And, of course, it must be asked: is it proper to transact with the Turks for the most reassured of Greek possessions when Greece is under Turkish invasion and subjugation?
quote by Melina Mercouri
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
A stray Parrot recites the Greek Alphabet
'Alpha, Beta...........&..................sigma...! '
Early in the morning I heard these strange words.
And I saw a Parrot rests on my next door neighbor's olive tree.
'Kali Mera Mastura! , Sorry that means good morning.' Parrot whispered.
'Where are you coming from? ' I asked.
Straight away flew from Greece the country introduced Civilization first.'
I said; 'I like Greece and Nikos.Kazantsakis and his book Zorba the Greek.'
'Oh! Master if you know Nikos.Kazantsakis then you know all about Greece.'
The Parrot imitates the Zorba's dance and I lived in Greece for a while.
How strange the autumnal dreams?
To my poet friend Duncan
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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The one who enters the Turkish bath must never turn his back on a Greek.
He Saves
Be reassured:
'Ye are saved by grace
and not by works
lest any man should boast.'
Be reassured:
Do not even try
to purge yourself of sin;
if you could
Calvary would be for naught.
Come to Him as you are.
He will do the cleansing;
He purifies with His flesh,
blood and fire.
Be reassured:
'Though our sins are red
like scarlet
He will wash them
white as snow'.
Be reassured:
Jesus saves!
Jesus saves!
Jesus saves today!
poem by Buxton Shippy
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Intensity Of Passion Desires
people only steal
possessions trinkets
they value want
perhaps intensity
of passion desires
is too much to resist
yet had they asked
their hearts desires
in time would
oft be freely given
sadly possessions
held lose allure values
poem by Terence George Craddock
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In a Greek Amphitheatre: George Seferis, poet
Noon here in hot summer in this quarter-sphere of stepped stone;
the smell of herbs rolling down from the mountainside,
the light so strong that it seems to have bleached away all thought;
time is taking a siesta.
come sit with me here in this almost deserted amphitheatre
which has stood for more than two thousand years,
only the bees are quietly moving,
searching the flowers which grow between these huge blocks of stone
which someone quarried, someone brought here,
someone acted out the world upon, some many sat
and were moved to fear and tears;
someone ate olives, spat the pits between the blocks of stone;
now an olive tree bears witness,
its bleached roots like an arthritic climber,
splitting the stone blocks with the insistence of history.
‘Memory, wherever you touch it,
hurts’…
merciful gods might have removed these stones
with two thousand years of rain, of wind, of searing sun,
so that the insistence of history might not be
so painful to a Greek.
The only other figure in this huge amphitheatre -
you see him down there? In the white hat
and dark suit of summer cloth? He’s a poet;
but is his mind too, sitting in the audience? Or is he
on the stage? Is he
living the play; the hero with a tragic flaw,
the chorus commenting, the tragedy unfolding?
In Greek, the same word means martyr
and means witness.
He was born a Greek in a Greek colony;
at 22, the Turks flung them out;
he sailed in wine-dark seas of wars and occupations;
and when the sailor sailed into the port to take his place in his immortal court,
found Greece, not celebrating peace, but Greek fighting Greek;
the cruellest of wars.
It was not Odysseus but Greece itself
that wandering, had not yet come home;
the harbours boatless; silent the shepherd's flute;
the olive groves untended; hives deserted;
grapes that never tasted wine; figs that burst uneaten;
Olympia's grass, all silent and untrodden;
temples empty, marble columns
their cool beauty empty-armed without their worshippers.
Here at noon, the summer heat pressing and intense,
the air still, a bee passing across our laps
as we sit here on the higher tier;
a dark-suited poet, witness, martyr,
like an olive tree between hard stone,
suffers the playing out, the painful beauty
like a dark thought at noon,
the insistence of history.
‘Memory, wherever
you touch it, hurts.’
poem by Michael Shepherd
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On an Italian Shore
Kimos, son of Menedoros, a young Greek-Italian,
devotes his life to amusing himself,
like most young men in Greater Greece
brought up in the lap of luxury.
