Few of the great works of ancient Greek literature are easy reading.
quote by Gilbert Murray
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Literature I Loved
LITERATURE I LOVED
Literature I loved-
Reading gave new lives and new worlds-
Experience enriched beyond
What I could have ever have imagined alone-
The pleasure and joy of it
The discovery the adventure-
Literature I loved
And Life greater because of it.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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In science, read, by preference, the newest works; in literature, the oldest. The classic literature is always modern.
quote by Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No one bothered reading the books and understanding - and again, I'm not being high-falutin' about it - but I think our books are great literature with great metaphors of real life dealing with fears and hopes.
Poetry The Beacon!
Beacon of literature is ever poetry only!
Greatness of literature lies in quality ideas;
Richness of language depends on poetry;
Worthiness of matter in poetry only is best!
Writing needs creative mind whatever thing is!
Novels, Short stories, Prose and Poetry are they
That enhance the richness of literature ever;
That too writing poetry makes one great sure!
Having chosen the form of poetry to write itself
Is not an easy matter as it needs skill and time
To write what one feels, thinks and conceives
In heart, mind and soul, otherwise no good at all!
Other forms of literature needs concentrated work
But poetry needs natural ability to express free all!
poem by Ramesh T A
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Poseidonians
The Poseidonians forgot the Greek language
after so many centuries of mingling
with Tyrrhenians, Latins, and other foreigners.
The only thing surviving from their ancestors
was a Greek festival, with beautiful rites,
with lyres and flutes, contests and wreaths.
And it was their habit toward the festival's end
to tell each other about their ancient customs
and once again to speak Greek names
that only few of them still recognized.
And so their festival always had a melancholy ending
because they remebered that they too were Greeks,
they too once upon a time were citizens of Magna Graecia;
and how low they'd fallen now, what they'd become,
living and speaking like barbarians,
cut off so disastrously from the Greek way of life.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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In the same period, Polish literature also underwent some significant changes. From social-political literature, which had a great tradition and strong motivation to be that way, Polish literature changed its focus to a psychological rather than a social one.
quote by Andrzej Wajda
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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notes about Abel from a sexually deprived religious woman
If we are to believe in a God,
then he definitely
was in a good mood
when he interfered
in the creation of Abel.
In Old Greek,
the word blessed was used
in pagan literature
to describe the highest
state of happiness,
usually enjoyed by
the gods and goddesses.
Abel definitely looks
like he was built out
of divine material
and he certainly seems
to enjoy it.
And he has every right
to do so.
His toned body shows
the sensual movement
of his hard muscles with
every turn he makes.
Subtle ink patterns
swirl around his left arm
and decorate his body
just above the waist,
inviting you to discover
what is hidden by his briefs.
His dark hair and black eyes
give him the look of an ancient
gladiator.
With his strong jaws
and teasing mouth you
easily imagine him a Greek warrior.
And his tights and buttocks…
well what else
is there left to say.
They look strong enough
to climb the Mount Olympus
all the way into the Heavens.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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What is classic?
Easy to borrow, that too to maxim,
Easy to write, that too so fast,
Easy to get at will a wealth of materials,
You and I can write volumes about things.
Hard to borrow, that too with efforts, ,
Hard to write, that too with hardships, ,
Hard to get at ease such materials,
Ancient scholars wrote their works.
Let us bow to such men of the past..
17.09.2007
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Oh The Poems
OH THE POEMS AND THE POEMS AND THE POEMS
Oh the poems and the poems and the poems
Oh the love of Literature
Oh all that stuff
I have given my life to-
Words and meanings and feelings
Pages and pages and pages –
What it is all this literary life for?
When out the window out the door
With our eyes we see in an instant other worlds other dreams?
I don’t know and I will never know
And Literature is certainly far more than I can say it is-
Oh the poems and this poem and this day turning grey
And all my life old and old and more old and more old-
Oh why oh why oh why
And always back to God
My last rescue and refuge and escape
I who have read so much Great Literature
And can only write this-
Oh the why and the oh oh oh and the words
And the whole world of Literature
I would belong to and do not.
