Edwin Mar...

Edwin Markham:PreparednessFOR all your days prepare, And meet them ever alike: When you are the anvil, bear-- When you are the hammer, Strike. OutwittedHe drew a circle that shut me out-- Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in

The Worl...

The World Is Too Much with UsWilliam WordsworthThe world is too much with us; late and soon,Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;Little we see in Nature that is ours;We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,The winds that will be howling at all hours,And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,For this, for everything, we are out of tune;It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather beA Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Classic Poem - The Leaden-Eyed

The Leaden-Eyed Let not young souls be smothered out beforeThey do quaint deeds and fully flaunt their pride.It is the world's one crime its babes grow dull,Its poor are ox-like, limp and leaden-eyed.Not that they starve, but starve so dreamlessly;Not that they sow, but that they seldom reap;Not that they serve, but have no gods to serve;Not that they die, but that they die like sheep. -- Vachel LindsayComemnt:Some poets experience moments of extreme AWAKEness and clarity...

Favorite Poetry

Little known to most of the folks on my friends list, though probably guessable, I have had various flirtations and even a long term relationship with the various Muses...(Go here if you have no idea what I'm talking about):http://lona-kinley.freeservers.com/Mnemosyne.htmI might eventually post some of my own work online, in some format or another. For the moment, however, I've decided to post some of my favorite classic (public domain) poems in my Journal.For me, it's appropriate, as these poems usually have meaning that resonate with themes or personal experiences in my life. If for some reason you prefer not to see these, drop me an email or a comment following any of the poems, or this post and I will filter you out from the LJ post. Thanks,Ben

LOTR SONG FILK

LOL!!!A filk for Sauron:http://www.amiright.com/parody/80s/bananarama3.shtml

Favorite Poem # 1 - Kubla Khan -- Coleridge

Samuel Taylor ColeridgeKubla KhanOR, A VISION IN A DREAM.A FRAGMENT. In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree :Where Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to manDown to a sunless sea.(Snipped for brevity).....So twice five miles of fertile groundWith walls and towers were girdled round :And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree ;And here were forests ancient as the hills,Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. But oh ! that deep romantic chasm which slantedDown the green hill athwart a cedarn cover !A savage place ! as holy and enchantedAs e'er beneath a waning moon was hauntedBy woman wailing for her demon-lover !And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,A mighty fountain momently was forced :Amid whose swift half-intermitted burstHuge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail :And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and everIt flung up momently the sacred river.Five miles meandering with a mazy motionThrough wood and dale the sacred river ran,Then reached the caverns measureless to man,And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean :And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from farAncestral voices prophesying war !The shadow of the dome of pleasureFloated midway on the waves ;Where was heard the mingled measureFrom the fountain and the caves.It was a miracle of rare device,A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice ! A damsel with a dulcimerIn a vision once I saw :It was an Abyssinian maid,And on her dulcimer she played,Singing of Mount Abora.Could I revive within meHer symphony and song,To such a deep delight 'twould win me,That with music loud and long,I would build that dome in air,That sunny dome ! those caves of ice !And all who heard should see them there,.... [ Ben's Favorite Part ]And all should cry, Beware ! Beware !His flashing eyes, his floating hair !Weave a circle round him thrice,And close your eyes with holy dread,For he on honey-dew hath fed,And drunk the milk of Paradise. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Autumn of 1797 or (more likely) spring of 1798, published 1816, 1828, 1829, 1834 (proofed against E. H. Coleridge's 1927 edition of STC's poems and a ca. 1898 edition of STC's Poetical Works

Quiz

Actually, I think this thing measures luck....I did it in 5</big></b> seconds.I deserved an A++!!Take the How Dexterous Are You? Quiz!!