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Favourite poem of all time!
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@ 12-10-2003 18:21 Masterful_Ally | 15,627 posts
| The title says it all - choose your one favourite poem, and tell us why you like it. Mine is 'London' by William Blake. I know it off by heart, thats how sad I am, hehe!
I love it and his work because it is so brave, he dared to speak out against the Catholic chruch and it's role in the extreme poverty of the time, and of all the socials ills of the terrible time in general....something very few other people had dared to do. He also writes beautifully and creatively, and he is the only person who has ever made me undertstand even slightly why people believe in God 
LONDON
I wander through each chartered street,
Near where the chartered Thames does flow,
A mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.
In every cry of every man,
In every infant's cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forged manacles I hear:
How the chimney-sweeper's cry
Every blackening church appals,
And the hapless soldier's sigh
Runs in blood down palace-walls.
But most, through midnight streets I hear
How the youthful harlot's curse
Blasts the new-born infant's tear,
And blights with plagues the marriage hearse.
Ally xxx |
| Showing posts 1-25 of 126 | Page 1 of 6 |
| Discussion |
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 0  @ 12-10-2003 18:24 anoobis | 15,407 posts
| langston hughes - let america be america again
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.
O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again! | | 0 @ 12-10-2003 18:26 Masterful_Ally | 15,627 posts
| "and why you like it"
please note that bit! | | 0 @ 12-10-2003 18:28 anoobis | 15,407 posts
| i dont think i need to explain y i like it | | 0 @ 12-10-2003 18:28 anoobis | 15,407 posts
| read it and ud know | | 0 @ 12-10-2003 18:30 xcr4zyx | 
31,691 posts
| Okay my cousin had to recite this poem to his class a couple of years ago and i memorized it bak then with him and i still remember it .. i love it cuz its fun .. im soo weird i know .. aw well...
Together we are Canada
My name is British Columbia
The jewel of the West Coast.
Forestry and fishing are
The things that I do most.
Hi, I am Alberta
A wild west kind of place
With cows and oil and mountains
And lots of open space.
I am Manitoba
And I’m Saskatchewan
We’re the golden prairies
Where fields of wheat grow in the sun Sunshine
Hi, I am Ontario
The home of government
To me each year the leaders
Of our democracy are sent.
Bonjour, I am Quebec
Here French is my language too
When I want to ask “how are you?”
I say, “comment t’allez vous?”
Newfoundland, New Brunswick
And Nova Scotia -- those are we,
We are Atlantic Provinces
The three musketeers of the sea.
I’m Prince Edward Island
And I know I may be small
But without me all the rest of you
Would have no potatoes at all.
The Yukon, Nunavut and North West
Territories are up north.
Through ice and cold and polar bears
Few brave souls venture forth.
Together we are Canada
One nation strong and free
With sharing, friends and happiness
Forever we will be!
| | 0 @ 12-10-2003 18:34 anoobis | 15,407 posts
| hehe i like that one | | 0 @ 16-10-2003 19:32 sexy_me69 | 103 posts
| My favourite poem is called Don't Quit
Dont Quit
When things go wrong
As they sometimes will
When the road you're trudging
Seems all uphill
When the funds are low
And the debts are high
And you want to smile
but you have to sigh
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must
but don't you quit
Sucess is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell
how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight
When you're hardest hit...
It's when things seem worst
that you must not quit!
I like this poem 'cause if your feeling low it kind of makes you feel better- if you know what i meanxxxx | | 0 @ 16-10-2003 20:16 megomoo | 374 posts
| this isnt my fave but i like it alot its untitled by simon armitage
I am very bothered when i think
of the bad things I have done in my life.
Not least that time in the chemistry lab
when i held a pair of scissors by the blades
and played the handles
in the naked lilac flame of the bunsen burner
then called your name, and handed them over.
O the unrivalled stench of burning skin
as you slipped your thumb and middle finger in,
then couldnt shake off the two burning rings. Marked, the doctor said, for eternity.
Dont believe me, please, if i say
that was just my butterfingered way, at 13,
of asking you to marry me.
i know it sound sick, but i love this because it is quite sweet, ambigous and nieve. | | 0 @ 17-10-2003 04:40 The_Crow_Reborn | 
334 posts
| "In the event of my demise"
In the event of my Demise
when my heart can beat no more
I Hope I Die For A Principle
or A Belief that I had Lived 4
I will die Before My Time
Because I feel the shadow's Depth
so much I wanted 2 accomplish
before I reached my Death
I have come 2 grips with the possibility
and wiped the last tear from My eyes
I Loved All who were Positive
In the event of my Demise
by Tupac Shakur | | 0 @ 17-10-2003 08:43 preciousdharl | 55 posts
| ok, this is a poem that a good friend of mine emailed to me when one of my loved ones past away. so i consider this one of my favorites.
