Your favorite poem

[bob.dino 0]

Now that's nice. I haven't read that since I was 17 (and in school ;-).

[Shotgun 1]

I want to believe in you,
sometimes...
you bastard...
to be carried across the sand
when I am weak.

Where are you
when I am on my knees
in need of passion,
in need of darkness,
in need of life???

Take me!
Rape me!
Cleanse me with blindness,
numbness...
Make me one.

I will serve you,
kiss your feet,
for a knife in my heart...
for two wings
and a home
in Heaven.

[bob.dino 0]

And in compensation, to lighten things up, from the oeuvre of the incomparable Spike Milligan:

A very rash young lady pig
(They say she was a smasher)
Suddenly ran
Under a van
Now she's a gammon rasher.

[LouDiamond 1]

This is one of my favorites since it was written by our own Freeflyhol(Holly Kish)

"Every day I realize more and more how
perfectly wonderful life is. I am truly blessed
to just be here, enjoying this moment. Putting
these mere words on paper can't nearly
describe my diverse range of emotions felt on
a daily basis. I am but one soul standing at
the tip of an iceberg cascading down, called
life. Perhaps I should rephrase this. I am at
the bottom staring up upon this angelic,
crystalized, God-sent perfection, on my
journey up."

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[Lindsey 0]

Jabberwocky

Twas brillig and the slithy toves
did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogoves
and the mome raths outbrabe

Beware the Jabberwock my son
the jaws that bite, the claws that catch
Beware the JubJub bird and shun
the frumious bandersnatch

He took his vorpal sword in hand
Long time the manxome foe he sought
So rested he by a Tum Tum tree
and stood a while in thought

And while in uffish thought he stood
the Jabberwock with eyes of flame
came whiffling through the tulgey wood
and burbled as it came

One two one two
and through and through the vorpal blade
went snicker snack
He left it dead
and with its head he went galumphing back

And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms my beamish boy
O frabjous day, Callou Callay
He chortled in his joy

Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe
All mimsy were the borogoves
and the mome raths outgrabe

-----

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[dubbayab 0]

"Monkey go by,

Monkey caught my eye.

Wait, Monkey can't fly!

Monkey fall,

Monkey die."



Author:

my wife

• Quote

[juanesky 0]

If you can keep your head when all about you
.. Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
.. But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
.. Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
.. And yet don't look too good, nor talk to wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and distaster
.. And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you' ve spoken
.. Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
.. And stoop, and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
.. And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
.. And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
.. To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
.. Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
.. Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
.. If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
.. With sixty seconds' worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
.. And - which is more - you'll be grown up my child!

"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon

[DrunkMonkey 0]

Here I sit, brokenhearted...
Paid a quarter, only farted.

[misskriss 0]

I had to memorize that poem for my English class in highschool. I still remember every word. Excellent poem.

[juanesky 0]

That is the only poem I know from memory, and my favorite.

"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon

[Acensky 0]

A Dream,

In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed-
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-hearted.

Ah! what is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream- that holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lonely spirit guiding.

What though that light, thro' storm and night,
So trembled from afar-
What could there be more purely bright
In Truth's day-star?

Edgar Allen Poe

I Love all of his tales and poems. Next comes Robert Frost

Heather

Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

[Orchid 0]

FRIENDSHIP

I can't give solutions to your life's problems, doubts, or fears.
But I can listen to you, and together we can seek answers.
I can't change your past with all it's heartache and pain, nor the future with it's untold stories.

But I can be there now when you need me to care.
I can't keep your feet from stumbling.
I can only offer my hand that you may grasp it and not fall.
Your joys, triumphs, successes, and happiness’s are not mine;
Yet I can share in your laughter and joy.

Your decisions in life are not mine to make, nor to judge;
I can only support you, encourage you, and help you when you ask.
I can't give you boundaries which I have determined for you,
But I can give you the room to change, room to grow, room to be yourself.
I can't keep your heart from breaking and hurting,
But I can cry with you and help you pick up the pieces and put them back in place.
I can't tell you who you are.
I can only love you and be your best of friend.

"Love is doing small things with great love."

Lacrosse: Legally beating men with sticks since 1492

[Peej 0]

Really cool thread! Thanks HH. Here's one of my favourites.


The Tiger – William Blake

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

When we learned it in high school, I hated it,
but I came later on (well after college) to love Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven". It is masterful in its construction. I think I love it most in a technical sense. I'm also crazy about the meter and rhythm of his "Annabel Lee."

The Raven

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
" 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door --
Only this and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; -- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow -- sorrow for the lost Lenore --
For the rare and radiant maiden whome the angels name Lenore --
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me -- filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
" 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; --
This it is and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you," here I opened wide the door; --
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore!" --
Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon I heard again a tapping somewhat louder than before.
"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore --
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; --
'Tis the wind and nothing more!"

