Technology
'Twas a serious person with locks of gray
And a figure like a crescent;
His gravity, clearly, had come to stay,
But his smile was evanescent.
He stood and conversed with a neighbor, and
With (likewise) a high falsetto;
And he stabbed his forefinger into his hand
As if it had been a stiletto.
His words, like the notes of a tenor drum,
Came out of his head unblended,
And the wonderful altitude of some
Was exceptionally splendid.
While executing a shake of the head,
With the hand, as it were, of a master,
This agonizing old gentleman said:
''Twas a truly sad disaster!
'Four hundred and ten longs and shorts in all,
Went down'-he paused and snuffled.
A single tear was observed to fall,
And the old man's drum was muffled.
'A very calamitous year,' he said.
And again his head-piece hoary
He shook, and another pearl he shed,
As if he wept _con amore.
'O lacrymose person,' I cried, 'pray why
Should these failures so affect you?
With speculators in stocks no eye
That's normal would ever connect you.'
He focused his orbs upon mine and smiled
In a sinister sort of manner.
'Young man,' he said, 'your words are wild:
I spoke of the steamship 'Hanner.'
'For she has went down in a howlin' squall,
And my heart is nigh to breakin'
Four hundred and ten longs and shorts in all
Will never need undertakin'!
'I'm in the business myself,' said he,
'And you've mistook my expression;
For I uses the technical terms, you see,
Employed in my perfession.'
That old undertaker has joined the throng
On the other side of the River,
But I'm still unhappy to think I'm a 'long,'
And a tape-line makes me shiver.
poem by Ambrose Bierce
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
I Had A Dream
I had a dream
As though it seemed
Just the other day,
And you were there
Just like my prayer
Answering the words I prayed.
You took my hand
You helped me stand
And I rose to meet your eyes,
And as I stood
The way a man should
You were gone, and I knew not why.
I looked around
You couldnt be found
Then for you I cried as I spoke
“Why did you leave”
“Come back to me please”
But you didnt, so I awoke.
I had a dream
As though it seemed
Just the other night.
And you were there
Just like my prayer
Standing in the moon light.
You gave me a smile
Which I longed for a while
Joy was in my heart and soul
I began to smile
Just like a child
As my memories of you began to grow.
I thought of our past
As I wished it would always last
But you shook your head sadly No
So I shed a tear
Which dissapeared
And sadly again, I awoke.
I had a dream
as though it seemed
Late last night
And you were there
Just like my prayer
My woman, my wife and my life.
I took your hand
As I am your man
Together we will be
I wouldnt let go
as you shook your head no,
Together you and me.
I gave you a kiss
Which I did miss
Then you began to weep
You cried saying that I will awake
Without you to a new day
Then I said “no”, I will sleep
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
River Roads
Let the crows go by hawking their caw and caw.
They have been swimming in midnights of coal mines somewhere.
Let 'em hawk their caw and caw.
Let the woodpecker drum and drum on a hickory stump.
He has been swimming in red and blue pools somewhere hundreds of years
And the blue has gone to his wings and the red has gone to his head.
Let his red head drum and drum.
Let the dark pools hold the birds in a looking-glass.
And if the pool wishes, let it shiver to the blur of many wings, old swimmers from old places.
Let the redwing streak a line of vermillion on the green wood lines.
And the mist along the river fix its purple in lines of a woman's shawl on lazy shoulders.
poem by Carl Sandburg
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
These Are the Songs that Came from My Head
These are the songs that came from my head,
They came out when I came from bed,
A fairy told me a story or two in my dream,
It had all shorts of scenes but some where rather gleam;
Of mountains and forests and lonesome skies,
Of all shorts of opportunities and failures and tries,
That came as they wend like others go by,
But don't ask any questions, yes don't ask me why.
In the woods of the darkest forest I dwell,
Because a fairy put on me an unknown spell,
And no one can resolve that old some riddle,
Unless he could play the truest of fiddle;
These are the songs that came from my head,
But no one can hear them or where they will led,
Because here I am now wandering just around,
Trying to find a way out but I am all spellbound.
