Consolation
How agreeable it is not to be touring Italy this summer,
wandering her cities and ascending her torrid hilltowns.
How much better to cruise these local, familiar streets,
fully grasping the meaning of every roadsign and billboard
and all the sudden hand gestures of my compatriots.
There are no abbeys here, no crumbling frescoes or famous
domes and there is no need to memorize a succession
of kings or tour the dripping corners of a dungeon.
No need to stand around a sarcophagus, see Napoleon's
little bed on Elba, or view the bones of a saint under glass.
How much better to command the simple precinct of home
than be dwarfed by pillar, arch, and basilica.
Why hide my head in phrase books and wrinkled maps?
Why feed scenery into a hungry, one-eyes camera
eager to eat the world one monument at a time?
Instead of slouching in a café ignorant of the word for ice,
I will head down to the coffee shop and the waitress
known as Dot. I will slide into the flow of the morning
paper, all language barriers down,
rivers of idiom running freely, eggs over easy on the way.
And after breakfast, I will not have to find someone
willing to photograph me with my arm around the owner.
I will not puzzle over the bill or record in a journal
what I had to eat and how the sun came in the window.
It is enough to climb back into the car
as if it were the great car of English itself
and sounding my loud vernacular horn, speed off
down a road that will never lead to Rome, not even Bologna.
poem by Billy Collins
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Consolation
How agreeable it is not to be touring Italy this summer,
wandering her cities and ascending her torrid hilltowns.
How much better to cruise these local, familiar streets,
fully grasping the meaning of every roadsign and billboard
and all the sudden hand gestures of my compatriots.
There are no abbeys here, no crumbling frescoes or famous
domes and there is no need to memorize a succession
of kings or tour the dripping corners of a dungeon.
No need to stand around a sarcophagus, see Napoleon's
little bed on Elba, or view the bones of a saint under glass.
How much better to command the simple precinct of home
than be dwarfed by pillar, arch, and basilica.
Why hide my head in phrase books and wrinkled maps?
Why feed scenery into a hungry, one-eyes camera
eager to eat the world one monument at a time?
Instead of slouching in a café ignorant of the word for ice,
I will head down to the coffee shop and the waitress
known as Dot. I will slide into the flow of the morning
paper, all language barriers down,
rivers of idiom running freely, eggs over easy on the way.
And after breakfast, I will not have to find someone
willing to photograph me with my arm around the owner.
I will not puzzle over the bill or record in a journal
what I had to eat and how the sun came in the window.
It is enough to climb back into the car
as if it were the great car of English itself
and sounding my loud vernacular horn, speed off
down a road that will never lead to Rome, not even Bologna.
poem by William Taylor Collins
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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No Easy Way Down
Your toy balloon has sailed
In the sky now,
But now it must fall to the ground.
Now your sad eyes reveal
Just how badly you feel.
There is no easy way down.
The view from the cliffs
Must have been exciting,
And up to the peaks,
You were bound.
Now you're stranded alone
And the past is unknown
And there is no easy way down.
And now it isn't very easy
When you find yourself on your own.
No it isn't very easy
When each boat you take,
Is one more mistake,
There's no one to break, your fall,
Lead you back home.
We all like to climb
To the hieights of love dear
We're our fantasy world can be found
But you must know in the end
When it's time to decend
That there is no easy way down.
I know it isn't very easy,
When you find yourself out on your own.
No it isn't very easy
When each road you take,
Is one more mistake,
There's no one to break,
Your fall,
And lead you back home
We all like to climb
To the heights of love dear,
Where our fantasy world can be found
But you must know in the end
When it's time to decend
That there is no easy way down.
There is no easy way down.
song performed by by Norah Jones
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sonnet On Affixing A Tablet To The Memory Of Captain Cook And Sir Joseph Banks Against The Rock Of Their First Landing In Botany Bay
I have been musing what our Banks had said
And Cook, had they had second sight, that here
(Where fifty years ago the first they were
Of voyagers, whose feet did ever tread
These savage shores) — that here on this south head
Should stand an English farm-hut; and that there
On yon north shore, a barrack tow'r should peer;
Still more had they this simple Tablet read,
Erected by their own compatriots born,
Colonists here of a discordant state,
Yet big with virtues (though the flow'ry name
Which Science left it, has become a scorn
And hissing to the nations), if our Great
Be Wise and Good. So fairest Rome became!
