Buried Alive!
The air was thin as I breathed it in,
It scarcely filled my throat,
I thrashed about and I tried to shout
But all I could do was croak,
I couldn't move for the lid above
And the sides just hemmed me in,
When a tap-tap-tap beneath my back
Broke in on my nightmare dream.
'Elizabeth! Elizabeth! ' I croaked,
As the torment grew,
'Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Oh Lord,
Please Lord, not you! '
The sweat broke out on my fevered brow,
The terror grew within,
For hell was there in my bleak despair
As the rattle of death chimed in!
My wife then slapped me about the face,
'Wake up - it's only a dream! '
I filled my lungs with a rush of air,
And fought the desire to scream.
'And who's this woman, Elizabeth? '
She said in a sombre tone,
'If ever I thought I'd caught you out
You'd be coming on home, alone.'
I shook my head in confusion then,
'Not true! There's only you!
The dream is simply an awful scene
Night terrors put me through.'
'You'd better get to a Shrink, ' she said,
'I've had enough of this,
For every night it's the same, you fight
For a woman you seem to miss.'
I went to a Psych, with no result,
I went to a Naturopath,
I tried to sweat out the evil in
The salts of a cleansing bath,
I even sat in a séance, tried
To find if a spirit cared,
When the spirit of one, Elizabeth, said:
'Remember the love we shared! '
'I know of no Elizabeth! '
I said, with my conscience clear,
It's only a dream that returns to me
Whenever the stars appear! '
It pushed the planchette back and forth,
And the pencil spelt 'Alive',
Went back, repeated across the board,
'You buried me - Alive! '
I staggered out of the séance then
Got drunk on the way back home,
The name had impressed my consciousness
With a vision of flesh and bone,
A vision of curling, darling hair,
And eyes that brightly shone,
A bonnet of blue forget-me-nots,
And lips that had whispered, 'John....'
My name is Anthony Peter
I repeated, twenty times,
I'd never been known as 'John', although
The name of John - it chimes!
I went to a hypnotherapist,
And asked him to take me back,
To find if I'd lived another life
In the dim and distant past.
He put me out in a minute, sent me
Whirling back through the years,
Laughing and mostly crying, I
Remembered it all with tears,
And suddenly there was Elizabeth,
A famous lawyer's wife,
I was a poor accountant, but
I loved her more than life.
The lawyer was cruel and heartless,
His wife was a comely wench,
He'd wed the girl to impress the lords
And his cronies on the bench,
He slept with another mistress on
The darker side of town,
But wouldn't release her from her vows
If the heavens came crashing down!
We fell in love in a morning,
Would meet at a farmer's farm,
While he was off in his Chambers
We were out in the farmer's barn,
We wracked our brains for the answer
To steal her away from him,
We both agreed that the freedom bought
With death, was the only thing.
My friend was a brilliant chemist,
With his philtres, drugs and charms,
Who gave me a special potion
That would set up the first alarm,
Elizabeth would be as dead
As anyone could believe,
And while she lay in her coffin there,
The rest of us could grieve.
I paid for the grave to be dug myself,
By the family crypt of 'Stall',
He'd dig to a depth of six feet down
Placed right by the western wall,
Then I could tunnel from under the wall
And take her into the crypt,
While under the cover of darkness
We'd escape to our own retreat.
The plan was fine as a plan, it worked,
I'd bored two holes in the lid,
Plenty of air would get to her
For the length of the time we'd need,
I paid the digger to leave the hole
Uncovered for just a day,
By the time that he filled that empty grave
We'd be well on the King's Highway.
But then, just back from the funeral,
I looked for the potion jar,
I knew to get rid of the evidence
Before we had gone too far,
My hand, it slipped, the jar was smashed
It cut me along the wrist,
The potion covered my bloodied arm,
I was too weak to resist.
I lay as dead, to the gravedigger,
With none, he thought, to care,
So thought he would do me a favour then
By burying me with her there,
He dropped my coffin on top of hers
While she lay waiting for me,
Then heard me kicking and screaming there
And knew she'd never be free!
