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When I hear that somebody's difficult, I think, Oh, I can't wait to work with them.

quote by Glenn Close
Added by Lucian Velea
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Work To Make It Work

(r palmer)
Push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to improve it
Push it along
It's all there for you to feel it
Help your self to one that you can't deal with
Ain't no way that you could steal it
You misunderstand if you get greedy
Ah push
Work work work to make it work push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to improve
Don't confine your dreams to bed
You'll get scared if you get lazy
If you can't take enough to satisfy yourself
Then you'll go crazy
Wont do no good thinking
You got to do it
So it don't come easy the first time
Practice makes perfect, you know that i'll try hard
Use it or lose it
You got to put your heart and soul into it
Yeaheheh
Push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to move it
Push it along
Work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to improve
It's all there for you to feel it
Help your self to one that you can't deal with
Ain't no way that you could steal it
You misunderstand if you get greedy forget wishful thinking
You can do it
You just need a push to make a start
If you don't succeed the first time
Try and try again
Use it or lose it
You got to put your back into it
Work work work to make it work
Push it along

[...] Read more

song performed by Robert Palmer
Added by Lucian Velea
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Payment

A tortuous path of neurons arced a call: ‘Awake! ’
I did; in rising, peering, stretching, bearing,
Pained anticipation saw it all:
Foretold, another filthy day.

I drew the drape: diluvian lay the ground
Beneath a lazy leaden cloud – apissing out
The puddles; irksome on the roof –
The drumming drops of bitter glee
Were hounding out a hapless me –
Reinforcing doubt that I am sound.

I left the house
to go to work
to earn a crust
without a perk
then on to bust
another straining vessel.

Trudging on thro’ mud and clay, I pondered:
‘Why a drought of happy times?
Auspicious climes were
Old and fusty books
Atop a dusty shelf
Inside a morgue-of-a-room,
Somewhere in a long-forgotten library
Down a lane without a way.’

I thought again: ‘And still I pay.’

Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010

[...] Read more

poem by Mark R Slaughter
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Work To Make It Work 99

Push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to improve it
Push it along
Its all there for you to feel it
Help your self to one that you cant deal with
Aint no way that you could steal it
You misunderstand if you get greedy
Ah push
Work work work to make it work push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to improve
Dont confine your dreams to bed
Youll get scared if you get lazy
If you cant take enough to satisfy yourself
Then youll go crazy
Wont do no good thinking
You got to do it
So it dont come easy the first time
Practice makes perfect, you know that Ill try hard
Use it or lose it
You got to put your heart and soul into it
Yeaheheh
Push it along
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to move it
Push it along
Work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to improve
Its all there for you to feel it
Help your self to one that you cant deal with
Aint no way that you could steal it
You misunderstand if you get greedy forget wishful thinking
You can do it
You just need a push to make a start
If you dont succeed the first time
Try and try again
Use it or lose it
You got to put your back into it
Work work work to make it work
Push it along
Work work work if you want to move it

[...] Read more

song performed by Robert Palmer
Added by Lucian Velea
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Prince Hohenstiel-Schwangau, Saviour of Society

Epigraph

Υδραν φονεύσας, μυρίων τ᾽ ἄλλων πόνων
διῆλθον ἀγέλας . . .
τὸ λοίσθιον δὲ τόνδ᾽ ἔτλην τάλας πόνον,
. . . δῶμα θριγκῶσαι κακοῖς.

I slew the Hydra, and from labour pass'd
To labour — tribes of labours! Till, at last,
Attempting one more labour, in a trice,
Alack, with ills I crowned the edifice.

