Citatepedia^®.com

Classy Plastic Lumber

Buh duh buh buh buh
Bud duh buh buh buh buh buh buh buh
You go right through me
I go right through but I'm about to
Go on reminding you I am about to see you through it
Buh duh buh buh buh
Bud duh buh buh buh buh duh buh buh
Buh duh buh buh buh
Your mouth not mind is open wide
You don't have a clue
I I am a reminder
You've got a voice so talk to yourself
Lift the bad weight off your mullet
And let the thoughts fall off your tongue
Cause I'm callin' callin' callin'
I've never written to anyone
So this is about ugly lovers
And this is about pretty songs
Cause I'm a bastard bastard bastard
In my lipstick I'm so much fun
Connect your wood feet to a motor
And the chrome dance trophy is won
A little classy plastic lumber
I'm embarassed but I ain't that stunned
Looks like the humans' days are numbered
That's a sitcom that was number one
Cause we're a past tense late rate (?)
I must've thouroughly convinced us not to mess this place up
(Shameful shameful shameful)

song performed by Modest Mouse
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Everything Is You

Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh - duh.
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh - duh.
Im walking down the middle of the road
Close my eyes pretend Im going home
The trees surround my mind like your perfume...
Your voice is in the wind that blows
I see your name on stony ground
I look around and everything is you.
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh - duh.
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh - duh.
Wake up each morning rise up from my bed
A little piece of leather round my head
To stop the sweat from dripping on my eye...
Your grace is in the tree I see
Your strength is in the axe I wield
I look around and everything is you
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh - duh.
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh - duh.
The foreman is an evil man
(he stops my pay
Gets in my way
But Ive got to stay)
Ive got to earn some money
(make your dreams come true)
I look around and everything is you.
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh - duh.
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh - duh.
The nights are cold, your memories keep me warm
Just the thought of you can keep me working on
Showed your picture to the guys in my gang...
Whilst sitting round an open fire
My memories grow warm and strong
I look around and everything is you
Buh - duh - buh - duh - buh

[...] Read more

song performed by David Bowie
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Louie Louie

Duh duh duh
Duh duh
Duh duh duh
Duh duh
Duh duh duh
Duh duh
Duh duh duh
Duh duh
Louie louie
(duh duh)
(duh duh duh)
(duh duh)
Me gotta go
(duh duh)
(duh duh duh)
(duh duh)
Louie louie
(duh duh)
(duh duh duh)
(duh duh)
Well me gotta go
(duh duh)
(duh duh duh)
(duh duh)
Fine little girl
(duh duh)
She waits for me
(duh duh)
I catch a ship
(duh duh)
And cross the sea
(duh duh)
Sail that ship
(duh duh)
Well all alone
(duh duh)
And never think
(duh duh)
Ill make it home
(duh duh)
Louie louie
(duh duh)
(duh duh duh)
(duh duh)
Well me gotta go
(duh duh)
(duh duh duh)
(duh duh)
Louie louie
(duh duh)

[...] Read more

song performed by Beach Boys
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Alright

Shes always reminding me that things are gonna be alright.
Yes, shes always beside me.
She keeps reminding me that everything will be alright.
Im so confused.
Shes not amused.
cause I do way too much thinking.
Its not supposed to be this hard.
So, she calls me out and theres no doubt that I do way too much drinking.
I guess its got me through this far.
When my life gets crazy, she can still amaze me.
Sometimes I think, hell, whats the use of going on?
But, shes always reminding me that things are gonna be alright.
Yes, shes always beside me.
She keeps reminding me that everything will be alright.
I heard the news.
I just refuse to believe that we were sinking.
Still cant believe they went that far.
So, I start to shout, but Im all cried out and still doing way too much thinking.
Cant seem to scrape away those scars. no.
And, if my life gets crazy, she can still amaze me.
Sometimes I think, hell, whats the use of going on?
But, shes always reminding me that things are gonna be alright.
Yes, shes always beside me.
She keeps reminding me that everything will be alright. alright.
I think I can finally see what shes been telling me.
Its all inside my head.
I guess I knew it all along.
And, shes always reminding me that things are gonna be alright.
Yes, shes always beside me.
She keeps reminding me that its all in me.
But, shes always reminding me that things are gonna be alright.
Yes, shes always beside me.
She keeps reminding me that everything will be alright.
She keeps reminding me that everything will be alright.
She keeps reminding me that everything will be alright.
She keeps reminding me that everything will be alright.

song performed by Hootie & The Blowfish
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Strange Phenomena

