Paris
I knew when first I looked into her eyes,
And she in mine, that what has been must be,
And so let others say she told them lies:
She told no lie to me!
She spoke me fair, of lees as well as wine,
Then, with that subtlest charm of all her charms,
Half-dropped her languid lids, and at the sign
I ran into her arms!
Now it is she who flings my window wide
At dawn, and lets the perfumed morning in,
And she who walks so softly at my side,
Through noonday’s dust and din.
But, most of all, ’t is she, where blue night falls,
Whose firm, imperious fingers tap the pane,
And she whose velvet voice it is that calls,
Nor calls her own in vain!
It is as if the siren understood
How that she is so strong at this still hour,
That I could not repulse her if I would,
Nor would, had I the power:
As if she knew that, should I try to check
The strength of that enrapt, responsive thrill,
Let her but slide her arm about my neck,
And I obey her will!
So, when she speaks, I answer; when she woos,
Her voice, like wine, the slow pulse goads and spurs:
I go to meet her through the dropping dews,
And lean my lips to hers.
All the long hours run laughing into one—
The strange, sweet moment when the evening falls—
And, like a mother summoning her son,
Resistless Paris calls!
poem by Guy Wetmore Carryl from The Garden of Years and Other Poems (1901)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Meeting of Sighs
YOUR voice was the rugged
old voice that I knew;
I gave the best grip of
my greeting to you.
I knew not of your lips—
you knew not of mine;
Of travel and travail
we gave not a sign.
We drank and we chorused
with quips in our eyes;
But under our song was
the meeting of sighs.
I knew not of your lips—
you knew not of mine;
For lean years and lone years
had watered the wine.
poem by John Shaw Neilson
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The Attraction Of Drink
It calls to me every night,
Come, drink, let the liquid flow
Like magic down your throat
And it will take you to places
That only it can know.
So once again I lift
That glass to my lips,
And hear again that seductive voice
And the promises it makes,
And feel again that gentle glow
As it courses through my veins
'Til once again it shows me
The contents of my soul.
I don't know why
I need its liquid touch
But I know when it calls
I'll reach for it again.
So here's to excess and to wine
And sod the doctors orders.
When that wine calls out to me
My hand is on the glass.
poem by Paul Anthony
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Demons And Angels
He swore it was over and all in his past
A few hours later his hand's 'round a glass
A voice on the left says,
"There's peace in the wine"
From the right a voice whispers,
"Don't do it this time"
When he looks for the answer
down in his heart
Demons and angels tear him apart
She calls his name softly
as she lies in their bed
Listens for footsteps and prays for the best
She knows that he loves her
knows that he tries
But if he comes home drinking
she'll leave him tonight
She waits for the answer and
cries in the dark
while demons and angels tear him apart
For so long they've fought for his soul
The whisky and the woman at home
And they all know he must choose
the winner alone
There's not much that's sweeter
than a new life begun
Ain't much that's sadder
than a promise undone
He stares at the bottle,
longs for her arms
while demons and angels tear him apart
When he looks for the answer down in his heart
there's demons and angels that tear him apart
song performed by by Diamond Rio
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Long River
Where the long river flows
It flows by my window
Where the tall timber grows
It grows round my door
Where the mountains meet the sky
And the white clouds fly
Where the long river flows
By my window
Theres a tiny bird that calls
And he calls by my window
Theres a lonely tear that falls
And it falls round my door
But when the sun is high
Theres no time to cry
Where the long river flows
By my window
Now if only you could see
The closin of the day
If only you could be
Where the dawn breaks away
By the white cascade
Oh down in the glade
Where the long river flows
By my window
Well when this land was made
It was made full of wonder
But one womans love
I cant understand
And Id give it all to you
If her love were true
Where the long river flows
By my window
Where the long river flows
By my window
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As a World Would Have It
ALCESTIS
Shall I never make him look at me again?
I look at him, I look my life at him,
I tell him all I know the way to tell,
But there he stays the same.
Shall I never make him speak one word to me?
Shall I never make him say enough to show
My heart if he be glad? Be glad? … ah! God,
Why did they bring me back?
I wonder, if I go to him again,
If I take him by those two cold hands again,
Shall I get one look of him at last, or feel
One sign—or anything?
Or will he still sit there in the same way,
Without an answer for me from his lips,
Or from his eyes,—or even with a touch
Of his hand on my hand?…
“Will you look down this once—look down at me?
Speak once—and if you never speak again,
Tell me enough—tell me enough to make
Me know that you are glad!
“You are my King, and once my King would speak:
You were Admetus once, you loved me once:
Life was a dream of heaven for us once—
And has the dream gone by?
“Do I cling to shadows when I call you Life?