You have seen better days, dear? So have I —
And worse too, for they brought no such bud-mouth
As yours to lisp "You wish you knew me!" Well,
Wise men, 't is said, have sometimes wished the same,
And wished and had their trouble for their pains.
Suppose my Œdipus should lurk at last
Under a pork-pie hat and crinoline,
And, latish, pounce on Sphynx in Leicester Square?
Or likelier, what if Sphynx in wise old age,
Grown sick of snapping foolish people's heads,
And jealous for her riddle's proper rede, —
Jealous that the good trick which served the turn
Have justice rendered it, nor class one day
With friend Home's stilts and tongs and medium-ware,—
What if the once redoubted Sphynx, I say,
(Because night draws on, and the sands increase,
And desert-whispers grow a prophecy)
Tell all to Corinth of her own accord.
Bright Corinth, not dull Thebes, for Lais' sake,
Who finds me hardly grey, and likes my nose,
And thinks a man of sixty at the prime?
Good! It shall be! Revealment of myself!
But listen, for we must co-operate;
I don't drink tea: permit me the cigar!
First, how to make the matter plain, of course —
What was the law by which I lived. Let 's see:
Ay, we must take one instant of my life
Spent sitting by your side in this neat room:
Watch well the way I use it, and don't laugh!
Here's paper on the table, pen and ink:
Give me the soiled bit — not the pretty rose!
See! having sat an hour, I'm rested now,
Therefore want work: and spy no better work
For eye and hand and mind that guides them both,
During this instant, than to draw my pen
From blot One — thus — up, up to blot Two — thus —
Which I at last reach, thus, and here's my line
Five inches long and tolerably straight:

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning (1871)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Easy and Difficult

Easy and Difficult

Easy to get a place in someone’s address book
Difficult is to get a place in someone’s heart
Easy is to judge the mistakes of others
Difficult is to recognize our own mistakes
Easy is to talk without thinking
Difficult is to control the tongue
Easy is to hurt someone who loves us
Difficult is to heal the wound
Easy is to forgive others
Difficult is to ask for forgiveness
Easy is to set rules
Difficult is to follow them
Easy is to dream every night
Difficult is to fight for a dream
Easy is to show victory
Difficult is to accommodate defeat with dignity
Easy is to admire a full moon
Difficult is to see the other side
Easy is to stumble on a stone
Difficult is to get up
Easy is to enjoy life every day
Difficult is to give its real value
Easy is to pray every night
Difficult is to find God in small things
Easy is to promise something to someone
Difficult is to fulfill the promise
Easy is to say we love
Difficult is to show it every day
Easy is to criticize others
Difficult is to improve oneself
Easy is to make mistakes
Difficult is to learn from them
Easy is to weep for lost love
Difficult is to take care of it so as not to lose it
Easy is to think about improving
Difficult is to stop thinking and putting it into action
Easy is to think bad of others
Difficult is to give them the benefit of doubt
Easy is to receive
Difficult is to give

poem by Bashyam Narayanan
Added by Poetry Lover
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Can't Wait To Be With You

(Will Smith)
(I can't wait to be with you, uh)
I can't wait to be with you (yeah)
I can't wait to see you (uh)
I can't wait to be with you (haha)
Loving you is all I want to do
10 o'clock my flight lands
Can't wait to hold the palm of your hand
Been 7 long days, since the last that I saw you
And every free moment I get, I got to call you
Takin' every chance, to glance at your cute face
And lookin' at your 8 by 10 in my suitcase
Ain't been with my honey in a long while
And when I get a hold of you, mmm child (oh, yeah)
No tellin' what I might do
Cause I would be like a kid that got a toy and it's brand new
Can't wait to hold you, can't wait to see you
Can't wait to treat you, can't wait to be with you (oh, yeah)
I can't wait to be with you
I can't wait to see you
I can't wait to be with you
Loving you is all I want to do
Bein' in love is like an amusement ride, G (woo)
I feel like it's a party inside me
Smile on my face, and there's a twinkle in my eye
Time to go to work, but it's so hard to say goodbye (oh, oh)
And as I think of you, it's like I had a drink or two
I feel dizzy, damn where is she?
Pick up the phone and call you about three (Female voice: hello)
Yeah baby it's me, just to hear your voice, just the thought of you
Got me trippin', it's why I just bought a new
Cellular phone, so I don't have to postpone
When my beeper goes off, no more runnin' to a pay phone
Your astoundin', it's why I'm expondin'
So vivacious, and baby your face is
That of a goddess, it's makin' me feel numb
A fe fi fo fum, yo baby come and get some
Of the man, the myth, so debonair
What said while fair, is a pair
We extraordinary, me and you as a team, it's kinda swell ain't it
Love is hole and I tripped, then I feel in it (oh, that's why)
From the mountain, to the valley, to the deep blue sea
All I can do is hope and pray, you want to be with me
I'm sayin' this from my heart, that's how you know that it's true
Yo, I can't wait to be with you
Girl I know it's true
I can't wait to be with you
I can't wait to see you
I can't wait to see you baby
I can't wait to be with you

