Citatepedia^®.com

Forbidden Jimmy

Forbidden jimmy
Has got a mighty sore tooth
From biting too many dimes
In a telephone booth
Hes got half of his bootlace
Tied to the dial
Thank you operator
For getting jimmy to smile
Call out the coast guard
Screamed the police
Forbidden jimmy
Hes got three water skis
He put two on his wavelength
And gave one to his girl
Shes a mighty fine person
Its a mighty fine world
Chorus:
Im gonna make all your sorrows bright
Set your soul free
Ill see you tomorrow night
If I can still see
Ginger caputo
And dorian gray
Oughtta stay out of pictures
If they got nothin to say
Stack em back on the rack jack
Ya know, youre hurting my eye
Forbidden jimmy
Hes getting ready to fly
Repeat chorus
I got caught cooking popcorn
And calling it hail
They wanna stick my head
Inside a water pail
Ya know, theyre gonna be sorry
Theyre gonna pay for it too
Forbidden jimmy
Hes coming straight at you

song performed by John Prine
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Microphone Fiend

Yo, I was a fiend before I became a teen
I melted microphone instead of cones of ice cream
Music orientated so when hip-hop was originated
Fitted like pieces of puzzles, complicated
Shot grabbed the mic and try to say, yes yall!
They tried to take it, and say that Im too small
Cool, cause I dont get upset
I kick a hole in the speaker, pull the plug, then I jet
Back to the lab ...without a mic to grab
So then I add all the rhymes I had
One after the another one, then I make another one
To dis the opposite then ask if the brothers done
I get a craving like I fiend for nicotine
But I dont need a cigarette, know what I mean?
Im raging, ripping up the stage and
Dont it sound amazing cause every rhyme is made and
Thought of, cuz its sort of...an addiction,
Magnatized by the mixing
E-f-f-e-c-t
A smooth operator operating correctly.
An e-f-f-e-c-t
A smooth operator operating correctly.
E-f-f-e-c-t
A smooth operator operating correctly.
An e-f-f-e-c-t
A smooth operator operating correctly.
But back to the problem, I gotta habit,
You cant solve it, you silly rabbit
The prescription is a hypertone thats thorough when
I fiend for a microphone like heroin
Soon as the bass kicks, I need a fix
Gimme a stage and a mic and a mix
And Ill put you in a mood or is it a state of
Unawareness? beware, its the reanamator!
A menace to a microphone, a lethal weapon
An assasinator, if the people aint stepping
You see a part of me that you never seen
When Im fiending for a microphone.
Cause I take it to the maximum, I cant relax see, im
Hype as a hyperchrondriac cause the rap be one
Hell of a antidote, something you cant smoke
More than dope, youre trying to move away but you cant, youre broke
More than cracked up, you should have backed up
For those who act up need to be more than smacked up
E-f-f-e-c-t
A smooth operator operating correctly.
An e-f-f-e-c-t
A smooth operator operating correctly.
An e-f-f-e-c-t
A smooth operator operating correctly.

[...] Read more

song performed by Rage Against The Machine
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Wavelength

This is a song about your wavelength
And my wavelength, baby
You turn me on
When you get me on your wavelength
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
With your wavelength
Oh, with your wavelength
With your wavelength
With your wavelength
Oh mama, oh mama, oh mama, oh mama oh mama, oh mama
Wavelength
Wavelength
You never let me downno
You never let me downno
When Im down you always comfort me
When Im lonely you see about me
You are evry where youre sposed to be
And I can get your station
When I need rejuvenation
Wavelength
Wavelength
You never let me downno
You never let me downno
I heard the voice of america
Callin on my wavelength
Tellin me to tune in on my radio
I heard the voice of america
Callin on my wavelength
Singin come back, baby
Come back
Come back, baby
Come back
Do do do dou-dit do do doudit do do do do do
Do do do doudit do do doudit do do do do do
Wont you play that song again for me
About my lover, my lover in the grass, yeah, alright
You have told me bout my destiny
Singin come back, baby
Come back
Come back, baby
Come back
On my wavelength
Wavelength
You never let me downno
You never let me downno
When you get me on
When you get me on your wavelength
When you get me
Oh, yeah, lord
You get me on your wavelength

