Eight O'Clock
He stood, and heard the steeple
Sprinkle the quarters on the morning town.
One, two, three, four, to market-place and people
It tossed them down.
Strapped, noosed, nighing his hour,
He stood and counted them and cursed his luck;
And then the clock collected in the tower
Its strength, and struck.
poem by Alfred Edward Housman

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Over The Falls
They broke out in laughter again,
His lip beaded with sweat as they strapped him in,
And he stood by and waited to be called.
The talk was of times that had gone by
And the quantity and quality of women they lie.
His eyes welled with wet and his mouth had gone dry.
As he stood by and waited to be called.
He stood by and waited to be called.
He stood by and waited like the others before
For his turn to go over the falls.
He got up and tried it again.
For lack of persistence is surely a sin.
As he stood by and waited to be called,
He looked to the lightning with glee
And admired his vessel for its symmetry,
Feeling twelve units shy of a bachelors degree.
As he stood by and waited to be called.
He stood by and waited to be called.
He stood by and waited like the others before
For his turn to go over the falls.
song performed by by Primus

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Romance In The Market Place
YOU stood beside the flowers,
Yourself a flower;
And on your face
The twilight stayed another hour,
It shone so pale;
And all around men talked as in a market-place.
I heard them talk, and felt
No interest stir
In what they said.
Lilies were nigh you, and around you were
The lights of love,
And all about the world moved on with nervous tread.
I heard it not; for down
And round about
My soul you drew
The veils that shut the loud earth out,
And I and you
Were there alone — no one beside but I and you!
What words were those we said?
Old ones, perchance,
Pale with the pain
Of all who've kissed, and talked romance,
And said farewell,
And mixed their tears and kissed, and sighed — and sighed in vain.
We stood a sainted while,
And then your hand
Sought to be free,
And you were gone; and all the land
Was under gloom,
And lamps were lit for other men, but none for me.
I stood and watched you go,
And suddenly
The loud world grew
Like some great-voiced, insetting sea;
And men went by,
Talking of trade and war and all but love and you.
poem by Roderic Quinn

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Hughley Steeple
The vane on Hughley steeple
Veers bright, a far-known sign,
And there lie Hughley people
And there lie friends of mine.
Tall in their midst the tower
Divides the shade and sun,
And the clock strikes the hour
And tells the time to none.
To south the headstones cluster,
The sunny mounds lie thick;
The dead are more in muster
At Hughley than the quick.
North, for a soon-told number,
Chill graves the sexton delves,
And steeple-shadowed slumber
The slayers of themselves.
To north, to south, lie parted,
With Hughley tower above,
The kind, the single-hearted,
The lads I used to love.
And, south or north, 'tis only
A choice of friends one knows,
And I shall ne'er be lonely
Asleep with these or those.
poem by Alfred Edward Housman

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Aint It A Shame
(graham russell)
Hit with the bug to run, you didnt go to college we can use you son
You look like the pride of your home town
But how can you hold out when your luck is down
(chorus)
Aint it a shame, aint it a shame, aint it a shame, aint it a shame.
Because Im too tired to run around
Meeting people from the wrong side of town
Looking for a place to live, Ive got no money nothing to give, listen
All you gotta do is look around for something thats new
Find a job thats stimulating, thats easy and Im still waiting
(chorus)
Ive stood in line and done my time
With nothin to do all day
Ive stood in line with all my friends
With nothin to say all day,
Ive stood in line and done my time
With nothin to do all day
Ive stood in line with all my friends
With nothin to say all day, nothin to say all day.
Got brains but got no drive
Moneys cheap, the roads are wide
All the good positions go too fast
I need a job I know will last
Ive got a job for you can you push that shovel can you swing that broom
Keep your head down and dont go slow
But dont forget to stop with the whistle.
(chorus)
(compliments to sharon mcharg)
song performed by by Air Supply

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

A Picture
I strolled last eve across the lonely down;
One solitary picture struck my eye:
A distant ploughboy stood against the sky—
How far he seemed above the noisy town!
Upon the bosom of a cloud the sod
Laid its bruised cheek as he moved slowly by,
And, watching him, I asked myself if I
In very truth stood half as near to God.
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Old News
Old News
As the clock struck seven, a summer evening, outside
the town hall, a horse pulling a cart bolted. The driver
fell off and broke a leg, a policeman on duty was able
to stop the horse and calm it down. In our small inland
town this was a big event and many people took their
evening walk down to the town hall and stood in groups
listening to what the witnesses, two elderly men who
spent their time there sometimes doing odd jobs but
mostly hung around doing nothing; now for once they
had an audience and were treated as equals. News get
old and little is as stale as yesterdays´ the driver’s leg
mended, the horse was made into glue and tasty salami,
no one was interested in what a pair of layabouts had
to say, not now that a circus was coming to town.
poem by Oskar Hansen

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Each morning I pass on my way to work
Each morning I pass on my way to work
A clock in a tower
And I look towards it with anxious eyes
To make sure of the hour.
But the sun gets up at the back of the tower
With a flare and a blaze
Hiding the time and the tower from my sight
In a blissful haze.
'I am the marker of time' says the sun.
Taken unawares,
I believe for the nonce he is lord of the day
And am rid of my cares.
poem by Lesbia Harford

