I was sorry to have my name mentioned as one of the great authors, because they have a sad habit of dying off. Chaucer is dead, Spencer is dead, so is Milton, so is Shakespeare, and I’m not feeling so well myself.
Mark Twain in “Statistics” speech (1899)
Submitted by Mario
Vote! | Copy! | In Romanian
Related quotes
Dead And Broken
Too many things I've never spoken
I'm not feeling fine
I never told you what to do
I never made you a promise that you could hold me to
That'll be the day you see me crying
Everyday, I still say you're dead and broken
Everyday, I still say you're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
How many different faces can you show me?
How many times can you be right?
Another world of fantasy
Another reason for dramatizing everything
Taking it all in just one more time
I'm dying
Everyday, I still say you're dead and broken
Everyday, I still say you're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
Sorry to see that you're underestimated lately
I'd rather be dead and broken than living in your grace
Everyday, I still say you're dead and broken
Everyday, I still say you're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
You're dead and broken
song performed by by Godsmack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Why Poetry Matters
The English teacher spoke at length
To stimulate the class,
Still hoping they'd recall a tenth
Before the day must pass!
He mentioned poets long since dead,
Yet with a sense of awe.
The students had a sense of dread...
They'd heard it all before.
He mentioned Shakepeare and they groaned
At all those thees and thous.
He mentioned Milton and they moaned
For he was for highbrows.
He mentioned Mister Milligan
And read some funny verse...
But when the teacher thought he'd won,
It made the matter worse.
He told them straight, 'It's poetry
That teaches us anew...
It's magic and it's mystery
And each line has some clue.
If we unravel what each reads,
What wisdom will we find?
What treasure troves, what noble creeds,
What stories will unwind?
What insights does the poet know?
What revelations share?
What rhythmic words will overflow? '
They said, 'We just don't care! '
That's why the English teacher left,
Resigning that same day!
He emigrated, quite bereft...
But then earnt twice the pay...
The poem was written just before the TV programme.
Griff Rhys Jones explores the theme, 'Why Poetry Matters',
Broadcasted on BBC2 (UK) TV,20th May 2009...
Shakespeare, Milton and Mister Spike Milligan were featured
on this splendid show as part of the BBC's Poetry Season...
poem by Denis Martindale
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Dead & Broken
Too many things Ive never spoken
Im not feeling fine
I never told you what to do
I never made you a promise that you could hold me to
Thatll be the day you see me crying
Everyday, I still say youre dead and broken
Everyday, I still say youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
How many faces can you show me?
How many times can you be right?
Another world of fantasy
Another reason for dramatizing everything
Taking it all in just one more time
Im dying
Everyday, I still say youre dead and broken
Everyday, I still say youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
Sorry to see that youre underestimated lately
Id rather be dead and broken than living in your grace
Everyday, I still say youre dead and broken
Everyday, I still say youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
Youre dead and broken
song performed by by Godsmack
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Praise for their works
William Shakespeare is great,
I know but I haven’t read.
John Milton is great,
I know but I haven’t read.
Nor have I urge to do so.
Authors need you read their works.
16.06.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
No poem, not even Shakespeare or Milton or Chaucer, is ever strong enough to totally exclude every crucial precursor text or poem.
quote by Harold Bloom
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
All Dead, All Dead
Memories, my memories
How long can you stay
To haunt my days
She came without a farthing
A babe without a name
So much ado about nothing
Is what shed try to say
So much ado my lover
So many games we played
Through every fleeted summer
Through every precious day
All dead all dead
All the dreams we had
And I wonder why I still live on
All dead all dead
And alone Im spared
My sweeter half instead
All dead
And gone
All dead...
All dead all dead
At the rainbows end
And still I hear her own sweet song
All dead all dead
Take me back again
You know my little friends
All dead
And gone
All dead and gone
Her ways are always with me
I wander all the while
But please you must forgive me
I am old but still a child
All dead all dead
But I should not grieve
In time it comes to everyone
All dead all dead
But in hope I breathe
Of course I dont believe
Youre dead
And gone
All dead
And gone
song performed by by Queen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Dead In The Wombs
those same children
who died in the waters
that swallowed Atlantis....
those same children,
starving 'neath Africa's sun....
dead from the bombings
in Iraq, Afghanistan, and soon Iran....
their bodies thrown into dumpsters
here in the United States....
dead on the borders,
dead in the oil filled waters,
dead on the cocaine streets,
dead in the prisons...
dead in the colleges,
dead in the unemployment lines....
dead on the picket lines,
dead, handcuffed, and beaten....
dying, and dead, world crazy spinning...
as the 'light of the world'
sputters, and goes out....
dead in the wombs of the
homeless, hopeless, and forgotten...
dead by our hands!
poem by Eric Cockrell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Dead End Street
Theres a crack up in the ceiling,
And the kitchen sink is leaking.
