thy gladdening vales I travel o'er,
For me thy mountains rear the head no more,
For me thy rocks no sparkling gems unfold,
Or streams luxuriant wear their paths in gold;
From realms of promised peace forever borne,
I hail dread anguish, and in secret mourn
But dangers past, fair climes explored in vain,
And foes triumphant shew but half my pain
Dissembling friends, each earlier joy who gave,
[...] Read more
poem by Joel Barlow
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Tarfur
Eg mun vaka yfir ter
Lifa ut I horn
Hvort tel eg nidur til min telji slippur og snaudur stend eg tar
Hvenaer sem er, hvert sem fer, hverning sem er
Hvort sem stendur eda felur mun eg gera tad sem tarf
Komast I hvarf, vopna tig, beygja mig, vikja tig, leyna mig
Finna minn stad, leida tennan tarf
Hvad eigum vid ad gera, efla tru and annan sid
Hvert einasta, seinasta rennur I lengra bil, svolitid mig
Sama er mer, hvort sem er
Hvort sem tad er eg eda tu sem fornar life, hver fer, bintu hnut
Skilur ad, skilurdu tad, tad skilur ad, allt annar madur, betri en I gaer, eg
vildi helst geta daelt ut ur mer? Elskad og saert, truir tu mer tykir tar gott
Finnst ter tad gott
Snuid tvi sem snyr ad mer, fundid mig her og vakad yfir ter
Svona sefur tu saett
Mun eg vaka yfir ter?
Tad er einskis virdi teim sem I haus ad stunda sakir um tad ad sert ekki ennta
komin lengra af stad
Eg skal ekki segja, eg skal ekki tala, eg vil ekki fara
Komdu frekar til min litla syn og vid skulum mala
I tetta skipti kemur salin Steini til ad segja tad sem skiptir mali, tviskipta
salin
Gripa skal fara
Mali sinu til ad sanna, tetta er tad sem eg vil sja, tetta er tad sem eg vil
hafa
Tileinkad ad eilifu, kjaftakleina ein ein er a teini, sama hvoru megin eg hvoru
megin sama sinnis
Rauda spjaldid gefid upp
Sama og to ad eg sa ad fara utaf, koma aftur upp
Guli kenni skoga, mina fjarlaegd, fjarskipti nalagt
Taktu numer, einn, tveir og trir
Hvad vil eg frekar tig
Til ad marka sognina, yfir um tognina
Talandi tungulaust, sjaanlegur, heyri roddina
Svona sefurdu saett
Mun eg vaka yfir ter?
song performed by Quarashi
Added by Lucian Velea
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My Bonnie
My bonnie lies over the ocean,
My bonnie lies over the sea.
My bonnie lies over the ocean.
Oh bring back my bonnie to me.
My bonnie lies over the ocean,
My bonnie lies over the sea.
Well my bonnie lies over the ocean.
Yeah bring back my bonnie to me.
Yeah bring back, ah bring back,
Oh bring back my bonnie to me to me.
Oh bring back, oh bring back,
Oh bring back my bonnie to me.
Well my bonnie lies over the ocean,
My bonnie lies over the sea.
Yeah my bonnie lies over the ocean.
Oh i said bring back my bonnie to me.
Yeah bring back, ah bring back,
Oh bring back my bonnie to me to me.
Oh bring back, ah bring back,
Oh bring back my bonnie to me.
song performed by Beatles
Added by Lucian Velea
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The Braes of Yarrow
‘BUSK ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride!
Busk ye, busk ye, my winsome marrow!
Busk ye, busk ye, my bonnie, bonnie bride!
And think nae mair on the braes of Yarrow!’
‘Where got ye that bonnie, bonnie bride?
Where got ye that winsome marrow?’
‘I got her where I durst not well be seen—
Pu’ing the birks on the braes of Yarrow.’
‘Weep not, weep not, my bonnie, bonnie bride!
Weep not, weep not, my winsome marrow!
Nor let thy heart lament to leave
Pu’ing the birks on the braes of Yarrow.’
‘Why does she weep, thy bonnie, bonnie bride?
Why does she weep, thy winsome marrow?
And why dare ye nae mair weel be seen
Pu’ing the birks on the braes of Yarrow?’
‘Lang maun she weep, lang maun she, maun she weep,
Lang maun she weep with dule and sorrow;
And lang maun I nae weel be seen
Pu’ing the birks on the braes of Yarrow.
‘For she has tint her lover, lover dear—
Her lover dear, the cause of sorrow;
And I have slain the comeliest swain
That ever pu’ed birks on the braes of Yarrow.
‘Why runs thy stream O Yarrow, Yarrow, reid?
Why on thy braes is heard the voice of sorrow?
And why yon melancholious weeds
Hung on the bonnie birks of Yarrow.
‘What’s yonder floats on the rueful, rueful flood?
What’s yonder floats? O dule and sorrow!
’Tis he, the comely swain I slew
Upon the duleful braes of Yarrow.
‘Wash, O wash his wounds, his wounds in tears,
His wounds in tears of dule and sorrow;
And wrap his limbs in mourning weeds,
And lay him on the braes of Yarrow.
‘Then build, then build, ye sisters, sisters sad,
Ye sisters sad, his tomb with sorrow:
And weep around, in woeful wise,
His hapless fate on the braes of Yarrow.
[...] Read more
poem by William Hamilton
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