Butterflies and insects of all other shorts,
Are meeting with fairies and judges of higher courts;
They want me to be rescued and see me safely home,
Before night's again here with its supernatural gloam.
poem by Peter S. Quinn
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Posterity's Award
I'd long been dead, but I returned to earth.
Some small affairs posterity was making
A mess of, and I came to see that worth
Received its dues. I'd hardly finished waking,
The grave-mould still upon me, when my eye
Perceived a statue standing straight and high.
'Twas a colossal figure-bronze and gold
Nobly designed, in attitude commanding.
A toga from its shoulders, fold on fold,
Fell to the pedestal on which 'twas standing.
Nobility it had and splendid grace,
And all it should have had-except a face!
It showed no features: not a trace nor sign
Of any eyes or nose could be detected
On the smooth oval of its front no line
Where sites for mouths are commonly selected.
All blank and blind its faulty head it reared.
Let this be said: 'twas generously eared.
Seeing these things, I straight began to guess
For whom this mighty image was intended.
'The head,' I cried, 'is Upton's, and the dress
Is Parson Bartlett's own.' True, _his_ cloak ended
Flush with his lowest vertebra, but no
Sane sculptor ever made a toga so.
Then on the pedestal these words I read:
'_Erected Eighteen Hundred Ninety-seven_'
(Saint Christofer! how fast the time had sped!
Of course it naturally does in Heaven)
'_To_ --' (here a blank space for the name began)
'_The Nineteenth Century's Great Foremost Man_!'
'_Completed_' the inscription ended, '_in
The Year Three Thousand_'-which was just arriving.
By Jove! thought I, 'twould make the founders grin
To learn whose fame so long has been surviving
To read the name posterity will place
In that blank void, and view the finished face.
Even as I gazed, the year Three Thousand came,
And then by acclamation all the people
Decreed whose was our century's best fame;
Then scaffolded the statue like a steeple,
To make the likeness; and the name was sunk
Deep in the pedestal's metallic trunk.
Whose was it? Gentle reader, pray excuse
The seeming rudeness, but I can't consent to
Be so forehanded with important news.
'Twas neither yours nor mine-let that content you.
If not, the name I must surrender, which,
Upon a dead man's word, was George K. Fitch!
poem by Ambrose Bierce
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Bang On The Drum All Day
I don't want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don't want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I don't want no candy
I don't want no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing 'til I got
Blisters on my hand
Because...
When I get older they think I'm a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with ny hands
But my licks were so hot
I made the teacher want to dance
And that's why...
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
the boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And i pound on that drum like it was the boss's head
Because..
I CAN BANG ON THAT DRUM
HEY, YOU WANT TO TO A BANG AT IT?
i CAN DO THIS ALL DAY
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Inside The Puppet Head
As your body floats down third street
With the burn-smell factory closing up
Yes its sad to say you will romanticize
All the things youve known before
It was not not not so great
It was not not not so great
And as you take a bath in that beaten path
Theres a pounding at the door
Well its a mighty zombie talking of some love and posterity
He says the good old days never say good-bye
If you keep this in your mind:
You need some lo-lo-loving arms
You need some lo-lo-loving arms
And as you fall from grace the only words you say are
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Ads up in the subway are the work of someone
Trying to please their boss
And though the guys a pig we all know what he wants
Is just to please somebody else
If the pu-pu-puppet head
Was only bu-bu-busted in
It would be a better thing for everyone involved
And we wouldnt have to cry
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Memo to myself: do the dumb things I gotta do
Touch the puppet head
Quit my job down at the carwash
Didnt have to write no-one a good-bye note
That said, the checks in the mail, and
Ill see you in church, and dont you ever change
If the pu-pu-puppet head
Was only bu-bu-busted in
Ill see you after school
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside the puppet head
song performed by by They Might Be Giants
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head
As your body floats down third street
With the burn-smell factory closing up
Yes its sad to say you will romanticize
All the things youve known before
It was not not not so great
It was not not not so great
And as you take a bath in that beaten path
Theres a pounding at the door
Well its a mighty zombie talking of some love and posterity
He says the good old days never say good-bye
If you keep this in your mind:
You need some lo-lo-loving arms
You need some lo-lo-loving arms