Soon it will be the phase of the moon
When people tune in.
Every girl knows about the punctual blues,
But whos to know the power behind our moves?
A day of coincidence with the radio,
And a word that wont go away.
We know what theyre all going to say.
G arrives--funny, had a feeling he was on his way!
We raise our hats to the strange phenomena.
Soul-birds of a feather flock together.
We raise our hats to the hand a-moulding us.
Sure nuff, he has the answer,
He has the answer
He has the answer, be-duh-be-duh-be-duh-be-duh...
Om mani padme,
Om mani padme,
Om mani padme hum.*
You pick up a paper. you read a name.
You go out. it turns up again and again.
You bump into a friend you havent seen for a long time,
Then into another you only thought about last night.
You hear your sister calling for you,
But you dont know where from.
You know theres something wrong,
But you dont want to believe in a premonition.
We raise our hats to the strange phenomena.
Soul-birds of a feather flock together.
We raise our hats to the hand a-moulding us.
Sure nuff, he has the answer,
He has the answer
He has the answer, be-duh-be-duh-be-duh-be-duh...
Om mani padme,
Om mani padme,
Om mani padme hum.*
Om mani padme hum.
Om mani padme hum.
Om mani padme hum.
Om mani padme hum...

song performed by Kate Bush
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Salut Au Monde

O TAKE my hand, Walt Whitman!
Such gliding wonders! such sights and sounds!
Such join'd unended links, each hook'd to the next!
Each answering all--each sharing the earth with all.

What widens within you, Walt Whitman?
What waves and soils exuding?
What climes? what persons and lands are here?
Who are the infants? some playing, some slumbering?
Who are the girls? who are the married women?
Who are the groups of old men going slowly with their arms about each
other's necks?
What rivers are these? what forests and fruits are these?
What are the mountains call'd that rise so high in the mists?
What myriads of dwellings are they, fill'd with dwellers?

Within me latitude widens, longitude lengthens;
Asia, Africa, Europe, are to the east--America is provided for in the
west;
Banding the bulge of the earth winds the hot equator,
Curiously north and south turn the axis-ends;
Within me is the longest day--the sun wheels in slanting rings--it
does not set for months;
Stretch'd in due time within me the midnight sun just rises above the
horizon, and sinks again;
Within me zones, seas, cataracts, plants, volcanoes, groups,
Malaysia, Polynesia, and the great West Indian islands.

What do you hear, Walt Whitman?

I hear the workman singing, and the farmer's wife singing;
I hear in the distance the sounds of children, and of animals early
in the day;
I hear quick rifle-cracks from the riflemen of East Tennessee and
Kentucky, hunting on hills;
I hear emulous shouts of Australians, pursuing the wild horse;
I hear the Spanish dance, with castanets, in the chestnut shade, to
the rebeck and guitar;
I hear continual echoes from the Thames;
I hear fierce French liberty songs;
I hear of the Italian boat-sculler the musical recitative of old
poems;
I hear the Virginia plantation-chorus of negroes, of a harvest night,
in the glare of pine-knots;
I hear the strong baritone of the 'long-shore-men of Mannahatta;
I hear the stevedores unlading the cargoes, and singing;
I hear the screams of the water-fowl of solitary north-west lakes;
I hear the rustling pattering of locusts, as they strike the grain
and grass with the showers of their terrible clouds;
I hear the Coptic refrain, toward sundown, pensively falling on the

[...] Read more

poem by Walt Whitman
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Simple Things

Simple Things"
Yeah, uhh
They say money can't buy you love
They say money can't buy you love
They never seem to listen
I'm all ears
Just copped your girl a brand new Rolex
But you can never find the time to spend at home
Thinkin' it's gon' keep her happy
When time is all she wanted all along
[Chorus]
It's the simple things in life we forget
You hear her talkin' but don't hear what she said
Why do you make something so easy so complicated
Searching for what's right in front of your face
But you can't see it
So you think that you know what's important
Steady chasin' your fame and your fortune
But you don't know
You're chasing a dime losin' a treasure
Those dollars don't make sense to me at all
Ooh, it goes
Duh da duh da
You give her spending money
Duh da duh da
But all she wanna spend is time alone (tonight)
Keep givin' her
The finer things but
But she don't really need that
If you don't stop you're
You're gonna end up alone (alone)
The world without love (duh duh da duh da)
Why would you do it
[Chorus x2]
It's the simple things in life we forget
You hear her talkin' but don't hear what she said
Why do you make something so easy so complicated
Searching for what's right in front of your face
But you can't see it
It's the simple things in life we forget
You hear her talkin' but don't hear what she said
Why do you make something so easy so complicated
Searching for what's right in front of your face
But you can't see it (listen)
Stop tryna buy her love
'cuz you won't ever have enough
There's always someone with more than you
You need to pay her attention
Give her what she needs
Do the simple things

[...] Read more

song performed by Usher
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Nip It In The Bud

From the time the lights come on,
And from dusk 'til dawn...
You're giving me the lip!