Do you love me still, or are the shadows all?
Or is it I that love you in the grave,
And you that mourn for me?
“If it be that, then do not mourn for me;
Be glad that I have loved you, and be King.
But if it be not that—if it be true …
Tell me if it be true!”
Then with a choking answer the King spoke;
But never touched his hand on hers, or fixed
His eyes on hers, or on the face of her:
“Yes, it is true,” he said.
“You are alive, and you are with me now;
And you are reaching up to me that I—
That I may take you—I that am a King—
I that was once a man."
So then she knew. She might have known before;
Truly, she thought, she must have known it long
Before: she must have known it when she came
From that great sleep of hers.
She knew the truth, but not yet all of it:
He loved her, but he would not let his eyes
Prove that he loved her; and he would not hold
His wife there in his arms.
So, like a slave, she waited at his knees,
And waited. She was not unhappy now.
She quivered, but she knew that he would speak
Again—and he did speak.
And while she felt the tremor of his words,
He told her all there was for him to tell;
And then he turned his face to meet her face,
That she might look at him.
She looked; and all her trust was in that look,
And all her faith was in it, and her love;
And when his answer to that look came back,
It flashed back through his tears.
So then she put her arms around his neck,
And kissed him on his forehead and his lips;
And there she clung, fast in his arms again,
Triumphant, with closed eyes.
At last, half whispering, she spoke once more:
“Why was it that you suffered for so long?
Why could you not believe me—trust in me?
Was I so strange as that?
“We suffer when we do not understand;
And you have suffered—you that love me now—
Because you are a man.… There is one thing
No man can understand.
“I would have given everything?—gone down
To Tartarus—to silence? Was it that?
I would have died? I would have let you live?—
And was it very strange?”
poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson
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Demons & Angels
He swore it was over and all in his past
A few hours later his hands round a glass
A voice on the left says,
theres peace in the wine
From the right a voice whispers,
dont do it this time
When he looks for the answer
Down in his heart
Demons and angels tear him apart
She calls his name softly
As she lies in their bed
Listens for footsteps and prays for the best
She knows that he loves her
Knows that he tries
But if he comes home drinking
Shell leave him tonight
She waits for the answer and
Cries in the dark
While demons and angels tear him apart
For so long theyve fought for his soul
The whisky and the woman at home
And they all know he must choose
The winner alone
Theres not much thats sweeter
Than a new life begun
Aint much thats sadder
Than a promise undone
He stares at the bottle,
Longs for her arms
While demons and angels tear him apart
When he looks for the answer down in his heart
Theres demons and angels that tear him apart
song performed by by Diamond Rio
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Riot, a Voice in the Fire
You voice calls out through fire
Is violence all you ever knew
What are you seeking to be heard
When the sky is lit with anger
You voices become lost in a scream
And looters steal from everyone
Without a care for the cost they inflict
This is no revolution in this town
Just a fight against your boredom
Lay down you arms and speak clear
Your voice calls out through fire
While the innocent look on afraid
Their message has been stolen
In the actions you have undertaken
I can see blood on your hands
You are free and freedom is glory
Until you abuse it for terror
What of the freedom of the innocent
What about their voice being heard
Your voice calls out through fire
I don’t even want to listen
Let it burn and pray you will burn with it
Your voice called out in fire
poem by Matthew Holloway
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To My Lady
When the tender hand of Night
Like a rose-leaf falls
Softly on your starry eyes;
When the Sleep-God calls,
And the gate of dreams is wide,
Wide the painted halls,
Dream the dream I send to you
Through your spirit’s walls!
Dream a lowly lover came,
Lady fair to woo;
Dream that I the lover was,
And the lady—you;
Dream your answer was a kiss,
Warm as summer dew—
Waking, in the rosy dawn,
Let the dream be true!
poem by Victor James Daley
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One With The Ruined Sunset
One with the ruined sunset,
The strange forsaken sands,
What is it waits, and wanders,
And signs with desparate hands?
What is it calls in the twilight -
Calls as its chance were vain?
The cry of a gull sent seaward
Or the voice of an ancient pain?
The red ghost of the sunset,
It walks them as its own,
These dreary and desolate reaches . . .
But O, that it walked alone!
poem by William Ernest Henley
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My God
If I should find myself in blackest night,
And fear is stabbin' me all over,
A tiny prayer cracks the dark with light,
And I here sounds behind my wall.
Inside, a still small voice, it calls and calls.
Then like a thunder bolt it falls and falls:
My God!
When life becomes more real than children's games,
Or we've become too old to play them,
We'll grow old gracefully,
We'll hide our shame. but there's that voice behind the wall.
And like my conscience, it is still and small.
