[olsen]

from Tennyson's Ulysses:

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in 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.

[Niggs]

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Dylan Thomas


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!


Rudyard Kipling

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

William Blake

[Canna]

When Death Comes

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it’s over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world

- Mary Oliver

Links

(Mary Oliver Poems)

(Female Poets) (Contemporary Poets) (American Poets)

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!


Rudyard Kipling

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.

William Blake[/QUOTE]

[olsen]

Coincidence: I have a collection of Mary Oliver's poetry on my bedside table, which I currently read every night!

[Niggs]

She walks in Beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Byron

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 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.

WH Auden

A bit 'dark' but beautiful all the same

[GerryW]

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

- William Ernest Henley

[Tupelo3]

You've Got To

I know just how it feels
to climb a mountain
only to fall back down;
there’s no will to try again
once you’ve hit the ground

But you’ve got to
You’ve got to move,
And I’ll be there
Be right there to help you

I know just how it feels
to spread your wings
only to never fly;
there’s no desire
to give it another try

But you’ve got to
You’ve got to fly,
And I’ll be there
Be right there to fly with you

I know just how it feels
to put one foot in front of the other
only to stumble before you fall;
there’s no strength left
to give it your all

But you’ve got to
You’ve got to walk,
And I’ll be there
Be right there to break your fall

I know just how it feels
to face the world alone
only to realize you were wrong;
there’s a friend there
to help you along

I’ll always be there to help you along


Sorry, I don't know who wrote this, buy I always liked it

[moondaughter]

one nary needs leave their living room to travel when graced with such poems.

here the Innuit version of "Oh Holy Night" ....“the longest night brings the brightest star- in Inuktitut, the verb “to breathe” is the same word as “poetry”)" - Bob Dawson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGlZ...fb_ref=Default

[Thelma]

I don't know who wrote this but at 83 this month it is appropo





She let go
Without a thought or a word,
She let go
She let go of the judgments
She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming
around her head
She let go of the committee of indecision within her
She let go of all “the right reasons”
Wholly and completely

Without hesitation or worry. She just let go and didn’t
ask anyone for advice
She didn’t need to read a book on how to let go

She didn’t need the scriptures She just let go
She let go of the memories that held her back
She let go of all the anxiety that kept her from moving forward
She let go of all the planning and all the calculations
About how to do it just right

She didn’t promise to let go
She didn’t journal about it
She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer
She made no public announcement and
Put no ad in the paper
She didn’t check the weather report
Or read the daily horoscope or weather report
She just let go

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.
She didn’t call any friends to discuss the matter.
She didn’t do a five step program or the five
Step Spiritual Mind treatment
She didn’t call a prayer line
She didn’t utter one word
She just let go

No one was around when it happened.
There was no applause or congratulations
No one thanked or praised her. No one noticed a thing,

Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go
There was no effort. There was no struggle.
It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.
It was what it was and it was just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be.
A small smile came over her face.

A light breeze blew through her.
And the sun and the moon shone for evermore…

In the last analysis, we only see what we are ready to see…
what we have been taught to see. …
We ignore and eliminate everything that is not part of our prejudices.

[Niggs]

Just a Thankyou Olsen for this thread,

Re-reading the words presented here, I'm struck by the realisation that despite the grey mist that surrounds and often permeates our world,our capacity to appreciate beauty remains undiminished. These posts demonstrate that we all have the ability to say to pain,frustration and worry "not today lads, I'v got better things to do !"

Nigel