Out of work and got no money,
A sunday joint of bread and honey.
What are we living for?
Two-roomed apartment on the second floor.
No money coming in,
The rent collectors knocking, trying to get in.
We are strictly second class,
We dont understand,
(dead end!)
Why we should be on dead end street.
(dead end!)
People are living on dead end street.
(dead end!)
Gonna die on dead end street.
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
On a cold and frosty morning,
Wipe my eyes and stop me yawning.
And my feet are nearly frozen,
Boil the tea and put some toast on.
What are we living for?
Two-roomed apartment on the second floor.
No chance to emigrate,
Im deep in debt and now its much too late.
We both want to work so hard,
We cant get the chance,
(dead end!)
People live on dead end street.
(dead end!)
People are dying on dead end street.
(dead end!)
Gonna die on dead end street.
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
(dead end!)
People live on dead end street.
(dead end!)
People are dying on dead end street.
(dead end!)
Gonna die on dead end street.
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Head to my feet (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Hows it feel? (yeah)
Hows it feel? (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
When I Think Of Myself As Dead
WHEN I THINK OF MYSELF AS DEAD
When I think of myself as dead
I think of what it will mean for my loved ones
I pray they will not lose heart and hope because of it-
When my father died my brother lost hope-
When I think of myself dead
I wonder about God and God�s purpose
Is there really an afterlife?
What could it mean?
Will I meet again those who have gone before me?
When I think of myself dead
I think about a body in the ground
Worms eating it, cold paining it-
When I think of myself as dead
I think about never feeling anything again-
When I think about myself as dead
I think about the work I have left behind
And whether it will mean anything to anyone
And for how long-
When I think of myself as dead
I think of all the memories that will go with me
I think about nothing and more nothing and the end of the universe-
When I think of myself as dead
I think of life going on down below
Life with all its beauty and pain
And I pray and I pray again
My loved ones will be able to manage and make their own lives still happy
When I think of myself as dead
I pray to G-d
That somehow in some way
It will not be the end for me forever.
When I think of myself as dead
I think of myself as living again somehow
In a way I cannot now know-
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
What A Feeling
Nows the time when this will turn to fruit
All the poppies gonna push up through
And I can see the ground below
The places that I know, disappearing
And I can see the winter fade
I dont feel so afraid its clearing
Oh, what a feeling
Oh, what a feeling
Oh, what a feeling
Life is only half way in our hands
Years have passed while I was making plans
And I could never find the words
I always felt absurd, and always outside
But now I know I shouldnt care
Theres a song already there
Waiting inside
Oh, what a feeling
Oh, what a feeling
Oh, what a feeling
And I can feel the crock unwind
The parts of me I tied are running
And all the birds are in my head
The laughter that was dead is coming
Oh, what a feeling
Oh, what a feeling
Oh, what a feeling
The laughter that was dead is coming
Oh, what a feeling
The laughter that was dead is coming
song performed by by Heather Nova
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Post - Death Living
English language dead,
Can Shakespeare thrive?
Knowing souls dead,
Can dead souls exist?
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Old Comrades Sept 9th,2012
OLD COMRADES Sept 9th,2012
By
James Bredin
Many of my old RCN comrades are now long dead,
Names in my memories or graveyard stones instead,
Mentioned at association meetings where memories are fading fast,
And I sometimes wonder, how much longer, will these good times last?
I'm sorry to even say this but soon enough I'll be dead,
I'd like to have Death With Dignity so that I can plan ahead,
It's not being dead that worries me - it's the painful dying part,
It's the suffering, the agony, the pain, the sorrow and falling apart.
It's the helplessness of having to obey our Supreme Court,
And what they did to Sue Rodriguez leaves me no comfort,
How do we change the legal system and what can we do?
I don't know about you but I don't even have a clue.
Sept 9th,2012
poem by James Bredin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
My Little Town
Words & music by paul simon
In my little town
I grew up believ--ing
God keeps his eye on us all
And he used to lean upon me
As I pledged allegiance to the wall
Lord I recall
My little town
Coming home after school
Flying my bike past the gates
Of the factories
My mom doing the laundry
Hanging our shirts
In the dirty breeze
And after it rains
Theres a rainbow
And all of the colors are black
Its not that the colors arent there
Its just imagin-ation they lack
Everythings the same
Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
In my little town
I never meant nothin
I was just my fathers son
Saving my money
Dreaming of glory
Twitching like a finger
On the trigger of a gun
Leaving nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
Repeat and fade:
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
song performed by by Paul Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Dead Folk Don't Talk
On the day she died they all came,
though I was shocked they recalled her name
but they drank our booze and ate our cake
yeah they ate our cake alright.