*hugs sent from heaven*
when u feel a gentle breeze
caress u when u sigh
it's a hug sent from heaven
from a loved one way up high
if a soft and tender raindrop
lands upon ur nose
they've added a small kiss
as a fragile as a rose
if a song u hear fills u
with a feeling of sweet love
it's a hug sent from heaven
from someone special above
if u awaken in the morning
to a blubirds chirping song
it's music sent from heaven
to cheer u all day long
so keep the joy in ur heart
if ur lonely my dear friend
hugs that are sent from heaven
a broken heart will mend.
~unknown~
so....yeah, one of my fav. poems.
~precious~ | | 0 @ 18-10-2003 22:25 smurf1234 | 149 posts
| megamoo i like that a lot!  | | 0 @ 18-10-2003 22:41 Brent | 512 posts
| *Brent slips in*"Does a song count?"*Slips out!! | | 0 @ 18-10-2003 22:43 stupot | 14,962 posts
| One fish
Two fish
Red fish
Blue fish | | 0 @ 18-10-2003 22:43 stupot | 14,962 posts
| cos its cute and simple. | | 0 @ 18-10-2003 22:47 Guinness1759 | 5,220 posts
| here's when the fact I'm not a native english speaker kicks in... all my favorite poems are in hebrew, and if I try to translate them they'll loose alot...
but basically, I like poems that alowly get into you and them open up like an umbrella once they are inside... | | 0 @ 19-10-2003 15:59 megomoo | 374 posts
| thaks smurf i like it too i also like the fish one very cute | | 0 @ 21-10-2003 09:11 IceDragon08 | 20 posts
| My favorite poem:
The Tiger
by William Blake
Tiger, tiger, burning bright,
In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
When thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand forged thy dread feet?
What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dared its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did He smile his work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright,
In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Why? Coz I love tigers, and this poem...I just like this poem...can't really explain. Sry.  | | 0 @ 21-10-2003 09:21 Gangsta_Tears | 382 posts
| Here is my favorite poem:
Always There
Hello God, I called tonight
to talk a little awhile.
I need a friend who'll listen
to my anxiety and trial.
You see, I can't quite make it
through a day just on my own...
I need your love to guide me,
so I'll never feel alone.
I want to ask yu to please help keep
my family safe and sound.
Come and fill their lives with confidence
for whatever fate they're bound.
Give me faith, dear God, to face
each hour throughout the day,
and not worry over things
I can't change in any way.
I thank you God, for being home
and listening to my call,
for giving me such good adivce
when I stumble and fall.
Your number, God, is the only one
that answer every time.
I never get a busy signal,
never had to pay a dime.
So thank you, God, for listening
to my troubles and my sorrow.
Good night, God, I love you, too,
and I'll call again tomorrow.
~Author Unknown
Footprints in the Sand
One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along
the beach with the Lord.
Across the sky
flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he
noticed two sets of footprints
in the sand; on belonging to him
and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene
of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the
footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times
along the path of his life
there was only one set of prints.
He also noticed that this happened
at the very lowest and
sadddest times of his life.
This really bothered him,
and he questioned the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said that once I decided
to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during
the most troublesome times of my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed you
the most you would leave me."
The Lord replied, "My precious,
precious child, I love you
and I would never leave you.
During your times of trail and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."
~Author Unknown
I am not very religious, but these poems actually touched my heart. If you read them you will see why they are my favorites. | | 0 @ 21-10-2003 10:17 KingJeZter | 9,999 posts
| Hawk Roosting
I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed.
Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.
The convenience of the high trees!
The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth's face upward for my inspection.
My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, my each feather:
Now I hold Creation in my foot
Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly -
I kill where I please because it is all mine.
There is no sophistry in my body:
My manners are tearing off heads -
The allotment of death.
For the one path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right:
The sun is behind me.
Nothing has changed since I began.
My eye has permitted no change.
I am going to keep things like this.
-Ted Huges
| | 0 @ 22-10-2003 13:19 Cazper | 315 posts
|
T.S.Elliott - Macavity: The Mystery Cat
Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw -
For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime - Macavity's not there!
Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime - Macavity's not there!
You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air -
But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!
Mcavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin;
You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.
His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed;
His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he's half asleep, he's always wide awake.
Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
For he's a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity.
You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square -
But when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there!
He's outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's.
And when the larder's looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,
Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke's been stifled,
Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair -
Ay, there's the wonder of the thing! Macavity's not there!