* * * * * * *
It took some time, but I found the crypt
And I hid for a night and day,
Chiseled away at the base of the wall
'Til the stonework came away,
The coffins were planted one on one
And I smashed the bottom one first,
Pulled the corpse from its hiding place
As it fell, old bones in the dirt!
And a sigh burst out in the fetid air
As a bonnet fell to the ground,
Covered in blue forget-me-nots...
But I heard a terrible sound!
A tap-tap-tap from the other box,
And a voice that I once knew,
'Elizabeth! Elizabeth! Oh Lord,
Please Lord, not you! '
29 December 2009
poem by David Lewis Paget
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Related quotes
Elizabeth, I Love You
Written and composed by michael jackson
Welcome to hollywood
Thats what they told you
A child star in hollywood
Thats what they sold you
Grace with beauty, charme and talent
You would do what you were told
But they robbed you of childhood
Took your youth and sold it for gold
[chorus]
Elizabeth, I love you
Youre every star that shines in the world to me
Elizabeth cant you see that its true
Elizabeth, I love you
Youre more than just a star to me
Lovely elizabeth
You have surpassed them all
My friend elizabeth
Learned to outlast them all
Many started back when you did
Lost their way and now theyre gone
But look at you, a true survivor
Full of life and carrying on
This is your life
You seem to have it all
You reached your peak
They wanted you to fall
Its very sad, this world can be so bad
But though all the heartaches
When they put you down
You know you were the victor
And you earned the crown
Its like walking through the fire
Determinded to win
You were beating lifes battles
Again and again
Elizabeth, I love you
Youre every star that shines in the world to me
Elizabeth cant you see that its true
Remember the time I was alone
You stood by my side and said:
Lets be strong
You did all these tings
That only a true friend can do
Elizabeth, I love you
The world knows your work now
I pray one day Ill be just like... you.
song performed by by Michael Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Elizabeth
_May 1, 1891_.
I.
Elizabeth! Elizabeth!
The first May-morning whispereth
Thy gentle name in every breeze
That lispeth through the young-leaved trees,
New raimented in white and green
Of bloom and leaf to crown thee queen;--
And, as in odorous chorus, all
The orchard-blossoms sweetly call
Even as a singing voice that saith
Elizabeth! Elizabeth!
II.
Elizabeth! Lo, lily-fair,
In deep, cool shadows of thy hair,
Thy face maintaineth its repose.--
Is it, O sister of the rose,
So better, sweeter, blooming thus
Than in this briery world with us?--
Where frost o'ertaketh, and the breath
Of biting winter harrieth
With sleeted rains and blighting snows
All fairest blooms--Elizabeth!
III.
Nay, then!--So reign, Elizabeth,
Crowned, in thy May-day realm of death!
Put forth the scepter of thy love
In every star-tipped blossom of
The grassy dais of thy throne!
Sadder are we, thus left alone,
But gladder they that thrill to see
Thy mother's rapture, greeting thee.
Bereaved are we by life--not death--
Elizabeth! Elizabeth!
poem by James Whitcomb Riley
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swr Raleigh Married Elizabeth Throckmorton Secretly
Raleigh sly got a prize lady-in-waiting pregnant
married beloved Elizabeth Throckmorton secretly
one of monarch Queen Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting
without Queen Elizabeth I's permission in 1591
husband wife were sent to the Tower of London.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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Light Is The Key To The Universe
Elizabeth Klarer’s theories are delightful
in their other-worldly explanation
of the nature of the universe -
whether it’s true or not
it’s food for thought:
Elizabeth Klarer says the ALL is surrounded by a Halo –
light is the Key to the Universe - oxygen contains
light micro-atoms and the release of
this light is the source of
all life
Elizabeth Klarer says mind, spirit, soul and thought consist
of the light wavelength in different speeds while
sound and colour consist of speeding micro-atoms
creating heat when speed is
arrested
Elizabeth Klarer says light is defined as intelligent energy
thought into existence with its own substance -
thoughts create patterns of light - there is
a secret formula for the Light
Harmonic
The Key to Life and the Universe lies in
the Harmonic Interaction
of LIGHT!
poem by Margaret Alice
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Unwelcome
|WE were young, we were merry, we were very very wise,
And the door stood open at our feast,
When there passed us a woman with the West in her eyes,
And a man with his back to the East.