I don't need the clock to ding-a-dong,
Since my peace is gone.
And in my ear you babble lip.

Why can't you nip it in the bud, baybay.
Why can't you handle it?

Nip it in the bud.

Why can't you take a walk as I lay?
Do whatever it takes!

But don't bother me with it!

I don't need the clock to ding-a-dong,
Since my peace is gone.
And in my ear you babble lip.
Why can't you take a walk as I lay?
Do whatever it takes!
And don't bother me with it!

Why can't you nip it in the bud, baybay.
Why can't you handle it?

Nip it in the bud.

Why can't you take a walk as I lay?
Do whatever it takes!

But don't bother me with it!

From the time the lights come on,
And from dusk 'til dawn...
You're giving me the lip!

I don't need the clock to ding-a-dong,
Since my peace is gone.
And in my ear you babble lip.

Why can't you nip this in the bud, baybay.
Why can't you handle it?

Nip it in the bud.

Why can't you take a walk as I lay?
Do whatever it takes!

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Libelle of Englyshe Polycye

Here beginneth the Prologe of the processe of the Libelle of Englyshe polycye, exhortynge alle Englande to kepe the see enviroun and namelye the narowe see, shewynge whate profete commeth thereof and also whate worshype and salvacione to Englande and to alle Englyshe menne.

The trewe processe of Englysh polycye
Of utterwarde to kepe thys regne in rest
Of oure England, that no man may denye
Ner say of soth but it is one the best,
Is thys, as who seith, south, north, est and west
Cheryshe marchandyse, kepe thamyralte,
That we bee maysteres of the narowe see.

For Sigesmonde the grete Emperoure,
Whyche yet regneth, whan he was in this londe
Wyth kynge Herry the vte, prince of honoure,
Here moche glorye, as hym thought, he founde,
A myghty londe, whyche hadde take on honde
To werre in Fraunce and make mortalite,
And ever well kept rounde aboute the see.

And to the kynge thus he seyde, 'My brothere',
Whan he perceyved too townes, Calys and Dovere,
'Of alle youre townes to chese of one and other
To kepe the see and sone for to come overe,
To werre oughtwardes and youre regne to recovere,
Kepe these too townes sure to youre mageste
As youre tweyne eyne to kepe the narowe see'.

For if this see be kepte in tyme of werre,
Who cane here passe withought daunger and woo?
Who may eschape, who may myschef dyfferre?
What marchaundy may forby be agoo?
For nedes hem muste take truse every foo,
Flaundres and Spayne and othere, trust to me,
Or ellis hyndered alle for thys narowe see.

Therfore I caste me by a lytell wrytinge
To shewe att eye thys conclusione,
For concyens and for myne acquytynge
Ayenst God, and ageyne abusyon
And cowardyse and to oure enmyes confusione;
For iiij. thynges oure noble sheueth to me,
Kyng, shype and swerde and pouer of the see.

Where bene oure shippes, where bene oure swerdes become?
Owre enmyes bid for the shippe sette a shepe.
Allas, oure reule halteth, hit is benome.

[...] Read more

poem by Anonymous Olde English
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Friendly Letter Song - tune of 'The Brady Bunch Theme Song

Heading, greeting,
Body, closing,
And signature.
These are the five parts
Of a friendly letter
That we have learned today.
Duh duh duh duh duh.

poem by Rebecca Ryan
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

VII. Pompilia

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

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

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

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Little Pad

Do it
If I only had a little pad
If I only had a little pad
In hawaii
Eh uh eh uh eh eh eh eh eh
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Dit du du, da da da do do, dim duh did doo
Did did did doo dim duh dum did doo do do
Sure would like to have a little pad
In hawaii
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Dit du du, da da da do do, dim duh did doo
Did did did doo dim duh dum did doo do do
By the sea thats where Ill build a pad
In hawaii
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmmm

song performed by Beach Boys
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Santo

By the old seaside
Aint no place far to go
I dont know
I dont know
Aint no place far to go
Its a dollar, she say
Te amo le mas
Te amo le mas
Santo(4x)
Hey ya boy
How ya doin
Come here boy(? )
Here she come a slitherin
-duh, duh, grunt, duh-
Here she come a slitherin
Che cha chu bah che cha(? )
Te amo le mas
Te amo le mas
Santo(4x)
Buzzard eels(? )
Buzzer bikinis(? )
Eat your rouge(? )
A chini weinies(? )
A warm gardeda(? ? )
Da mamacita
-duh-
A poutin grandma
In a corner
A passin time
Hey, hey(? )
Praying to far to(? )
Santo(4x)

song performed by Pixies
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Butter