poem by Barron Field
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Padua
pilgrims
students
art culture
Cognoscenti
The Eight
Byzantine domes
most richly
decorated Basilica
Gothic art
Giotto’s frescoes
Basilica del Santo
Capella degli Scrovegni
poem by Ahmad Shiddiqi
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Back Home
Yeah yeah yeah
Well Im going back this summer to ohio
Im gonna seek out all my friends Ive always known
Im goin back to that farm that I remember
Well Im goin to spend this summer back home
Back home (back home, back home, back home)
Ill spend my summer (back home)
Back home (back home)
Back home (back home, back home, back home)
Ill spend my summer (back home)
Back home (back home)
Im gonna get up every morning before the roosters
Ill run downstairs fix my breakfast all alone
Ill milk those cows feed the chickens and the horses
Well Im gonna spend this summer back home
Back home (back home, back home, back home)
Ill spend my summer (back home)
Back home (back home)
Back home (back home, back home, back home)
Ill spend my summer (back home)
Back home (back home)
Ill eat everything that ma puts on the table
When I get back you wont believe how Ive grown
Ill hit the sack early everynight thinkin bout tomorrow whoa oh
Well Im gonna spend this summer back home
Back home, back home, back home
Back home (back home, back home, back home)
Ill spend my summer (back home)
Thats what Im gonna do thats where Im gonna be, thats this summer
Back home (back home)
Back home (back home, back home, back home)
Ill spend my summer (back home)
Gonna get up, gonna get up, gonna get up every morning
Back home (back home)
Back home (back home, back home, back home)
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Ill spend my summer (back home)
Hey woo feels okay back home
Back home (back home)
Back home (back home, back home, back home)
Ill spend my summer (back home)
Back home
song performed by by Beach Boys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Who's To Blame
Oh Mother Ghana; Mother Ghana
What has happened to you?
What has happened to your culture?
They say we've fold arms against 'Vernacular' language
Instead opened arms wide to 'English' language
Oh Mother Ghana Mother Ghana
Why?
At school, we are taught the things we do not know
By the 'English' language
Why not 'Vernacular' language?
Oh Mother Ghana, Oh Mother Ghana
Where is your true identity as pure African?
Where is your pride as true Ghanaian?
Oh Mother Ghana, Oh Mother Ghana,
Day after day
When we put on the uniform as students
We are forbidden to speak 'Vernacular' language
Instead the 'English' language
Why Mother Ghana, why Mother Ghana?
When we speak 'Vernacular' language; your culture,
They say: 'Speak English' someone's culture!
When we speak 'English' that someone's culture
They say: 'Abrofosem; speak vernacular language' your culture!
Oh Mother Ghana, Oh Mother Ghana
Who's to blame?
'English or Vernacular language'
Oh Mother Ghana; Oh Mother Ghana.
poem by Francis Julian Zewu
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No Easy Way Down
(gerry goffin / carole king)
Your toy balloon has sailed
In the sky, love
But now it must fall
To the ground
Now your sad eyes reveal
Just how badly you feel
cause there is no easy way down
The view from the cliffs
Must have been exciting
And up to the peaks
You were bound
Now youre stranded alone
And the past is unknown
And there is no easy way down
No it isnt very easy
When youre left on your own
No it isnt very easy
When each road you take
Is one more mistake
Theres no-one to break your fall
And lead you back home, yeah
We all like to climb to the heights of love
Where our fantasy world can be found
But you must know in the end
When its time to descend
That there is no easy way down
You know youre gonna find
There is no easy way down
song performed by by Dusty Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Blue Mountain Coffee
I take my seat at the Golden Grove
And watch the waitress, Xu,
She's sweet and pert, and her shortened skirt
Shows off a dimple or two;
She brings the menu, a pretty smile,
I get to the "Wo xiang yao...."
But she shakes her head, before I've said
What I want, would like, or how!
She points to the meal I didn't want,
I crease my ‘lao wai' brow,
"No no - Lan shan" is my one response,
"Lan shan kafei, niu nai..."
Do you have it? - this is a coffee shop?
All I want is a cup - that's wrong? '
She rolls her eyes, looks up to the skies
And mutters: ‘Wo bu dong! '
I check my book, have I overlooked
Some word, some phrase - a tone?
‘This is a ‘Kafei Dian? ' I say,
She brings me a chicken bone,
Immersed in water that they call soup,
I feel a sweat coming on,
I wave my hand, ‘bu xing, bu xing, '
She mutters a ‘Wo bu dong! '
Can you say ‘Yes? ' Can you say ‘No? '
She shakes her head, ‘Mei you! '
The sweat breaks out on my fevered brow,
‘Ni ting dong ma, ' I go.