[...] Read more

song performed by Van Morrison
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Mr. Telephone Man

Mr. telephone man
There's something wrong with my line,
When i dial my baby's number
I get a click everytime
Mr. telephone man
There's something wrong with my line
When i dial my baby's number
I get a click every time
When i dial 611 computer service
She said "hello may i help you
Please?"
I told her something must be wrong
With my phone
Cause my baby wouldn't hang up
On me
Mr. telephone man
There something wrong with my line
When i dial my baby's number i get a
Click every time
Mr. telephone man
There something wrong with my line
When i dial my baby's number i get a
Click every time
She let the phone ring 20 times
Before she answered
Let me tell you what happened then
A minute later i got the operator
Saying please hang up and place
Your call agian
Mr. telephone man
There's something wrong with
My line
When i dial my baby's number
I get a click everytime
Mr. telephone man,
Soemthing's wrong with my line
I try to dial her number
I get a click everytime
Soem strange man is on the
Telephone
He keeps telling me my baby
Aint home
She got no party line
Situation blowing my mind
Oh, i just can't take this anymore
Please operator
See what you can do,
I dialed the right number
But i still couldn't get through
Could you just check the line

[...] Read more

song performed by New Edition
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Around The Dial

Radios of the world are tuning in tonight,
Are you on the dial, are you tuned in right?
One of our d.j.s is missing.
Are you listening?
Are you listening to me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me clearly?
Around the dial.
Ive been around the dial so many times,
But youre not there.
Somebody tells me that youve been taken off the air.
Well, you were my favorite d.j.,
Since I cant remember when.
You always played the best records,
You never followed any trend.
F.m., a.m. where are you?
You gotta be out there somewhere on the dial.
On the dial.
(are you ready) were going round the dial,
(are you listening) around the dial,
(are you tuned in) around the dial,
(are you searchin) around the dial.
F.m., a.m. where are you?
You gotta be out there somewhere on the dial.
On the dial.
Where did you go mr. d.j.?
Did they take you off the air?
Was it something that you said to the corporation guys upstairs?
It wasnt the pressure,
You never sounded down.
It couldnt be the ratings,
You had the best in town.
Somehow Im gonna find ya, track you down.
Gonna keep on searchin,
Around and around and round and round...
(theyre searchin) around the dial,
(theyre listenin) around the dial,
(poor station) the best in town,
(poor d.j.) who never let us down.
While the critics kept on knocking you,
You just kept on rocking around the dial.
Around the dial.
Ive been searchin for you on my radio.
This time your station really must have gone underground
Somebody said you had a minor nervous breakdown.
Was it something that you heard,
Or something that you saw,
That made you lose your mind,
Did you lose control.
Did you step out of line?

[...] Read more

song performed by Kinks
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Coast 2 Coast

I met a girl named hip hop in seventy eight
Hollis Queens New York gave us our first date
man she broke me off proper yo the girl was fast
and everybody kept telling me it would not last
cause ain't no women in the world supposed to be that sweet
and ya just can't trust a hot chick from the street
I could tell she had been through lots of struggle and strife
but yet in still she'd been with me over half of my life
born key Jeff Taylor took me into his home
and intrduced me to some tables and a microphone
hip hop talked to me told me take your time
at the age of eleven I bust my first rhyme
block partys in the day house partys at night
just about one year before Rapper's Delight
everybody in the crew called to make a request
cause rap's on the radio and hip-hop was blessed
didn't go to many clubs I wasn't old enough
And if it try to sneak it out my folks is scolding up
but I still do anything to get on stage
and once I got a club gig I lied about my age
just a couple blocks away was the Hollis crew
Run and them used to rock at one ninety two
up the street was a crew called Solo Sounds
where Davey D and Mex used to throw it down
man I wouldn't trade rap for anything in the world
hip hop meant more to me than diamonds and pearls
and I still reminicse to this very day
and I remember those words hip hop would say
(Do you have love for the east coast?)
yes I do
(the hip hop on the east coast?)
yeah that's true
from the 'yes yes y'all' to 'and you don't stop'
east coast played a role in making a hip hop
(Do you have love for the east coast?)
yeah that's right
(the hip hop on the east coast?)
yeah that's tight
from the 'yes yes y'all' to 'and you don't stop'
east coast played a role in making a hip hop
now I gotta get busy time to make that move
high school over with gotta sho' improve
got college on the coast and I'm makin' plans
so hip hip went and told me go west young man
it was a different kind of style but I liked the sound
everybody in the house gauranteed to get down
I did the casa skateland word on wheels
and the crazy crazy world of the record deal
K-day was the station that played my song
I got love from the people it's a shame they gone