And as you fall from grace the only words you say are
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Ads up in the subway are the work of someone
Trying to please their boss
And though the guys a pig we all know what he wants
Is just to please somebody else
If the pu-pu-puppet head
Was only bu-bu-busted in
It would be a better thing for everyone involved
And we wouldnt have to cry
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Memo to myself: do the dumb things I gotta do
Touch the puppet head
Quit my job down at the carwash
Didnt have to write no-one a good-bye note
That said, the checks in the mail, and
Ill see you in church, and dont you ever change
If the pu-pu-puppet head
Was only bu-bu-busted in
Ill see you after school
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside the puppet head
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside
Put your hand inside the puppet head
song performed by by They Might Be Giants
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Leave Me Alone
On a thousand islands in the sea
I see a thousand people just like me
A hundred unions in the snow
I watch them walking, falling in a row
We live always underground
Its going to be so quiet in here tonight
A thousand islands in the sea
Its a shame
And a hundred years ago
A sailor trod this ground I stood upon
Take me away everyone
When it hurts thou
From my head to my toes
From the words in the book
I see a vision that would bring me luck
From my head to my toes
To my teeth, through my nose
You get these words wrong
You get these words wrong
Everytime
You get these words wrong
I just smile
But from my head to my toes
From my knees to my eyes
Everytime I watch the sky
For these last few days leave me alone
But for these last few days leave me alone
Leave me alone
Leave me alone
song performed by by New Order
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
If I Had Only Known
(jana stanfield, craig morris)
If I had only known
It was the last walk in the rain
Id keep you out for hours in the storm
I would hold your hand
Like a life line to my heart
Underneath the thunder wed be warm
If I had only known
It was our last walk in the rain
If I had only known
Id never hear your voice again
Id memorize each thing you ever said
And on those lonely nights
I could think of them once more
Keep your words alive inside my head
If I had only known
Id never hear your voice again
You were the treasure in my hand
You were the one who always stood beside me
So unaware I foolishly believed
That you would always be there
But then there came a day
And I turned my head and you slipped away
If I had only known
It was my last night by your side
Id pray a miracle would stop the dawn
And when youd smile at me
I would look into your eyes
And make sure you know my love
For you goes on and on
If I had only known
If I had only known
The love I wouldve shown
If I had only known
song performed by by Reba Mcentire
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Miguel
Never had much to say
He traveled alone with no friends
Like a shadowy ghost
At dawn he came and he went
Through the woodland swiftly gliding
To the young maid he came gliding
Where shed run to meet him
By the garden wall
Oh my sweet miguel
I will never tell
No one will ever know
What I know too well
And hed smile and lay his head on her breast
And hed say I have no fear
Theyre waiting for me to cross the border, to swim the river
But Ive done that before
To see my true loves smiling face
A hundred times or more
Oh my sweet miguel she cried
Ill love you till I die
He was born to the south
In mexico they say
The child of a man
Who had soon gone away
But his mother loved him dearly
And she would take him yearly
To the great cathedral in st. augustine
Oh my young miguel
Listen to the bell
Of my poverty
You must never tell
And he cried himself to sleep in the night
And he vowed to make things right
So he took the gun down from the wall and he paid a call
He knew shed understand
A lawman came to capture him
The gun jumped in his hand
Oh miguel the mother cried
You must run son or youll die
So the story is told
Of his true love cross the line
As strong as the oak
And as sweet as the vine
And the child she bore him
Came on that fateful mornin
When they sent him to his final rest
Oh my sweet miguel
Listen to the bell
No one will ever know
What I know too well
And shed smile and lay the child on her breast
And shed say I have no fear
Im waiting for you to cross the border, to swim the river
cause youve done that before
To see your true loves smiling face
A hundred times or more
Oh my sweet miguel she cried
Ill love you till I die
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
A Hundred Times Over
A hundred times over words have flowed through my fingers to the keys
A hundred times over I have released the freedom that is in my mind,
A hundred times over I have become one with my inter most longing,
A hundred times over I have taken a journey to show you my own world.
A hundred times over I have written of pain and life, of sorrow and joy,
A hundred times over I have used my art to show you what's in my mind
A hundred times over again I will show you.