[...] Read more

song performed by Will Smith
Added by Lucian Velea
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Hey, Where Are You

And the raincoat shone into the sun
As we walked down the street as one
Into the [all pleasant ? ] bloom
Of a saturday afternoon.
And we strolled the walls and kicked our heels
Upon the grass on which we fell and sang a song
We loved to sing so well,
And the raindrops came on down on sallys head
As she cuddled up inside a coat of red and said,
Hey, where are you?
Where you goin to? yeah, yeah
Oh, why cant I come too?
stead of leavin me here
Oh so lonely, lonely, lonely, wait on me.
Wait on me.
Wait on me.
[vm mumbles instruction to payne? @1:44]
And into the trees and forest we did roam,
The way we danced into the sparkling foam shining our light into the days of blooming wonder,
And the gray man at the bus station raised his head into the sky and said, have you got your ticket? I said, I got it, how?
But I got it. pass on through the swingin barrier now.
And the raindrops came on down on sallys head
And she cuddled up inside a coat of red and said,
Hey, where are you?
Where you goin to?
Why cant I come too?
Instead of leavin me here
Oh so lonely,
Oh so lonely, lonely,
Lonely, just wait on me.
Wait on me, babe.
I cant keep up, I cant keep up, I cant keep up.
Hey fellas,
A-wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute,
I cant keep up.
Wait a minute, wait a minute,
You gotta stop,
Wait on me.
Wait on me.
I cant keep up, I cant keep up, I cant keep up, you gotta
Wait on me, wait on me, wait on me, wait on me, wait on me, yeah, yeah.
Wait a minute, wait a minute,
Hey, hey, hey, yeah,
Hold on,
You gotta stop.
I cant keep up, cant keep up, I cant keep up, you gotta,
Hey, yeah,
Hold on, hold on,
Wait on me.
Wait on me.

[...] Read more

song performed by Van Morrison
Added by Lucian Velea
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Work, Sleep, Work, Sleep, Work

Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work:

Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work, sleep, work, sleep,
Work.

Oh free me please with gentle ease
From work, sleep, work, sleep, work!
This odium, pounding tedium
Of my work, sleep, work, sleep, work.

Just whisk me off to lands afar
From work, sleep, work, sleep, work -
That grinding train of rhythmic pain
Called ‘Work, sleep, work, sleep, work.’

Poor neural circuits fizzle and pop
In work, sleep, work, sleep, work,
In trying to make some sense of all this
Work, sleep, work, sleep, work.

But Hark! I see a golden gleam -
A saving spirit of hope:
‘You’re fired! ’ He screams. What news to bear,
This wondrous hangman’s rope!

So now I’m free, released from all this
Work, sleep, work, sleep, work -
Eternal peace and rest for me, no
Work, sleep, work, sleep, work.

poem by Mark R Slaughter
Added by Poetry Lover
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Wait Until Tomorrow

Well, Im standing here, freezing, inside your golden garden
Uh got my ladder, leaned up against your wall
Tonights the night we planned to run away together
Come on dolly mae, theres no time to stall
But now youre telling me...
I think we better wait till tomorrow
Hey, yeah, hey
(I think we better wait till tomorrow)
Girl, what chu talkin bout ?
(I think we better wait till tomorrow)
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Got to make sure its right, so until tomorrow, goodnight.
Oh, what a drag.
Oh, dolly mae, how can you hang me up this way ?
Oh, on the phone you said you wanted to run off with me today
Now Im standing here like some turned down serenading fool
Hearing strange words stutter from the mixed mind of you
And you keep tellin me that ah...
I think we better wait till tomorrow
What are you talkin bout ?
(I think we better wait till tomorrow)
No, cant wait that long
(I think we better wait till tomorrow)
Oh, no
Got to make sure its right, until tomorrow, goodnight, oh.
Lets see if I can talk to this girl a little bit here...
Ow ! dolly mae, girl, you must be insane
So unsure of yourself leaning from your unsure window pane
Do I see a silhouette of somebody pointing something from a tree ?
Click bang, what a hang, your daddy just shot poor me
And I hear you say, as I fade away...
We dont have to wait till tomorrow
Hey !
We dont have to wait till tomorrow
What you say ?
(we dont have to wait till tomorrow)
It must have been right, so forever, goodnight, listen at cha.
(we dont have to wait till tomorrow)
Ah ! do I have to wait ? dont have to wait
(we dont have to wait till tomorrow)
Its a drag on my part
(we dont have to wait till tomorrow) dont have to wait, uh, hmm ! ah, no !
(we dont have to wait till tomorrow)
Dont have to wait, dont have to wait, yeah !
(we dont have to wait till tomorrow)
Dont have to wait, dont have to wait
(we dont have to wait till tomorrow)
Oh, oh
I wont be around tomorrow, yeah !
(we dont have to wait till tomorrow)

