Spheres and Circles
Topsy-turvy we stumble
Spinning as we go
Stretching out
But grasping naught
Helter-skelter we cascade
Our quarry just out of reach
Forever hunting
Never catching
Haphazardly, madly, running
Knowing not what we seek
Chasing a vague desire
For something better
poem by Timothy Marshal Nichols
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Related quotes
Our Topsy-Turvy World
In the very very topsy-turvy world
Straight lines are elliptically curled
Way above is found below
Jungles covered up with snow
In the very very topsy-turvy world
In the world, so very very topsy-turvy
Ascorbic acid always brings on scurvy
Books with empty pages
Are read by all the sages
In the world, so very very topsy-turvy
The world of topsy-turvy consternation
Filled with topsy-turvy complications
Where the right is on the left
The most happy, most bereft
In this world of topsy-turvy situations
Foolish topsy-turvys heed no warnings
Sure there’s no such thing as global warming
They’re happy on their land
With their heads down in the sand
Where brain-less topsy-turvys bury warnings
In our world of topsy-turvy politicians
Concerned enough to better our conditions
They’ll be always there for you
With an honest point of view
In our world of topsy-turvy politicians
In our world where topsy-turvy is the norm
Where we’re taught the only way is to conform
Where nothing is quite sane
Where peace can never reign
So long as topsy-turvy is the norm
poem by Stanley Cooper
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Helter Skelter
When i get to the bottom i go back to the top of the slide
Where i stop and i turn and i go for a ride
Till i get to the bottom and i see you again.
Do you, don't you want me to love you
I'm coming down fast but i'm miles above you
Tell me tell me tell me come on tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.
Helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter.
Will you, won't you want me to make you
I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.
Look out helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter
Look out, cause here she comes.
When i get to the bottom i go back to the top of the slide
And i stop and i turn and i go for a ride
And i get to the bottom and i see you again
Well do you, don't you want me to make you
I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer.
Look out helter skelter helter skelter
Helter skelter
Look out helter skelter
She's coming down fast
Yes she is
Yes she is.
song performed by Beatles
Added by Lucian Velea
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Keep On Running
Some gonna get you
Some gonna grab you
Some gonna jump out of the bushes and grab you
Whole lotta folks, you better run faster.
Some gonna grab you
Some gonna jump out of the bushes and grab you
Some gonna grab you
Oh you need this thing to grab you, ha.
Yea, yea
Keep on running
Keep on running from my love
Keep on running, yea
Keep on running from my love
Some folks say that youre really, really fine,
All you want to be is just a friend of mine,
But I know, the man your with gonna break your heart,
And youll be sad real soon, yea.
Keep on running,
Keep on running from my love,
Keep on running, yea,
Keep on running from my love.
Some folks say that youre really, really fine
But all you want to be is just a friend of mine,
But I know Im gonna get you with him -real soon.
Why do you keep?
Keep on running, running from my love
Yea, keep on running from
Keep on running, running from my love
I need you baby
Keep on running, running from my love
And everyday yea,
Keep on running, running from my love. oh
Keep on running
Keep on running from my love
Keep on running yea
Keep on running from my love
Some folks say that your love is really good
All you want to be is just a friend of mine,
But I know, Im gonna get you in the end
cause I need you so
Keep on running
Keep on running, running from my love
Yea, keep on running baby
Keep on running, running from my love, yea
Keep on running, running from my love
Keep on running, running from my love
...say it loud
Keep on running, running from my love
Oh, yea
Keep on running, running from my love
[...] Read more
song performed by Stevie Wonder
Added by Lucian Velea
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Helter Skelter
this is a song charles manson stole from the beatles.
Were stealing it back.
When you get to the bottom
You go back to the top of the slide
And you stop and you turn
And you go for a ride
Till you get to the bottom
Then you see me again
Do you, dont you want me to love you?
Im coming down fast, but Im miles above you
Tell me, tell me, tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you aint no dancer
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Do you, dont you want me to make you?
Coming down fast I dont want me to break you
Tell me , tell me, tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you aint no dancer
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
When you get to the bottom
You go back to the top of the slide
Where you stop and you turn
And you go for a ride
Till you get to the bottom
And I see you again
Do you, dont you want me to love you ?