A hundred times over I have cried for those, whose names are untold,
A hundred times over I have showed you their pain.
A hundred times over I have become their connection to you,
A hundred times over I have showed you the beauty of our world,
A hundred times over I have taken you somewhere you may never see,
A hundred times over my words have screamed the horror of darkness,
A hundred times over I have sung to you the beauty of light,
A hundred times over I have taken your hand to lead you to a new place
A hundred time over I have written for those who have no words to write
A hundred times over I have tried to show truth in a world of lies,
A hundred times over I have have tried to show the world's beauty,
A hundred times over again I will lead down these paths,
A hundred times over and over again I will show you reality,
A hundred times over and over again I shall show you my world,
A hundred times over and over again until you have memorised truth,
A hundred times over again until you can repeat what I have told,
A hundred times over again shall I create an art of words, time, of life.
A hundred times over again I shall do this,
A hundred times over again.
A hundred times over.
poem by Bethany Maxwell
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Fight Or Flight
We're ready to go
Ticking like a bomb that's about to blow
It's taking control
Pulling at your feet like an undertow
You don't really know
If you're all that capable
But you've been told
Figure it out
Don't pretend you're stupid
Sort it out
Go make yourself useful
You're better than dead
You really made a mess with the words you said
So easily fed
The flames of the fire rise above your head
They want to be led
You've joined the ranks instead
There's a voice in your head
I can't figure it out
Any more than the generation before me
I can't figure it out
How we got where we are today
I can't figure it out
Any more than the generation before me
I can't figure it out
We've got to fight not to fade away
song performed by by Face To Face
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I have no more tears to shed
I am Moshe. Two-year old curly haired little one
Just the other day I was with my mom and dad
An unfamiliar person entered our premises and
He had a lot to say to my parents
Of which I could not make out a bit
Then what happened?
The stranger aimed at my parents the weapon he carried
It was all in seconds ny parents fell back,
First my mom. followed by my dad
The stranger left
I had no idea Whether he marked my presence
I reached my mom. ran my palm over her face and
bent over her for an affectionate kiss
Normally she used to hug me intently for a similar act of mine
But she did not move. I shook her head. no response
I shook her hand. no response
And I saw a pool of blood below her motionless hand.
Which held my father’s
I felt something odd
And started crying
Do not know. how long I cried
When my nanny appeared from somewhere
And took me away into the open
It did not take long for me to realise
That my mom and dad are not any where near
I ate whatever offered as I was hungry
Woke up in between.
Only to know that my parents are not nearby
And then to cry
During my entire wakeful hours
I kept crying and
I kept eating something
As and when I felt hungry
Suddenly I was in the midst of a big gathering
Only my nanny was to be seen
The things that went on made me understand that my
Mom and dad have gone quite a far
And it will take long, much longer
Before I could see them again
First time I smiled
At a kid of my size
Stopping my cries
Without realising
I have no more tears to shed
poem by Bashyam Narayanan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Bang The Drum All Day
I dont want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I dont want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I dont want no candy
I dont need no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing til I got
Blisters on my hand because
When I get older they think Im a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with my hands
But my licks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And thats why
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And I pound on that drum like it was the bosss head
Because
I can bang that drum
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I can do this all day
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Bang The Drum All Day
I dont want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I dont want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I dont want no candy
I dont need no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing til I got
Blisters on my hand because
When I get older they think Im a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with my hands
But my licks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And thats why
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And I pound on that drum like it was the bosss head
Because
I can bang that drum
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I can do this all day
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Bang On The Ukelele Daily
I dont want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I dont want to play
I just want to bang on the drum all day
Ever since I was a tiny boy
I dont want no candy
I dont need no toy
I took a stick and an old coffee can
I bang on that thing til I got
Blisters on my hand because
When I get older they think Im a fool
The teacher told me I should stay after school
She caught me pounding on the desk with my hands
But my licks was so hot
I made the teacher wanna dance
And thats why
Listen to this
Every day when I get home from work
I feel so frustrated
The boss is a jerk
And I get my sticks and go out to the shed
And I pound on that drum like it was the bosss head
Because
I can bang that drum
Hey, you wanna take a bang at it?
