How Beastly the Bourgeois Is
How beastly the bourgeois is
especially the male of the species--
Presentable, eminently presentable--
shall I make you a present of him?
Isn't he handsome? Isn't he healthy? Isn't he a fine specimen?
Doesn't he look the fresh clean Englishman, outside?
Isn't it God's own image? tramping his thirty miles a day
after partridges, or a little rubber ball?
wouldn't you like to be like that, well off, and quite the
thing
Oh, but wait!
Let him meet a new emotion, let him be faced with another
man's need,
let him come home to a bit of moral difficulty, let life
face him with a new demand on his understanding
and then watch him go soggy, like a wet meringue.
Watch him turn into a mess, either a fool or a bully.
Just watch the display of him, confronted with a new
demand on his intelligence,
a new life-demand.
How beastly the bourgeois is
especially the male of the species--
Nicely groomed, like a mushroom
standing there so sleek and erect and eyeable--
and like a fungus, living on the remains of a bygone life
sucking his life out of the dead leaves of greater life
than his own.
And even so, he's stale, he's been there too long.
Touch him, and you'll find he's all gone inside
just like an old mushroom, all wormy inside, and hollow
under a smooth skin and an upright appearance.
Full of seething, wormy, hollow feelings
rather nasty--
How beastly the bourgeois is!
Standing in their thousands, these appearances, in damp
England
what a pity they can't all be kicked over
like sickening toadstools, and left to melt back, swiftly
into the soil of England.
poem by David Herbert Lawrence
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
The Bourgeois Blues
(Huddie LedbetterAlan Lomax)
(G7) - (C7) - (G) - (D7)
(G7) Me and my wife went all over town
And everywhere we went people turned us down
Lord, in a (C7) bourgeois town
It's a (G) bourgeois town
I got the (D7) bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all a- (G) round
Home of the brave, land of the free
I don't wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie
Lord, in a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
Well, me and my wife we were standing upstairs
We heard the white man say ?I don't want no niggers up there?
Lord, in a bourgeois town
Uhm, bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
Well, them white folks in Washington they know how
To call a colored man a nigger just to see him bow
Lord, it's a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
I tell all the colored folks to listen to me
Don't try to find you no home in Washington, DC
?Cause it's a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
song performed by by Ry Cooder
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bourgeois Blues
(huddie ledbetter/alan lomax)
(g7) - (c7) - (g) - (d7)
(g7) me and my wife went all over town
And everywhere we went people turned us down
Lord, in a (c7) bourgeois town
Its a (g) bourgeois town
I got the (d7) bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all a- (g) round
Home of the brave, land of the free
I dont wanna be mistreated by no bourgeoisie
Lord, in a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
Well, me and my wife we were standing upstairs
We heard the white man say i dont want no niggers up there
Lord, in a bourgeois town
Uhm, bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
Well, them white folks in washington they know how
To call a colored man a nigger just to see him bow
Lord, its a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
I tell all the colored folks to listen to me
Dont try to find you no home in washington, dc
cause its a bourgeois town
Uhm, the bourgeois town
I got the bourgeois blues
Gonna spread the news all around
song performed by by Ry Cooder
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Worm Either Way
If you live along with all the other people
and are just like them, and conform, and are nice
you're just a worm --
and if you live with all the other people
and you don't like them and won't be like them and won't conform
then you're just the worm that has turned,
in either case, a worm.
The conforming worm stays just inside the skin
respectably unseen, and cheerfully gnaws away at the heart of life,
making it all rotten inside.
The unconforming worm -- that is, the worm that has turned --
gnaws just the same, gnawing the substance out of life,
but he insists on gnawing a little hole in the social epidermis
and poking his head out and waving himself
and saying: Look at me, I am not respectable,
I do all the things the bourgeois daren't do,
I booze and fornicate and use foul language and despise your honest man.--
But why should the worm that has turned protest so much?
The bonnie bonnie bourgeois goes a-whoring up back streets just the same.
The busy busy bourgeois imbibes his little share
just the same
if not more.
The pretty pretty bourgeois pinks his language just as pink
if not pinker,
and in private boasts his exploits even louder, if you ask me,
than the other.
While as to honesty, Oh look where the money lies!