Maybe they meant well
maybe not
but you can't keep dead folk company
for dead folk, they don't talk.
Nobody came and nobody called
when she was ill and dying.
Nobody seemed to care at all
and now they're all here crying.
Maybe they meant well
maybe not
but you can't keep dead folk company
for dead folk, they don't talk.
So I sat there dazed and out of control
listening to them talking,
but when she were alive, the house was still,
just me and mother sighing.
Maybe they meant well
maybe not
but you can't keep dead folk company
for dead folk, they don't talk.
And afterwards, when they all went
I carried out her last requests.
I moved her gas fire, paid the rent
and left a note to the dairyman.
Nobody came and nobody called
when she was ill and dying.
Nobody seemed to care at all
and if they say they did, they're lying.
poem by Ruth Walters
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
We Cannot Save The Dead
WE CANNOT SAVE THE DEAD
We cannot save the dead,
Though we perfect our forms of remembrance-
The dead are the dead forever dead-
And we will too one day be among them
Dead forever dead-
Despite the way those left behind strive to remember.
Dead forever dead-
Unless God decide
In some way we cannot understand
That the individual human being
Is as infinitely precious
As those who love them here
know them to be.
-
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Interfaith Debate
God is dead.
God is great.
My God is great.
Your God is dead.
Your God is great.
My God is dead.
Who made the Sun?
My God.
Your God.
Great God.
So, one God?
‘Not two’
So why are we fighting?
Oh it’s politics.
Then leave God out of it?
My God – no…
He’s on our side
He’s not on your side
Shall we start again?
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
News to the king, good news for all
'NEWS to the king, good news for all,'
The corn is trodden, the river runs red.
'News of the battle,' the heralds call,
'We have won the field; we have taken the town;
We have beaten the rebels and crushed them down.'
And the dying lie with the dead.
'Who was my bravest?' quoth the king,
The corn is trodden, the river runs red.
'Whom shall I honour for this great thing?'
'Threescore were best, where none were worst;
But Walter Wendulph was aye the first.'
And the dying lie with the dead.
'What of my husband?' quoth the bride,
The corn is trodden, the river runs red.
'Comes he to-morrow; how long will he bide?'
'Put off thy bridegear, busk thee in black;
Walter Wendulph will never come back.'
And the dying lie with the dead.
poem by Augusta Davies Webster
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Dead Or Alive
There in the shadows, looks like a hand
Without its owner, to give it a command
Its got a purpose but I dont know what it is
Im in trouble
There in the streets, looks like a man
But something wrong that I dont understand
His eyes are open but he dont see a thing
His skin is peeling off, his bones are sticking out
Im getting scared
Oh my God (is it dead? )
Is it living? (is it dead? )
Is it dead or alive?
(is it dead? ), is it dead? (is it dead? )
Is it dead? (is it dead? )
Is it dead or alive?
Hiding in the cupboards, like little mice
Hiding in the frigerator, that isnt nice
Its not an animal, it dont have legs
No one else can see it
It moves so fast, corner of my eye
Look again its gone, its hiding
Wont somebody help me, doesnt anybody care?
It waits so patiently, for me to lose my guard
Im getting scared
Is it dead, is it
(is it dead)
Is it dead
(is it dead)
Is it dead or alive
(is it dead)
Is it dead
(is it dead)
Is it dead, is it
I remember there was a time
When dead and buried meant just that
Underneath the cold dark ground
Things stay put!
Oh them bones they make them bodies walk
Them bones, them bones
If they could only talk!
Is it dead (fade)
song performed by by Oingo Boingo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
America
NOR force nor fraud shall sunder us! O ye
Who north or south, on east or western land,
Native to noble sounds, say truth for truth,
Freedom for freedom, love for love, and God
For God; O ye who in eternal youth
Speak with a living and creative flood
This universal English, and do stand
Its breathing book; live worthy of that grand
Heroic utterance—parted, yet a whole,
Far yet unsever’d,—children brave and free
Of the great Mother-tongue, and ye shall be
Lords of an empire wide as Shakespeare’s soul,
Sublime as Milton’s immemorial theme,
And rich as Chaucer’s speech, and fair as Spenser’s dream.
poem by Sydney Thompson Dobell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Body Bag
You're rising
Cure you of the dead
You're dying
Live beyond the way
Falling thru the gates
Scavenge you
With the darkening light
Thru the falling going low
Thru the death of those
The dying ...
We're dying
Healing of the one
Falling of the days
Charring in the sun
We're dying
Killing for the need
Violence of the ways
Slowly bleed
Killing for the need
Rising of the dead
The falling ways
The killing for the need
.. darkened light
The rising of the dead
With the darkening light
song performed by by Obituary
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!