[...] Read more

song performed by Young MC
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Nickels And Dimes

I used to stand on a corner when i was a child
And i'd play my guitar and sing as the people went by
The sidewalks were crowded but i'd just sing louder cause i didn't mind
Just spending my time, spinning my rhymes and singing for nickels and dimes
Nickels and dimes a song at a time for nickels and dimes
I'd brighten their day as they go on their way and they'd brighten mine
A sidewalk rehearsal for dreams that i held in my mind
I knew that someday in my own special i'd repay all their nickels and dimes
I recall the sidewalk each night as i stand on the stage
As i play my guitar and sing for the people who paid
Cause i finally made it to what they all call the big time
But i still remember i still owe some nickels and dimes
Nickels and dimes a song at a time for nickels and dimes
A sidewalk rehearsal for dreams that i held in my mind
So if you remember a child on the corner of time
You'll know that i wrote this to repay your nickels and dimes
Nickels and dimes a song at a time for nickels and dimes
A sidewalk rehearsal for dreams that i held in my mind
So if you remember a child on a corner of time
You'll know that i wrote this to repay your nickels and dimes
Nickels and dimes a song at a time for nickels and dimes
A sidewalk rehearsal for dreams that i held in my mind
So if you remember a child on a corner of time
You'll know that i wrote this to repay your nickels and dimes

song performed by Dolly Parton
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Nickels & Dimes

I used to stand on a corner when I was a child
And Id play my guitar and sing as the people went by
The sidewalks were crowded but Id just sing louder cause I didnt mind
Just spending my time, spinning my rhymes and singing for nickels and dimes
Nickels and dimes a song at a time for nickels and dimes
Id brighten their day as they go on their way and theyd brighten mine
A sidewalk rehearsal for dreams that I held in my mind
I knew that someday in my own special Id repay all their nickels and dimes
I recall the sidewalk each night as I stand on the stage
As I play my guitar and sing for the people who paid
Cause I finally made it to what they all call the big time
But I still remember I still owe some nickels and dimes
Nickels and dimes a song at a time for nickels and dimes
A sidewalk rehearsal for dreams that I held in my mind
So if you remember a child on the corner of time
Youll know that I wrote this to repay your nickels and dimes
Nickels and dimes a song at a time for nickels and dimes
A sidewalk rehearsal for dreams that I held in my mind
So if you remember a child on a corner of time
Youll know that I wrote this to repay your nickels and dimes
Nickels and dimes a song at a time for nickels and dimes
A sidewalk rehearsal for dreams that I held in my mind
So if you remember a child on a corner of time
Youll know that I wrote this to repay your nickels and dimes

song performed by Dolly Parton
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Tied Up (7' Version)

Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Gulemo Dilemma
Gulemo Dilemma
Tie me up, the city heat
Bring the bell, go down the street
Tie me up to the Babaumba Beat
Try to beat, try to fight
Take me back into the ring tonight
Shake it up, beat down the beat
Shake it up to the Babaumba Heat
It's the African Queen, we got the summer night grand
It's the African Queen, the hottest lady in town
It's the African Queen, who keeps me on my feet
It's the African Queen, the Babaumba Beat
All you need is love
Take my heart
And hold me tight forever, forever
Bombo-yo, ko ko ko bombo ya
Bombo-yo, ko ko ko bombo ya
Bombo-yo, ko ko ko bombo ya
Ring the bell
Roll down the street
Tie me up into the city heat
Take me guys, keep up the beat
Bring the bell into the city heat
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Gulemo Dilemma
Gulemo Dilemma
Got awaaaaaaaaaay
Got awaaaaaaaaaay
Got awaaaaaaaaaay (de-le-maaaaaa)
(bal-du-ah)
Take me guys, keep up the beat
Bring the bell into the city heat
Got awaaaaaaaaaay eko-ahll-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
Ring the bell, roll down the street
Tie me up into the city heat

