The best artist has that thought alone Which is contained within the marble shell; The sculptor's hand can only break the spell To free the figures slumbering in the stone.
quote by Michelangelo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Stone Cold
Every night I have the same old dream
bout you and me and whats in between
So many changes, so many lies
Try to run, try to hide
>from everything that I feel inside
But I cant escape you or your frozen eyes...
Searching in the darkness
Fading out of sight
Love was here and gone like a thief in the night...
Stone cold...
And I thought I knew you so well
Stone cold
Cant break away from your spell
Another dark and empty night
If I was wrong I wanna make it right
But you are so distant, so far away
Your words like ice fall on the ground
Breaking the silence without a sound
Oh familiar strangers with nothing to say
Searching in the darkness
Fading out of sight
Love was here and gone like a thief in the night...
Stone cold...
And I thought I knew you so well...
Stone cold
Cant break away from your spell...
You leave me stone cold
Searching in the darkness
Fading out of sight
Love was here and gone like a thief in the night...
Stone cold...
And I thought I knew you so well
Stone cold
Cant break away from your spell
Youre stone cold...yeah
I cant break away from your spell
Stone cold...baby
I thought I knew you so well
Youre stone cold...ice cold
Cant break away from your spell
(you put me in the deep freeze)
(oh baby dont you leave me)
(stone...cold, your leavin me cold)
Stone cold...i thought I knew you so well
Stone cold...cant break away from your spell
Repeat til fade
song performed by by Rainbow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
A Monument For The Soldiers
A monument for the Soldiers!
And what will ye build it of?
Can ye build it of marble, or brass, or bronze,
Outlasting the Soldiers' love?
Can ye glorify it with legends
As grand as their blood hath writ
From the inmost shrine of this land of thine
To the outermost verge of it?
And the answer came: We would build it
Out of our hopes made sure,
And out of our purest prayers and tears,
And out of our faith secure:
We would build it out of the great white truths
Their death hath sanctified,
And the sculptured forms of the men in arms,
And their faces ere they died.
And what heroic figures
Can the sculptor carve in stone?
Can the marble breast be made to bleed,
And the marble lips to moan?
Can the marble brow be fevered?
And the marble eyes be graved
To look their last, as the flag floats past,
On the country they have saved?
And the answer came: The figures
Shall all be fair and brave,
And, as befitting, as pure and white
As the stars above their grave!
The marble lips, and breast and brow
Whereon the laurel lies,
Bequeath us right to guard the flight
Of the old flag in the skies!
A monument for the Soldiers!
Built of a people's love,
And blazoned and decked and panoplied
With the hearts ye build it oft
And see that ye build it stately,
In pillar and niche and gate,
And high in pose as the souls of those
It would commemorate!
poem by James Whitcomb Riley
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Death of Magnus Kep
It was ages since I'd seen him,
So I felt quite out of step
With the old Etruscan sculptor
That I knew as Magnus Kep,
He was brooding in an alley
By an old Byzantine store,
Then he saw me, and he beckoned,
And we walked along the shore.
He was hunting there for marble,
For his studio in Graz,
But we stopped in at a wine bar
And we sampled their Shiraz,
And he told me things he'd never said
To anyone before,
About why he searched the Holy Land,
And ruins, by the score.
'I can see their shapes within each block
Of marble, ' he had said,
'And I know that they are waiting
To be freed, because they're dead,
But they lived so long ago that they
Are patient, in despair,
Though their limbs are still as supple,
And there's fragrance in their hair.'
I was sure the heat had got to him,
His eyes had fairly gleamed,
And I thought his mind disordered,
But I listened to his theme,
He was looking for the marble
That contained the wanton form
Of a pornographic priestess
He had glimpsed the year before.
'She was lying in the harbour,
At the bottom of the sea,
Only fifteen feet of water
Separated her from me,
She had lived a thousand years
Before the walls had tumbled in
To the harbour, where she frolicked
In the service of the king.'