Pull me from the toaster
Straight into the roaster
Fill my head with the stuff
Brightest dreams are made of
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Duh
Promising the big guns
Reward when the light comes
Screaming from the damage done
Screaming from the damage done
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Duh
Butter me up, butter me up
Butter me up, butter me up
Butter me up, butter me up
Butter me up, butter me up
Butter me up like I know you will
Cover it up like I know you will
Better yourself like I know you will
Breaking the trust like you always will
Be good for it, you never will
Be good for it, you never will
Be good for it, you never will
Be good for it, you never will
Butter me up, butter me up
Butter me up, butter me up
Butter me up, butter me up
Butter me up, butter me up
Duh
So you think you got the best
Thought I was like all the rest
Reaping from the damage done
Reaping from the damage done
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Bringing me down again
Duh

song performed by Ultraspank
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Old-Home Folks

Such was the Child-World of the long-ago--
The little world these children used to know:--
Johnty, the oldest, and the best, perhaps,
Of the five happy little Hoosier chaps
Inhabiting this wee world all their own.--
Johnty, the leader, with his native tone
Of grave command--a general on parade
Whose each punctilious order was obeyed
By his proud followers.

But Johnty yet--
After all serious duties--could forget
The gravity of life to the extent,
At times, of kindling much astonishment
About him: With a quick, observant eye,
And mind and memory, he could supply
The tamest incident with liveliest mirth;
And at the most unlooked-for times on earth
Was wont to break into some travesty
On those around him--feats of mimicry
Of this one's trick of gesture--that one's walk--
Or this one's laugh--or that one's funny talk,--
The way 'the watermelon-man' would try
His humor on town-folks that wouldn't buy;--
How he drove into town at morning--then
At dusk (alas!) how he drove out again.

Though these divertisements of Johnty's were
Hailed with a hearty glee and relish, there
Appeared a sense, on his part, of regret--
A spirit of remorse that would not let
Him rest for days thereafter.--Such times he,
As some boy said, 'jist got too overly
Blame good fer common boys like us, you know,
To '_so_ciate with--less'n we 'ud go
And jine his church!'

Next after Johnty came
His little tow-head brother, Bud by name.--
And O how white his hair was--and how thick
His face with freckles,--and his ears, how quick
And curious and intrusive!--And how pale
The blue of his big eyes;--and how a tale
Of Giants, Trolls or Fairies, bulged them still
Bigger and bigger!--and when 'Jack' would kill
The old 'Four-headed Giant,' Bud's big eyes
Were swollen truly into giant-size.
And Bud was apt in make-believes--would hear
His Grandma talk or read, with such an ear
And memory of both subject and big words,

[...] Read more

poem by James Whitcomb Riley
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Lets See Action

Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets see freedom, lets see who cares,
Lets see freedom, lets see who cares,
Take me with you when you leave me
Take me with you when you leave me
And my shell behind us there.
And my shell behind us there.
I have learned it, known who burned me,
I have learned it, known who burned me,
Avatar has warmed my feet,
Avatar has warmed my feet,
Take me with you, let me see you,
Take me with you, let me see you,
Time and life can meet.
Time and life can meet.
Nothing is everything, everything is, nothing is,
Nothing is everything, everything is, nothing is,
Please the people, audiences,
Please the people, audiences,
Break the fences,
Break the fences,
Nothing is.
Nothing is.
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets see freedom up in the air,
Lets see freedom up in the air,
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets be free, lets see who cares.
Lets be free, lets see who cares.
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets see freedom up in the air,
Lets see freedom up in the air,
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets see action, lets see people,
Lets be free, lets see who cares.
Lets be free, lets see who cares.
Give me a drink boy, wash my feet,
Give me a drink boy, wash my feet,
Im so tired of running from my own heat,
Im so tired of running from my own heat,
Take this package and heres what you do,
Take this package and heres what you do,
Gonna get this information through.
Gonna get this information through.
I dont know where Im going,
I dont know where Im going,

[...] Read more

song performed by Who
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Knees Of My Heart

