Favorite Poem ( Archived) (55)

Aug 1, 2010 10:30 AM CST Favorite Poem
amahlala
amahlalaamahlalaAberdeen, South Dakota USA21 Threads 8,314 Posts
What is your favorite poem? The one that moves you to the depth of your soul? This happens to be my favorite: I was 12 at the time I learned it and it has stayed with me to this day.....

Xanadu by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me
That with music loud and long
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
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Aug 1, 2010 10:49 AM CST Favorite Poem
scottyburd
scottyburdscottyburdglasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland UK6,016 Posts
You're always there to help no matter what life brings;
to laugh with me,be proud of me, and the happy things.
But even more importantly,you're there when plans go wrong;
to help me work things out when disappointments come along.
And so,I want to thank you,Mum,and tell you lovingly,you're very special in my life to me...

This was written on a plaque my lass bought for me many years ago..
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Aug 1, 2010 10:50 AM CST Favorite Poem
amahlala: What is your favorite poem? The one that moves you to the depth of your soul? This happens to be my favorite: I was 12 at the time I learned it and it has stayed with me to this day.....

Xanadu by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy and enchanted
As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!

The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such a deep delight 'twould win me
That with music loud and long
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Twinkle twinkle littlestar
ali110 bought car laugh laugh
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Aug 1, 2010 10:50 AM CST Favorite Poem
TheStillOfNight
TheStillOfNightTheStillOfNightEastern NL, Newfoundland Canada48 Threads 1 Polls 530 Posts
thumbs up thumbs up To both poems.
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Aug 1, 2010 10:54 AM CST Favorite Poem
amahlala
amahlalaamahlalaAberdeen, South Dakota USA21 Threads 8,314 Posts
scottyburd: You're always there to help no matter what life brings;
to laugh with me,be proud of me, and the happy things.
But even more importantly,you're there when plans go wrong;
to help me work things out when disappointments come along.
And so,I want to thank you,Mum,and tell you lovingly,you're very special in my life to me...

This was written on a plaque my lass bought for me many years ago..


I like that.....bouquet
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Aug 1, 2010 10:55 AM CST Favorite Poem
amahlala
amahlalaamahlalaAberdeen, South Dakota USA21 Threads 8,314 Posts
ali110: Twinkle twinkle littlestar
ali110 bought car


Twinkle, twinkle, little bat,
Ali110 is happy as a cat!thumbs up
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Aug 1, 2010 10:56 AM CST Favorite Poem
amahlala: Twinkle, twinkle, little bat,
Ali110 is happy as a cat!
You girl ...devil

Ok laugh wine hug
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Aug 1, 2010 1:55 PM CST Favorite Poem
Laura25
Laura25Laura25Somewhere, New York USA50 Threads 6 Polls 8,178 Posts
Leonard Cohen - A Thousand kisses deep


Don't matter if the road is long
Don't matter if it's steep
Don't matter if the moon is gone
And the darkness is complete
Don't matter if we lose our way
It's written that we'll meet
At least, that's what I heard you say
A thousand kisses deep

I loved you when you opened
Like a lily to the heat
You see, I'm just another snowman
Standing in the rain and sleet
Who loved you with his frozen love
His second hand physique
With all he is and all he was
A thousand kisses deep

I know you had to lie to me
I know you had to cheat
You learned it on your father's knee
And at your mother's feet
But did you have to fight your way
Across the burning street
When all our vital interests lay
A thousand kisses deep

I'm turning tricks
I'm getting fixed
I'm back on boogie street
I'd like to quit the business
But I'm in it, so to speak
The thought of you is peaceful
And the file on you complete
Except what I forgot to do
A thousand kisses deep

Don't matter if you're rich and strong
Don't matter if you're weak
Don't matter if you write a song
The nightingales repeat
Don't matter if it's nine to five
Or timeless and unique
You ditch your life to stay alive
A thousand kisses deep

The ponies run
The girls are young
The odds are there to beat
You win a while, and then it's done
Your little winning streak
And summon now to deal with your invincible defeat
You live your life as if it's real
A thousand kisses deep

I hear their voices in the wine
That sometimes did me seek
The band is playing Auld Lang Syne
But the heart will not retreat
There's no forsaking what you love
No existential leap
As witnessed here in time and blood
A thousand kisses deep


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Aug 1, 2010 2:02 PM CST Favorite Poem
kcuc0574
kcuc0574kcuc0574Ho Chi Minh, Southeast Vietnam Vietnam10 Threads 3 Polls 2,003 Posts
Laura25: Leonard Cohen - A Thousand kisses deepDon't matter if the road is long
Don't matter if it's steep
Don't matter if the moon is gone
And the darkness is complete
Don't matter if we lose our way
It's written that we'll meet
At least, that's what I heard you say
A thousand kisses deep