Then we stopped and peered over
At the slight and gentle swell,
Down and through the clear water,
There were pillars, where they fell,
There were blackened slabs of marble lying
Scorched, as if by fire,
Where the mighty Alexander
Burned the city known as Tyre!
'Can you see her there? ' he pointed,
And I saw a marble slab,
Lying half upon a pillar,
It was worn, and dull and drab,
'Do you see that haughty forehead,
Do you see her pointed breasts? '
But I only saw a weathered stone,
He conjured all the rest.
We parted, and I heard that he
Had raised that mighty stone,
Had shipped it back to Graz where he
Could work on it alone,
The seasons came and went before
I thought to follow on,
And asked about his sculpture then,
His eyes had fairly shone.
He led me to the basement and
He showed me through the door,
He'd chiseled out just half of it,
That nearest to the floor,
The woman's legs were parted and
Inviting to the king,
Her vulva gaping proudly like
Some fertile offering.
It took my breath away, I stood
And scanned those supple thighs,
Like frankincense and myrrh they were
A balm upon my eyes,
I saw that she was locked in there,
The sculptor hadn't lied,
He'd simply chipped the stone away
And there she was, inside!
I asked him then, 'How long before
We get to see her face? '
He said it didn't matter, he
Would try to lend her grace,
'She's painted like a whore, ' he said,
'Back then, it was the thing,
Her duty was to paint her face
To please her lord, the king! '
For months I sat and wondered how
She'd looked, as she emerged,
She'd lain in stone three thousand years
When Kep had felt the urge
To chisel from her marble vault
Her buttocks, waist and thighs,
Reveal again to living men
The wonder of their eyes!
I never saw Kep whole again,
Confusing? Yes, I know!
They said they'd had to lay him out
Down at his studio.
His head was in a basket, where they'd
Shown him disrespect,
To free him from the fingers she
Had gripped... around his neck!
2 July 2010
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Sound of Silence
I’m walking down the street
and I hear the sculptor in his house
working on his statue of Krishna
and the chisel rings out on the stone
like a bell that wants to tell you something:
the stone saying, I am perfectly made for this;
the chisel saying, I am perfectly made for this;
the sculptor saying, this is prayer;
Krishna saying, I shall enter this.
And I hear in the sound of the chisel on the stone,
as sure as I know my own name,
that the sculptor is listening to all this too.
The bell-like sound lingers in the air
as if the air would keep it for ever
as the air’s prayer. It’s music.
The clearer the sound
of his striking chisel on stone,
the deeper the silence
as if sound and silence between them
know a secret: that sounds like this
can do anything in the world;
even call Krishna with their music
to play at being stone for us.
The stone’s laughing also:
playing at being Krishna.
They’re both laughing.
The sculptor is smiling too.
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Philosopher, the Young Man, and his Statue
A Fond Athenian Mother brought
A Sculptor to indulge her Thought,
And carve her Only Son;
Who to such strange perfection wrought,
That every Eye the Statue caught
Nor ought was left undone.
A youthful Smile adorn'd the Face,
The polish gave that Smile a Grace;
And through the Marble reigns
(Which well the Artist's Skill cou'd trace,
And in their due Positions place)
A Thread of purple Veins.
The Parasites about it came,
(Whose Praises were too large to name)
And to each other said;
The Man so well had reach'd his Aim,
Th' Original cou'd o'er it claim
Only a native Red.
Mean while a Sage, amidst the Croud,
Thus, with a Precept wise and loud,
Check'd the Vain-glorious Boy;
By telling him, who now grew proud,
That tho' with Beauty 'twas endow'd,
The Figure was a Toy:
Of no Advantage to the State,
'Twou'd neither combate, nor debate,
But idly stand alone;
Bids him beware, whilst Men create
In Stone thus his Resemblance great,
He proves not like the Stone.
poem by Anne Kingsmill Finch
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
That One Time, When I Saw Her Eyes
I caught a glimpse once,
A long silent stare
Amidst the sickly sunshine blare
Of the green marble starlight show.