[...] Read more

song performed by Yello
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Tied Up (7' Version)

Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Gulemo Dilemma
Gulemo Dilemma
Tie me up, the city heat
Bring the bell, go down the street
Tie me up to the Babaumba Beat
Try to beat, try to fight
Take me back into the ring tonight
Shake it up, beat down the beat
Shake it up to the Babaumba Heat
It's the African Queen, we got the summer night grand
It's the African Queen, the hottest lady in town
It's the African Queen, who keeps me on my feet
It's the African Queen, the Babaumba Beat
All you need is love
Take my heart
And hold me tight forever, forever
Bombo-yo, ko ko ko bombo ya
Bombo-yo, ko ko ko bombo ya
Bombo-yo, ko ko ko bombo ya
Ring the bell
Roll down the street
Tie me up into the city heat
Take me guys, keep up the beat
Bring the bell into the city heat
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Tied Up, Tied Up
Gulemo Dilemma
Gulemo Dilemma
Got awaaaaaaaaaay
Got awaaaaaaaaaay
Got awaaaaaaaaaay (de-le-maaaaaa)
(bal-du-ah)
Take me guys, keep up the beat
Bring the bell into the city heat
Got awaaaaaaaaaay eko-ahll-ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
Ring the bell, roll down the street
Tie me up into the city heat

[...] Read more

song performed by Yello
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Romeo

My baby wears his heart on his sleeve
He wears a look on his face that says please please please
Love it everything he flaunts love it
Everything he vaunts I just cant hesitate
When he wants what he wants
Oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka
And I said oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka
Last night he calls me on the telephone
You know at two in the morning I just want to sleep on
But he got a way with words and
He got a way with charm
You know at three in the morning hes back into my arms
And I said oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka
And I said oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka
Hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy
Hes my romeo oh, oh
Hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy
Hes my r-o-m-e-o, romeo
Hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy
Hes my romeo oh, oh
Hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy
Hes mine
My my romeo, my my romeo, my my romeo, my my romeo
He looks so good the girls stop and stare
But I soon wanna look with his double dark hair
Im not gonna let him go
Im not taking any chance
Its a one in million mad mad romance
Oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka
Oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka, oh chucka
Hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy
Hes my romeo oh, oh
Hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy
Hes my r-o-m-e-o, romeo
Hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy
Hes my romeo oh, oh
Hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy, hes the boy
Hes mine, romeo
My my romeo, my my romeo
Hes my romeo
My my romeo
Hes my romeo
My my romeo, hes my romeo
My romeo..

song performed by Donna Summer
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Beowulf

LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!
To him an heir was afterward born,
a son in his halls, whom heaven sent
to favor the folk, feeling their woe
that erst they had lacked an earl for leader
so long a while; the Lord endowed him,
the Wielder of Wonder, with world's renown.
Famed was this Beowulf: far flew the boast of him,
son of Scyld, in the Scandian lands.
So becomes it a youth to quit him well
with his father's friends, by fee and gift,
that to aid him, aged, in after days,
come warriors willing, should war draw nigh,
liegemen loyal: by lauded deeds
shall an earl have honor in every clan.
Forth he fared at the fated moment,
sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God.
Then they bore him over to ocean's billow,
loving clansmen, as late he charged them,
while wielded words the winsome Scyld,
the leader beloved who long had ruled….
In the roadstead rocked a ring-dight vessel,
ice-flecked, outbound, atheling's barge:
there laid they down their darling lord
on the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings,
by the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure
fetched from far was freighted with him.
No ship have I known so nobly dight
with weapons of war and weeds of battle,
with breastplate and blade: on his bosom lay
a heaped hoard that hence should go
far o'er the flood with him floating away.
No less these loaded the lordly gifts,
thanes' huge treasure, than those had done
who in former time forth had sent him
sole on the seas, a suckling child.
High o'er his head they hoist the standard,
a gold-wove banner; let billows take him,
gave him to ocean. Grave were their spirits,
mournful their mood. No man is able