I loved you when you opened
Like a lily to the heat
You see, I'm just another snowman
Standing in the rain and sleet
Who loved you with his frozen love
His second hand physique
With all he is and all he was
A thousand kisses deep

I know you had to lie to me
I know you had to cheat
You learned it on your father's knee
And at your mother's feet
But did you have to fight your way
Across the burning street
When all our vital interests lay
A thousand kisses deep

I'm turning tricks
I'm getting fixed
I'm back on boogie street
I'd like to quit the business
But I'm in it, so to speak
The thought of you is peaceful
And the file on you complete
Except what I forgot to do
A thousand kisses deep

Don't matter if you're rich and strong
Don't matter if you're weak
Don't matter if you write a song
The nightingales repeat
Don't matter if it's nine to five
Or timeless and unique
You ditch your life to stay alive
A thousand kisses deep

The ponies run
The girls are young
The odds are there to beat
You win a while, and then it's done
Your little winning streak
And summon now to deal with your invincible defeat
You live your life as if it's real
A thousand kisses deep

I hear their voices in the wine
That sometimes did me seek
The band is playing Auld Lang Syne
But the heart will not retreat
There's no forsaking what you love
No existential leap
As witnessed here in time and blood
A thousand kisses deephttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXaRT8CXmGE&feature=related


thank you Laura, i like your poem although i dont understand the meaning of some new english words, i will read it thoroughly tomorrow.bouquet bouquet
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Aug 1, 2010 2:05 PM CST Favorite Poem
Laura25
Laura25Laura25Somewhere, New York USA50 Threads 6 Polls 8,178 Posts
kcuc0574: thank you Laura, i like your poem although i dont understand the meaning of some new english words, i will read it thoroughly tomorrow.


You can listen to it on Youtube:




Hi lovely Kcuc wave Flowers for you bouquet grin
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Aug 1, 2010 2:09 PM CST Favorite Poem
Love that Laura thank you wave

His Voice is just wonderful reciting this !!!!



Innocence



They laughed at one I loved

The triangular hill that hung

Under the Big Forth. They said

That I was bounded by the whitethorn hedges

Of the little farm and did not know the world.

But I knew that love's doorway to life

Is the same doorway everywhere.

Ashamed of what I loved

I flung her from me and called her a ditch

Although she was smiling at me with violets.



But now I am back in her briary arms

The dew of an Indian Summer lies

On bleached potato-stalks

What age am I?



I do not know what age I am,

I am no mortal age;

I know nothing of women, Nothing of cities,

I cannot die Unless I walk outside these whitethorn hedges.



Patrick Kavanagh (Irish Poet)
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Aug 1, 2010 2:11 PM CST Favorite Poem
sionnablue
sionnabluesionnablueNantes, Bretagne France1 Threads 175 Posts
Laura25: Leonard Cohen - A Thousand kisses deepDon't matter if the road is long
Don't matter if it's steep
Don't matter if the moon is gone
And the darkness is complete
Don't matter if we lose our way
It's written that we'll meet
At least, that's what I heard you say
A thousand kisses deep

I loved you when you opened
Like a lily to the heat
You see, I'm just another snowman
Standing in the rain and sleet
Who loved you with his frozen love
His second hand physique
With all he is and all he was
A thousand kisses deep

I know you had to lie to me
I know you had to cheat
You learned it on your father's knee
And at your mother's feet
But did you have to fight your way
Across the burning street
When all our vital interests lay
A thousand kisses deep

I'm turning tricks
I'm getting fixed
I'm back on boogie street
I'd like to quit the business
But I'm in it, so to speak
The thought of you is peaceful
And the file on you complete
Except what I forgot to do
A thousand kisses deep

Don't matter if you're rich and strong
Don't matter if you're weak
Don't matter if you write a song
The nightingales repeat
Don't matter if it's nine to five
Or timeless and unique
You ditch your life to stay alive
A thousand kisses deep

The ponies run
The girls are young
The odds are there to beat
You win a while, and then it's done
Your little winning streak
And summon now to deal with your invincible defeat
You live your life as if it's real
A thousand kisses deep

I hear their voices in the wine
That sometimes did me seek
The band is playing Auld Lang Syne
But the heart will not retreat
There's no forsaking what you love
No existential leap
As witnessed here in time and blood
A thousand kisses deephttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXaRT8CXmGE&feature=related



Absolutely beautiful. Thankyou.