The stone lifted and all was gone
Amidst that sultry stare,
Body and soul submerged
Into the midnight pupil
Centered in that
Green marble starlight
Caught within said awkward stare.
Yes, that shell, that silly schoolyard show
So succumb to the
Might of that mystic
Green marble starlight
Glow
And all was right, yes all was right,
If only for a second
Until her shell stood up to go.
(2011)
Samvel Aleksanyan © All Rights Reserved
Break His Spell
You got that far away look in your eyes.
But are you looking at me or at some other guy
Whos got you hypnotized,
Got you mesmerized,
Keep you tranquilized with ever kind of lie.
Still he makes you cry,
So baby realize that i...
Im gonna break his spell.
Ill put him in his place and get you out of this hell.
Im gonna break his spell.
Take this relationship and send it straight to the well.
Im gonna break his spell.
Baby Im gonna break his spell.
Yes I will.
Its been a while since Ive known somethings wrong.
At first you had me thinking everything was gone.
I got a late start.
I let him steal your heart.
I let that fool come in and tear our world apart.
But hes not that smart.
Another love shark and i...
Im gonna break his spell.
Ill put him in his place and get you out of this hell.
Im gonna break his spell.
Take this relationship and send it straight to the well.
Im gonna break his spell.
Baby Im gonna break his spell.
Yes I will.
song performed by by Reo Speedwagon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Unintelligent Design
An hour a day,
sometimes more,
I chipped away
with mallet and chisel
on a block of marble
I found in Carrara
and shipped to New York
on the deck of a trawler.
I offered the marble
to a famous sculptor
who told me he works
in granite only
so I grabbed his beret
and one of his smocks
and said I'd sculpt
the block myself
with whittling skills
picked up as a kid
from a drunken uncle
named Whittling Sid.
Several weeks later,
to my surprise,
I finished the bust
of a chimpanzee
simply by wielding
mallet and chisel
the way I wield
pencil and eraser
when hewing a poem.
Working with marble
or working with words,
a sculptor or poet
proves less is more
by chipping away
until something emerges
upright and walking
with a soul of its own.
poem by Donal Mahoney
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Free Me
Free me, free me
Why wont you free me
Free me from your spell
Come on and free me
Why wont you free me
Come on and free me
Free me from your spell
Why should I worry
That you might not love me
Youre not the only love
That Ive ever had
Your sweet memory
Will always comfort me
So why should I be feeling sad
As far as I can tell
You knew so well
I was always
At the end of the line
Ive loved you as much
As any man can
But not enough
To make you mine
So long, easy rider
I know Ill miss you for awhile
But sooner or later
I know that Ill forget you
And I tell you babe
Free me
Come on and free me
Why wont you free me
Free me from your spell
Oh babe, free me
Why wont you free me
Come on and free me
Free me from your spell
We let a good love die
We let it pass us by
Though you tried to
Keep me hangin on
But with all this doubt
Itll never work out
So tomorrow Ill be travellin on
And saying:
So long, easy rider
I know Ill miss you for awhile
But sooner or later
I know that Ill forget you
And I beg it babe
Free me
Come on and free me
Why wont you free me
Free me from your spell
Come on and free me
Im on my knees, babe
Free me
Why wont you free me
Free me from your spell
Oh babe, come on
Come on and free me
Why wont you free me
Free me from this spell
song performed by by Uriah Heep
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Ironic
An old man turned ninety-eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
And isn't it ironic...dontcha think
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought...it figures
Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids goodbye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well isn't this nice..."
And isn't it ironic...dontcha think
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought...it figures
Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face
A traffic jam when you're already late
A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break
It's like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife
It's meeting the man of my dreams
And then meeting his beautiful wife
And isn't it ironic...dontcha think
A little too ironic...and yeah I really do think...