[...] Read more

poem by Charles Baudelaire
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Eye 4 An Eye (Silencer Mix)

Even now in heaven
There were angels carrying savage weapons
An eye for an eye...(for an eye...)
A tooth for a tooth...(for a tooth...)
Run, run, run,
But you sure can't hide...(hide...hide)
An eye for an eye...(for an eye...)
A tooth for a tooth...(for a tooth...)
Run, run, run,
But you sure can't hide...(hide...hide)
Is that room been fit to earth?
Doesn't help the ??? to grow sunshine?
Is this darkness all you'll take?
Have you'd passed through this life?
Run, run, run, but you sure can't hide...(hide, hide...)
Where you're going you're not coming back from
Run, run, run, but you sure can't hide...(hide, hide...)
An eye for an eye...(for an eye...)
A tooth for a tooth...(for a tooth...)
Run, run, run,
But you sure can't hide...(hide...hide)
An eye for an eye...(for an eye...)
A tooth for a tooth...(for a tooth...)
Run, run, run,
But you sure can't hide...(hide...hide)
This grain evil
Where is it come from?
Had still the end of the world?
Who's doing this?
Who's killed us?
Marking us with the sign of the holy mighty man
Run, run, run...(run, run...)
Run, run, run...(run, run...)
An eye for an eye...(for an eye...)
A tooth for a tooth...(for a tooth...)
Run, run, run, but you sure can't hide...(hide...hide)
An eye for an eye...(for an eye...)
A tooth for a tooth...(for a tooth...)
Run, run, run,
But you sure can't hide...(hide...hide)
(An eye for an eye...)
Are you righteous?
(A tooth for a tooth...)
Kind?
(Run, run, run but you sure can't hide...)
Does your confidence lie in this?
(An eye for an

song performed by Unkle
Added by Lucian Velea
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Aruba Is for Many Out Of Reach

Life once had us running to the bank.
Banking on the prospect,
That investments in a future...
Would produce security.
Security fantasized,
To feed those whims and needs...
Afforded to please.

We believed that banking,
Was then a safe direction...
For a quality of life,
Respected to protect..
In quality ease!

If this was yesterday...
It would be okay,
To think about Aruba...
And snoozing on the beach.

If 'this' was yesterday...
We'd put our dimes away.
But unlike those yesterdays...
Today pinching dimes,
Gets rent timely paid!

If this was yesterday,
It would be okay...
To think about Aruba!
Just to snooze on the beach.
And...
Oiling heated skin,
Rubbing sand off our feet.

If 'this' was yesterday...
We'd put our dimes away.
But unlike those yesterdays...
A rent that's needed to be paid,
Is just a pinch away.

And today Aruba,
Is for many out of reach.

Because today Aruba,
Is a dream hard to keep!

If this was yesterday,
It would be okay...
To think about Aruba!
Just to snooze on the beach.
And...

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Lazy In Aruba

Life once had us running to the bank.
Banking on the prospect,
That investments in a future...
Would produce security.
Security fantasized,
To feed those whims and needs...
Afforded to please.

We believed that banking,
Was then a safe direction...
For a quality of life,
Respected to protect..
In quality ease!

If this was yesterday...
It would be okay,
To think about Aruba...
And snoozing on the beach.

If 'this' was yesterday...
We'd put our dimes away.
But unlike those yesterdays...
Today pinching dimes,
Gets rent timely paid!

If this was yesterday,
It would be okay...
To think about Aruba!
Just to snooze on the beach.
And...
Oiling heated skin,
Rubbing sand off our feet.

If 'this' was yesterday...
We'd put our dimes away.
But unlike those yesterdays...
A rent that's needed to be paid,
Is just a pinch away.

And today Aruba,
Is for many out of reach.

Because today Aruba,
Is a dream hard to keep!

If this was yesterday,
It would be okay...
To think about Aruba!
Just to snooze on the beach.
And...