[...] Read more

song performed by Jimi Hendrix
Added by Lucian Velea
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Territorial Pissings

{intro thing}
When I was a little lad
Coal trains were not built yet
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Never met a wise man
If so its a woman
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Just because youre paranoid
Dont mean theyre not after you
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait

song performed by Nirvana
Added by Lucian Velea
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Territorial Pissings

{intro thing}
When I was a little lad
Coal trains were not built yet
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Never met a wise man
If so its a woman
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Just because youre paranoid
Dont mean theyre not after you
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait
Gotta find a way
I better wait
I better wait

song performed by Nirvana
Added by Lucian Velea
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Got To Go To Work

gotta go to work
work work work wok work work work work work work work
gotta go to work
work work work work work work work work work work work
12697566846748857455848
work work work work work
gotta go to work
work work work work wok work
136498368574934
gotta go to work
repeatedly, until u want to stop
By: Ashley jones

poem by Ashley Jones
Added by Poetry Lover
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We Can Work It Out

Now that I know your name and U know mine
Ain't it just about time that we got 2gether?
We should make such beautiful music 4ever
Oh, 2gether 4ever
Put your trust in me, I'll never let U down
Cuz I know I can count on U 2 help me make it
Ain't no doubt about it
We can work it out, work it out
I know we can work it out
Work it out, work it out
Ooh wee!
CHORUS:
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
Makin' music naturally, me and W.B. (CHORUS)
Music 4 the young and old, music bound 2 be gold
Work it out
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out {x2}
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out (Can we work it out?)
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out (I want 2 work it out)
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
(Everybody sing) Hope we work it out, I hope we work it out
Makin' music naturally, me and W.B

song performed by Prince
Added by Lucian Velea
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Four Letter 'Work' Song

Work me up, work me out, work me flip side down.
Work me here, work me there, work me with renown.
Work me hot, work me greedy,
work me through and through.
Work me to the very marrow,
work me just like I'd work you.
Work me proud, work me late,
work me do not hesitate.
Won't you let me work for you?
Work me til I'm black and blue.
Work me steady, work me needy, work me to a lather.
Work me til my backbone breaks, and the buzzards gather.
Work me in, work me under, work me til I bleed,
Work me over red hot coals, work me like a boss in need.
Work me nasty, work me silly, work me through the clover.
Up down, 'n' in between, into a slipknot sweet Jehovah.
Work me, work me, go ahead.
Work me, work me, til I'm dead.

Buddy Bee Anthony

poem by Buddy Bee Anthony
Added by Poetry Lover
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Love Won't Wait

Don't lose this moment
Life tastes so sweet
We can work wonders
Just let it be
I know what you're thinking
So can you feel
What I need
Don't need to be set
I will need right now

(Love)
My love won't wait
If you're gonna wait till tomorrow (My love won't wait)
Baby I'm yours
And that means right today (And that means right today)
My love won't wait
If you're gonna wait till tomorrow (My love won't wait)
This is not a dream
It's right before your eyes
Don't let it fade away

You'll miss this moment
Don't be afraid
Ain't that what you wanted
So why hesitate?
Cos I'm feeling restless
I can't explain
What I need
Don't need to be set
I will need right now

(Love)
My love won't wait
If you're gonna wait till tomorrow (My love won't wait)
Baby I'm yours
And that means right today (And that means right today)
My love won't wait
If you're gonna wait till tomorrow (My love won't wait)
This is not a dream
It's right before your eyes
Don't let it fade away