So I can't see where the worm that has turned puts anything over
the worm that is too cunning to turn.
On the contrary, he merely gives himself away.
The turned worm shouts. I bravely booze!
the other says. Have one with me!
The turned worm boasts: I copulate!
the unturned says: You look it.
You're a d----- b----- b----- p----- bb-----, says the worm that's turned.
Quite! says the other. Cuckoo!
poem by David Herbert Lawrence
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Hollow Man
I think I have become one of the hollow men
As I shine on the outside more these days
I can feel the outside feeding on my inside
Leaves a growing darkness in its place
I think I have become one of the hollow men
I think I have become one of the lonely
Now that everybody talks to me
I feel I have become one of the empty
Hollow men can stop you with the twinkling of an eye
Hollow men can take you without even reaching out
Hollow men have got you long before you realise
The poison paralyses
I think I have become one of a pair of men
It's a feeling I've been having for some time
I look down upon myself and watch my movements
A blind eye sees the fragile vandalised
Watch this cold world dishing up these endless hollow men
Find us anywhere you look
Come and meet our friends
Stand us in our silly clothes
Put our batteries in
Line us up like fairground ducks
Watch us grin and grin
See the lies behind our eyes..
See the will to win
We'll buy you and we'll sell you
But perhaps we'll save your skin....
Sit quietly and listen to the breeze...
The hollow and the lonely listen too
Sniff the air for something we can use
We're tin hard and we rattle when we're shaken
song performed by by Marillion
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Hollow Man
(music: marillion lyrics: steve hogarth & john helmer)
I think I have become one of the hollow men
As I shine on the outside more these days
I can feel the outside feeding on my inside
leaves a growing darkness in its place
I think I have become one of the hollow men
I think I have become one of the lonely
Now that everybody talks to me
I feel I have become one of the empty
Hollow men can stop you with the twinkling of an eye
Hollow men can take you without even reaching out
Hollow men have got you long before you realise
The poison paralyses
I think I have become one of a pair of men
Its a feeling Ive been having for some time
I look down upon myself and watch my movements
A blind eye sees the fragile vandalised
Watch this cold world dishing up these endless hollow men
Find us anywhere you look
Come and meet our friends
Stand us in our silly clothes
Put our batteries in
Line us up like fairground ducks
Watch us grin and grin
See the lies behind our eyes ...
See the will to win
Well buy you and well sell you
But perhaps well save your skin ...
Sit quietly and listen to the breeze ...
The hollow and the lonely listen too
Sniff the air for something we can use
Were thin hard and we rattle when were shaken
song performed by by Marillion
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Customer Complaint
‘There is something wrong with this mushroom! '
I heard a lady, on a nearby table, suddenly boom.
The lady was clearly upset by the whole ‘ordeal',
And, asked the young waitress for a duplicate meal.
Soon, from the kitchen, her new meal appeared,
But, by its appearance, she was far from cheered.
‘I guess, an idiot, is what you take me for?
It's the very same mushroom, I had before! '
That it was a different mushroom, she was assured,
But she was not convinced, so this now meant war.
By this time, the lady was getting really quite irate:
‘That is the same mushroom, on a different plate! '
‘I tell you, this here mushroom is quite inferior!
I demand that I be allowed to see your Superior!
Your explanation, with me, girl, will just not wash.
You're no use: I want you to bring me your boss.'
The Manager appeared, and listened to her complaint:
Luckily, for him, he possessed the patience of a Saint!
He stood there calmly, while she ranted and raved:
A trouble-free shift was what he desperately craved.
She seemed to have time to eat her meal before,
But, suddenly, she didn't have that time anymore!
‘I want a refund! ' she said. ‘And make it snappy! '
She now seemed in a rush, and very far from happy.
Of the show, the lady was most definitely the star,
But I think that she carried things just a little too far!