[...] Read more

poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Georgics

GEORGIC I

What makes the cornfield smile; beneath what star
Maecenas, it is meet to turn the sod
Or marry elm with vine; how tend the steer;
What pains for cattle-keeping, or what proof
Of patient trial serves for thrifty bees;-
Such are my themes.
O universal lights
Most glorious! ye that lead the gliding year
Along the sky, Liber and Ceres mild,
If by your bounty holpen earth once changed
Chaonian acorn for the plump wheat-ear,
And mingled with the grape, your new-found gift,
The draughts of Achelous; and ye Fauns
To rustics ever kind, come foot it, Fauns
And Dryad-maids together; your gifts I sing.
And thou, for whose delight the war-horse first
Sprang from earth's womb at thy great trident's stroke,
Neptune; and haunter of the groves, for whom
Three hundred snow-white heifers browse the brakes,
The fertile brakes of Ceos; and clothed in power,
Thy native forest and Lycean lawns,
Pan, shepherd-god, forsaking, as the love
Of thine own Maenalus constrains thee, hear
And help, O lord of Tegea! And thou, too,
Minerva, from whose hand the olive sprung;
And boy-discoverer of the curved plough;
And, bearing a young cypress root-uptorn,
Silvanus, and Gods all and Goddesses,
Who make the fields your care, both ye who nurse
The tender unsown increase, and from heaven
Shed on man's sowing the riches of your rain:
And thou, even thou, of whom we know not yet
What mansion of the skies shall hold thee soon,
Whether to watch o'er cities be thy will,
Great Caesar, and to take the earth in charge,
That so the mighty world may welcome thee
Lord of her increase, master of her times,
Binding thy mother's myrtle round thy brow,
Or as the boundless ocean's God thou come,
Sole dread of seamen, till far Thule bow
Before thee, and Tethys win thee to her son
With all her waves for dower; or as a star
Lend thy fresh beams our lagging months to cheer,
Where 'twixt the Maid and those pursuing Claws
A space is opening; see! red Scorpio's self
His arms draws in, yea, and hath left thee more
Than thy full meed of heaven: be what thou wilt-
For neither Tartarus hopes to call thee king,

[...] Read more

poem by Virgil
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

V. Count Guido Franceschini

Thanks, Sir, but, should it please the reverend Court,
I feel I can stand somehow, half sit down
Without help, make shift to even speak, you see,
Fortified by the sip of … why, 't is wine,
Velletri,—and not vinegar and gall,
So changed and good the times grow! Thanks, kind Sir!
Oh, but one sip's enough! I want my head
To save my neck, there's work awaits me still.
How cautious and considerate … aie, aie, aie,
Nor your fault, sweet Sir! Come, you take to heart
An ordinary matter. Law is law.
Noblemen were exempt, the vulgar thought,
From racking; but, since law thinks otherwise,
I have been put to the rack: all's over now,
And neither wrist—what men style, out of joint:
If any harm be, 't is the shoulder-blade,
The left one, that seems wrong i' the socket,—Sirs,
Much could not happen, I was quick to faint,
Being past my prime of life, and out of health.
In short, I thank you,—yes, and mean the word.
Needs must the Court be slow to understand
How this quite novel form of taking pain,
This getting tortured merely in the flesh,
Amounts to almost an agreeable change
In my case, me fastidious, plied too much
With opposite treatment, used (forgive the joke)
To the rasp-tooth toying with this brain of mine,
And, in and out my heart, the play o' the probe.
Four years have I been operated on
I' the soul, do you see—its tense or tremulous part—
My self-respect, my care for a good name,
Pride in an old one, love of kindred—just
A mother, brothers, sisters, and the like,
That looked up to my face when days were dim,
And fancied they found light there—no one spot,
Foppishly sensitive, but has paid its pang.
That, and not this you now oblige me with,
That was the Vigil-torment, if you please!
The poor old noble House that drew the rags
O' the Franceschini's once superb array
Close round her, hoped to slink unchallenged by,—
Pluck off these! Turn the drapery inside out
And teach the tittering town how scarlet wears!
Show men the lucklessness, the improvidence
Of the easy-natured Count before this Count,
The father I have some slight feeling for,
Who let the world slide, nor foresaw that friends
Then proud to cap and kiss their patron's shoe,
Would, when the purse he left held spider-webs,
Properly push his child to wall one day!