I went to see Leonard Cohen in Nantes last year. What a poet !!!

I also love 'Suzanne' and 'Alleluia'. xxx
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Aug 1, 2010 2:11 PM CST Favorite Poem
kcuc0574
kcuc0574kcuc0574Ho Chi Minh, Southeast Vietnam Vietnam10 Threads 3 Polls 2,003 Posts
Laura25: You can listen to it on Youtube:

lovely Kcuc Flowers for you


Thanks Laura, you are a very kind & smart lady, also a pretty lady.wave hug
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Aug 1, 2010 2:27 PM CST Favorite Poem
MovinFWD
MovinFWDMovinFWDDaytona Beach, Florida USA36 Threads 3,234 Posts
Can anybody find me somebody to love?
Each morning I get up I die a little
Can barely stand on my feet
Take a look in the mirror and cry
Lord what you're doing to me
I have spent all my years in believing you
But I just can't get no relief, Lord!
Somebody, somebody
Can anybody find me somebody to love?

I work hard every day of my life
I work till I ache my bones
At the end I take home my hard earned pay all on my own -
I get down on my knees
And I start to pray
Till the tears run down from my eyes
Lord - somebody - somebody
Can anybody find me - somebody to love?

(He works hard)

Everyday - I try and I try and I try -
But everybody wants to put me down
They say I'm goin' crazy
They say I got a lot of water in my brain
Got no common sense
I got nobody left to believe
Yeah - yeah yeah yeah

Oh Lord
Somebody - somebody
Can anybody find me somebody to love?

Got no feel, I got no rhythm
I just keep losing my beat
I'm ok, I'm alright
Ain't gonna face no defeat
I just gotta get out of this prison cell
Someday I'm gonna be free, Lord!

Find me somebody to love
Can anybody find me somebody to love?


Okay, so it's a Queen song. But it's still poetry to me
wave


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Aug 1, 2010 2:29 PM CST Favorite Poem
Raven0
Raven0Raven0Right here, Alberta Canada28 Threads 3,454 Posts
Jabberwocky

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.


"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 the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.


And, as 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, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! 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.
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Aug 1, 2010 2:31 PM CST Favorite Poem
Veritaas
VeritaasVeritaasLondon, Greater London, England UK2 Threads 5,839 Posts
The Tiger by 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, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat.
What dread hand? & 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?
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Aug 1, 2010 2:34 PM CST Favorite Poem
leostartingover
leostartingoverleostartingoverSandton, Gauteng South Africa33 Threads 1 Polls 1,685 Posts
That's a very emotive poem.... thanks for sharing it!

I love Shakespeare's sonnets. Here are a couple of my favourites:

XVIII
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May
And summer's lease hath all too short a date
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines
And often is his gold complexion dimmed
And every fair from fair sometime declines
By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade
When in eternal lines to time thou growest
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee


XCIV
They that have power to hurt and will do none
That do not do the thing they most do show
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow
They rightly do inherit Heaven's graces
And husband nature's riches from expense
They are the lords and owners of their faces
Others but stewards of their excellence
The summer's flower is to the summer sweet
Though to itself it only live and die
But if that flower with base infection meet
The basest weed outbraves his dignity
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds


XXIX
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself, and curse my fate
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising
Haply I think on thee, and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings


CXVI
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediuments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds
Or bends with the remover to remove:
Oh no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken
It is the star to every wandering bark
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come
Love alterns not with his brief hours and weeks
But bears it out even to the edge of doom
If this be error, and upon me proved
I never writ, nor no man ever loved
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Aug 1, 2010 2:35 PM CST Favorite Poem
kcuc0574
kcuc0574kcuc0574Ho Chi Minh, Southeast Vietnam Vietnam10 Threads 3 Polls 2,003 Posts
LOL, it seem that many famous poets appear on cs website, now...bouquet
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Aug 1, 2010 2:36 PM CST Favorite Poem
leostartingover
leostartingoverleostartingoverSandton, Gauteng South Africa33 Threads 1 Polls 1,685 Posts
Veritaas: The Tiger by 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, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat.
What dread hand? & 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?


I LOVE that poem! Tigers are my favourite animal, and I remember getting shivers when I first heard it in high school....
Thanks V!
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Aug 1, 2010 2:41 PM CST Favorite Poem
cincity
cincitycincitytoronto, Ontario Canada9 Threads 2,496 Posts
Rudyard Kipling
If

If

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 too 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 disaster
And treat those two imposters 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 wornout 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 breath 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 a Man my son!
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