Tempers flared, nerves frayed, and feelings ran high:
And this was all over one tiny little specimen of fungi!
poem by Angela Wybrow
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Adam's Sons
Adam's Sons
Epic male
Strong, robust, determined
Hero – the luck
Legend male
Famous, established, customary
Icon – the legacy
Spiritual male
Suppliant, obedient, fidelity
Priest – the vow
Chivalric male
Bold, gallant, brave
Knight – the oath
Renaissance male
Erudite, honorable, moral
Scholar – the quest
Bourgeois male
Entrepreneurial, conservative, materialistic
Capitalist – the issue
Aristocrat male
Fashionable, elegant, privileged
Noble – the office
Common male
Sensible, convenient, luxurious
Personnel – the status
He-man male
Glaring, dangerous, fierce
Soldier – the force
Partner male
Subordinate, optimistic, cheerful
Husband – the rule
Modern male
Sophisticated, good-humoredly, elaborate
Materialistic – the survival
Future male
Mechanical, complex, exact
Robot – the reason
poem by Jordan Legaspi
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Valediction Of The Body For The Soul
I am the body, and you are the soul. I let you in. You are my guest.
Inside my body, you feel what i feel.You know what i know.
What you like i too must like.
What you disgust I too must disgust.
We have become one. Ideally, we go. I go where you go.
I let you stand on my feet
I let you touch the persons and things that you love
Through my Hands.
I am the body and you are the Soul. Inside me
You are my guest. They say that you are more important.
Holier. More wise. Filled with Understanding,
As I let you stay, I have become of lesser importance
To those who worship you, through me.
I am the body, and I have become secondary
to Your importance. But you are just my guest. I have let you in.
Now I demand that you too must respect my flesh,
My bones, My blood. I bleed. You don't. I feel the pain
You don't. I now demand that you too My Soul
Must understand my simple needs. My need for warmth
and Desire.
I am the Body and You are the Soul. I demand respect
and understanding otherwise I may use my power
to Oust You. I still have the power to put an end
To this Body and it is you who must leave.
You must understand me. When I end the life of this Body
As I very well know I can, then you Leave.
I will be left. I may rot. I may turn to Dust. But I have done
what is within my Power.
Respect my little lusts. That is my compromise with You.
Have a little understanding to my confusions.
Bear with Me too. Be my Guest. Be the Good One.
My Soul, My friend, My companion.I am your Faithful Body.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Shedding
They always like to be full with some thing
But I like to be very vacant and empty
By shedding of my life
From anything to everything
As it has got junk
Old fashioned
Overused and tired
Unsuitable for the modern…
Unable to explain
The life of unpredictable
Meet the challenge
Of the present demand.
Though they are very fearful
I am very brave
To be ignorant
As before
I started to learn
Ignorance was bliss
As even a slight piece
Of anything used to keep me pleased.
As I did not know how to calculate the loss and profit
In love
In life
I always kept smiling
As I did not know
What was happening behind!
In their mind!
Now it is a burden
As I know what's going on
Under the layers and behind the curtain
The soul was like a white paper
Now full of black ink
It is blocking
The new…….
Very fast getting rust
Like a piece ……
I like to be reboot again
Fresh and clean
I like to shed
Like a tree
Before spring
To be an innocent
Like New leaves.
I like to log off
To log on
With a gust
Of wind
With vitality
To run again
Fresh and clean.
To gather new
To think about you
Peace and love
Life and death
I have to delet
Files and cookies
To have a blank space.
I need a place
Full of cool, calm
And loneliness
To feel and think deep
Out of the din
Of the thoughts
Of the old streets.
poem by Abdul Wahab
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As I Watch...........
As i sit here watching the fire burn
i recall a time when all was fine
and as i watch that fire grow
i laugh as i come back to reality
and remember how things came to be
and at that moment my life breaks down
and as it breaks im forced to realise how dull
my life has been and how dull it will be
when im forced to remain in a life
a life in which solitude isnt how
i'd want to remain
so as i watch this fire burn
i reminess about my life i come to the reaization
about the way life works
and that is: Life will never cease with springing surprises unto all beings no matter the race or species
poem by Zackory Kzeminski
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Understanding Me
Tie me down
And try to take samples for examples
You could never see
Walk on me
But watch where you're stomping
Walk with caution
You couldn't comprehend
Step inside and see
Justify
You could never see my life is
You could never be my life is
You will never try my life is
Understanding me
Understanding me
What do you know about me
Am I alive
Can I see
What's happening around me
Put me down
Without even speaking
Forever thinking
You couldn't understand
Step inside and see
Compromise
You could never see my life is
You could never be my life is
You will never try my life is
Understanding me
Understanding me
Step inside and see
Crucify
song performed by by Soil from Scars
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Surrealism is a bourgeois disaffection; that its militants thought it universal is only one of the signs that it is typically bourgeois.
quote by Susan Sontag
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Burning Inside
Will these dreams still follow me,
On of dark obscurity?