O, still grew the hearts that were beating so fast,
The loudest voice was still.
The jest died away on our lips as thy passed,
And the rays of July struck chill.
The cups of red wine turned pale on the board,
The white bread black as soot.
The hound forgot the hand of her lord,
She fell down at his foot.
Low let me lie, where the dead dog lies,
Ere I sit me down again at a feast,
When there passes a woman with the West in her eyes,
And a man with his back to the East.
poem by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
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The Birth
he was born on a dark lonely night
and not a soul was in sight.
his mother was driving home
on that starry night, when she started
to feel the contractions.
she knew right then that she would
have to take action.
she pulled alongside that old country road
and her stomach she did hold
.
when she felt that waterbag bust
and in GOD she put her trust.
she asked the LORD what she should do
for she knew not what to do.
she heard a voice so soft and gentle
that told her to stay calm.
for this was a special child
that would be born this night
and that everything was going
to be allright.
she pushed the front seat back
as far as it would go
and took off her clothing so
that she could see.
the pains became so severe
and a head did appear.
she pushed with all her might
so that this child could be free.
for this was the way
it was meant to be.
as the child started to come out
from her lungs came a shout.
this child came out with such ease
and she felt a gentle breeze
as if it was a whisper upon her face
and she knew it was through GODS grace.
with a penknife she cut the cord.
and cleaned him up the best she could.
she wrapped him within her coat
and put the heater on
and drove back to a distant farm.
when she got to the farm
and banged upon the door.
when no one answered
she knealt down on the floor.
again she called upon the LORD
and asked what she should do.
he told her to look towads the barn
for there was a light as bright as day
and the farmer was baling hay.
as she got to the barn door
she collapsed in sheer exhaustion.
when she finally opened up her eyes
on the hay she did lay.
and beside her lay her child.
and the farmer told her she was
out for quite a while.
but the ambulance was on the way
and that he could not move her
in fear of jeopardizing her life
and that she was cleaned up
by his lovely wife.
now the farmers wife was
a religious woman
who believed that nothing
happens by chance.
and at this child she did glance.
she said that he had an aura
of light above his head
just like the bible which she had read.
she looked at this childs mother
and asked her this:
'is this coincidence or is this
a sign from above
that he would be in a barn
like christ was in the manger?
she recalled that gentle voice and
what it had said.
that a special child would be born on this night.
now you tell me.
was she wrong, or was she right?
poem by Louis Rams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Elizabeth Gone
1.
You lay in the nest of your real death,
Beyond the print of my nervous fingers
Where they touched your moving head;
Your old skin puckering, your lungs' breath
Grown baby short as you looked up last
At my face swinging over the human bed,
And somewhere you cried, let me go let me go.
You lay in the crate of your last death,
But were not you, not finally you.
They have stuffed her cheeks, I said;
This clay hand, this mask of Elizabeth
Are not true. From within the satin
And the suede of this inhuman bed,
Something cried, let me go let me go.
2.
They gave me your ash and bony shells,
Rattling like gourds in the cardboard urn,
Rattling like stones that their oven had blest.
I waited you in the cathedral of spells
And I waited you in the country of the living,
Still with the urn crooned to my breast,
When something cried, let me go let me go.
So I threw out your last bony shells
And heard me scream for the look of you,
Your apple face, the simple creche
Of your arms, the August smells
Of your skin. Then I sorted your clothes
And the loves you had left, Elizabeth,
Elizabeth, until you were gone.
poem by Anne Sexton
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Swr For The Love Of Sir Walter Raleigh
Elizabeth intelligent forthright
courageous won passionate;
risk love of Sir Walter Raleigh
eleven years her senior at least?