And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty's gone astray,
Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair -
But it's useless to investigate - Mcavity's not there!
And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:
`It must have been Macavity!' - but he's a mile away.
You'll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs,
Or engaged in doing complicated long-division sums.
Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
He always has an alibi, and one or two to spaer:
At whatever time the deed took place - MACAVITY WASN'T THERE!
And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known
(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime!
Ive loved this poem forever (well, since i heard it) and i just think its ace. Thats my reason.
 rock on | | 0 @ 30-10-2003 00:17 punk_in_canada | 1,666 posts
| -
Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it “Chops”
because that was the name of his dog
And that’s what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
And he let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born
With tiny toenails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of X’s
and he had to ask his father what the X’s meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it
Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it “Autumn”
because that was the name of the season
And that’s what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint
And the kids told him
that Father Tracy smoked cigars
And left butts on the pews
And sometimes they would burn holes
That was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
And his father never tucked him in bed at night
And his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it
Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
And he called it “Innocence: A Question”
because that was the question about his girl
And that’s what it was all about
And his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
That was the year that Father Tracy died
And he forgot how the end
of the Apostle’s Creed went
And he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
And his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
And the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
And at three A.M. he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly
That’s why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
And he called it “Absolutely Nothing”
Because that’s what it was really all about
And he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
And he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didn’t think
he could reach the kitchen. | | 0 @ 30-10-2003 10:51 Masterful_Ally | 15,627 posts
| If you like the poem 'The Tyger' you g=have to read it's partner poem, 'The Lamb' - it's great, the tiger and the lamb are supposed to show the two contrary states of the human soul with respect to creation.
* offtopic :
(sorry, I am a Blake freak, lol.)
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and he is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb.
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
* offtopic :
If anyone has anything they'd like to add about someone elses poem choice, go right ahead! It's nice to know more about your favourite poems.
Ally xxx | | 0 @ 11-11-2003 22:59 radiate86 | 3,311 posts
| IceDragon...I had to read that poem in my English class. It's a wicked good poem, especially after understanding it better. There's also a short story called 'The Tiger' I believe, amd it mentions a line from the poem, or something. We had to read the story. It was good. | | 0 @ 12-11-2003 01:07 cheech | 9,352 posts
| ok i feel like sharing two if my fav poems...
Happiness by Priscilla Leonard
Happiness is like a crystal,
Fair and exquisite and clear,
Broken in a million pieces,
Shattered, scattered far and near
Now and then along life's pathway,
Lo! Some shining fragments fall;
But there are so many pieces
No on ever finds them all.
You may find a bit of beauty,
Or an honest share of wealth,
While another just beside you
Gathers honor, love or health.
Vain to choose or grasp unduly,
Broken is the perfect ball;
And there are so many pieces
No one ever finds them all.
Yet the wise as on they journey
Treasure every fragment clear,
Fit them as they may together,
Imagining the shattered sphere,
Learning ever to be thankful,
Though their share of it is small;
For it has so many pieces
No one ever finds them all.
Drop Pebble in the Water by James W. Foley
Drop a pebble in the water; just a splash, and it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to the sea.
And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be.
Drop a pebble in the water; in a minute you forget,
But there's little waves a-flowing, and there's ripples circling yet,
And those little waves a-flowing to a great big wave have grown;
You've disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone.
Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on.
They keep spreading, spreading, spreading from the center as they go,
And there is no way to stop them, once you've started them to flow.
Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute you forget;
But there's little waves a-flowing, and there's ripples circling yet,
And perhaps in some sad heart a mighty wave of tears you've stirred,
And disturbed a life was happy ere you dropped that unkind word.
Drop a word of cheer and kindness: just a flash and it is gone;
But there's half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Bearing hope and joy and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave
Til you wouldn't believe the volume of the one kind word you gave.
Drop a word of cheer and kindness: in a minute you forget;
But there's gladness still a-swelling, and there's joy a-circling yet,
And you've rolled a wave of comfort whose sweet music can be heard
Over miles and miles of water just by dropping one kind word.
peace
cheech | | 0 @ 12-11-2003 01:18 Cheater138 | 
18,832 posts
| I don't think this one has a name. A friend of mine wrote it, actually alot of the ones I have are hers and they are really good.
I look around-
my sight is blurred...
I cant hold this in
I’m crying alone so I wont be heard
I blink-
down goes the tear drops off my cheeks
I’ve tried so many times to get over you
Nothing has worked, its been so many weeks...
I close my eyes-
I cant help but see
So many of the things I miss
About how we used to be
I open them again-
I’m crying in my bed
I see myself here alone
Wishing I was dead
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