Cant you see it up in the sky
As it kicks you in the face and lets you dye
You never have the answers
And now you tell me the facts of life
I really couldnt be bothered with you
Get out of my face and watch me die
Burning inside!burning inside!
Absolution and a frozen room
Are dreams of men below
I try to grab it but the touch is hot
The mirrors collapses, but the image can not
Im scared of darkness in a light
I scare myself cause I know Im right
I see the evil in youre savage eye
As it cuts right through the sky
Burning inside!burning inside!burning inside!burning inside!burning
Inside!burning inside!burning inside!burning inside!
Calling the mantra with a blade in the skin
For the demons within
I feel the pain is the death and decay
But the lesson never fades away
Too little shadows, turn away
Another man through the window pane
Another slave and a victim of fate
Another lesson in hate
Burning inside! burning inside!burning inside!burning inside!burning
Inside!burning inside!burning inside!burning inside!
song performed by by Ministry
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Kiss Of Life
See me a big woman, big woman look how you dance
See me a big woman, big woman caught in a trance
Dancing on the tabletop, covered up with the easter feast
Youre dancing for the fishermen, from the very large right
To the least
Dancing for the slow release, first the boy and then the beast
Then the beast
Burning, buring with the kiss of life
Burning, buring with the kiss of life
See me, a big woman, big woman so full of life
See me, a big woman, big woman going to be my wife
Watching for the different eyes - they change your face -
They come inside
Watch the spirits laugh and cry, watch them find a place
To hide
Watch the spirits talk in tongues, watch them take you for
A ride
Down at the ocean lies a body in the sand
Big woman sits beside, head in hand
With heat from her skin, and fire from her breath
She blows hard, she slows deep in the mouth of death
Burning, burning with the kiss of life
Burning, burning with the kiss of life
Burning, burning with the kiss of life
song performed by by Peter Gabriel
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Slip Away
Eptiness comes around
you're standing here alone
the fabrication of your life
it only brings you down
you're such a long way from home
A soul lost that can't be found
looking deep inside of you
there's nothing left anymore
you let it all slip away
there's nothing left for you to do
You stood at a rivers edge
as you watch yourself drown
thinking about the past
how you use to have it all
believing you would never fall
the sun always shined your way
But nothing here sometimes never last
your dreams can disappear forever
before you know it all you have is gone
now your sky is gray
nothing is like it was before
Like a blink of a eye
you just watch it all pass by
you lost your kid and wife
no-one is waiting til you get back
it all went by so fast
your years now only filled in black
(spiritwind-2009)
poem by Spiritwind Wood
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Today is the day
Today is the day I've waited for
I can't wait no more.
I just cannot stay.
So today is the day.
The die that I die
For tonight I'll take my life
I'll probably use a knife
To end my life.
I cannot stand
For I guess a good life was to much to demand
I cann't Handle pressure and pain.
For I am sure to go insane.
Im already mad.
All I no is bad.
For I can't stay sane
And Now all I see is red
Things will get better once I am dead
I am going to Die
So I say Goodbye
I take these pills in my hand
For I guess a good life was way to much to demand
But suicide will end it all
For not listening is my downfall
I take the pills in groups of ten
As I lie down I think of Life
I think I should use a knife
It will get better
as I sign my letter
With crimson blood.
One Slash of the knife
And I robbed myself of my life.
But the life I had was no good.
It was within a shitty hood
Amy Kerswell
poem by Amy Louise Kerswell
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Turning Back From The Abyss
Watch the contents of the bottle go down the sink.
Oh, how I want a drink.
I must resist, I must resist.
The smell of alcohol in the air.
I can almost taste it there.
Temptation is rife.
I must resist the urge, I must resist.
I open the window,
breath deeply in air
This is the first hour,
of the first day.
Time is my enemy
I have to ignore.
If I watch it go slowly,
I’ll only want a drink more.
Must go for a walk,
so its outs of sight
Oh, day turn to night,
night turn to day.