Knees of my heart
By: jimmy buffett, michael utley, will jennings
1984
Ive got a question for you
Please grant me an interview
Dont want to read it in a magazine
Dont want to see it on the silver screen
Dont let the craziness tear us apart
Im down on the knees of my heart
Down here on the knees of my heart
This comes from deep in my soul
Your sweet love has taken control
Ill swim across the ocean if you tell me so
Take you to the jump up if you want to go
Its never-y too late to make a brand new start
Im down here on the knees of my heart
Down here on the knees of my heart
Whoa how I will sing
If you give me everything
I live for the day
When theres nothing in our way
I will be waiting tonight
Youll find my boat by the light
Im gonna show you what my love can do
Out on the ocean all alone with you
Well find a desert island on an ancient chart
Take me from the knees of my heart
Take me from the knees of my heart
Take me from the knees of my heart
Take me from the knees of my heart
Take me from the knees of my heart
Whoa oh oh take me from the knees of my heart
Please take me from the knees of my heart
Whoa oh oh take me from the knees of my heart
Uh buh puh buh puh buh puh
Please from the knees of my heart
Whoa oh oh

song performed by Jimmy Buffett
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Tears In The Morning

Tears (I got tears I got tears)
In the morning (in the mornin)
They aint gonna tell me what to do
No no those tears (I got tears I got tears)
I know theyre just a warnin (are a warnin)
Reminding me Im missing you
So you moved out up to europe
You packed your warmth and you took your soul
Well I hope you do what youre damn sure of
A lonely bed here takes on the cold
Lose a wife change my life were not together
A canceled future well its hard on me
Gone youre gone are you gone forever
Hope you love the baby Im never gonna see
And Ive got tears (Ive got tears Ive got tears)
In the morning (in the mornin)
They aint gonna tell me what to do
No no those tears (tears I got tears I got tears)
I know theyre just a warnin (are a warnin)
Reminding me Im missing you
Well you know I lit a candle
Its in my heart now where it glows
Day and night feel my light its gonna stand till
My heart believes in what you chose
I wont let nobody
Carry this load for me
Guess I keep a hold on my sorrow
Ive got to feel now all that you see
And Ive got tears (I got tears I got tears)
In the morning (in the mornin)
They aint gonna tell me what to do
No no those tears (I got tears I got tears)
I know theyre just my warnin (are a warnin)
Reminding me Im missing you
Ive still got tears (tears)
Tears (tears) in the mornin
(I got tears in the morning I got tears)
They aint gonna tell me what to do
No no those tears (I got tears I got tears)
I know theyre just my warnin (I got tears)
Reminding me Im missing you
Im missing you

song performed by Beach Boys
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

VI. Giuseppe Caponsacchi

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

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Night in White Satin on a Wicker Bench On the Eve of Her Betrothal

Ode duh wicker webs we'd weave
when foist we practice off duh sleeve
instead o' writin' off duh cuff
‘bout wicker chairs ‘n wicker luff
Ya pounced on pins ‘n wicker tips
‘at poke ‘er dress while puckered lips
await romantic moment there
when luffy duffs fly in de air –
‘n lookin’ back at diamon’ ring
which Daddy thought a wond’rous thing
ah hopin’ wid mah fab’lous Miss
a moment o’ such kissy bliss
yo’ open eyes o’ blue o’ brown
sneakin’ peeks – well, –all aroun’
‘n ah be lookin’ fo’ a star
dat shines as purdy as yo’ are
‘n yo’ be lookin’ fo’ da moon
hopin’ we be kissin’ soon
beneat’ dat big ol’ oaken tree
where sittin’ once wuz yo’ ‘n me
ah in me tattered shoit ‘n pants
shiftin’ like dey filled wit ants
‘til down I dropped upon a knee
like ah wuz checkin’ jus’ ta see
sumpin’ lookin’ like a mess
a teenie mud spot on yer dress–
maybe thought dat ‘twas a hole
to see ya’ heart ‘n see yer soul –
but, den ah knew ah could not linger
an’grabbed a holt o’ yo ring finger
hopin’ yo’ don’ pull yer han’
‘n yank me up n’ make me stan’
in front o’ dis here wicka seat
wher’ Daddy ‘n me Maw would meet
‘n sit ‘n hug wid all ‘is might
til mo’nin turned inta da night;
but ‘ere we is jus’ bot’ o’ us
we bot’ be feeli’ luff n’ lus’
‘n ah be shakin’ like a leaf
askin’ ‘ow ta spell relief
instead o’ will ya’ marry me,
expectin’ yo’ ta say, “We’ll see.”
Blurtin’ out da “Will yo’... thing
ah popped da question, plopped da ring
‘n stammered thro’ each ‘potent word
hopin’ what ah meant yo’ heard.

‘N when yo’ rose to answer me
ah still down lo’ on bended knee,
a snappin’, crackin’ poppin’, too,

[...] Read more

poem by Lorenzo Costigliolo
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

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
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!