I can do this all day
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
A Study In Gray
I step from the door with a shiver
(This fog is uncommonly cold)
And ask myself: What did I give her?
The maiden a trifle gone-old,
With the head of gray hair that was gold.
Ah, well, I suppose 'twas a dollar,
And doubtless the change is correct,
Though it's odd that it seems so much smaller
Than what I'd a right to expect.
But you pay when you dine, I reflect.
So I walk up the street-'twas a saunter
A score of years back, when I strolled
From this door; and our talk was all banter
Those days when her hair was of gold,
And the sea-fog less searching and cold.
I button my coat (for I'm shaken,
And fevered a trifle, and flushed
With the wine that I ought to have taken,)
Time was, at this coat I'd have blushed,
Though truly, 'tis cleverly brushed.
A score? Why, that isn't so very
Much time to have lost from a life.
There's reason enough to be merry:
I've not fallen down in the strife,
But marched with the drum and the fife.
If Hope, when she lured me and beckoned,
Had pushed at my shoulders instead,
And Fame, on whose favors I reckoned,
Had laureled the worthiest head,
I could garland the years that are dead.
Believe me, I've held my own, mostly
Through all of this wild masquerade;
But somehow the fog is more ghostly
To-night, and the skies are more grayed,
Like the locks of the restaurant maid.
If ever I'd fainted and faltered
I'd fancy this did but appear;
But the climate, I'm certain, has altered
Grown colder and more austere
Than it was in that earlier year.
The lights, too, are strangely unsteady,
That lead from the street to the quay.
I think they'll go out-and I'm ready
To follow. Out there in the sea
The fog-bell is calling to me.
poem by Ambrose Bierce
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Sonnet # 50 William Shakespeare
Twas in merry olde England many a year ago
The bard weaved his sort'd tales
Of tragedy, revenge, love and comedy
Of each twas said he knew'th all to well
Oh how that quill must of scratched long into the night
Whilst he penn'd the words his heart held so dear
Surrounded by the glow of candle light, illuminating
A solitary figure t'which the world now so reveres
Romance dripped from every love fill'd sonnet
The two sexes to him was fair game
For he himself twas not prejudice against amour
For both he could love'th just the same
Sweet William in history did'st thou carve thy rightful place
When thee took thy pen in hand and enlighten'd the human race
poem by John A. Hancock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Feeling the draught
Tom tiddle om, tiddle om tom tom.
The drummers played as they marched along,
close behind were the infantry.
they were smart as smart could be.
The cavalry were there of course,
each man riding on his horse.
Oh what a wonderful sight to see
the soldiers in their finery
.
At the head was Major drum
who had a very large tum tum.
He was dressed in red and gray,
But his big tum tum got in the way.
As he marched so very proudly.
Someone in the crowd said loudly.
He wont cut such a dashing figure,
If his tum tum gets any bigger.
The people yelled, the people cheered.,
the king was laughing in his beard.
The queen. she nearly had a fit.
when the Major’s trousers split.
,
First they sniggered then they laughed.
when the Major felt the draught.
No one there had ever seen
a major wearing shorts of emerald green.
April 2003
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
What Am I Doing Here
(Justin Hayward)
Pale the young squire who goes to fight
To die at his master's side
Living is just a dream inside
You ask me why he cried
"What am I doin' here?"
"What am I doin' here?"
Beautiful princess, fair and pale
Stares out across the sea
Alone in her castle dark and grey
Her love she'll never see
"What am I doin' here?"
"What am I doin' here?"
Tenderly bury the fair young dead
Place a wooden cross at his head
All the words you can say
Have been said
It's for you my tears are shed
What can be done, you won't believe
Listen and you may see
Everyone's dream is deep within
Find it and you'll be free
"What am I doin' here?"
"What am I doin' here?"
Tenderly bury the fair young dead
Place a wooden cross at his head
All the words you can say
Have been said
It's for you my tears are shed
Tenderly bury the fair young dead
Place a wooden cross at his head
All the words you can say
Have been said
It's for you my tears are shed
*************************************************************
song performed by by Moody Blues
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!