Tiber, Nile, And Thames
THE head and hands of murdered Cicero,
Above his seat high in the Forum hung,
Drew jeers and burning tears. When on the rung
Of a swift-mounted ladder, all aglow,
Fluvia, Mark Antony's shameless wife, with show
Of foot firm-poised and gleaming arm upflung,
Bade her sharp needle pierce that god-like tongue
Whose speech fed Rome even as the Tiber's flow.
And thou, Cleopatra's Needle, that hadst thrid
Great skirts of Time ere she and Antony hid
Dead hope!—hast thou too reached, surviving death,
A city of sweet speech scorned,—on whose chill stone
Keats withered, Coleridge pined, and Chatterton,
Breadless, with poison froze the God-fired breath?
poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
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Related quotes
Roman Girl's Song
Rome, Rome! thou art no more
As thou hast been!
On thy seven hills of yore
Thou satst a queen.
Thou hadst thy triumphs then
Purpling the street,
Leaders and sceptred men
Bow'd at thy feet.
They that thy mantle wore,
As gods were seen–
Rome, Rome! thou art no more
As thou hast been!
Rome! thine imperial brow
Never shall rise:
What hast thou left thee now?
Thou hast thy skies!
Blue, deeply blue, they are,
Gloriously bright!
Veiling thy wastes afar
With colour'd light.
Thou hast the sunset's glow,
Rome, for thy dower,
Flushing tall cypress-bough,
Temple and tower!
And all sweet sounds are thine,
Lovely to hear,
While night, o'er tomb and shrine,
Rests darkly clear.
Many a solemn hymn,
By starlight sung,
Sweeps thro' the arches dim,
Thy wrecks among.
Many a flute's low swell,
On thy soft air
Lingers, and loves to dwell
With summer there.
Thou hast the South's rich gift
Of sudden song,
A charmed fountain, swift,
Joyous, and strong.
Thou hast fair forms that move
With queenly tread;
Thou hast proud fanes above
Thy mighty dead.
Yet wears thy Tiber's shore
A mournful mien:
Rome, Rome! thou art no more
As thou hast been!
poem by Felicia Dorothea Hemans
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Rome
O thou newcomer who seek’st Rome in Rome
And find’st in Rome no thing thou canst call Roman;
Arches worn old and palaces made common
Rome’s name alone within these walls keeps home.
Behold how pride and ruin can befall
One who hath set the whole world ’neath her laws,
All-conquering, now conquered, because
She is Time’s prey, and Time conquereth all.
Rome that art Rome’s one sole last monument,
Rome that alone hast conquered Rome the town,
Tiber alone, transient and seaward bent,
Remains of Rome. O world, thou unconstant mime!
That which stands firm in thee Time batters down,
And that which fleeteth doth outrun swift Time.
poem by Ezra Pound
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The Great Mercy
Betwixt the saddle and the ground
Was mercy sought and mercy found.
Yea, in the twinkling of an eye,
He cried; and Thou hast heard his cry.
Between the bullet and its mark
Thy face made morning in his dark.
And while the shell sang on its path
Thou hast run, Thou hast run, preventing death.
Thou hast run before and reached the goal,
Gathered to Thee the unhoused soul.
Thou art not bound by Time or Space:
So fast Death runs : Thou hast won the race.
Thou hast said to beaten Death: Go tell
Of victories thou once hadst. All's well!
Death, here none die but thee and Sin
Now the great days of Life begin.
And to the Soul: This day I rise
And thee with Me to Paradise.
Betwixt the saddle and the ground
Was Mercy sought and Mercy found.
poem by Katharine Tynan
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Big Ideas
I've had these jeans since i was born
And now they're ripped and now they're torn
And all my friends have skateboards
I want the toys of other boys
I want a knife and a gun and things
But mom and dad will not give in
And i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
I can't put the needle in
No I can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
And now I know just what it is
It's called disease and it's got my head
It always runs where I hide
Too scared too talk, too scared to try
Too scared to know the reasons why
And all my friends say bye bye
And i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
No I can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
And i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
No I can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
song performed by by Radiohead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Faithless, The Wonder Boy
I've had these jeans since i was born
And now they're ripped and now they're torn
And all my friends have skateboards
I want the toys of other boys
I want a knife and a gun and things
But mom and dad will not give in
And i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
I can't put the needle in
No i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
And now i know just what it is
It's called disease and it's got my head
It always runs where i hide
Too scared too talk, too scared to try
Too scared to know the reasons why
And all my friends say bye bye
And i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
No i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
And i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
No i can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
Can't put the needle in
song performed by by Radiohead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Faithless Wonder Boy
Ive had these jeans since I was born
And now theyre ripped and now theyre torn
And all my friends have skateboards
I want the toys of other boys
I want a knife and a gun and things
But mom and dad will not give in
And I cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
I cant put the needle in
No I cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
And now I know just what it is
Its called disease and its got my head
It always runs where I hide
Too scared too talk, too scared to try
Too scared to know the reasons why
And all my friends say bye bye
And I cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
No I cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
And I cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
No I cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
Cant put the needle in
song performed by by Radiohead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Antony: There’s beggary in the love that can be reckon’d.
