A Byzantine Nobleman In Exile Composing Verses
The frivolous can call me frivolous.
I've always been most punctilious about
important things. And I insist
that no one knows better than I do
the Holy Fathers, or the Scriptures, or the Canons of the Councils.
Whenever he was in doubt,
whenever he had any ecclesiastical problem,
Botaniatis consulted me, me first of all.
But exiled here (may she be cursed, that viper
Irini Doukaina) , and incredibly bored,
it is not altogether unfitting to amuse myself
writing six- and eight-line verses,
to amuse myself poeticizing myths
of Hermes and Apollo and Dionysos,
or the heroes of Thessaly and the Peloponnese;
and to compose the most strict iambics,
such as—if you'll allow me to say so—
the intellectuals of Constantinople don't know how to compose.
It must be just this strictness that provokes their disapproval.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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Related quotes
What you compose with is neither here nor there, you compose with words, or you compose with stone plants and trees, or you compose with events; the Sheriff's officer, or whatever.
quote by Ian Hamilton Finlay
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Thus so wretched is man that he would weary even without any cause for weariness... and so frivolous is he that, though full of a thousand reasons for weariness, the least thing, such as playing billiards or hitting a ball, is sufficient enough to amuse him.
quote by Blaise Pascal
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Ones On The Streets
I was human once and it looked a lot like you.
Hopes, dreams, and bathrooms.
Surprisingly easy how that all slips away.
Hunkered in alleys, cops chasing when you left your leg to piss.
I used to worry about important things like what to watch, what to wear, where to go have a drink, and who might win the game.
Now it is all frivolous.
Where to sleep, when will I eat, will I find a coat to wear, and who will win the race towards death?
The junkie or the prostitute.
All so frivolous.
When I was human you would have smiled at me.
Talked to me.
If I had tripped while walking you would have even worried about my health.
Now that I am like the stray down the road you won't even look at me.
Afraid I may follow you home.
Best to not feed me I will only want more.
All these frivolous things they come and they go.
Amazing how hunger never leaves you, it is a horribly loyal companion.
Those times as a human slip from my memory now.
I clutter the street with the whores and shooters,
debris at it's finest.
We like to watch you as you do those things that humans do.
All the worrying and the shopping and the anger that your time is not respected by the other humans around you.
It amuses us itinerants.
However are content to worry about our frivolous woes.
As we sell our souls and shoot away our pains
We are constantly reminded of how you 'humans' act.
We see it in the new arrivals to our group daily.
Even the youngest have commenced to leaving your ranks.
So many little ones with the same frivolous cares I now have.
We were apart of your humanity.
We are now apart of your waste.
We know how you are.
We don't want to go back to being human like you.
Better to piss in the alley like the dogs.
poem by Raechael Woodroof
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Frivolous And Trivial Are Not The Same
Do you 'really' wish to know,
Just how frivolous these times we live...
Can be?
I am not out to prove this.
But it was you who stated with authority,
I was exaggerating!
And did so with sarcasism and negativity.
You have a TV I am sure?
Most people today have three.
Uplug your video games from one of them.
And tune into your news channels...
With a listening done to how your politicians,
Plan with your money...
To control your destiny.
After you've done that...
Tune into 'any' REALITY TV program.
These shows reflect,
With a bit of entertainment injected...
Just what is outside your door.
'First of all!
I did not say these times were frivolous.
I said they were trivial! '
Frivolous and trivial are not the same.
And I didn't have to go to college to know that! '
Ooooohhhh...
I see!
Forgive me.
How could I have ever mistaken the difference.
Sorry to interrupt your video game.
'No problem.
This is the only 'reality' I REALLY get.'