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;
Noth the least obeisance made he; not an instant stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door --
Perched upon a bust of Pallas, just above my chamber door --
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore --
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning -- little relevancy bore,
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door --
Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nother farther then he uttered -- not a feather then he fluttered --
Till I scarcely more than muttered "Other friends have flown before--
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."
Then the bird said "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore --
Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of 'Never -- nevermore.' "

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore --
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes not burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divinging, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer,
Swung by angels whose faint footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.
"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee -- by these angels he hath sent thee
Respite -- respite and nepenthe from they memories of Lenore!
Quaff, of quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! -- prophet still, if bird or devil! --
Whether Tempter sent or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted--
On this home by horror haunted -- tell me, truly, I implore --
Is there -- is there balm in Gilead? -- tell me -- tell me, I implore!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! -- prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that heaven that bends above us -- by that God we both adore --
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore --
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whome the angels name Lenore."
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!" I shrieked, upstarting
"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! -- quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted -- nevermore!

Pretty good, huh? Okay...
I want you to read, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" -- you're gonna like it -- it's about a schoolteacher who gets chased by a headless demon!

(Okay, that last part is a quote from a movie in which the character had just finished reciting "The Raven"! Can you name the movie?)

Blue skies,
-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

Who else here memorizes poems they like?

I have to admit, it's weird after looking at my typing of "The Raven" and seeing how long it is, that I do have it memorized. I just lay in bed one night with the book in front of me, and stanza by stanza, I kept repeating it, and going back over it again and again, until I knew it all. I've done the same with a couple of Dr. Seuss and Robert Frost poems, too, like "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening," and "The Road Not Taken." Frost is excellent, and so is Edwin Arlington Robinson.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Byron03 0]

This isn't the whole poem, just the end.



...Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in the old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

"Ulysses", Alfred Tennyson

[Byron03 0]

And here are two more that I like.



I never saw a man who looked
With such a wistful eye
Upon that little tent of blue
Which prisoners call the sky.
-Oscar Wilde
The Ballad of Reading Gaol pt. 1, st. 3



Brisk wind on my face
'Chute won't open - holy crap
Pants are filled with poop
-Seen on a BASE website

[Shotgun 1]

I just realized how old this thread is! Thanks for bringing it up though; it's interesting...

One of my favorite William Blake poems:

Quote

The Fly

Little Fly,
Thy summer's play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink, and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength and breath
And the want
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.

And an anonymous poem that was in one of my favorite childhood poetry books:

Quote

When I'm in a sober mood,
I worry, work and think.
When I'm in a drunken mood,
I gamble, screw and drink.
But when my moods are over
and my time has come to pass,
I hope they bury me upside down
so the world can kiss my ass.

• Quote

[Merkur 1]

Quote

Quote

now for my favorite poem cant remember who it was done by

I believe that would be W.H. Auden's Funeral Blues.

Yes it is. For those who are not so much into reading, it is used in the movie Four weddings and a funeral. As it is also my favorite one, here it is again - complete:

Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message She Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

She was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever; I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood,
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

W. H. Auden

Sonja - I will never forget you! Stay safe up there!

vSCR No.94
Don't dream your life - live your dream!

[Peej 0]

Complete, yes, but if i remember correctly from high school english class, the poem should actually read like this...

Funeral Blues - W.H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good


I could be wrong but i'm sure i remember the juvenile and stupid reaction of a class full of high school boys to the fact that WH Auden wrote it for another guy.

However, i do agree that it has a very deep meaning and a profound sense of loss no matter which way it's read
PJ

Advertisio Rodriguez / Sky

[Duckwater 0]

This one makes me cry:

Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic, and so am I.

Oscar Levant

[Judit 0]

Sunshine

When you wake up in the morning
See the sun slowly crawling
Up the mountains to the sky
To give you sunshine when you fly.

Feel the freedom in your heart
It’s the most important part
If you lose that don’t just hide
Run away, it works I’ve tried.

Life’s too short to waste a day
Rainbows show the magic way
Listen to your deepest feelings
They always have special meanings.

Don’t be scared to try the new
Let fate be in control of you
Nothing’s gonna ever last
Yesterday’s already past.

Love and soul mates the only things
That can wrap you in their wings
They can give you strength and power
For the rain to be just shower.

Take risks not to escape life but to prevent life from escaping

[Merkur 1]

You're right - I just changed it out of personal reasons.
Actually he wrote it for a guy and thats also how it is used in the movie.

vSCR No.94
Don't dream your life - live your dream!

[Falko 0]

I like this one a lot. My grandma gave me my late mothers (died 1981) poetry album just recently. She dedicated these lines to her daughter in 1956 on her 10th birthday:

Du weintest einst,
als Du die Welt begrüßtest.
Doch aller Lächeln grüßte Dein Erscheinen.
Gott gebe, daß wenn Du die Augen schließest,
Dein Auge lächelt, wenn die Anderen weinen.

Translation:

You cried once,
when You came into this world,
but everyone's smile saluted your arrival.
May God give, that when you finally close Your eyes,
Your eye will smile, although the others cry.

It doesn't rhyme in english but hey, I tried.

Ich betrachte die Religion als Krankheit, als Quelle unnennbaren Elends für die menschliche Rasse.
(Bertrand Russell, engl. Philosoph, 1872-1970)

[Paige 0]

Here's one of my favorites.

Since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;

Wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

My blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady I swear by all flowers. Don't cry
- the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

We are for each other; then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph

And death I think is no parenthesis

-- E. E. Cummings

Tunnel Pink Mafia Delegate
www.TunnelPinkMafia.com