Cleopatra: I’ll set a bourn how far to be beloved.
line from Antony and Cleopatra, Act I, Scene 1, script by William Shakespeare (1606)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Cleopatra's Needle
Riding upon a swift cloud,
Is like he who sits above the circles;
Add year to year,
Add a muse to your life;
Like Cleopatra's needle in the bedroom.
Life is like a flying serpent,
To spread it out with a shovel;
Like the bread of adversity with,
The water of affliction around you.
Heaviness and sorrow,
When a thirsty man dreams, what does he see?
Cleopatra's needle with the muse,
The wind blows the snow about;
Drunkenwith it's love is my mind on this muse.
Cleopatra'a needle,
The meek will increase their joy on this earth;
The workman moulds an image,
The goldsmith overlays it with gold;
But the grave cannot thank you for your works.
Cleopatra's needle,
A precious cornerstone is all that i am;
Like a short bed to strechout when, all hope is gone.
The spirit of deep sleep,
Knowledge and discretion to the youth;
Mind you, the world is influenced by demonic spirits.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Hast Thou Forgotten Me?
HAST thou forgotten me? the days are dark—
Light ebbs from heaven, and songless soars the lark—
Vexed like my heart, loud moans the unquiet sea—
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten me? O dead delight
Whose dreams and memories torture me to-night—
O love—my life! O sweet—so fair to see—
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten? Lo, if one should say—
Noontide were night, or night were flaming day—
Grief blinds mine eyes, I know not which it be!
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten? Ah, if Death should come,
Close my sad eyes, and charm my song-bird dumb—
Tired of strange woes—my fate were hailed with glee—
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten me? What joy have I?
A dim blown bird beneath an alien sky,—
O that on mighty pinions I could flee—
Hast thou forgotten me?
Hast thou forgotten? Yea, Love’s horoscope
Is blurred with tears and suffering beyond Hope—
Ah, like dead leaves forsaken of the tree,
Thou hast forgotten me.
poem by Philip Joseph Holdsworth
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Cleopatra’s glory
Cleopatra was the queen of Egypt;
Cleopatra was the queen of beauty.
She came to the throne at her eighteen
The first century BC witnessed it.
To get back her Egypt from her brother,
She sought the hand of Julius Caesar,
The mighty one Rome had ever seen,
And set to sell her asset of beauty.
While in exile, she was able to reach
Caesar when he chanced to visit Egypt,
By getting her smuggled in to his room,
Rolled up in a carpet sent as a gift
Cleopatra emerging from the roll,
Caesar was stunned and fell for her in love.
He made her queen of Egypt in no time
And made her his consort with all respects.
Bound by her charm, grace and wit together,
Caesar clued to her and bore her a son.
He brought her home to be adored by Rome.
They led a life, each proud of the other.
The rise of Caesar was the cause of his fall.
His rise in power and love for Egypt
Were good enough for his conspirators
To rise and annihilate him unaware.
Cleopatra with her son fled to Egypt
And Mark Antony succeeded the throne.
No wonder, her beauty arrested him.
No wonder, his valour imprisioned her.
.The Rome emperor and the Egyptian queen
Loved, like of which no pair ever did.
The spring sprang, love spurted, and the passion flowed.
She was all and she was the world for him.
He took to Egypt and slept with the queen.
His rivals from Rome used his weakness
And invaded the Egyptian sea.
War broke; Antony woke and fought but lost.
The majestic queen became the captive.
False news spread that she was killed. Shocked,
Antony killed himself with the sword he wore.
She saught to burry him with state honour.
She heard she would be taken to Rome,
To be chained and drawn in Rome she adorned.
Romans took care that she killed not herself
And so kept her ss safe amidst water.
She had serpents brought in the fruit basket
And had them sting her to join her lover.
She loved Caesar and lived a royal wife.
She loved Antony and lived a loyal wife.
A woman can love as much in succession.