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought...it figures
Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny
song performed by by Alanis Morissette from Jagged Little Pill
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Getting To Know You Well
Turn back another page
Reading the words she sent today
Feeling my capsize
Gazing at photographs of you
Hearing the baby cry
Then watching his mother try to soothe
Living the terminal lies
Hoping my dreams come true tonight
Getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
Just wish I could break your shell
I'm getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
I think we might be okay
Chewing on ice cream cones
Seeing the sun shine down to you
Out in a rowing boat
Seeing the seagull spy for food
Pulling the daisy chains
Losing myself again with you
Wish it could stay like this
Cause yesterday went away too soon
Getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
Just wish I could break your shell
I'm getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
I think we might be okay
Getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
Just wish I could break that shell
I'm getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
I think we might be okay
Trying hard to find a reason
With every step I take I'm sinking
I wish that I could say I'm coming
With every breath I'm choking
Waking up late today
Sleeping in clothes that stick to you
Hearing the plane fly by
Staring at paper clouds and hills
Getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
Just wish I could break your shell
I'm getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
I think we might be okay
Getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
Just wish I could break that shell
I'm getting to know you well (Getting to know you well)
I think we might be okay
song performed by by Feeder
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.
quote by Michelangelo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Heart Turns To Stone
The days and nights you sit around wondering where can
She be
Hoping that she might appear, out of nowhere
But you fail to see
All the hurt inside, the wounded pride
Ooh what she went through for you
You cheated and lied, as her love slowly died
And her heart just broke in two
When she was with you, all along
Behind you right or wrong
She tried to hold on, hold on
But you went too far, and shes gone
And now its over and her heart turns to stone
No time for pity, when her heart turns to stone
She cries a little as her heart turns to stone
Shes that kind of woman
Shell do fine on her own
What you thought was a game
A game you were winning
Wouldnt go your way
Now youve lost what you had
And your back to the beginning
Its the price you have to pay
When she was with you, all along
Behind you right or wrong
She tried to hold on, hold on
But you went too far, and shes gone
And now its over and her heart turns to stone
No time for pity, when her heart turns to stone
She cries a little as her heart turns to stone
Shes that kind of woman
Shell get by on her own
She hides the pain
But her heart turns to stone
No time for pity
When her heart turns to stone
She cries sometimes
As her heart turns to stone
Shes that kind of woman
Shell get by on her own
Yeah its over
And her heart turns to stone
Dont look for pity now
When her heart turns to stone
Listen to her cry
Listen to her cry
Shes a woman now
Ooh its a sad thing to see
To see a heart turn to stone
The heart of a woman
A heart turned to stone
song performed by by Foreigner
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Lightning In The Sky
Lightning in the sky
Thunder on the ground
Man and beast alike
Seeking shelter from the storm
All around there is fear in the air
All around there is fear in the air
Burning drops of rain
Flood my thirsty soul
Cold chills to the bone
Glowing eyes filled with pain
All around theres a cry no one hears
All around theres a cry no one hears
Always on the run
Never taking time to see
Beauty all around
Natures dance is just for me
All around, natures dance
Just for me
All around, natures dance
Just for me
Rainbows glowing high
Evening shadows fall
Dont you wait for me
I wont be back for your call
I am free from your spell, I am free
I am free from your spell, I am free
I am free from your spell, I am free
Free, free, free...
Free from your spell, I am free
song performed by by Santana
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Guido Sebaldi
Guido Sebaldi the mason
Worked at a house of stone:
Guido Sebaldi the mason
Sand at his work alone.
Till a stranger, he said unto him
As he hammer'd the stone one day'
'Guido Sebaldi the mason,
Hark to the words I say!'
'Leave thou this work, fit only
For oxen that draw the plough:
No longer Sebaldi the mason,
Guido the sculptor thou!'
Then Guido Sebaldi the mason
Look'd on his work in shame.
And 'Lo,' he said, 'I am lusty,
I will build me a noble name.'
Guido Sebaldi the sculptor
Toil'd till his heart grew sore.
Guido Sebaldi the sculptor
Sang at his work no more.
Vainly Sebaldi the mason
Hammer'd the senseless stone.
Vainly Sebaldi the mason
Sigh'd at his work alone.
His hands were ready and skillful,
And his days with toil were rife,
But the soul of the master was needed
To waken the stone to life.