She smiles so sweet, she shakes her head,
She never will understand.
"Ni lan shan kafei or not, " I cry,
She mutters ‘Ni man man kan! '
"That's it, I'm off, " I shout out loud,
‘Wo yiao zou le, " I roar,
She follows my every move as I
Make tracks for the outer door,
I pause and turn as I reach the street
To see her standing - then:
"Zai jian! ' I snort, but she smiles at me:
"Goodbye - Please come again! "
Glossary: - Wo xiang yao - I would like
Lao wai - foreigner
Lan shan - Blue Mountain Kafei - coffee
Niu nai - milk Wo bu dong - I don't understand
Kafei Dian - Coffee Shop
bu xing - you can't/don't/ do this to me
Mei you - nothing.
Ni ting dong ma - Can you understand?
Ni man man kan - take your time.
Wo yao zou le - I want to leave. Zai jian - Goodbye.
poem by David Lewis Paget
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Father Explains
"There where that ray touches the plain
And the shadows escape as if they really ran,
Warsaw stands, open from all sides,
A city not very old but quite famous.
"Farther, where strings of rain hang from a little cloud,
Under the hills with an acacia grove
Is Prague. Above it, a marvelous castle
Shored against a slope in accordance with old rules.
"What divides this land with white foam
Is the Alps. The black means fir forests.
Beyond them, bathing in the yellow sun
Italy lies, like a deep-blue dish.
"Among the many fine cities that are there
You will recogni2e Rome, Christendom's capital,
By those round roofs on the church
Called the Basilica of Saint Peter.
"And there, to the north, beyond a bay,
Where a level bluish mist moves in waves,
Paris tries to keep pace with its tower
And reins in its herd of bridges.
"Also other cities accompany Paris,
They are adorned with glass, arrayed in iron,
But for today that would be too much,
I'll tell the rest another time
poem by Czeslaw Milosz
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Bologna: A Poem About Gold
Give me this time, my first and severe
Italian, a poem about gold,
The left corners of eyes, and the heavy
Night of the locomotives that brought me here,
And the heavy wine in the old green body,
The glass that so many have drunk from.
I have brought my bottle back home every day
To the cool cave, and come forth
Golden on the left corner
of a cathedral's wing:
White wine of Bologna,
And the knowing golden shadows
At the left corners of Mary Magdalene's eyes,
While St. Cecilia stands
Smirking in the center of a blank wall,
The saint letting her silly pipes wilt down,
Adoring
Herself, while the lowly and richest of all women eyes
Me the beholder, with a knowing sympathy, her love
For the golden body of the earth, she knows me,
Her halo faintly askew,
And no despair in her gold
That drags thrones down
And then makes them pay for it.
Oh,
She may look sorry to Cecilia
And
The right-hand saint on the tree,
But
She didn't look sorry to Raphael,
And
I bet she didn't look sorry to Jesus,
And
She doesn't look sorry to me.
(Who would?)
She doesn't look sorry to me.
She looks like only the heavy deep gold
That drags thrones down
All day long on the vine.
Mary in Bologna, sunlight I gathered all morning
And pressed in my hands all afternoon
And drank all day with my golden-breasted
Love in my arms.