Coming down fast Im right above you
Tell me , tell me, tell me the answer
You may be a lover but you aint no dancer
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
song performed by U2
Added by Lucian Velea
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Tipsy Dazy
Miss Tipsy Dazy you're topsy turvy
Say one minute everything seem fine
Tipsy Dazy you're topsy turvy
The next minute we're in a puss and dog fight
That's not really right
Seems as the day grow old
Our love grow cold
Remember you been told
Love can't be bought nor sold
Tipsy Dazy you're topsy turvy
Say one minute everything's just right dynamite
Tipsy Dazy you're topsy turvy
Next minute we're in this great big fight
That ain't my style of life
When everything seem secure
I can't just be too sure
'Cause you can wake up one day
Not in love any more
Hey! Remember you've been told
Love can't be bought nor sold
Seems as the days grow old
Our love grow cold
Tipsy Dazy topsy turvy saying
One minute everything seem right
Tipsy Dazy you're topsy turvy
Next minute we're in this great big fight
That's not really right
Once more can't say you never been told
Love can't be bought or sold
But it seems as tehm days grow
Our heat grow cold
Tipsy Dazy your're topsy turvy
One minute everything just fine really divine
Tipsy Dazy you're really turvy
Next next minute next minute next minute yea
Tipsy, Tipsy Dazy topsy, really turvy
One minute we're in a great big fight
song performed by Ziggy Marley
Added by Lucian Velea
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My Head Is Spinning
(lowe/tennant)
----------------------
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
My head is spinning
song performed by Pet Shop Boys
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Helter Skelter
When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the side
Wher I stop and I go for a ride
til I get to the bottom
Where I see you again
Do you, dont you
Want me to love you
Im comin down fast
But Im miles above you
Tell me, tell me, tell me the answer
You may be a lover
But you aint no dancer
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Will you, wont you
Want me to make you
Im coming down fast
But dont let me break you
Tell me, tell me, tell me the answer
You may be a lover
But you aint no dancer helter skelter
Helter skelter
Helter skelter
Shes comin down fast
Yes she is, yes she is
song performed by Aerosmith
Added by Lucian Velea
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Broken Dreams
Ill tell you how my day has been,
how the sun has caught my face.
How i lul myself to sleep,
weaving shadows on my face.
Chasing dreams that just passed by
Broken dreams im just too late.
Chasing dreams that just passed by
Broken dreams im just too late.
chasing dreams,
chasing dreams,
chasing dreams,
chasing, chasing broken dreams
chasing dreams,
chasing dreams,
chasing dreams,
chasing, chasing broken dreams
hmmm hmmmh hmh mh....
If only you could keep me warm,
if only you could keep me from harm.
if only you could shhh hmm hmm hmm hmm
Chasing dreams that just passed by
Broken dreams im just too late.
Chasing dreams that just passed by
Broken dreams im just too late.
chasing dreams,
chasing dreams,
chasing dreams,
chasing, chasing broken dreams
chasing dreams,
chasing dreams,
chasing dreams,
(whistling)
why
hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
chasing, chasing broken dreams
song performed by Fat Joe
Added by Lucian Velea
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Demolition Derby
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby (yeah)
It's on a Saturday night and the boys want to rock
Gotta get some action, not yourself
Meet you at the ally
Everybody get about at night
School's out and we can't keep still
Gotta hold myself back and wait until
Tonight's the night
All hell's gonna break loose
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
We're gonna make you topsy-turvy
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
Now now now now now now now
The neighbors are screamin' "hey, stop that noise"
Give 'em a wink and shout "kill him, boys"
My daddy saw me now
He wouldn't let me out for a week
Trooby's got a sprain and Blondy's got his back
Noodle's with his action, better watch him for that
I've got my shoe shine in my pocket
Everybody's ready, let's go
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
We're gonna make you topsy-turvy
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
Now now now now right now
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
We're gonna make you topsy-turvy
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
Now now now now now now now NOW!
No no nooooooooooo!!
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
We're gonna make you topsy-turvy
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
Now now now now now now
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
We're gonna make you topsy-turvy
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
Now now now now now now now
We're gonna take you
We're gonna make you
We're gonna take you to a demolition derby
Now now now now now now now now
Now now n
song performed by Quiet Riot
Added by Lucian Velea
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Running Away
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running,
But ya cant run away from yourself
Cant run away from yourself -
Cant run away from yourself -
Cant run away from yourself -
Cant run away from yourself -
Cant run away from yourself.
Ya must have done (must have done),
Sometin wrong (something wrong).
Said: ya must have done (must have done),
Wo! sometin wrong (something wrong).
Why you cant find the
Place where you belong?
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away);
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away);
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away);
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away);
Do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do (running away).
Every man thinketh his
Burden is the heaviest (heaviest).
Every man thinketh his
Burden is the heaviest (heaviest).
Ya still mean it: who feels it knows it, lord;
Who feels it knows it, lord;
Who feels it knows it, lord;
Who feels it knows it, lord.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
And ya running away.