Sadly Sebaldi the mason
Went back to the house of stone;
And his brow once more grew cheery
As he sat at his work alone.
But yet he was always thinking
Of hopes that were long since o'er;
And Guido Sebaldi the mason
Sang at his work no more.
poem by Cicely Fox Smith
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.
quote by Alexis Carrel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Show-Piece
Behold! knees curled up to his chin
Head down, his empty bowl shaken
Fatigued and languished with weary mind
On penniless status for his bread...
Pity, even unaware of somebody playing upon
Poor beggar, a pose of hapless repose
An act of begging on loss
But an utility for a sculptor behind
The chisel shaping up poverty well formed
Benefitted is the sculptor in bucks
Soiled emotions to the beggar glue
His concaved belly nothing to pursue
Unnoticeably trespassed the sculptor to crop
A faint sitting target artistically on whop
Sold off by re-makes, the sculptor's ooh!
In a rich man's house seated respectfully
Is the pauper carved carefully
Out of a heavy stone looking meaningfully
With unshaken bowl for pennies hopefully!
poem by Indira Renganathan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Statue Got Me High
The statue got me high
The statue got me high
A monument of granite sent a beam into my eye
The statue made me die
The statue made me die
It took my hand it killed me and it threw me to the sky
The stone it called to me
(and now I see the things the stone has shown to me)
A rock that spoke a word
(an animated mineral it can be heard)
And though I once preferred a human being's company
they pale before the monolith that towers over me
The statue got me high
The statue got me high
The truth is where the sculptor's chisel chipped away the lie
The statue made me fry
The statue made me fry
My coat contained a furnace where there used to be a guy
The stone it called to me
(and now I see the things the stone has shown to me)
A rock that spoke a word
(an animated mineral it can be heard)
And as the screaming fire engine siren filled the air
the evidence had vanished from my charred and smoking chair
and what they found was just a statue
standing where the statue got me high
And now it is your turn
(your turn to hear the stone and then your turn to burn)
The stone it calls to you
(you can't refuse to do the things it tells you to)
And as the screaming fire engine siren fills the air
the evidence will vanish from your charred and smoking chair
and what they found was just a statue
standing where the statue got me high
and what they'll find is just a statue
standing where the statue got you high
song performed by by They Might Be Giants
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Who Said I Would
I know she says she wants me
I hear it every day
And I know she know it keeps me
Well there aint no other way
But shes got a heart must be made of stone
Cos when I tell her that shell miss me when Im gone
She says
Who said I would
She knows it aint easy for a simple boy like me
She fills me full of loving
Oh then she sets me free
But shes got a heart must be made of stone
Cos when I tell her that shell miss me when Im gone
She says
Who said I would, tell me, who said I would
Who said I would, who said I would
Im not the only one but I do fine
I suit her purpose and Im just her kind
I dont own her and I never could
Dont think I do, dont think I should
Tell me
Who said I would, who said I would
But shes got a heart must be made of stone
And when I tell her that shell miss me when Im gone
Youre not the only one but you do fine
You suit my purpose and youre just my kind
I dont own me and you never could
Dont think you do, dont think you should
Who said I would (who said I would)
Now she knows when she calls me
Ill come running every time
And she knows she gets me hot
But she dont know its her body never mine
And shes got a heart must be made of stone
Cos when I tell her that shell miss me when Im gone
She says
Who said I would, tell me, who said I would
Who said I would, who said I would
song performed by by Phil Collins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Immaculate Mary
She reigns above the grimy thoroughfare
where Gun Hill Meets Jerome.
A school house made of yellow brick
serves as her earthly home
It was built by Italian immigrants
with plaster Brick and stone.
It comforted the Irish Micks
when they felt all alone.
A sculptor found the beauty
contained in a block of stone
and carved an inspiration
for her people far from home.
The faces at her table change
They hail from different climes
The words and accents differ
in the liturgy of time.
Our lady stands as guardian
where the human meets Divine
Her school, a testament to faith,
in difficult turbulent times
poem by John F. McCullagh
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!