But today, in spite of his nature,
he is preoccupied, dejected. Near the shore
he watched, deeply distressed, as they unload
ships with booty taken from the Peloponnese.
G r e e k l o o t: b o o t y f r o m C o r i n t h.
Today certainly it is not right,
it is not possible for the young Greek-Italian
to want to amuse himself in any way.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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I am beginning to have a healthy dread of possessions, be it of a country, a house, a being or even an idea. If we are bothered by possessions we cannot really live either from without or from within; we are the possession of our possessions. All wars and most loves come from the possessive instinct. Why grab possessions like thieves, or divide them like socialists when you can ignore them like wise men: that you may belong to everything and everything be yours inclusive of yourself. Could we, and we can, have the vital necessities for all, we should do away with this cry of class and begin to differentiate between individuals.
quote by Natalie Clifford Barney
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you've a date in Constantinople
She'll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul (Istanbul)
Istanbul (Istanbul)
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can't say
People just liked it better that way
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks
Istanbul
song performed by by They Might Be Giants
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Istanbul
Istanbul was constantinople
Now it's istanbul, not constantinople
Been a long time gone, constantinople
Now it's turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in constantinople
Lives in istanbul, not constantinople
So if you've a date in constantinople
She'll be waiting in istanbul
Even old new york was once new amsterdam
Why they changed it i can't say
People just liked it better that way
So take me back to constantinople
No, you can't go back to constantinople
Been a long time gone, constantinople
Why did constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the turks
Istanbul (istanbul)
Istanbul (istanbul)
Even old new york was once new amsterdam
Why they changed it i can't say
People just liked it better that way
Istanbul was constantinople
Now it's istanbul, not constantinople
Been a long time gone, constantinople
Why did constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the turks
So take me back to constantinople
No, you can't go back to constantinople
Been a long time gone, constantinople
Why did constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the turks
Istanbul
song performed by by They Might Be Giants
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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So, one of the things I was doing with the aliens in The Quiet Invasion was creating that advanced society which had ideas about morality and proper use of natural resources that were radically different from ours, as the Europeans were from the American Indians.
quote by Sarah Zettel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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England and Greece are friends. English blood was shed on Greek soil in the war against fascism, and Greeks gave their lives to protect English pilots.
quote by Melina Mercouri
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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They asked the wolf: ""Why is your neck thick?"", and it said: ""I do my job myself, that's why.""
To John Milton (1608 -1674)
Let's tell a story
Of a man who lost his sight
But endowed with vision upright
The heavenly muses of love, epic and poetry
Inspirited thy heart`s territory
Thou once a pride of the Puritan Court
Summoned the whole Areopagus in support
A divine in heart but Greek in thought
Love and Liberty you did proclaim
As Greek, French and Latin was thy domain
As ancient Greece proud of Solon*
You`re distinction of London
As majestic were thy rhymes
A statesman too was sublime
For centuries thy prose and verse
Ignite the passion and had Converse
I wish I were born in thy poesy arms
Grace my wit and will with thy lasting charm
poem by Gulsher john
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Ch 04 On The Advantages Of Silence Story 08
Several officials of Sultan Mahmud asked Hasan Muimandi one day what the sultan had told him about a certain affair. He replied: ‘You must yourselves have heard it.’ They rejoined: ‘What he says to thee he does not think proper to communicate to the like of us.’ He answered: ‘Because he trusts that I shall not reveal it. Then why do you ask me to do so?’
A knowing man will not utter every word which occurs to him.
It is not proper to endanger one’s head for the king’s secret.
Elgin Marbles Acrostic
Elgin exit permit from Turks obtained
Left pictures plundered from the Parthernon
Gift to England from Greece over-run
Illicit theft, Acropolis bereft, maintained
Now full two hundred years. Relations strained.