Ya running and ya running
But ya cant run away from yourself.
Could ya run away from yourself?
Can you run away from yourself?
Cant run away from yourself!
Cant run away from yourself!
Yeah-eah-eah-eah - from yourself.
Brr - you must have done sometin -
Sometin - sometin - sometin -
Sometin ya dont want nobody to know about:
Ya must have, lord - sometin wrong,
What ya must have done - ya must have done sometin wrong.
[...] Read more
song performed by Bob Marley
Added by Lucian Velea
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Orpheus
ORPHEUS.
LAUGHTER and dance, and sounds of harp and lyre,
Piping of flutes, singing of festal songs,
Ribbons of flame from flaunting torches, dulled
By the broad summer sunshine, these had filled
Since the high noon the pillared vestibules,
The peristyles and porches, in the house
Of the bride's father. Maidens, garlanded
With rose and myrtle dedicate to Love,
Adorned with chaplets fresh the bride, and veiled
The shining head and wistful, girlish face,
Ineffable sweetness of divided lips,
Large light of clear, gray eyes, low, lucid brows,
White as a cloud, beneath pale, clustering gold.
When sunless skies uncertain twilight cast,
That makes a friend's face as an alien's strange,
Investing with a foreign mystery
The dear green fields about our very home.
Then waiting stood the gilded chariot
Before the porch, and from the vine-wreathed door,
Issued the white-veiled bride, while jocund youths
And mænads followed her with dance and song.
She came with double glory; for her lord,
Son of Apollo and Calliope,
Towered beside her, beautiful in limb
And feature, as though formed to magic strains,
Like the Bœotian city, that arose
In airy structures to Amphion's lute.
The light serene shone from his brow and eyes,
Of one whose lofty thoughts keep consonance
With the celestial music of the spheres.
His smile was fluent, and his speech outsang
The cadences of soft-stringed instruments.
He to the chariot led Eurydice,
And these twain, mounting with their paranymph,
Drove onward through the dusky twilit fields,
Preceded by the nymphs and singing youths,
And boys diffusing light and odors warm,
With flaming brands of aromatic woods,
And matrons bearing symbols of the life
Of careful wives, the distaff and the sieve;
And followed by the echoes of their songs,
The fragrance crushed from moist and trodden grass,
The blessing of the ever-present gods,
Whom they invoked with earnest hymns and prayer.
From Orpheus' portico, festooned with vines,
Issued a flood of rare, ambrosial light,
As though Olympian portals stood ajar,
And Hymen, radiant by his torch's flame,
Mystic with saffron vest and purple, stood
[...] Read more
poem by Emma Lazarus
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Catching The Butterfly
As though you were born
As though you were born
And so you thought
And so you thought
The futures ours
The futures ours
To keep and hold
To keep and hold
A child within
A child within
Has healing ways
Has healing ways
It sees me through
It sees me through
My darkest days
My darkest days
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine
In that dream of mine
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine
In my lucid dreams
In my lucid dreams
In my lucid dreams
Something now? ? ? ?
In my lucid dreams
Through life no fun
I want to feel
I want to run
Something numb
Through life no fun
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
I want to feel
In that dream of mine
I want to run
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
In my lucid dreams
In that dream of mine
In my lucid dreams
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine
Im gonna keep catching that butterfly
In that dream of mine
Keep catching that butterfly
In my lucid dreams
[...] Read more
song performed by Verve
Added by Lucian Velea
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Life is a Battle Field; Fight and Fight
Hello! Hello! Oh, yellow bellied fellow -
Runs for everything yet gets nothing, a lily-livered fellow,
Life is ethereal some say yet cruel i see, oh anserine fellow
Life is a kind of sirocco, lo, chickenhearted fellow.
Topsy-turvy life, tipsy-nervy life and Jumpy-jolty life
As my life sucks for bucks - vocalized Booby, Boo! Boo!
Childhood is besotted with education - marked by fecklessness,
Youth is wasted in illusion - marked by forlornness,
Mild age is passed in the delusion - harkened by groundlessness,
Old age is lasted in dissimulation - darkened by hopelessness.
Topsy-turvy life, tipsy-nervy life and Jumpy-jolty life
As my life sucks for bucks - vocalized Booby, Boo! Boo!
Someone says life a fantasy yet be watchful,
Others say life is beautiful yet be dutiful,
Some others say life is a puzzle yet is playful,
Yet others say life is carrying donkeys load yet be cheerful.
Topsy-turvy life, tipsy-nervy life and Jumpy-jolty life
As my life sucks for bucks - vocalized Booby, Boo! Boo!