The streets are too busy
for anyone to notice me.
The road back is harder,
than the one I slipped down
The way is steeper.
Take a little step at a time.
With each new passing day,
Must keep the demons
and nightmares at bay.
I might stumble,
but I dare not slip again.
First rid your life of bottles,
shave everyday,
try to look presentable,
clean your clothes.
Theses are my daily vows.
Step out into the sunlight
Hold your head up high
Your going to make it,
through this day.
Tomorrow is somewhere else,
just think of today.
The minutes stretch like hours
You look at bottles on display
The demon inside you tells you
“Go in and buy one.”
No, you can’t go back
now that you’ve started.
Walk by, ignore what you see.
Take no second glance.
Just keep walking away
Temptation may be rife.
You’ve got to fight the urge.
No one said it would be easy
There was no magic cure.
You’ve got to think future,
make it your goal.
With every step you take,
think of smiling faces, cheering you on.
Family and friends, you thought were all gone.
Remember their faces.
See what they see.
They want you back,
the way you used to be.
Happy and loving and care free.
You owe it to yourself,
to see the whole thing through.
If you want that life again
Walk by the temptations,
every step along the way.
Dispel the demon,
everything he has to say.
You can do it if you want to.
Hand will outstretch
to help you through.
The way back is never easy
Take each day as it comes.
Oh, sure there will be bad ones.
You’ll cry for the bottle,
to ease all the pain.
Don’t reach for it
and drag yourself down again.
Remember if you fall this time.
you may never get another chance.
Take it while you’ve got it.
Go one make your stance.
The choice is yours.
The bottle or a new life.
The bottle, loneliness and empty again.
A new life, job, family and friends.
The choice is yours.
Think carefully my friend.
Make all the nightmares end.
I’m strong now, I’ll walk by.
I want what I lost,
all those years ago.
Straight ahead I look,
no second glance take.
I must climb this road,
no matter how long it takes.
29 Jan 2007
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Last Thing On My Mind
Four o'clock in the morning
My mind's filled with a thousand thoughts of you
And how you left without warning
But looking back I'm sure you tried to talk it thorugh
Now I see it so clearly
We're together but living seperate lives
So I wanna tell you I'm sorry
Baby I can't find the words
But if I could, then you know I would, yeah yeah
No I won't let go, know what we can be
I won't watch my life, crashing down on me
Guess I had it all, right there before my eyes, yea
(Girl) I'm sorry now, you were the last thing on my mind
You carried me like a river
How far we've come still surprises me
And now I look in the mirror
Staring back is a man I used to be, with you
How I long for you, yea
No I won't let go, know what we can be
I won't watch my life, crashing down on me
Guess I had it all, right there before my eyes, yea
Oh I'm sorry now, you were the last thing on my mind
Girl I'm sorry I was wrong
could have been there
Should have been so strong
So I'm sorry
No I won't let go, know what we can be
I won't watch my live, crashing down on me
Guess I had it all, right there before my eyes, yea
(Girl) I'm sorry now, you were the last thing on my mind
I won't watch my life, crashing down on me
Guess I had it all, right there before my eyes, yea
(Girl) I'm sorry now, you were the last thing on my mind
On my mind
On my mind
song performed by by LeAnn Rimes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Put Courage Into Your Heart
Put courage into your heart
Drive swiftly to take a start
And fill your soul with your dreams
Of wishful thinking and hope's beam
And know that to have a fulfilled life
You need to nicely and courageously drive
The car of your dreams and hope
Filled with love and smile's cope
Just learn to get back in touch
With whatever is going around much
And search for inner strength and feel
And make with life a lovely deal
whenever life throws you a curve ball
Return it and rebuild hope's wall
And learn to have a fulfilled life
Where hopes and dreams freely survive
And empower your self and deep inside
With courage of mind and emotion's wide
And trust your feelings and your mind
Then life will always be with you kind
Just put courage into your heart
Drive swiftly to make a start
And fill your soul with your dreams
Of wishful thinking and hope's beam.
poem by Seema Chowdhury
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Bourgeois society is not fundamentally opposed to the bourgeois women's movement, which is proven by the fact that in various states reforms of private and public laws concerning women have been initiated.
quote by Clara Zetkin
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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