poem by James Arlington Wright
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Home
Mamas got her apron on
Standing in the kitchen
Cooking up my favorite dish
Whatever she is fixing
Daddys in a picture in a frame
Thats always sitting by the phone
Daffodils are popping up
Out behind the clothesline
Underneath that tree I planted
When I was just a boy of nine
Man I never can believe
Just how much its grown when I go
Home
Back home
To the gentle place that held be close
As I became a man
And the streets are all familiar
And an old friend shakes my hand
And I feel fine
So fine
Yeah, knowing that this road Im wandering on
From time to time
It always leads me home
Brother, hell be waiting with the
Latest from the grapevine, saying
Man you wont believe them stories
About those crazy friends of mine
And all them little scandals
That a small town cant seem to leave alone
Later on well sit around
Bellies tight from supper
Telling all them stories
That we just cant get enough of
And somewhere in an honest laugh
Itll finally hit me that im
Home
Back home
Where the memories all have gathered up
And slowly turned to gold
And I carry them along with me wherever I may go
And I feel fine
So fine
In knowing that this road Im wandering on
From time to time
It always leads me home
Back home
Well I go and put some flowers down at daddys stone
And I see that empty space beside him
It always makes me glad that I came
Home
Back home
Where the Bible is the bible
And the angels get their wings
And the circle is unbroken
When I hear them church bells ring
And I feel fine
You know I feel so fine
Yeah, knowing that this road Im wandering on
From time to time unwinds
Cross the rivers, through the pines
It always leads me home
Back home
Yeah Im going back home
Back home
song performed by by Tim McGraw
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Michael Caine
Well get ya ya ya
Well get ya ya ya
(I am michael caine)
La la la la la la la la
Hes walking where Im afraid I dont know
I see the firemen jumping from the windows
Theres panic and I hear somebody scream
He picks up useless paper and puts it in my pocket
Im trying very hard to keep my fingers clean
I cant remember tell me whats his name
(my name is michael caine)
And all I wanted was a word or photograph to keep at home
And all I wanted was a word or photograph to keep
The sun is laughing its another broken morning
I see a shadow and call out to try and warn him
He didnt seem to hear just turned away
The quiet fellow follows
And points his finger straight at you
He had to sacrifice his pride, yes
And throw it all away
(I am micheal caine)
And all I wanted was a word or photograph to keep at home
And all I wanted was a word or photograph to keep
His days are numbered he walks round and round in circles
There is no place he can ever call his own
He seems to jump at the sound of the phone
Staring out the window theres nothing he can now do
All he wanted was to remain sane
He cant remer hisemb own name
(my name is michael caine)
And all I wanted was a word or photograph to keep at home
And all I wanted was a word or photograph to keep
All I wanted was a word or photograph
All I wanted was a word or photograph to keep
song performed by by Madness
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Somebody
At a diner down on Broadway they make small talk
When she brings his eggs and fills his coffee cup
He jokes about his love life
And tells her he's about ready to give up
That's when she says "I've been there before
But keep on lookin'
Cause maybe who you're lookin' for is
Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the mornin' train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right by everyday
Somebody that you look at but never really see
Somewhere out there is somebody"
Across town in a crowded elevator
He can't forget the things that waitress said
He usually reads the paper
But today he reads a strangers face instead
It's that blue eyed girl
From two floors up
Maybe she's the one
Maybe he could fall in love with
Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the mornin' train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right by everyday
Somebody that you look at but never really see
Somewhere out there is somebody
Now they laugh about the moment that it happened
A moment they both missed until that day
When he saw his future in her eyes
Instead of just another friendly face
And he wonders why he searched so long
When she was always there
At that diner waitin' on
Somebody in the next car
Somebody on the mornin' train
Somebody in the coffee shop
That you walk right by everyday
Somebody that you look at
But never really see
Somewhere out there
Oh, somewhere out there
Is somebody
song performed by by Reba Mcentire
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Where I Belong
WHERE I BELONG
(Written by Dave Colwell and ????? Lister)
I'm making sure another late night drags on
Just one more drink, but you know I'm wrong
Sooner or later, when everyone's gone
You just shake your head and take my hand
You seem to know what it takes me time to tell
But then you know me, surprises me how well
You make me an offer that I can't refuse
Take my arm and walk away
Help me find my way home
Along this rocky road, 'cause I can't carry on
Will you head me to my bed
Ease my aching head, take me where I belong
Sometimes you smile at the clothes that I wear
You listen to reason when I just don't care
It's bringing me down, then I start to fall
You catch my heart and don't let it go
Help me find my way home
Along this rocky road, 'cause I can't carry on
Will you head me to my bed
Ease my aching head, take me where I belong
As I see you lay your head
I'm glad it's next to mine, mine, whoa
Won't you come on home?
Help me find my way home
Along this rocky road, 'cause I can't carry on
Will you head me to my bed
And ease my aching head, take me where I belong
Help me find my way home
Along this rocky road, 'cause I can't carry on
Will you head me to my bed
And ease my aching head, take me where I belong
Take me home
Take me home
song performed by by Bad Company
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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This Old Road
Look at that old photograph
Is it really you
Smiling like a baby full of dreams
Smiling aint so easy now
Some are coming true
Nothings simple as it seems
But I guess you count your blessings with the problems
That youre dealing with today
Like the changing of the seasons
Chorus:
Aint you come a long way
Aint you come a long way
Aint you come a long way down
This old road
Looking at a looking glass
Running out of time
On a face you used to know
Traces of a future lost
In between the lines
One more rainbow for the road
Thinking of the faces in the window
That you passed along the way
Or the last thing you believed in
Chorus:
Aint you come a long way
Aint you come a long way
Aint you come a long way down
This old road
Say you tried to chase the sundown
And you let it slip away
And the holy night is falling
Chorus:
Aint you come a long way
Aint you come a long way
Aint you come a long way down
This old road
Look at that old photograph
Is it really you ?