Life is a battle field; fight and fight till you reach the glory,
Life is a mountain; climb and claim until you reach the top,
Life is a boxing bout; punch and punch till you reach victory,
Life is a marathon race; run and run to reach heaven's sop.
Topsy-turvy life, tipsy-nervy life and Jumpy-jolty life
As my life sucks for bucks - vocalized Booby, Boo! Boo!
poem by Harindhar Reddy
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Rubaiyat Of A Robin - After Edward Fitzgerald - Rubaiyat Of Omar Khayyam
Jest plays with rubaiyat and, four by four,
unseals for your amusement more and more
verses together thread in rosary
unreeled to bloom till tomb will curtains draw.
Repealed are value judgement and perspective
revealed through standpoint purely introspective,
darkside concealed of moon’s yin-yang shines clear
when we’re in orbit, - option more effective.
Rolled form performs rôle midwife to perception,
sprung tongue in cheek, tweaks sense of imperfection
or willingness to leach between the lines,
impeach entrenched ideas of self-[s]election.
This prose arose as stream deprived of section,
where ‘dip at will’ will still sustain inspection,
the current’s sense, at odds with current views
ignores round holes, square pegs, top-down direction.
Here there’s no fear of critics’ peer rejection,
contention treated with due circumspection
intention is to mention for retention
an overview or clue to extrospection.
Life’s curtains are a veil through which few see,
as many haste taste-waste eternity,
mixed up, ignore life fixes finite sum
to/through infinite opportunity.
Can “Truth” exist? all ask, who seek its core,
we, modest, etch our words to sketch the score,
diverse the verses which converge to link
reflections mirrored many times before.
Vast content, style, a while, united are,
aim at soul stimulation, nothing bar,
to pleasure, treasure, or discard at will
as minds outreach to other minds on par.
Meditating, we shed light on what
tomorrow’s tot may factor into ‘bot’ -
the poet’s lot, forgot, to help all think
ahead of time, enhance life for a lot
Some seek Nirvana, Faith speaks more than “how”.
Others reject Salvation’s wraith, - w[h]ine “now”.
Verifying facts? Inventing dreams?
Each furrow-burrows with a different plough.
[...] Read more
poem by Jonathan Robin
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I Love You Madly
Love you madly
right or wrong
sounds like a lyric of a song
But since it's so
I thought you oughta know
I love you, love you madly
Better fish are in the sea
Is not the theory for me
And that's for sure
Just like I said before
I love you, love you madly
If you could see the happy you and me
I dream about so proudly
You'd know the breath of spring
That makes me sing
My love song so loudly
Good things come to those who wait
So just relax and wait for fate
To let me see the day you'll say to me
I love you, love you madly
But since it's so
I thought you oughta know
I love you, madly
And that's for sure
Just like I said before
I love you, love you madly
If you could see the happy you and me
I dream about so proudly
You'd know the breath of spring
That makes me sing
My love song so loudly
To let me see the day you'll say to me
I love you madly
(bridge)
Love you madly
right or wrong
sounds like a lyric of a song
But since it's so
I thought you oughta know
I love you, madly
Better fish are in the sea
Is not the theory for me
And that's for sure
Just like I said before
I love you, madly
If you could see the happy you and me
I dream about so proudly
You'd know the breath of spring
That makes me sing
My love song so loudly
[...] Read more
song performed by Ella Fitzgerald
Added by Lucian Velea
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Love You Madly
Love you madly
Right or wrong
Sounds like a lyric of a song
But since its so
I thought you oughta know
I love you, love you madly
Better fish are in the sea
Is not the theory for me
And thats for sure
Just like I said before
I love you, love you madly
If you could see the happy you and me
I dream about so proudly
Youd know the breath of spring
That makes me sing
My love song so loudly
Good things come to those who wait
So just relax and wait for fate
To let me see the day youll say to me
I love you, love you madly
But since its so
I thought you oughta know
I love you, madly
And thats for sure
Just like I said before
I love you, love you madly
If you could see the happy you and me
I dream about so proudly
Youd know the breath of spring
That makes me sing
My love song so loudly
To let me see the day youll say to me
I love you madly
(bridge)
Love you madly
Right or wrong
Sounds like a lyric of a song
But since its so
I thought you oughta know
I love you, madly
Better fish are in the sea
Is not the theory for me
And thats for sure
Just like I said before
I love you, madly
If you could see the happy you and me
I dream about so proudly
Youd know the breath of spring
That makes me sing
My love song so loudly
[...] Read more
song performed by Ella Fitzgerald
Added by Lucian Velea
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Topsy-turvy
They're robbing Peter,
To pay Paul on their debts.
