A poem

[aiki14]

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
-Walt Whitman

[freakscene]

i'll see your Walt and Raise you a Rudyard :)

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 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 a Man, my son!

[aiki14]

To that I respond with the Bard of Ayrshire, whose birthday I recently celebrated, and much haggis was eaten and much poetry was recited.

A Man's a Man for A' That

Is there for honest poverty
That hings his head, an a' that?
The coward slave, we pass him by -
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an a' that,
Our toils obscure, an a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an a' that?
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine -
A man's a man for a' that.
For a' that, an a' that.
Their tinsel show, an a' that,
The honest man, tho e'er sae poor,
Is king o men for a' that.

Ye see you birkie ca'd 'a lord,'
What struts, an stares, an a' that?
Tho hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a cuif for a' that.
For a' that, an a' that,
His ribband, star, an a' that,
The man o independent mind,
He looks an laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an a' that!
But an honest man's aboon his might -
Guid faith, he mauna fa' that!
For a' that, an a' that,
Their dignities, an a' that,
The pith o sense an pride o worth.
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may
[As come it will for a' that],
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree an a' that.
For a' that, an a' that,
It's comin yet for a' that,
That man to man, the world, o'er
Shall brithers be for a' that.

[XOM]

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
-Yeats

[Keventerprises]

When a Hallmark writer has a bad day...

Ever wondered what happens when Hallmark writers are having a bad day...?

Here are the Hallmark cards you'll never see:

My tire was thumping,

I thought it was flat.

When I looked at the tire...

I noticed your cat.

*****************

Heard your wife left you,

How upset you must be.

But don't fret about it...

She moved in with me.

*******************

Looking back over the years,

that we've been together.

Minutes seem like hours,

and days last forever.

**********************

Congratulations on your wedding day!

Too bad no one likes your husband.

************************

How could two people as beautiful as you...

Have such an ugly baby?

*******************

I must admit that you've brought Religion in my view,

I never believed in Hell until I met you.

*******************

As the days go by, I think "How lucky can I be?"

That you're not here to ruin it for me.

*******************

Congratulations on your promotion.
Before you go...

Would you mind taking this knife out of my back?

You're probably going to need it again.

******************

Happy Birthday, Uncle Dad!

(Available only in Tennessee , Kentucky & West Virginia )

******************

Happy birthday! You look great for your age.

Almost Lifelike!

******************

When we were together,
You said you'd die for me.

Now that we're apart,
I wish you'd keep your promise.

******************

I'm so miserable without you

it's almost like you're here.

I'm so thirsty for your love,

I wish you were a beer.

*******************

Your friends and I wanted to do something special for your birthday.

So we're having you put to sleep.

******************

So your daughter's a hooker,
and it spoiled your day.

Look at the bright side,
it's really good pay.

*******************

When we were together,
I was such a wreck.

I once saved your life,
by taking my hands off your neck.

********************

The weather is here,
Wish you were fine.

********************

And last but not least:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.

If I had killed you,
I'd be getting out now...


"Hallmark. When you care enough to send the best."

[aiki14]

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
-Yeats

Offbeat reference, This is the poem heard in class that drives A.J. Soprano to attempt suicide.

[XOM]

Offbeat reference, This is the poem heard in class that drives A.J. Soprano to attempt suicide.

...and some market players perhaps? :wink:

[netwrangler]

"what if a much of a which of a wind...."

But, then, I posted that earlier in another thread.

[Keventerprises]

Sorry, I should have kept this thread more serious. Here is my original Church Poem from when I was young:


Sonrise
SOMEHOW EARLY I COULD SEE,
A LITTLE PRUNING WAS GOOD FOR ME.
THERE WERE TIMES THOUGHT I COULD TAKE IT NO LONGER,
THOUGH PART OF ME KNEW IT WOULD MAKE ME STRONGER.
MY LIMITS WERE STRETCHED BEYOND THEIR BOUNDS,
PREVIOUS HORIZONS WHERE THE SUN WENT DOWN.

BUT SHADOWS COULD NOT EXIST WITHOUT LIGHT,
AND DAYS WERE MORE SPECIAL AFTER THE NIGHT.
NOR MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS IN THIS SAME FASHION,
LIFE WOULD BE BLAND IN THE ABSENCE OF PASSION.

ON FAITH WE DO ACT WITHOUT BEING SHOWN,
IT WOULDN'T BE OURS IF WE'D ALREADY KNOWN.
WHEN LATE IS THE HOUR AND THE NIGHT IS AT HAND,
REST ASSURED ALL THE SON WILL RISE AGAIN.

MAY PATIENCE BE WITH YOU ALL THROUGH YOUR TEST,
REMEMBER THE GOOD WITH WHICH YOU ARE BLESSED.
AND WHEN THE SUN SHINES DOWN ON YOUR SKIN FROM ABOVE,
KNOW THAT THE SON IS WHISPERING HIS LOVE.

[John Law]

A little excerpt from my favorite piece:

"Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?" -Job 38

[XOM]

I see the hate and fear in your eyes
If only you would take a look and realize the lies that lie behind your eyes.
The holder of the scripture is the breeder of hate.
He fills you with the misinformation, falsification and fabrication.
You take the bait.
The hate spreads like a virus.
A neurological disease.
I am now a demon to the world.
If only you would take a look and realize the lies that lie behind your faithful eyes.
-Michael Pain