Widowhood is not an impediment
And the land after the harvest is not waste.
Cleopatra is a perfect example.
‘Age cannot wither her, not custom stale
Her infinite variety; other women cloy
The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies.’ Shakespeare
01.04.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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Political Assassination Publically Justified
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears”
such emotionally charged rhetoric written in iambic
pentameter; reminds of times without hearing aids
when microphone television did not aid cause politic.
Yes Antony here plays mocking Brutus, saying that
maybe his speech was too 'cerebral' for the crowd.
Let us not beat around the bush in politics agendaed
politic proclaim “So are they all, all honourable men”.
A portion of the speech 'But Brutus was an honourable
man' is referenced in an opening scene of the West Wing;
which reminds of honourable times without hearing aids
when microphone television did not edit amplify a plot.
“O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me; ”
recall words 'Enemies Foreign and Domestic'
remind in war on terror of threatening all abodes.
Brutus too had previously delivered politic speech,
in which Brutus proud claimed that the murder had;
been done in name of public freedom clever speech,
evil lives while good is oft interred with slain bones.
The opening quotation of this poem is the famous first line of the often-quoted speech by Mark Antony, in the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. The first three words fit into the rule of three technique.
The second quotation also alludes to the theme of a speaker and the power of a good speech to convince an audience of a specific political point of view. Note the turn of the word honourable to mean dishonourable in Mark Anthony’s speech and beware those who speak of us as Honourable Friends.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Faithless The Wonder Boy
I've had these jeans since I was born
And now they're ripped and now they're torn
All my friends have skateboards
I want the toys of other boys
I want a knife and a gun and things
But Mum and Dad wil not give in
And I can't put the needle in
I can't put the needle in
I can't put the needle in
No I can't put the needle in
I can't put the needle in
I can't put the needle in
And now I know just what it is
It's got disease and it's got my head
It always runs when I hide
Too scared to talk
song performed by by Radiohead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Needle In The Hay
Your hand on his arm
The hay stack charm around your neck
Strung out and thin
Calling some friend trying to cash some check
Hes acting dumb
Thats what youve come to expect
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Hes wearing yr clothes
Head down to toes a reaction to you
You say you know what he did
But you idiot kid
You dont have a clue
Sometimes they just get caught in the eye
Youre pulling him through
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Now on the bus
Nearly touching this dirty retreat
Falling out 6th and powell a dead sweat in my teeth
Gonna walk walk walk
Four more blocks plus one in my break
Down downstairs to the man
Hes gonna make it all ok
I cant beat myself
I cant beat myself
And I dont want to talk
Im taking the cure so I can be quiet
Whenever I want
So leave me alone
You ought to be proud that Im getting good marks
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
Needle in the hay
song performed by by Elliott Smith
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Wounded Eagle
Eagle! this is not thy sphere!
Warrior-bird, what seek'st thou here?
Wherefore by the fountain's brink
Doth thy royal pinion sink?
Wherefore on the violet's bed
Lay'st thou thus thy drooping head?
Thou that hold'st the blast in scorn,
Thou that wear'st the wings of mourn.
Eagle! wilt thou not arise?
Look upon thine own bright skies!
Lift thy glance! the fiery sun
There his pride pf place has won,
And the mountain lark is there,
And sweet sound hath fill'd the air:
Hast thou left that realm on high?
-Oh, it can be but to die!
Eagle! Eagle! thou hast bowed
From thine empire o'er the cloud!
Thou that hadst ethereal birth,
Thou hast stoop'd too near the earth,
And the hunter's shaft hath found thee,
And the toils of death have bound thee,
Wherefore didst thou leave thy place,
Creature of a kingly race?
Wert thou weary of thy throne?
Was the sky's dominion lone?
Chill and lone it well might be,
Yet that mighty wing was free!
Now the chain is o'er thee cast:
From thy heart the blood flows fast,
Woe for gifted souls and high!
Is not such their destiny?
poem by Felicia Dorothea Hemans
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Ch 01 Manner of Kings Story 21
It is narrated that an oppressor of the people, a soldier, hit the head of a pious man with a stone and that the dervish, having no means of taking vengeance, preserved the stone till the time arrived when the king became angry with that soldier, and imprisoned him in a well. Then the dervish made his appearance and dropped the stone upon his head. He asked: "Who art thou, and why hast thou hit my head with this stone?" The man replied: "I am the same person whom thou hast struck on the head with this stone on such and such a day." The soldier continued: "Where hast thou been all this time?" The dervish replied: "I was afraid of thy dignity but now when I beheld thee in the well I made use of the opportunity."’
