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Thread: Favorite poems and pieces of verse

  1. #1
    A Dude Peeta Mellark's avatar
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    Default Favorite poems and pieces of verse

    One of mine is Ruth's vow to Naomi from Ruth 1:16-17, which is possibly one of the most beautiful expressions of devotion I've ever read.

    And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

    Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.
    And standing in sharp contrast is one of my favorites from Walt Whitman.

    O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
    The ship has weather’d 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 ribbon’d 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 anchor’d 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.

  2. #2
    Member Elendil's Heir's avatar
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    "Ozymandias," by Percy Bysshe Shelley: http://www.online-literature.com/shelley_percy/672/

    "Dover Beach," by Matthew Arnold: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/...overbeach.html

    "Washington's Monument," by Walt Whitman: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21259

    "The Poor Voter on Election Day," by John Greenleaf Whittier: http://sauntering.blogspot.com/2008/...ction-day.html

    "If," by Rudyard Kipling: http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poe...kipling_if.htm

    "Recessional," by Rudyard Kipling: http://www.bartleby.com/101/867.html

    "The Road Not Taken," by Robert Frost: http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html

    "The Raven," by Edgar Allan Poe: http://www.heise.de/ix/raven/Literat.../TheRaven.html

    "To One in Paradise," by Edgar Allan Poe: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/poe/17510

    These previous Mello threads might also interest you:

    http://www.mellophant.com/forums/sho...favorite-poems
    http://www.mellophant.com/forums/sho...vourite-poetry!
    http://www.mellophant.com/forums/sho...m-ever-written

  3. #3
    Porosity Caster parzival's avatar
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    I recently found this Universal Prayer. I think Pope's is better than the pope's.

    Father of all! In every age,
    In ev'ry clime ador'd,
    By saint, by savage, and by sage,
    Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!

    Thou Great First Cause, least understood,
    Who all my sense confin'd
    To know but this, that Thou art good,
    And that myself am blind:

    Yet gave me, in this dark estate,
    To see the good from ill;
    And, binding Nature fast in Fate,
    Left free the human Will.

    What Conscience dictates to be done,
    Or warns me not to do;
    This teach me more than Hell to shun,
    That more than Heav'n pursue.

    What blessings thy free bounty gives
    Let me not cast away;
    For God is paid when man receives;
    T' enjoy is to obey.

    Yet not to earth's contracted span
    Thy goodness let me bound,
    Or think thee Lord alone of man,
    When thousand worlds are round.

    Let not this weak, unknowing hand
    Presume thy bolts to throw,
    And teach damnation round the land
    On each I judge thy foe.

    If I am right, thy grace impart,
    Still in the right to stay;
    If I am wrong, O teach my heart
    To find that better way.

    Save me alike from foolish Pride
    Or impious Discontent,
    At aught thy wisdom has denied,
    Or aught that goodness lent.

    Teach me to feel another's woe,
    To right the fault I see:
    That mercy I to others show,
    That mercy show to me.

    Mean tho' I am, not wholly so,
    Since quicken'd by thy breath;
    O lead me whereso'er I go,
    Thro' this day's life or death!

    This day be bread and peace my lot:
    All else beneath the sun
    Though know'st if best bestow'd or not,
    And let Thy will be done.

    To Thee, whose temple is of Space,
    Whose altar earth, sea, skies,
    One chorus let all Beings raise!
    All Nature's incense rise!
    Last edited by parzival; 04 Apr 2011 at 11:43 AM. Reason: fixed line breaks

  4. #4
    Member Elendil's Heir's avatar
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    Hard to go wrong with the 23rd Psalm (King James Version), either:

    The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
    He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
    Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

  5. #5
    For whom nothing is written. Oliveloaf's avatar
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    I've had this song in my head all week. Maybe it's campy, and it's certainly
    not literature, but I am convinced it is sincere, and it's a very nice song.

    The House You Live In - Gordon Lightfoot

    Go first in the world, go forth with your fears
    Remember a price must be paid
    Be always too soon, be never too fast
    At the time when all bets must be laid
    Beware of the darkness, be kind to your children
    Remember the woman who waits
    And the house you live in will never fall down
    If you pity the stranger who stands at your gate
    When you're caught by the gale and you're full under sail
    Beware of the dangers below
    And the song that you sing should not be too sad
    And be sure not to sing it too slow
    Be calm in the face of all common disgraces
    And know what they're doin' it for
    And the house you live in will never fall down
    If you pity the stranger who stands at your door

    When you're out on the road and feelin' quite lost
    Consider the burden of fame
    And he who is wise will not criticize
    When other men fail at the game
    Beware of strange faces and dark dingy places
    Be careful while bending the law
    And the house you live in will never fall down
    If you pity the stranger who stands at your door

    When you're down in the dumps and not ready to deal
    Decide what it is that you need
    Is it money or love, is it learnin' to live
    Or is it the mouth you must feed
    Be known as a man who will always be candid
    On questions that do not relate
    And the house you live in will never fall down
    If you pity the stranger who stands at your gate
    And the house you live in will never fall down
    If you pity the stranger who stands at your gate
    "I won't kill for money, and I won't marry for it. Other than that, I'm open to just about anything."

    -Jim Rockford

  6. #6
    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    This is my all time favorite "grown up" poem:

    Homage to My Hips
    By Lucille Clifton

    these hips are big hips.
    they need space to
    move around in.
    they don't fit into little
    petty places. these hips
    are free hips.
    they don't like to be held back.
    these hips have never been enslaved,
    they go where they want to go
    they do what they want to do.
    these hips are mighty hips.
    these hips are magic hips.
    i have known them
    to put a spell on a man and
    spin him like a top
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  7. #7
    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    This is my all time favorite "grown up" poem:

    Homage to My Hips
    By Lucille Clifton

    these hips are big hips.
    they need space to
    move around in.
    they don't fit into little
    petty places. these hips
    are free hips.
    they don't like to be held back.
    these hips have never been enslaved,
    they go where they want to go
    they do what they want to do.
    these hips are mighty hips.
    these hips are magic hips.
    i have known them
    to put a spell on a man and
    spin him like a top
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  8. #8
    Member Elendil's Heir's avatar
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    The poem so nice you shared it twice!

  9. #9
    A Groupie Marsilia's avatar
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    Apparently! I shared it once because it's awesome, and shared it again because Zuul and I have been swooning over Sara Ramirez.
    So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.

  10. #10
    Wanna cuddle? RabbitMage's avatar
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    Kipling's "If" linked above is one of my favorites.

    And I have a total dead guy crush on Walt Whitman.

    As I lay with my Head in your Lap, Camerado

    AS I lay with my head in your lap, Camerado,
    The confession I made I resume—what I said to you in the open air I resume:
    I know I am restless, and make others so;
    I know my words are weapons, full of danger, full of death;
    For I confront peace, security, and all the settled laws, to unsettle them;
    I am more resolute because all have denied me, than I could ever have been had all accepted me;
    I heed not, and have never heeded, either experience, cautions, majorities, nor ridicule;
    And the threat of what is call’d hell is little or nothing to me;
    And the lure of what is call’d heaven is little or nothing to me;
    ...Dear camerado! I confess I have urged you onward with me, and still urge you, without the least idea what is our destination,
    Or whether we shall be victorious, or utterly quell’d and defeated.

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