[...] Read more

poem by Robert Browning from The Ring and the Book
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Canto the Second

I
Oh ye! who teach the ingenuous youth of nations,
Holland, France, England, Germany, or Spain,
I pray ye flog them upon all occasions,
It mends their morals, never mind the pain:
The best of mothers and of educations
In Juan's case were but employ'd in vain,
Since, in a way that's rather of the oddest, he
Became divested of his native modesty.

II
Had he but been placed at a public school,
In the third form, or even in the fourth,
His daily task had kept his fancy cool,
At least, had he been nurtured in the north;
Spain may prove an exception to the rule,
But then exceptions always prove its worth -—
A lad of sixteen causing a divorce
Puzzled his tutors very much, of course.

III
I can't say that it puzzles me at all,
If all things be consider'd: first, there was
His lady-mother, mathematical,
A—never mind; his tutor, an old ass;
A pretty woman (that's quite natural,
Or else the thing had hardly come to pass);
A husband rather old, not much in unity
With his young wife—a time, and opportunity.

IV
Well—well, the world must turn upon its axis,
And all mankind turn with it, heads or tails,
And live and die, make love and pay our taxes,
And as the veering wind shifts, shift our sails;
The king commands us, and the doctor quacks us,
The priest instructs, and so our life exhales,
A little breath, love, wine, ambition, fame,
Fighting, devotion, dust,—perhaps a name.

V
I said that Juan had been sent to Cadiz -—
A pretty town, I recollect it well -—
'T is there the mart of the colonial trade is
(Or was, before Peru learn'd to rebel),
And such sweet girls—I mean, such graceful ladies,
Their very walk would make your bosom swell;
I can't describe it, though so much it strike,
Nor liken it—I never saw the like:

[...] Read more

poem by Byron from Don Juan (1824)
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Pharsalia - Book IX: Cato

Yet in those ashes on the Pharian shore,
In that small heap of dust, was not confined
So great a shade; but from the limbs half burnt
And narrow cell sprang forth and sought the sky
Where dwells the Thunderer. Black the space of air
Upreaching to the poles that bear on high
The constellations in their nightly round;
There 'twixt the orbit of the moon and earth
Abide those lofty spirits, half divine,
Who by their blameless lives and fire of soul
Are fit to tolerate the pure expanse
That bounds the lower ether: there shall dwell,
Where nor the monument encased in gold,
Nor richest incense, shall suffice to bring
The buried dead, in union with the spheres,
Pompeius' spirit. When with heavenly light
His soul was filled, first on the wandering stars
And fixed orbs he bent his wondering gaze;
Then saw what darkness veils our earthly day
And scorned the insults heaped upon his corse.
Next o'er Emathian plains he winged his flight,
And ruthless Caesar's standards, and the fleet
Tossed on the deep: in Brutus' blameless breast
Tarried awhile, and roused his angered soul
To reap the vengeance; last possessed the mind
Of haughty Cato.

He while yet the scales
Were poised and balanced, nor the war had given
The world its master, hating both the chiefs,
Had followed Magnus for the Senate's cause
And for his country: since Pharsalia's field
Ran red with carnage, now was all his heart
Bound to Pompeius. Rome in him received
Her guardian; a people's trembling limbs
He cherished with new hope and weapons gave
Back to the craven hands that cast them forth.
Nor yet for empire did he wage the war
Nor fearing slavery: nor in arms achieved
Aught for himself: freedom, since Magnus fell,
The aim of all his host. And lest the foe
In rapid course triumphant should collect
His scattered bands, he sought Corcyra's gulfs
Concealed, and thence in ships unnumbered bore
The fragments of the ruin wrought in Thrace.
Who in such mighty armament had thought
A routed army sailed upon the main
Thronging the sea with keels? Round Malea's cape
And Taenarus open to the shades below
And fair Cythera's isle, th' advancing fleet