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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We cherish our friends not for their ability to amuse us, but for ours to amuse them.
quote by Evelyn Waugh
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Travel is the frivolous part of serious lives, and the serious part of frivolous ones.
quote by Anne Sophie Swetchine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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No love is entirely without worth, even when the frivolous calls to the frivolous and the base to the base.
quote by Iris Murdoch
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Frivolous Tonight
Let us talk about some trivial things we like
A bit of this and that
Lets chew the fat
Pour ourselves a glass of stout
And let our rael brook shirts hang out
Nothing makes us more content
To let us wallow in a bit of nonsense
Were all so frivolous tonight, tonight
Lets reveal our childlike nature
And leave our stocks and invoices to rot
Lets go to pot
Tell our jokes about mothers in law
But watch him jump when she comes through the door
Oh the party goes with a swing
When we talk about the trivial things
Were all so frivolous tonight
But theres always one
Who wants to talk shop
Well drive him through the door
With a broom or a mop
Let us tell our favourite story
About some poor chap who put it on display
Hip hooray
And let the girls gather in their slacks
To talk about husbands hairy backs
Some might think were a bit of a shower
But this could be our finest hour
Were all so frivolous tonight, tonight
Were all so ridiculous tonight.
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Frivolous Tonight
Let us talk about some trivial things we like
A bit of this and that
Lets chew the fat
Pour ourselves a glass of stout
And let our rael brook shirts hang out
Nothing makes us more content
To let us wallow in a bit of nonsense
Were all so frivolous tonight, tonight
Lets reveal our childlike nature
And leave our stocks and invoices to rot
Lets go to pot
Tell our jokes about mothers in law
But watch him jump when she comes through the door
Oh the party goes with a swing
When we talk about the trivial things
Were all so frivolous tonight
But theres always one
Who wants to talk shop
Well drive him through the door
With a broom or a mop
Let us tell our favourite story
About some poor chap who put it on display
Hip hooray
And let the girls gather in their slacks
To talk about husbands hairy backs
Some might think were a bit of a shower
But this could be our finest hour
Were all so frivolous tonight, tonight
Were all so ridiculous tonight.
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Regarded As Frivolous
The ability to acquire and purchase things,
Should not be the impetus...
That begins to establish one's self esteem.
Or that which stimulates an incentive wished,
Should not be the catalyst...
That provokes with a teaching,
The reason why anyone seen...
Appears with a feeling to be successful,
With talents and 'gifts'.
Since an integrity gained to maintain,
May come from one's awakening...
To finally recognize one's identity.
And that's it.
Everything else one has and obtains,
Maybe regarded as frivolous.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Angel Time
Angel, I can see myself
Angel, won’t you feel for me,
From your heart?
Do return my heart to me
I’m already hurt
It was an accident unfortunate
Angel, threw me like a man timed
Why amuse yourself in such way
No don’t insist,
Lay me down on the ground softly softly
Don’t remove my head hurts much too much
You never return it
Well I wouldn’t miss it
I shed no tears, broken me
It's my peace of mind
You'll never know,
Now inside and outside are matching one,
Why amuse yourself
Will it break your wings
Will you shed no tear for broken me
My Angel Time,
My Angel.
poem by Graham D. Fandrich
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Dialogue With A Poet
Are you a poet?
Yes, I am a poet
How do you know that
I have composed a poem
You are a poet
when you compose
But right now?
I shall compose oneday again
You are a poet
the moment you compose
after that?
are you sure that
second one will also
be a poem
If second one is like first one
that is not a poem.
You must know a poem
can be a poem only once
What is a good poem
you never know.
To compose a good poem
you need a situation
or a context
that can not be repeated.
So you are not a poet
You will never be a poet.
poem by Devil Poet
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I need a Kiss,
I need a Kiss,
I need a Kiss from you,
That I compose another thought,
I need a composure,
I need a Kiss that is thinking of another thought that hast this talent,
Compose on and on,
I know that you need another kiss from me,
Maybe Iam Composing this meaning and ever realising that Iam a man,
I kiss this ego with my vicissitudes,
These men are so callous in their hearts,
Compose another thought with that Spiritual Being,
It is worth that we are living for that Glory that is to come,
Ain't no dirty with that great composure,
We ain't no other man than the Kingdom that is from this composure.
poem by Maxpoet Beauty
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But somehow, I felt no inclination to be interested in it in any amateur way, let alone professional, until suddenly I became interested. And the first thing I did was to compose: not play an instrument, but to compose.
quote by Gunther Schuller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To Negotiate
Can those of obvious intelligence,
Come to ever compose themselves to negotiate...