My love won't wait
Love won't wait
Love won't wait
Don't hesitate

Oooh

What I need

[...] Read more

song performed by Atomic Kitten from Feels So Good
Added by Lucian Velea
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Cant Wait

Ive been on this road a long time
Ive been travellin for days
But it seems Im getting nowhere
I just cant find my way
Ive been following directions
But they must be out of date
And I cant, and I cant, and I cant, no I cant
Decide which road to take
See Ive got to find my baby
Cause we need to work things out
Ive got to see that woman
I cannot do without her!
You know I cant wait, cant wait another moment
I cant wait, I cant wait another heartbeat
No I cant wait, cant wait another moment
I couldnt wait another heartbeat
I cant wait until midnight
And the nights go on forever
These days I get no sleep
And I miss her more than ever
Inside where love runs deep
Oh I know Im going to find her
Cause Im following this star
And I cant, and I cant, no I cant turn back
Oh lord, Ive come so far
And Ill know shell whisper in my ear
bout all the things Ive missed
Shes got that way about her now
I never could resist
And now I cant wait, cant wait another moment
No I cant wait, I cant wait another heartbeat
I cant wait, cant wait another moment
I couldnt wait another heartbeat
I cant wait until midnight
No I cant wait
I cant wait another moment
I couldnt wait another heartbeat
I cant wait until the midnight
Now I cant wait
No no no cant wait
No no no
Cant wait
No no no
Cant wait
(repeat and fade out)

song performed by Foreigner
Added by Lucian Velea
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Second Book

TIMES followed one another. Came a morn
I stood upon the brink of twenty years,
And looked before and after, as I stood
Woman and artist,–either incomplete,
Both credulous of completion. There I held
The whole creation in my little cup,
And smiled with thirsty lips before I drank,
'Good health to you and me, sweet neighbour mine
And all these peoples.'
I was glad, that day;
The June was in me, with its multitudes
Of nightingales all singing in the dark,
And rosebuds reddening where the calyx split.
I felt so young, so strong, so sure of God!
So glad, I could not choose be very wise!
And, old at twenty, was inclined to pull
My childhood backward in a childish jest
To see the face of't once more, and farewell!
In which fantastic mood I bounded forth
At early morning,–would not wait so long
As even to snatch my bonnet by the strings,
But, brushing a green trail across the lawn
With my gown in the dew, took will and way
Among the acacias of the shrubberies,
To fly my fancies in the open air
And keep my birthday, till my aunt awoke
To stop good dreams. Meanwhile I murmured on,
As honeyed bees keep humming to themselves;
'The worthiest poets have remained uncrowned
Till death has bleached their foreheads to the bone,
And so with me it must be, unless I prove
Unworthy of the grand adversity,–
And certainly I would not fail so much.
What, therefore, if I crown myself to-day
In sport, not pride, to learn the feel of it,
Before my brows be numb as Dante's own
To all the tender pricking of such leaves?
Such leaves? what leaves?'
I pulled the branches down,
To choose from.
'Not the bay! I choose no bay;
The fates deny us if we are overbold:
Nor myrtle–which means chiefly love; and love
Is something awful which one dare not touch
So early o' mornings. This verbena strains
The point of passionate fragrance; and hard by,
This guelder rose, at far too slight a beck
Of the wind, will toss about her flower-apples.
Ah–there's my choice,–that ivy on the wall,
That headlong ivy! not a leaf will grow

[...] Read more

poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning from Aurora Leigh (1856)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Cry For Home

Ill be waiting
Ill be waiting on that shore
To hear the cry for home
You wont have to worry anymore
When you hear the cry for home
When you hear, hear the call
You wont have to fake at all
Hear the cry for home
Ill be standing
Ill be standing within reach
When you hear, hear the call
Ill be waiting
Ill be waiting in the breach
For you, when you hear
When you hear, hear the call
You wont have to fake at all
Hear the cry for home
(instrumental)
When I listen
When I listen to the song
Well it feels, it feels so free
And you tell me
You will come and go with me
When you hear the cry for home
When you hear the call
You wont have to think at all
Hear the cry for home
Spoken (one more, one more time)
When you hear, hear the call
You wont have to fake at all
Hear the cry for home
(one more open it up, open it up) (spoken)
When you hear, hear the call
You wont have to fake at all
Hear the cry for home
Hear (when you hear, hear the call)
Hear (when you hear, hear the call)
Hear (when you hear, hear the call)
Hear (when you hear, hear the call)
Hear (when you hear, hear the call)
Hear (when you hear, hear the call)

song performed by Van Morrison
Added by Lucian Velea
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Eighth Book