[...] Read more

poem by Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

The Tower Beyond Tragedy

I
You'd never have thought the Queen was Helen's sister- Troy's
burning-flower from Sparta, the beautiful sea-flower
Cut in clear stone, crowned with the fragrant golden mane, she
the ageless, the uncontaminable-
This Clytemnestra was her sister, low-statured, fierce-lipped, not
dark nor blonde, greenish-gray-eyed,
Sinewed with strength, you saw, under the purple folds of the
queen-cloak, but craftier than queenly,
Standing between the gilded wooden porch-pillars, great steps of
stone above the steep street,
Awaiting the King.
Most of his men were quartered on the town;
he, clanking bronze, with fifty
And certain captives, came to the stair. The Queen's men were
a hundred in the street and a hundred
Lining the ramp, eighty on the great flags of the porch; she
raising her white arms the spear-butts
Thundered on the stone, and the shields clashed; eight shining
clarions
Let fly from the wide window over the entrance the wildbirds of
their metal throats, air-cleaving
Over the King come home. He raised his thick burnt-colored
beard and smiled; then Clytemnestra,
Gathering the robe, setting the golden-sandaled feet carefully,
stone by stone, descended
One half the stair. But one of the captives marred the comeliness
of that embrace with a cry
Gull-shrill, blade-sharp, cutting between the purple cloak and
the bronze plates, then Clytemnestra:
Who was it? The King answered: A piece of our goods out of
the snatch of Asia, a daughter of the king,
So treat her kindly and she may come into her wits again. Eh,
you keep state here my queen.
You've not been the poorer for me.- In heart, in the widowed
chamber, dear, she pale replied, though the slaves
Toiled, the spearmen were faithful. What's her name, the slavegirl's?
AGAMEMNON Come up the stair. They tell me my kinsman's
Lodged himself on you.
CLYTEMNESTRA Your cousin Aegisthus? He was out of refuge,
flits between here and Tiryns.
Dear: the girl's name?
AGAMEMNON Cassandra. We've a hundred or so other
captives; besides two hundred
Rotted in the hulls, they tell odd stories about you and your
guest: eh? no matter: the ships
Ooze pitch and the August road smokes dirt, I smell like an
old shepherd's goatskin, you'll have bath-water?
CLYTEMNESTRA
They're making it hot. Come, my lord. My hands will pour it.

[...] Read more

poem by Robinson Jeffers
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!

Orlando Furioso Canto 20

ARGUMENT
Guido and his from that foul haunt retire,
While all Astolpho chases with his horn,
Who to all quarters of the town sets fire,
Then roving singly round the world is borne.
Marphisa, for Gabrina's cause, in ire
Puts upon young Zerbino scathe and scorn,
And makes him guardian of Gabrina fell,
From whom he first learns news of Isabel.

I
Great fears the women of antiquity
In arms and hallowed arts as well have done,
And of their worthy works the memory
And lustre through this ample world has shone.
Praised is Camilla, with Harpalice,
For the fair course which they in battle run.
Corinna and Sappho, famous for their lore,
Shine two illustrious light, to set no more.

II
Women have reached the pinnacle of glory,
In every art by them professed, well seen;
And whosoever turns the leaf of story,
Finds record of them, neither dim nor mean.
The evil influence will be transitory,
If long deprived of such the world had been;
And envious men, and those that never knew
Their worth, have haply hid their honours due.

III
To me it plainly seems, in this our age
Of women such is the celebrity,
That it may furnish matter to the page,
Whence this dispersed to future years shall be;
And you, ye evil tongues which foully rage,
Be tied to your eternal infamy,
And women's praises so resplendent show,
They shall, by much, Marphisa's worth outgo.

IV
To her returning yet again; the dame
To him who showed to her such courteous lore,
Refused not to disclose her martial name,
Since he agreed to tell the style be bore.
She quickly satisfied the warrior's claim;
To learn his title she desired so sore.
'I am Marphisa,' the virago cried:
All else was known, as bruited far and wide.

[...] Read more

poem by Ludovico Ariosto
Added by Poetry Lover
Comment! | Vote! | Copy!