Elizabeth fell in love soon pregnant
spicy summer love won two heart’s;
without permission a marriage secret
birth to love baby boy Damerei born.
Elizabeth immediately returned
to royal court child named;
for claimed Sir Walter's ancestors
child of cursed plague died;
aged but babe six months
marriage ruin discovered;
in May 1592 ruinously was
reaped rage consequences.
Queen required her royal ladies
-in-waiting to get her permission;
to marry had Raleigh arrested
immediately jailed imprisoned;
in infamous Tower of London
Elizabeth expelled from court;
was also in tower imprisoned
Elizabeth obtained disfavoured;
quarters near her husband
at Tower where their child;
probably cell plagued died
to broken hearted distress.
Queen love couple expected
to sue for her royal pardon;
but both grief mourn refused
Raleigh disgrace fell five years.
Twas prize Spanish gold allowed
Raleigh bold release from prison;
to divide spoils from won captured
Spanish ship taken Madre de Dios.
During Raleigh's later absences
in search of El Dorado legends;
gold subsequent imprisonments
Elizabeth managed his business.
But Raleigh's rapid rise star had
turn fickle star courses now to run;
King James reinstates Raleigh's
death sentence Raleigh beheaded;
in destiny Old Palace Yard
at Palace of Westminster;
in 1618 Year of our Lord
on the 29th day of October.
Raleigh to see the axe allowed
that would behead him mused;
'This is a sharp Medicine,
but it is Physician
for all diseases and miseries.'
'Let us dispatch' Raleigh said
to his axe ready executioner.
'At this hour my ague comes
upon me. I would
not have my enemies
think I quaked from fear.'
'Strike, man, strike! '
Sir Walter's final words
as he lay ready for his axe;
before severed blood did flow
gory trophy held up for show.
Elizabeth had her husband's
head embalmed carried it;
around with her for the rest
of her life did faithful Bess.
Elizabeth did after Raleigh's
1618 execution life worked;
to re-establish his reputation.
Carew Raleigh's son inherited;
his father’s head when he died
the head was with him buried.
But tell me true you who knew
to his corpse what happened?
Raleigh's body was finally laid
to rest in his Westminster tomb:
Elizabeth did write 'The Lords'
'have given me his dead body,
though they have denied me his life.
God hold me in my wits.' 29 years
later Raleigh's head was to his tomb
dispatched in St. Margaret's interred.
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bible in Poetry: Gospel of St. Luke (Chapter 1)
The disciples were eye-witnesses to
The ministry of Jesus and God’s word.
In Herod’s (The King of Judea) days,
There lived a priest by name, Zehariah
Of priestly division of Abijah.
His wife’s name was Elizabeth,
One of the daughters of Aaron;
Both lived a righteous life in eyes of God,
Observing all the commandments of Lord.
Advanced in age, they did not have children!
Zachariah entered God’s sanctuary,
To burn incense, while people prayed outside;
An angel of the Lord appeared and said,
‘Don’t be afraid; your prayer, God has heard.’
‘Your wife will bear a son, and name him ‘John’.
His birth will bring all gladness and great joy;
He will become great in the eyes of God;
While in his mother’s womb, he will be filled
By the Holy Spirit to bless others;
He will bring harmony in families,
Preparing people, befitting the Lord.’
‘The boy will not take wine or strong a drink;
He’ll bring children of Israel to their God;
He’ll go before him in Elijah’s pow’r,
To turn their hearts towards much righteousness,
Prepare a people, befitting the Lord! ’
‘How can I know? ’ Zechariah then asked.
We both are too advanced in years of age.’
‘I’m Gabriel, ‘the angel said to him.
‘God sent to announce this good news to you.
Although, you may believe not what I say,
They will be fulfilled in their proper time.’
The people waited for Zachariah;
They wondered why he stayed so long within;
When he came out, he could not speak to them;
They perceived that he’d seen visions inside;
He continued to speak to them in signs;
He gestured but remained mute all along;
His ministry al done, he then went home.