Each word is mercy, protects us all:
My God!
"Et in lux perpetuo"
"Deu domine"
"Et in pax aeternus"
"Deu domine"
I was a boy, when tempted, fell sometimes,
And fell so low, no one could see me,
Save for the eyes of Him that sees my crime.
When sheep, like me, have drifted lost,
All frightened children who are tempest tossed,
Down flies His wrath like an albatross:
My God
song performed by by Alice Cooper
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
Clocks strikes upon the hour
And the sun begins to fade
Still enough time to figure out
How to chase my blues away
I've done alright up 'til now
It's the light of day that shows me how
And when the night falls loneliness calls
Chorus:
Oh! Wanna dance with somebody
I wanna feel the heat with somebody
Yeah! Wanna dance with somebody
With somebody who loves me
I've been in love and lost my senses
Spinning through the town
Soon or later the fever ends
And I wind up feeling down
I need a man who'll take a chance
On a love that burns hot enough to last
So when the night falls
My lonely heart calls
chorus
I need a man who'll take a chance
On a love that burns hot enough to last
So when the night falls
My lonely heart calls
chorus
song performed by by Whitney Houston from Whitney
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Allurement
FROM yonder hedge, from yonder spray,
He calls me onward and away.
Broad lies the world and fair to see;
The cuckoo calls—is calling me.
I have not seen or heard of Care,
Who used my very bed to share,
Since that first morn, when airily
The cuckoo, calling, called to me.
My sweetheart's face? I have forgot.
My mother? But she calls me not.
From the sweet bank, from the dim lea,
The cuckoo calls—is calling me.
And I must go—I may not choose;
No gain there is, nor aught to lose;
And soon—say, now—on some wild tree,
The bird sits long and waits for me.
poem by Margaret Steele Anderson
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Lonely Ol Night
She calls me up and says baby its a lonely ol night
I dont know Im just so scared and lonely all at the same time
Nobody told us it was gonna work out this way no, no, no, no, no
I guess they knew wed work it out in our own way
Chorus:
Its a lonely ol night
Can I put my arms around you
Its a lonely ol night
Custom made for two lonely people like me and you
Radio playing softly some singers sad sad song
Hes singing about standing in the shadows of love
I guess he feels awfully alone
She says I know exactly what he means yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
And its a sad, sad feeling when youre living on those in-betweens
But its okay
Chorus:
Its a lonely ol night
Can I put my arms around you
Its a lonely ol night
Custom made for two lonely people like me and you
She calls me baby she calls everybody baby
Its a lonely ol night but aint they all
Chorus:
Its a lonely ol night
Can I put my arms around you
Its a lonely ol night
Custom made for two lonely people like me and you
song performed by by John Mellencamp
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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For A Friend
(released as b-side of we wait and we wonder cd single, 1994)
When I saw him last
He had that look in his eyes
I said, do you need to talk?
He said, no.
So I called him up, asked him again and I waited a while -
He began to speak, then he started to cry
You know some things are best left unspoken
And some things just never work out
And sometimes, seems you try and you try and whatever you do
Theres a fix that youre in, and you just cant get out
He said, i need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on
Though I didnt know what
I knew that something was wrong
But he still had his pride
Hed tell me in time
Well this feeling inside
Kept eating at me
I was losing a friend, and I had to know why
When I heard the voice on the phone, I knew it was bad news
So I rushed to be by his side
And we said goodbye for the last time
I gently hugged him, and kissed him goodbye
He whispered, i need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on.
We were always laughing
I just remember laughing, mama
We were always laughing
Oh I need your help, I need it now
Give me the strength to go on
Though as time goes by, and it all becomes clear
We can see the deceit, we see the lies
So I asked myself, over and over, and over again
What did they know? what did they hide?
Fools, leading the innocent blindly
Fools, turning away
And I know that
When I think of my friend with that look in his eyes
And if they told the truth, he might be here today
I need your help, I need it now
Just give me the strength to go on, on
I remember the laughing
We were always laughing
Oh no - its just strength we need now
Just the strength to go on...
song performed by by Phil Collins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ultima Thule: The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Tide Rises, the Tide Falls, The
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore.
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls
The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveller hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea, the sea in the darkness calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveller to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.
poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Beyond the Blue
I was thinking today
If you would remember
Youd choose to remember
What you left me out there in the cold
Days fading away
I see you so near
I hear your voice calling
It calls me from these pages to you
Beyond the blue
So sudden too soon
Secrets we knew
And I was thinking today
If you would surrender
Youd choose to surrender
To feelings that you tried deserting
And if given the choice
Id still wait for the moment
Still wait for the moment
When I could have a hero like you
Beyond the blue
So sudden too soon
Secrets we knew
Days are fading away
But I see you clear
I hear your voice calling
It calls me from these pages to you
Beyond the blue
So sudden too soon
Secrets we knew
song performed by by 10000 Maniacs
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Love And Sweet Surrender
Within the purple hues at twilight time,
you are wrapped within these arms of mine
as love’s sweet surrender calls
while the sun sets and evening falls.