When thou seest an unworthy man in good luck
Intelligent men have chosen submission.
If thou hast not a tearing sharp nail
It will be better not to contend with the wicked.
Who grasps with his fist one who has an arm of steel
Injures only his own powerless wrist.
Wait till inconstant fortune ties his hand.
Then, to please thy friends, pick out his brains.
C) Julius Caesar
Enter CASCA and CICERO
CASCA: Tomorrow in the senate we shall have to work. Caesar will be sitting.
CICERO: An orator does not go out of fashion, I shall deliver a speech.
CASCA: To be a conspirator has become fashionable.
CICERO: Our roles are not so definite, we use to ignore them.
CASCA: You yourself mention ignorance! Were not you Princeps Senatus?
CICERO: Though he put the crown by thrice, the dictator wants to be top of Rome.
CASCA: He is really top of Rome. Senators are useless.
CICERO: Antony is his shadow and wants put himself in his place. However I am looking all
around.
CASCA: I am one of your accomplices and wonder whether you are seeing anything interesting.
CICERO: I don't like Marullus. Let's get the tribun of the people killed.
CASCA: Do you want to kill a son, too? We already must kill a father.
CICERO: Maybe I don't like killing fathers.
II,1
Enter MARCUS BRUTUS and PORTIA
BRUTUS: As sentinel greets the dawn, so I greet your return. You are late.
PORTIA: Sure, I was very busy at the market-place. Sometimes woman carries a heavy load.
BRUTUS: We must save Rome. People must honour its laws.
PORTIA: I always honoured those laws.
BRUTUS: For this reason I got married with you and did not want another in your place.
PORTIA: My place is close to our native Lares.
BRUTUS: Tradition is on our side. Our homework is the usual one.
PORTIA: No homework but this: one can not re-wind the spindle of time.
poem by Paolo Giuseppe Mazzarello
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Sonnet 67: Hope, Art Thou True
Hope, art thou true, or dost thou flatter me?
Doth Stella now begin with piteous eye
The ruins of her conquest to espy:
Will she take time, before all wracked be?
Her eye's speech is translated thus by thee.
But failst thou not in phrase so heav'nly high?
Look on again, the fair text better try:
What blushing notes dost thou in margin see?
What sighs stol'n out, or kill'd before full born?
Hast thou found such and such like arguments?
Or art thou else to comfort me foresworn?
Well, how so thou interpret the contents,
I am resolv'd thy error to maintain,
Rather than by more truth to get more pain.
poem by Philip Sidney
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The Jew
Thou art more deadly than the Jew of old,
Thou hast his weapons hidden in thy speech;
And though thy hand from me thou dost withhold,
They pierce where sword and spear could never reach.
Thou hast me fenced about with thorny talk,
To pierce my soul with anguish while I hear;
And while amid thy populous streets I walk,
I feel at every step the entering spear;
Go, cleanse thy lying mouth of all its guile
That from the will within thee ever flows;
Go, cleanse the temple thou dost now defile,
Then shall I cease to feel thy heavy blows;
And come and tread with me the path of peace,
And from thy brother's harm forever cease.
poem by Jones Very
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Anthony and Cleopatra
A wrinkle poked his sodding alchemy
Bereft of reason and the truth of ships
But nothing pirouettes in blank sausages
As Antony kisses Cleopatra on the lips.
They went out late last night, clubbing in Alexandria
And Cleopatra was wearing her fishnet tights,
Antony wanted to get her somewhere quiet,
He didn't want to get involved in any fights.
He's got this paranoid fear of Caesar
Because Julius wants to rule the earth,
But perhaps if Cleopatra helps him
He'll show his enemies what he's really worth.
Past ruined palaces of fevered brow
The carved spinach of his twisted dreams
Erupts like ivory in trembling snow
And catches tigers in their early schemes.
poem by John Thorkild Ellison
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Licia Sonnets 21
Licia my love was sitting in a grove,
Tuning her smiles unto the chirping songs,
But straight she spied where two together strove,
Each one complaining of the other's wrongs.
Cupid did cry lamenting of the harm;
Jove's messenger, thou wrong'st me too too far;
Use thou thy rod, rely upon the charm;
Think not by speech my force thou canst debar.
A rod, Sir boy, were fitter for a child,
My weapons oft and tongue and mind you took;
And in my wrong at my distress thou smiled,
And scorned to grace me with a loving look.
Speak you, sweet love, for you did all the wrong
That broke his arrows, and did bind his tongue.
poem by Giles Fletcher The Elder
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