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Life Of A Salesman
What's a dad for dad?
Tell me why I'm here dad
Whisper in my ear that I'm growing up to be a better man, dad
Everything is fine dad
Proud that you are mine dad
Cause I know I'm growing up to be a better man
Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
What's a dad for dad?
Taught me how to stand, dad
Took me by the hand and you showed me how to be a bigger man, dad
Listen when you talk, dad
Follow where you walk, dad
And you know that I will always do the best I can
I can
Father I will always be (always be)
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me (over me)
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
The same as you
Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
When I am a dad, dad x2
I'm gonna be a good dad x2
Do the best you could, dad x2
Always understood, dad x2
Tell me I was right, dad x2
Opened up my eyes, dad x2
Glad to call you my, dad x2
Thank you for my dad x2
song performed by by Yellowcard

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Life Of A Salesman
What's a dad for dad?
Tell me why I'm here dad
Whisper in my ear that I'm growing up to be a better man, dad
Everything is fine dad
Proud that you are mine dad
Cause I know I'm growing up to be a better man
Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
What's a dad for dad?
Taught me how to stand, dad
Took me by the hand and you showed me how to be a bigger man, dad
Listen when you talk, dad
Follow where you walk, dad
And you know that I will always do the best I can
I can
Father I will always be (always be)
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me (over me)
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
The same as you
Father I will always be
That same boy that stood by the sea
And watched you tower over me
Now I'm older I wanna be the same as you
When I am a dad, dad x2
I'm gonna be a good dad x2
Do the best you could, dad x2
Always understood, dad x2
Tell me I was right, dad x2
Opened up my eyes, dad x2
Glad to call you my, dad x2
Thank you for my dad x2
song performed by by Yellowcard

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!

Alternative Song For The Severd head In "The King Of The Great Clock Tower"
SADDLE and ride, I heard a man say,
Out of Ben Bulben and Knocknarea,
i{What says the Clock in the Great Clock Tower?}
All those tragic characters ride
But turn from Rosses' crawling tide,
The meet's upon the mountain-side.
i{A slow low note and an iron bell.}
What brought them there so far from their home.
Cuchulain that fought night long with the foam,
i{What says the Clock in the Great Clock Tower?}
Niamh that rode on it; lad and lass
That sat so still and played at the chess?
What but heroic wantonness?
i{A slow low note and an iron bell.}
Aleel, his Countess; Hanrahan
That seemed but a wild wenching man;
i{What says the Clock in the Great Clock Tower?}
And all alone comes riding there
The King that could make his people stare,
Because he had feathers instead of hair.
i{A slow low note and an iron bell.}
poem by William Butler Yeats

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Yes, there's such a thing as luck in trial law but it only comes at 3 o'clock in the morning. You'll still find me in the library looking for luck at 3 o'clock in the morning.
quote by Louis Nizer

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Composed After A Journey Across The Hambleton Hills, Yorkshire
DARK and more dark the shades of evening fell;
The wished-for point was reached--but at an hour
When little could be gained from that rich dower
Of prospect, whereof many thousands tell.
Yet did the glowing west with marvellous power
Salute us; there stood Indian citadel,
Temple of Greece, and minster with its tower
Substantially expressed--a place for bell
Or clock to toll from! Many a tempting isle,
With groves that never were imagined, lay
'Mid seas how steadfast! objects all for the eye
Of silent rapture; but we felt the while
We should forget them; they are of the sky,
And from our earthly memory fade away.
poem by William Wordsworth

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Village Green
Out in the country,
Far from all the soot and noise of the city,
Theres a village green.
Its been a long time
Since I last set eyes on the church with the steeple
Down by the village green.
twas there I met a girl called daisy
And kissed her by the old oak tree.
Although I loved my daisy, I saw fame,
And so I left the village green.
I miss the village green,
And all the simple people.
I miss the village green,
The church, the clock, the steeple.
I miss the morning dew, fresh air and sunday school.
And now all the houses
Are rare antiquities.
American tourists flock to see the village green.
They snap their photographs and say gawd darn it,
Isnt it a pretty scene?
And daisys married tom the grocer boy,
And now he owns a grocery.
I miss the village green,
And all the simple people.
I miss the village green,
The church, the clock, the steeple.
I miss the morning dew, fresh air and sunday school.
And I will return there,
And Ill and daisy,
And well sip tea, laugh,
And talk about the village green.
We will laugh and talk about the village green.
song performed by by Kinks

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Social people...morning coffee
Six A. M...morning cuppa coffee
Same old people…same old place
Morning s greeting’s, sleepily carefree
Tossed at one another, with careless grace
Rattle of morning paper… new day.. same old news
Coffeehouse camaraderie, over steaming cups of ‘Joe’
Nice place to chase away the blues…..with
Fraternal feelings from people we barely know
Just a social group…of morning people
Treating one another with social grace
Jobless…but not hopeless
Same old people…same old place
poem by David Whalen