But after this, his wife conceived a child;
Elizabeth became five months’ pregnant!
She knew that God saved her from men’s reproach;
The Lord had protected her from disgrace!
When Elizabeth was in her sixth month,
The angel Gabriel was sent by God,
To town in Galilee called Nazareth,
To virgin who was betrothed to Joseph
Of the house of David in lineage;
The virgin’s name was Mary.
Gabriel said, ‘Blessed are you ’mongst women;
Don’t be afraid, Mary, God favors you.
Behold, you will conceive a son in womb;
He will be called ‘Jesus’ and will be great;
He will be called the ‘Son of the Most High’.
He will inherit the throne of David.
He’ll rule the house of Jacob forever;
There will not be an end to His kingdom! ’
Then Mary asked, ‘How can this become true?
‘I have had no relations with a man! ’
The angel said. ‘The Holy Spirit can
Make you a virgin mother of God’s son!
Behold your cousin Elizabeth too,
Has conceived a son in her ripe old age!
Although barren, she is in her sixth month;
All things spoken by God are possible.’
Then Mary said, “Behold, I’m God’s handmaid!
So may it happen if ’tis will of God.’
‘My soul proclaims the greatness of the lord.
My spirit in my savior, rejoices.’
The angel then departed from Mary.
So, Mary went to hill-country to Liz,
And entered the house of Zachariah;
On hearing Mary’s news, her baby leapt
Within her womb by the Holy Spirit.
She said aloud, ‘Blest are you ’mongst women!
And blest is the fruit of your womb, Jesus!
The mother of my God has come to me! ’
Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord;
My soul rejoices in His direction;
From now, all ages will call me blessed;
The Almighty has done great things for me;
His mercy comes to all who fear the Lord;
So, Mary stayed with her for three months more;
And soon, Elizabeth brought forth a son.
When eight days’ old, they came to circumcise
The child and would have named Zachariah;
But Elizabeth said, “He’ll be called John! ”
No one was called John amongst her people;
Zachariah was summoned to opine;
The mute man also wrote on a board, ‘John’!
They all marveled when he began to speak;
All these things were spoken in Judea.
And those who took these words to heart, then asked,
‘The hand of God is with this child surely.
What will this child become in future then? ’
Filled by the Holy Spirit, his father
Zachariah then prophesied saying:
Bless’d be the Lord, the God of Israel for,
He has brought redemption for his people;
Within the house of his servant David,
He has now raised a horn of salvation.
Just as He promised through the prophets’ mouths,
The salvation from foes and those who hate;
To show us mercy, remind covenant;
The oath, He swore to Abraham father,
So that rescued from hands of enemies,
We may worship Him without any fear
And live in holiness and righteousness
All our earthly days before Him till death.
The child will be a prophet of Most High,
To go before the Lord, preparing ways;
And give knowledge of salvation to all
Through forgiveness of all their sins on earth.
And god’s mercy will dispel all darkness
And guide our feet into the path of peace.’
The child grew strong in mind and in spirit
And spent most days in desert till adult.
poem by John Celes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Must Have Been Sleeping
'Where are you going, ' I heard her say
As the dream took me straight to the core,
We parked at the side of a very long road
And I got out the driver's door;
'I've never known that, ' I replied, and she sat
On her hands, with the pain of surprise,
'So what you've been saying has never been true! '
The tears rose up in her eyes!
'The road has been long, the road has been wide,
I never knew where I could turn.'
'I thought you were happy with me, ' she said;
There was nothing to say in return.
'I must have been sleeping for seventeen years, '
My voice sounded foreign and coarse,
But I couldn't handle the sighs and the lies,
Or the terrible sound of - 'divorce! '
I walked to the wood at the side of the road,
And followed the pathway around,
I couldn't look back now I'd made up my mind
Though I walked unfamiliar ground,
The clearing was quiet, the birds didn't sing,
A mountain rose up in my view,
I suddenly saw there was no going back
To the comfortable life that I knew.