With those who have imposed on others,
Incompetent qualities never to represent leadership.
With a showing that is done effectively.
But effectively they have proven to be imbeciles.
Can those of obvious intelligence,
Come to ever compose themselves to negotiate...
With those who have imposed on others,
Incompetent qualities never to represent leadership.
And 'if' this incompetence is what people insist is needed...
Why should those of intelligence,
Bother to bog themselves down with such overwhelming...
And accepting ignorance.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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I Secure My Future!
I provide you with mentorship, because i want you to be successful...
I am going to teach you how to prove a point, compose a poem or drawing.
I believe this will make you a better person in future.
I am on my way to victory, hence i am unstoppable.
I have been a mentor from when i was young.
...Hey yo..boy i am in a hurry, but i think you have a problem...
Don't be scared calm down & try to explain your problem,
remember though your problem is my problem...
I suggest you get away from your friends, because they give you bad influence.
I have been there & done that & i regret...
I believe you deserve something better, so i give you a chance!
poem by kfm Productions
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On an Italian Shore
Kimos, son of Menedoros, a young Greek-Italian,
devotes his life to amusing himself,
like most young men in Greater Greece
brought up in the lap of luxury.
But today, in spite of his nature,
he is preoccupied, dejected. Near the shore
he watched, deeply distressed, as they unload
ships with booty taken from the Peloponnese.
G r e e k l o o t: b o o t y f r o m C o r i n t h.
Today certainly it is not right,
it is not possible for the young Greek-Italian
to want to amuse himself in any way.
poem by Constantine P. Cavafy
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Hey Citizen
Here they come,
Slumming their way outta the jacuzzi,
Well, Ive lived in a slum, sugar plum,
Hit and run
And it did not amuse me
There they go,
Moving around on the radio,
Well Ive been on that show,
Reap and sow, feed and grow
And it did not amuse me
Hey citizen! hey american!
Hey russian! hey citizen!
Beauty stab,
When the good things in life
Have all grown bad,
The cats out the bag
Smash and grab, burn the flag
And didnt it fool me throw it out,
Its not worth the paper its written on
No ifs and buts,
Spending cuts, cheaper smut,
They say they could use me
All through summer,
Theres no glamour in the slammer,
No glamour in the slammer,
Until you make a run
All through summer, the splendours
Pretty slender
The splendours pretty slender
Until you make a run
Here they come,
Slumming their way out of the jacuzzi,
Well Ive lived in a slum, sugar plum,
Hit and run and it did not amuse me
There they go,
Grooving around on the radio
Well Ive been on that show, reap and sow
Feed and grow, and it didnt amuse me
Hey villager! hey citizen!
Hey countryman! hey, now listen!
Hey chinaman! hey european!
Hey russian! hey american!
Hey cowboy! hey indian!
Hey anyway! hey, hey, hey citizen!
song performed by by Abc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Beauty can't amuse you, but brainwork - reading, writing, thinking - can.
quote by Helen Gurley Brown
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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All The Little Children
Walking down the same worn paths again
Do you fly?
Do you?
I'd correct my own way
If I could
If I should
Should do
I will play the same old notes again
Do you write?
Do you?
I'd compose a new chord
If I could
If I should
I should do
All the other children
Love to sing along
But it's my song
I'm supposed to go back
To the first key
But I won't
I'll change it
Do I have to play by all the rules?
Well I won't
I'm changing
Guess I'll have to stick out
From the rest
"He's not right, break him"
Guess I'll have to try to be the best
"That sounds good, we'll take him"
All the other children
Want to sing along
But it's my song
I'll compose a new song
From my heart
Do you like?
Do you?
I'll compose a new song
For the world
Will you sing?
Will you?
I'll breathe my soul
Into the sun
He's the light, burning
And I'll shine down on everyone
Set your hearts a-turning
All your little children
They will sing along
To my song
song performed by by Daniel Bedingfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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