Here we stand as time is stilled
by our warm embrace;
the world we knew is gone
left without a trace.
We are left to be swallowed
by shadows when they call,
left alone in our dreams
of love and sweet surrender.
3 October 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Reprieve
A MOMENT since, he stood unmoved--alone;
Courage and thought on his resolvēd brow;
But hope is quivering in the broken tone,
Whose bitter anguish seems to shake him now:
Her light foot woke no echo as it came,
The rustling robe her sudden swiftness told;
She pleads for one who dies a death of shame;
She pleads--for agony and love are bold.
'Oh! hear me, thou, who in the sunshine's glare
So calmly waitest till the warning bell
Shall of the closing hour of his despair
In gloomy notes of muffled triumph tell.
Let him not die! Avenging Heaven is just;
Thine, a like fate in after years may be:
Thy forfeit head may gasping bite the dust,
While those thou lovest, plead in vain for thee!
Thou smilest sternly: thou could'st well brave death;
Hast braved it often on the tented field.
So fought my hero on th' ensanguined heath,
With desperate strength, that knew not how to yield:
But oh! the death whose punctual hour is set,
And waited for mid lingering thoughts of pain;
Where no excitement bids the heart forget,
And skill and courage are alike in vain;
Who shall find strength for that?--Oh! man, to whom
Fate, chance, or what thou wilt, hath given this hour--
Upon whose will depends his dreaded doom--
Doth it not awe thee, thinking of thy power?
In the wide battle's hot and furious rage,
Where the mix'd banners flutter to and fro,
Where all alike the desperate combat wage,
One of a thousand swords may pierce him through:
But, now, his life is in thy single hand:
To thee the strange and startling power is given--
And thou shalt answer for this day's command
When ye stand face to face in God's own Heaven.
Bear with me! pardon me this sudden start!
My words are bitter, for my heart is sore;
And oh! dark soldier of the iron heart,
Fain would I learn the speech should touch thee more!
He hath a mother--age hath dimm'd her sight--
But when his quick returning step comes nigh,
She smiles, as though she saw a sudden light,
And turns to bless him with a stifled sigh.
When to her arms a lonely wretch I go,
And she doth ask for him, the true and the brave,
While on her cheek faint smiles of welcome glow,
How shall I answer 'he is in the grave!'
He hath a little son--a mirthful boy,
Whose coral lips with ready smiles are curl'd;
Wilt thou quench all the spring-time of his joy,
And leave him orphan in a friendless world?
Hast thou no children?--Do no visions come,
When the low night-wind through the poplar grieves--
Echoes of farewell voices--sounds of home--
For which thy busy day no leisure leaves?
Some one doth love thee--some one thou dost love--
(For such the blessed lot of all on earth,)
Some one to whom thy thoughts oft fondly rove,
The sharer of thy sorrows and thy mirth;
Who with dim weeping eyes, and thoughts that burn,
Sees thy proud form lead forth th' embattled host;
To whom 'a victory' speaks of thy return--
And 'a defeat' means only thou are lost!
If such there be, (and on thy helm-worn brow
Sternness, not cruelty, doth seem to reign,)
Think it is she, who kneels before thee now,
Her heart which bursts with agony of pain.
'Hark--'T is the warning stroke--his hour is come--
I hear the bell slow clanging on the air--
I hear the beating of the muffled drum--
Thou hast a moment yet to save and spare!
Oh! when returning to thy native land,
Greeted with grateful tears and loud acclaim;
While gazing on thy homeward march they stand,
And smiling children shout thy welcome name:
How wilt thou bear the joyous village chimes,
Whose ringing peals remind thee of to-day--
Will not my image haunt thee at those times?
And my hoarse desperate voice seem yet to pray?
When thy long term of bloody toil is past,
And the hush'd trumpet calls no more to arms--
Will not his death thy tranquil brow o'ercast,
And rob that peaceful hour of half its charms?
When thy child's mother bends thy lip to press,
And her true hand lies clasp'd within thine own--
Will her low voice have perfect power to bless,
Remembering me, the widow'd and the lone?
When they embrace thee--when they welcome thee--
By all my hopes of Heaven, thy brow relents!
Oh! sign the paper--let his life go free--
Give it me quick!'--
'What ho! Raise her--the woman faints!'
poem by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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