I cast off my shackles and took a deep breath,
To breathe in both freedom and pride,
My strength was returning, and clearer my eye,
I walked with a bounce in my stride,
The years fell away, I was thirty again,
I stopped then, and sat on a stone,
For darkness was gathering there in the gloom
With that terrible feeling - alone!
I thought of the woman I'd left on the road,
Who'd always been faithful to me,
The tears that she'd shed for a love that was dead
Made me sad, and ashamed to be free,
I thought of the comfort she'd given me when
All my world started going insane,
She'd cooked and she'd cared, and she'd loved and she'd shared
And I'd given her nothing but pain.
I turned on the track, and I made my way back
But I couldn't see where I had been,
I stumbled through thickets and walked into trees
And I fell on my knees on the green.
'I am lost, I am lost, ' I cried into the night
Then I heard her voice, dim, by a tree
And woke to her stroking my face and my brow
As I cried… She was waiting for me!
9 March 2008
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Back In Time
Last night; I went back in time
To see my wife if we never had met
I saw my ways, and my upcoming days
And my soul, was full of regret.
She wasn't there, but was in my prayer
As I surveyed the new life that I lived
And I walked alone, in my empty home
As my love for her I couldn't give.
I looked for her, and she couldn't be found
Last night when I went back in time,
So I searched her world, left nothing unfurled
But for her, nothing about her could I find.
So without me she took another path
Because then we had never met
But I stayed on that road, until I died old
Because no other woman in my heart would I let.
Then I had my thought when I awoke from my dream
And my woman she couldn't be found
So I closed my eyes and I sat down to cry
As my world was flipped upside down.
I remember now that she had left me
To be in the arms of another man
She was my love my life, my woman my wife
Now she's holding another mans heart and hand.
Why she left me; GOD will only know
But the love I felt once will never be mine,
I did nothing wrong, just loved her to strong,
Now again I wish, to go back in time.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I want to love you in all of my days (Italian sonnet)
(after Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
I want to love you in all of my days,
live with you a life that is true and right,
find you next to me in each solemn night,
bring to your humanity and beauty praise,
love you in all of my life's simple ways,
see you day by day smiling very bright,
find with you happiness with candlelight
and then by God's infinite kind of grace,
never a moment in your company loose,
in the hopes of life find a childhood faith
that our love will surpass the bonds of death,
that God's kindness in us, be put to use,
that in His great plan He will us both save,
I love you in every word, deed and breath.
[Reference: "How do I love Thee? Let me count the ways" by Elizabeth Barrett
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Peddling Round the World
When at first in foreign parts
Was her flag unfurled,
England was a Gipsy lass
Peddling round the world.
Sailing on the Spanish Main—
Everywhere you roam—
Peddling in the Persian Gulf
Things she’d made at home.
Peddling round the world,
Peddling round the world—
England was a Gipsy lass
Peddling round the world.
England never wanted war,
Not on land or sea—
Other nations rising up
Couldn’t let her be.
England only wanted peace,
And the ocean’s breath;
So there came, in course of time,
Queen Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth—
Queen Elizabeth—
Came a plain, bad-tempered queen,
Called Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth, she called
Drake, and Raleigh too—
Essex, Howard, and the rest
Of the pirate crew;
“See what you can do,” she said.
“England’s feeling sick—
If you don’t, I’ll hang you all!
Better do it quick.”
“Better do it quick,” she said—
“Better do it quick”;
And they knew she’d keep her word,
So they did it quick.
Drake and Raleigh sailed away—
(Only Bess they feared)
Cleared the Spanish Main and singed
The King of Spain his beard—
Singed the King of Spain his beard,
And his hair they curled.
England was a Gipsy’s love
Peddling round the world.
Peddling round the world,
Peddling round the world.
England was a Gipsy’s love
Peddling round the world.
Once again, when Cromwell came,
England wanted room;
So he lowered Holland’s tone,
Smashed the Dutchman’s broom.