ONE eve it happened when I sate alone,
Alone upon the terrace of my tower,
A book upon my knees, to counterfeit
The reading that I never read at all,
While Marian, in the garden down below,
Knelt by the fountain (I could just hear thrill
The drowsy silence of the exhausted day)
And peeled a new fig from that purple heap
In the grass beside her,–turning out the red
To feed her eager child, who sucked at it
With vehement lips across a gap of air
As he stood opposite, face and curls a-flame
With that last sun-ray, crying, 'give me, give,'
And stamping with imperious baby-feet,
(We're all born princes)–something startled me,–
The laugh of sad and innocent souls, that breaks
Abruptly, as if frightened at itself;
'Twas Marian laughed. I saw her glance above
In sudden shame that I should hear her laugh,
And straightway dropped my eyes upon my book,
And knew, the first time, 'twas Boccaccio's tales,
The Falcon's,–of the lover who for love
Destroyed the best that loved him. Some of us
Do it still, and then we sit and laugh no more.
Laugh you, sweet Marian! you've the right to laugh,
Since God himself is for you, and a child!
For me there's somewhat less,–and so, I sigh.

The heavens were making room to hold the night,
The sevenfold heavens unfolding all their gates
To let the stars out slowly (prophesied
In close-approaching advent, not discerned),
While still the cue-owls from the cypresses
Of the Poggio called and counted every pulse
Of the skyey palpitation. Gradually
The purple and transparent shadows slow
Had filled up the whole valley to the brim,
And flooded all the city, which you saw
As some drowned city in some enchanted sea,
Cut off from nature,–drawing you who gaze,
With passionate desire, to leap and plunge,
And find a sea-king with a voice of waves,
And treacherous soft eyes, and slippery locks
You cannot kiss but you shall bring away
Their salt upon your lips. The duomo-bell
Strikes ten, as if it struck ten fathoms down,
So deep; and fifty churches answer it
The same, with fifty various instances.
Some gaslights tremble along squares and streets
The Pitti's palace-front is drawn in fire:

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poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning from Aurora Leigh (1856)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Third Book

'TO-DAY thou girdest up thy loins thyself,
And goest where thou wouldest: presently
Others shall gird thee,' said the Lord, 'to go
Where thou would'st not.' He spoke to Peter thus,
To signify the death which he should die
When crucified head downwards.
If He spoke
To Peter then, He speaks to us the same;
The word suits many different martyrdoms,
And signifies a multiform of death,
Although we scarcely die apostles, we,
And have mislaid the keys of heaven and earth.

For tis not in mere death that men die most;
And, after our first girding of the loins
In youth's fine linen and fair broidery,
To run up hill and meet the rising sun,
We are apt to sit tired, patient as a fool,
While others gird us with the violent bands
Of social figments, feints, and formalisms,
Reversing our straight nature, lifting up
Our base needs, keeping down our lofty thoughts,
Head downward on the cross-sticks of the world.
Yet He can pluck us from the shameful cross.
God, set our feet low and our forehead high,
And show us how a man was made to walk!

Leave the lamp, Susan, and go up to bed.
The room does very well; I have to write
Beyond the stroke of midnight. Get away;
Your steps, for ever buzzing in the room,
Tease me like gnats. Ah, letters! throw them down
At once, as I must have them, to be sure,
Whether I bid you never bring me such
At such an hour, or bid you. No excuse.
You choose to bring them, as I choose perhaps
To throw them in the fire. Now, get to bed,
And dream, if possible, I am not cross.

Why what a pettish, petty thing I grow,–
A mere, mere woman,–a mere flaccid nerve,-
A kerchief left out all night in the rain,
Turned soft so,–overtasked and overstrained
And overlived in this close London life!
And yet I should be stronger.
Never burn
Your letters, poor Aurora! for they stare
With red seals from the table, saying each,
'Here's something that you know not.' Out alas,
'Tis scarcely that the world's more good and wise

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poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning from Aurora Leigh (1856)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!