Museum pieces on display have done
A grave dis-service to Art which should shun
Ransacking of Man's heritage which reigned
Before Great Britain was much more than swamp.
LESson: return to Hellenes frescoes' pomp.
(7 February 2012)
poem by Jonathan Robin
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The Battle Of Lepanto Ottomans Defeats
Holy League on 7 October 1571 attacks;
wins a crushing victory over Ottoman fleet
at the Battle of Lepanto Ottomans defeats;
off tide turning western Greek coast;
decisively defeated Ottoman mighty main fleet
of Ottoman Empire in fierce five hours;
of fighting on northern edge of Gulf of Patras;
off fate western Greece Ottoman invasion forces
were from naval station Lepanto sailing westwards;
engaged from Messina Holy League fleet;
quick sand history on this victory turns
Mediterranean Sea Holy League prevents;
becoming an open uncontested sea route;
for Muslim forces; from major Ottoman invasion
Italy protects; prevents conquest Ottomans;
advancing further into exposed southern;
flank of Europe victory Lepanto was the last
major naval battle in contest Mediterranean;
fought entirely between diced empire galleys;
great symbolic importance appropriately assigned
to an empires altering decisive naval defeat;
upon signing of peace treaty in 1573 fate turns;
victorious Holy League is incredibly disbanded
axed a short time after unity Pope Pius V died.
Extract from the poem ‘Mediterranean Colonisation Wars Left Legacy Seeds'.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Sickness Of America
the sickness of America
began within each of us....
when we chose
profit over compassion,
self fulfillment over community,
success over family....
possessions over our neighbors,
indulgence over ecology,
lifestyle over spirituality....
oil addiction over fair treatment,
invasion over liberation,
special interests over equality....
for real change to be possible,
real healing must take place....
it too, begins within!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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The Persian Version
Truth-loving Persians do not dwell upon
The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon.
As for the Greek theatrical tradition
Which represents that summer's expedition
Not as a mere reconnaisance in force
By three brigades of foot and one of horse
(Their left flank covered by some obsolete
Light craft detached from the main Persian fleet)
But as a grandiose, ill-starred attempt
To conquer Greece - they treat it with contempt;
And only incidentally refute
Major Greek claims, by stressing what repute
The Persian monarch and the Persian nation
Won by this salutary demonstration:
Despite a strong defence and adverse weather
All arms combined magnificently together.
poem by Robert Graves
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Change
The other day I walked accross the street
i couldnt believe what I appeared to see...
as I looked at a poor boy who came to me
I asked him his name and he didnt know
he just asked me for change.
I asked where is your mum?
he just asked me for change
I asked where is your dad?
he just asked me for change
I asked will someone come?
he just asked me for change
I asked why are you sad?
with no response to my question there was a pause...
but then once again he asked me for change
see, as i watched him dissapear with his pain
I realised that he actualy asked me...
for a change.
poem by Daniel McCann
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Keep It Proper
Keep it proper!
You never know on you who might peep.
When you do a thing discreet.
You never know on you who might peep.
It's best that you keep it proper.
You never know on you who might peep.
Especially when you're seen in the streets.
You never know on you who might peep.
Keep,
It
Proper.
You never know on you who might peep.
Distorting what you do to deceive.
You never know on you who might peep.
It's best that you keep it proper.
You never know on you who might peep.
When a seeker seeks a weakness to heat.
You never know on you who might peep.
Controversy lovers love it,
More obscene.
People feed sensations that wound and bleed.
With a caring less of who's affected by misdeeds
Keep,
It
Proper.
You never know on you who might peep.
Distorting what you do to deceive.
You never know on you who might peep.
Yes it's best that you keep it proper.
You never know on you who might peep.
When a seeker seeks a weakness to heat.
You never know on you who might peep.
It's best
That you keep it proper.
You never know on you who might peep.
Yes it is best
That you keep it proper.
You never know on you who might peep.
Yes it is best that you keep it proper,
That business to express on the streets.
You never know,
On you
Who might peep.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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