Sent a message to Algiers;
Made its meaning plain—
On the way they called once more
On the King of Spain.
On the King of Spain—
On the King of Spain:
Called, to jog his memory,
On the King of Spain.
So the years went round and round,
Over hills and flats—
England was a Gipsy wife—
England had her brats;
Peddling in the China Sea,
Far from English ground;
Doing biz with Mrs. Jap—
Peddling all around.
Peddling all around—
Peddling all around;
Making friends with Mrs. Jap—
Peddling all around.
When the war is past and gone,
With its blood and tears;
And the world may count upon
Peace for fifty years—
When the gory battle-flags
Round their sticks are furled—
Then you’ll see a Gipsy crone
Peddling round the world.
Peddling round the world—
Peddling round the world.
Then you’ll see a Gipsy crone
A-peddling round the world!
Shawl as old as Joseph’s coat,
Hair as white as snow,
Mind as bright as Seventeen—
Eyes still like the sloe—
Peddling in the Southern Seas—
Everywhere you roam—
And she’ll fill her baskets here
With things we’ll make at home.
Things we’ll make at home—
Things we’ll make at home—
Call to fill her baskets here
With things we’ll make at HOME.
poem by Henry Lawson
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Burleigh, absolutely; and a lot about Elizabeth. I mean I found when I play Henry V a lot of connections with the hidden history of the connection between Francis Bacon and Elizabeth.
quote by Mark Rylance
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It is satisfying for the descendant of a dissident refugee from Elizabeth I to present his credentials to Elizabeth II.
quote by Kingman Brewster Jr.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Poems Beyond the Grave
They took their shovels and digging tools
To the top of Highgate Hill,
They walked in a deadly silence there
In the dusk, in the evening chill,
They picked their way through the deep-laid bones,
The monuments, great and small,
And looked for the plain Rossetti stone
In their search for Elizabeth Siddal.
That red-haired, wraithlike, ghostly girl
Who had charmed the PRB,
She'd sat, at first, for Deverell
Who was doomed, with Bright's Disease,
She'd fallen hard for the artist then
Though her love was never returned,
For Deverell died so suddenly -
It was as if her love was spurned.
She sat for Dante Gabriel,
For Holman Hunt, Millais,
As the model for drowned Ophelia
In an ice cold bath she lay,
She lent her beauty to every brush,
Each stroke laid bare her soul,
When she looked around for herself she found
There was nothing left at all.
Rossetti had kept her close to him
As he slowly became obsessed,
He scribbled a dozen portraits from
Her head to her heaving breast,
He placed her high on a pedestal,
A Madonna in all but name,
But kept his physical love from her
That she might not suffer shame.
He penned the poems he wrote for her
In a small, grey calf-skin book,
He carried the poems everywhere
As a proof of the love it took,
He made no copies, he held them close
They were food for a future muse,
For his art and poetry vied with him -
It was painting he would choose.
But she; who knew what rent her soul,
The cravings she despaired?
She sipped at the potion laudanum
As her heart and her mind were bared,
She scribbled the weary verses that
Spoke love, of a love long-lost,
While Dante frolicked with Annie Hughes
At Elizabeth Siddal's cost.
As Lizzie despaired on laudanum
She had ceased to be of use,
Her visage was sad, and aged and drawn
In the sick room of abuse,
While girls with youth, vitality
And an earthy yen for sin
Like Fanny Cornforth, came to sit -
And Rossetti let them in.
They wed, but much as a faded dream
The knot had been tied too late,
As Lizzie, dying a little each day
Succumbed to a morbid fate,
For one dark night she had laid her down
Penned a final note, to whit:
'My life has become so miserable
That I want no more of it.'
She lay by an empty laudanum phial,
Rossetti was quite distraught,
He'd loved her, but with a purer love
Than his lust or his money bought,
His grief was such, as he laid her down
In her coffin, she looked so fair,
That he placed the book of his poems
Between her cheek and her auburn hair.