song performed by by Kris Kristofferson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Small Hours
(originally recorded by holocaust)
Look out at the darkness, and you will see
Just call my name and Ill be there
You cannot touch me, you would not dare
I am the chill thats in the air
And I try to get through to you, in my own special way
As the barriers crumble, at the end of the day, a-ha
Dark rivers are flowing, back into the past
You are the fish for which I cast
And what of the future, what is to be
As the rivers flow into the sea
And I try to get through to you, in my own special way
As the barriers crumble, at the end of the day
Do not take for granted, powers out there
Dont step into the demons lair
Time is an illusion, rising from time
Steep is the mountain which we climb
And I try to get through to you, in my own special way
As the barriers crumble, at the end of the day
song performed by by Metallica
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Past...now, It Is Just You And Me.
i speed away from the past,
it has no use
i tell myself the future has more to say
i scurry for the present items: a pen and paper
draw a leaf, imagine the sun, and a little space
for something that is yet to come,
last nigh the dreams take revenge
it is the past that i choke and bury and they are too many
a gun aims by the road towards the glass window
piles of books in the dormitory still unread
the lights do not turn off till morning
the food in the platter is light and i so think is deficient for my hunger
there are those who stay in the house laughing
about what i am doing....and the car is missing..
i am quick to this. i wake up, turn on the switch and face the
fluorescent light,
the magic has always been
a simple glass of cold water,
then i am back again: it is only between you and me and the rest?
mere peripheries.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Streets Of Little Italy
(robbie seidman)
Producer for bonnie: desmond child
The narrow and the winding ways
The streets of old new york
The families, the street life, the spark
The rooftop where we watched
San gennaros festival
Masquerades in the dark...
On the streets down in little italy
Where the past goes on and on forever
And I feel it ever present
In every step I take alone
On the streets down in little italy
The oceans and the years
That separate our lives
From these streets we once called our home
Those distances of space and time
How strong they are
And how weak they are...
On the streets down in little italy
Where the past goes on and on forever
And I feel it ever present
In every step I take alone
On the streets down in little italy
Does the morning sunlight
Still hit the bed where we used to lie
Do the sidewalk stands and markets still overflow
Where I lingered till I was empty
Where I stayed till I had to go
Though in the night
Sometimes I see you disappear
Down cobblestones...
On the streets down in little italy
Where the past goes on and on forever
And I feel it ever present
In every step I take alone
Like your presence in my bones
On the streets down in little italy
song performed by by Bonnie Tyler
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Life Is As Simple And Enjoyable As Sipping Coffee Early Morning And Enjoying The Scenery Of A Rustic Place
alright,
we simplify this
it is early morning
they have not awakened yet
the house is very peaceful
the windows are closed still
and the doors too
alright
stand, walk towards the window
open all of them
let the cold air come in
then walk towards the door
unlock it
and open it too and then
let the cold air
come in
you want coffee?
go to the kitchen
take a spoon a cup and saucer and
take sugar and coffee and
hot water
you know what to do, right?
feel at home
this is your home
now take your time
sit on a chair
face the trees
stir your coffee
feel it hot
and then sip
enjoy, savor the scenery of
this rustic place
feel the wind on your cheeks
take the warm side of the cup
alright,
is not life as simple as this?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Long Way Back
(bill rice/sharon rice)
(track 6 - time 3:33)
Sitting in a cafe at the corner of broad and grand
Stirring up old memories and the coffee in my hand
The waitress stopped and asked me
Honey do you know what you want
I had to stop myself from telling her the truth
What I really need is another chance with you
But this temper train Im on just ran away too fast
Its a long, long, way back to you baby
Its a long, long, way back
The neon clock is humming showing sign of wear
Ive lost all sense of time since Ive been sitting here
The waitress asked again
Is there something else you need
I need to take the hands off that clock above my head
Reset the time and take back everything I said
If I could turn around, then I would erase my tracks
But its a long, long way back, to you baby
Its a long, long way back
It is a lonely road a fool travels down
I guess I oughta know cause thats where Im headed now
And its a long, its a long, way back
Sitting at the cafe just ruby lee and me
I get feeling shes waiting on me to leave
She stopped askin hours ago if I know what I want
Yeah but its a long, long way back, to you baby
Its a long, long way back
I miss you darlin
Its a long, long way back
song performed by by Diamond Rio
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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