Oh the words oh the world oh the Literature
Oh God help me please can’t you please help me a little or not?
poem by Shalom Freedman
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In the history of literature there are many great enduring works which were not published in the lifetimes of the authors. If the authors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they have continued to write?
quote by Gao Xingjian
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The books that help you most are those which make you think that most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.
quote by Theodore Parker
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I explained that most great works of the imagination were meant to make you feel like a stranger in your own home. The best fiction always forced us to question what we took for granted. It questioned traditions and expectations when they seemed too immutable. I told my students I wanted them in their readings to consider in what ways these works unsettled them, made them a little uneasy, made them look around and consider the world, like Alice in Wonderland, through different eyes.
Azar Nafisi in Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003)
Submitted by Simona Enache
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Great literature must spring from an upheaval in the author's soul. If that upheaval is not present then it must come from the works of any other author which happens to be handy and easily adapted.
quote by Robert Benchley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No Respect Of Persons
I am talking to you as you are reading my lines,
For, you are now without a defence;
And, Yahweh's Kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.
Your reward is according to your works,
My reward is according to my works,
Our rewards are according to our works;
But, on one hand, being persistence in doing righteous!
For, there is no respect of persons with Yahweh.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Of course the illusion of art is to make one believe that great literature is very close to life, but exactly the opposite is true. Life is amorphous, literature is formal.
quote by Francoise Sagan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Preface
The Stolen & Perverted Writings of Homer & Ovid; of Plato & Cicero. which all Men ought to contemn: are set up by artifice against the Sublime of the Bible. but when the New Age is at leisure to Pronounce; all will be set right: & those Grand Works of the more ancient & consciously & professedly Inspired Men, will hold their proper rank. & the Daughters of Memory shall become the Daughters of Inspiration. Shakespeare & Milton were both curbd by the general malady & infection from the silly Greek & Latin slaves of the Sword[.] Rouze up O Young Men of the New Age! set your foreheads against the ignorant Hirelings! For we have Hirelings in the Camp, the Court, & the University: who would if they could, for ever depress Mental & prolong Corporeal War. Painters! on you I call! Sculptors! Architects! Suffer not the fashonable Fools to depress your powers by the prices they pretend to give for contemptible works or the expensive advertizing boasts that they make of such works; believe Christ & his Apostles that there is a Class of Men whose whole delight is in Destroying. We do not want either Greek or Roman models if we are but just & true to our own imaginations, those Worlds of Eternity in which we shall live forever; in Jesus our Lord.
And did those feet in ancient time,
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen!
And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
Bring me my Bow of burning gold;
Bring me my Arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land
Would to God that all the Lords people were Prophets
poem by William Blake from Milton (1810)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Moderns
To many reading modern poetry more interesting the meaning in the metaphors they seek to find
They feel it makes their brains work that much harder that it is good exercise for the mind
Rhyme for their great brains seems that bit too simple it does not test their thinking power at all
'Tis not a poem to them if it seems simple and the meaning in it easy to recall,
Yes rhyme for them it does seem that bit simple and deciphering it to them is not a test
The hidden meaning in the metaphors is something that does seem to try them best
Rhyme poetry to them is too simple and far too easy for to understand
It has to be blank verse with dozens of metaphors for their interest for to command
They look on rhyme and bush poets as inferior their preference in poets and poetry they make known
On literature they air their opinions like it is said to each their own
Their poetry evenings do seem quite exclusive rhyme poets to read they never do invite
Their unmusical lines that are laced with metaphors to each other they do recite
They do not like rhyme or they do not like bush poetry to them it is of another time
And in their poetry evenings there is no place for the men and the women of rhyme.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Hard work makes easy reading or, at least, easier reading.
quote by M.H. Abrams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Books of a Reader and Drinker
The library of books to do with life are great,
Inside them we discover a whole new story.
Their covers are as hard to swallow as fish,
Meeting a drinker dissolves your hatred of reading.
The drinker is a drunkard of the odd variety,
He reads like an angel when his wings number many,
But then they shed due to drink, and the beer has departed.
For this reading composes the mind,
The books of ancient nature fall from the shelves,
They burn by the dozen and leave us with true knowledge.
poem by Naveed Akram
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I've Made All Of This Look Too Easy
I've made all of this look too easy.
So easy it's easier made for you to critique.
Even reading between the lines,
You will never feel my sentiments.
Or my experiences and years spent,
Healing from an assortment of hidden scars.
I've made all of this look too easy.
So easy you believe I have time I can find,
To please you and your needs.
As if nothing else is on my mind,
But you and your life and your doubts.
I've made all of this look too easy.
Haven't I?
Even when sleeping...
You perceive me to be undeserving to get,
Peace and rest without requesting it.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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