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Ben Boyd's Tower
Ben Boyd's Tower is watching—
Watching o’er the sea;
Ben Boyd’s Tower is waiting
For her and me.
We do not know the day,
We do not know the hour,
But we know that we shall meet
By Ben Boyd’s Tower.
Moonlight peoples Boyd Tower,
Mystic are its walls;
Lightly dance the lovers
In its haunted halls.
Ben Boyd’s Tower is watching—
Watching o’er the foam;
Ben Boyd’s Tower is waiting
Till the “Wanderer” comes home.
O! he lay above us—
High above the surf—
Finger-nails and toe-caps
Digging in the turf.
We do not know the day,
We do not know the hour,
But Two and Two shall meet again
By Ben Boyd’s Tower.
There’s an ancient dame in Eden—
Basket on her arm—
And she goes down the Main Street
From the old, old farm.
Hood drawn on her forehead—
Withered dame and grey—
She never looks on Boyd Tower
Out across the Bay.
Bright eyes in the ballroom,
Coquetting with two,
Just for love of mischief,
As a girl will do.
A quarrel in the bar-room—
All within the hour—
And four men rode from Boyd Town
To Ben Boyd’s Tower.
poem by Henry Lawson

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Great Gunfighters (Fun Poem 70)
They stood facing each other in the street;
each had a revolver strapped to their hip.
They stood with their legs apart
as their hand hovered above their holster.
Each looked into the others eyes,
a blink by either of them
could bring on a draw.
However, the guns they used
weren’t as accurate as some would believe;
they probable miss each other completely.
So much for some of the great gunfighters
as most earned their reputations
by shooting someone in the back.
11 February 2007
poem by David Harris

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Spark That Bled
I accidentally touched my head
and noticed that it had been bleeding
for how long i did not know.
What was this, I thought, that struck me?
What kind of weapons have they got?
the softest bullet ever shot...
I stood up and I said yeah!!
I stood up and i said yeah
I stood up and i said Hey, Yeah!
From this moment on
blaring like a trumpet
comin from above us
and somewhere below
the confidence of knowing
decsending to relieve us
of the struggle to believe its so
I stood up and i said yeah
I spoke up and i said Hey
I stood up and i said hey yeah
And it seemed to cause a chain reaction
It had momentum it was gaining traction
it was all the rage it was all the fashion
the outreached hands had resigned themselves to
holding on to something that they never had
and thats too bad
'cause in reality there was no reaction
i accidentally touched my head
and saw that it was bleeding
for how long i did not know.
song performed by by Flaming Lips

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
When Time Stood Still
Far beyond the things you see
Time rolls on eternally
Got a thing about it
Just cant live without it
Sitting there inside your mind
Just waiting for the clock to chime
On a lonely line
Stood a lonely man
No pictures on an empty wall
No body there no one at all
Just echoes in the ivory halls
When time stood still
Days line up outside the door
Thought time had stopped there was no more
Been a lonely world
Such a lonely world
No pictures on an empty wall
No toulouse, vincent, or pablo
Just echoes in the ivory halls
When time stood still
No big machine or april showers
No submarines no plastic flowers
Just echoes in the ivory towers
When time stood still
When time stood still
When time stood still
When time stood still
song performed by by Electric Light Orchestra

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I Could Not Move To Boo Hoo
You once had said you loved me,
But the end of fun had come.
And there,
I stood and was stunned.
You left it to your friends to tell me,
It was over and done.
And there,
I stood and was stunned.
There was...
No place I could run.
I could not move to boo hoo,
'Cause I felt like such a cuckoo.
And there,
I stood and was stunned.
If I was a drinker,
I'd be woozy from the booze.
And there,
I stood and was stunned.
There was...
No place I could run.
You once had said you loved me,
But the end of fun had come.
And there,
I stood and was stunned.
You left it to your friends to tell me,
It was over and done.
And there,
I stood and was stunned.
There was...
No place I could run.
I could not move to boo hoo,
'Cause I felt like such a cuckoo.
And there,
I stood and was stunned.
I could not move to boo hoo,
'Cause I felt like such a cuckoo.
And there,
I stood and was stunned.
There was...
No place I could run.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Belleau Wood
Oh, the snowflakes fell in silence
Over belleau wood that night
For a christmas truce had been declared
By both sides of the fight
As we lay there in our trenches
The silence broke in two
By a german soldier singing
A song that we all knew
Though I did not know the language
The song was silent night
Then I heard my buddy whisper,
all is calm and all is bright
Then the fear and doubt surrounded me
cause Id die if I was wrong
But I stood up on my trench
And I began to sing along
Then across the frozen battlefield
Anothers voice joined in
Until one by one each man became
A singer of the hymn
Then I thought that I was dreaming
For right there in my sight
Stood the german soldier
neath the falling flakes of white
And he raised his hand and smiled at me
As if he seemed to say
Heres hoping we both live
To see us find a better way
Then the devils clock struck midnight
And the skies lit up again
And the battlefield where heaven stood
Was blown to hell again
But for just one fleeting moment
The answer seemed so clear
Heavens not beyond the clouds
Its just beyond the fear
No heavens not beyond the clouds
Its for us to find it here
song performed by by Garth Brooks

Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!