And things are getting out of hand...
To leave some feeling quite upset.
A groaning moaning,
Is heard from dusk 'til dawning.
A smile once there...
Is now a frown most give and get!
Have we been hoo-dooed,
By someone doing voodoo.
What had been up...
Is now topsy-turvy.
That half filled cup,
Is leaking towards the bottom.
Could it be bad luck...
That a rut is stirring in our guts!
Have we been hoo-dooed,
By someone doing voodoo.
What had been up...
Is now topsy-turvy.
They're robbing Peter,
To pay Paul on their debts.
And things are getting out of hand...
To leave some feeling quite upset.
Have we been hoo-dooed,
By someone doing voodoo.
What had been up...
Is now topsy-turvy.
A groaning moaning,
Is heard from dusk 'til dawning.
A smile once there...
Is now a frown most give and get!
Have we been hoo-dooed,
By someone doing voodoo.
What had been up...
Is now topsy-turvy.
They're robbing Peter,
To pay Paul on their debts.
And things are getting out of hand...
To leave some feeling quite upset.
[...] Read more
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The Loves of the Angels
'Twas when the world was in its prime,
When the fresh stars had just begun
Their race of glory and young Time
Told his first birth-days by the sun;
When in the light of Nature's dawn
Rejoicing, men and angels met
On the high hill and sunny lawn,-
Ere sorrow came or Sin had drawn
'Twixt man and heaven her curtain yet!
When earth lay nearer to the skies
Than in these days of crime and woe,
And mortals saw without surprise
In the mid-air angelic eyes
Gazing upon this world below.
Alas! that Passion should profane
Even then the morning of the earth!
That, sadder still, the fatal stain
Should fall on hearts of heavenly birth-
And that from Woman's love should fall
So dark a stain, most sad of all!
One evening, in that primal hour,
On a hill's side where hung the ray
Of sunset brightening rill and bower,
Three noble youths conversing lay;
And, as they lookt from time to time
To the far sky where Daylight furled
His radiant wing, their brows sublime
Bespoke them of that distant world-
Spirits who once in brotherhood
Of faith and bliss near ALLA stood,
And o'er whose cheeks full oft had blown
The wind that breathes from ALLA'S throne,
Creatures of light such as still play,
Like motes in sunshine, round the Lord,
And thro' their infinite array
Transmit each moment, night and day,
The echo of His luminous word!
Of Heaven they spoke and, still more oft,
Of the bright eyes that charmed them thence;
Till yielding gradual to the soft
And balmy evening's influence-
The silent breathing of the flowers-
The melting light that beamed above,
As on their first, fond, erring hours,-
Each told the story of his love,
The history of that hour unblest,
When like a bird from its high nest
[...] Read more
poem by Thomas Moore
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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.
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poem by Emma Lazarus
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The House Of Dust: Complete
I.
The sun goes down in a cold pale flare of light.
The trees grow dark: the shadows lean to the east:
And lights wink out through the windows, one by one.
A clamor of frosty sirens mourns at the night.
Pale slate-grey clouds whirl up from the sunken sun.
And the wandering one, the inquisitive dreamer of dreams,
The eternal asker of answers, stands in the street,
And lifts his palms for the first cold ghost of rain.
The purple lights leap down the hill before him.
The gorgeous night has begun again.
'I will ask them all, I will ask them all their dreams,
I will hold my light above them and seek their faces.
I will hear them whisper, invisible in their veins . . .'
The eternal asker of answers becomes as the darkness,
Or as a wind blown over a myriad forest,
Or as the numberless voices of long-drawn rains.
We hear him and take him among us, like a wind of music,
Like the ghost of a music we have somewhere heard;
We crowd through the streets in a dazzle of pallid lamplight,
We pour in a sinister wave, ascend a stair,
With laughter and cry, and word upon murmured word;
We flow, we descend, we turn . . . and the eternal dreamer
Moves among us like light, like evening air . . .
Good-night! Good-night! Good-night! We go our ways,
The rain runs over the pavement before our feet,
The cold rain falls, the rain sings.
We walk, we run, we ride. We turn our faces
To what the eternal evening brings.
Our hands are hot and raw with the stones we have laid,
We have built a tower of stone high into the sky,
We have built a city of towers.
Our hands are light, they are singing with emptiness.
Our souls are light; they have shaken a burden of hours . . .
What did we build it for? Was it all a dream? . . .
Ghostly above us in lamplight the towers gleam . . .
And after a while they will fall to dust and rain;
Or else we will tear them down with impatient hands;
And hew rock out of the earth, and build them again.
II.
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poem by Conrad Potter Aiken
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