The years went on and he sank himself
In a pit of despond, unwell,
Withdrew from his friends and dosed himself
With a phial of chloral,
His painting suffered, his income too,
He turned to the ancient muse,
And thought of the poems beyond the grave,
He knew that he'd have to choose!
He wrote to Charles Augustus Howell
A rogue that he'd used before,
To test him; whether to dig her up
Or to lose his poems forever;
Howell replied he should get them back,
Or he'd lose them to death, for good,
'Your works are the works of genius,
Bring them back to the world - You should! '
So Howell, he toiled up Highgate Hill
While Dante hid in his lair,
Too scared to look on his love again,
His muse with the auburn hair,
A fire was lit in the dead of night
The coffin was raised on high,
His love was torn from her deathly stare
They could almost hear her sigh.
The book was caught in her tangled hair
Which had filled the coffin's space,
And she was lovely, and quite serene
As they lifted the book from her face,
They lowered her gently, back in the ground
That had served as her awful tomb,
She lay defiled like a bride, reviled,
But without her lawful groom.
Rossetti published his poems then,
They sold by the thousandfold,
For Howell had leaked the story out
That he hadn't wanted told;
But a fate awaited Augustus Howell
A revenge that would beggar belief,
He was found, throat cut in the gutter -
With a coin, tight clenched in his teeth!
25 April 2009
poem by David Lewis Paget
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Written with a Diamond on her Window at Woodstock
Much suspected by me,
Nothing proved can be,
Quoth Elizabeth prisoner.
poem by Queen Elizabeth I
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People who know me well, call me Elizabeth. I dislike Liz.
quote by Elizabeth Taylor
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Jesus, the Lord, The Agent of Change
From darkness to light
by the Lord of Freedom
From disease to wholeness
by the Restorer of Life
From despair to hope
by the Lord of Courage
From fear to trust
by the Lord of Grace
From hatred to love
by the Lord of Forgiveness
From poverty to abundance
by the Lord of Generosity
Such is Jesus, the Lord,
The omnipotent agent of change.
poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen
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Me And Virgil
Ma would never say what happened
And we knew better than push too hard
We knew we had all the chores to tend to
Like fixing fences and helping her
Washing dishes and making coffee
Me and Virgil would chop some wood
But we'd stop our swinging
Just to listen to her crying
It didn't sound too good
I can remember too well
But we never thought to pay much heed
We learned to live life the best we could
But then one day pa up and left us
High and dry without a word
Seemed a pity
My ma was pretty
But I soon learned life ain't that way
And I can remember hearing her weeping
While we were sleeping next to her
I can remember
I'll never forgive and I'll never forget
'Cos pa you broke her heart
Oh pa you broke her heart
You broke her heart
Oh pa you broke her heart
Well the years rolled by
And 'fore we knew it
Our sister got married and moved out west
I stayed with ma 'cos I couldn't desert her
I knew it would hurt her to be alone
So we pulled tighter
Said we'd try to make things easy
And raise a smile
But as the night came
We'd hear her crying
Praying for pa to come back again
I can remember
I'll never forgive him and I'll never forget
'Cos pa you broke her heart
Oh pa you broke her heart
And then the winter came
I'd never known it colder
Oh it seemed the worst in years
And the night she died I swear I saw her smiling
Saying I was a big boy now no tears
So I packed up all we had and Virgil got the horses
And we paid our last respects and gave the whip a crack
Oh it seemed a big bad world we were riding into
Me and Virgil both agreed
We best head off and don't look back
Nothing but desert all around
Oh it made me wonder
Lord it's hard to carry on
When you're sick with hunger
Weeks and months of sleeping rough
Keeping clear of danger
Seems million miles from anywhere
I prayed to my God to change it
You'd best keep your head but don't look back
Well me and Virgil we beat the desert
Riding fast and riding hard
We hit the city the past behind us
And we raised some hell we had some fun
But real soon I met a lady oh so pretty
And oh so fine
And 'fore too long I found myself married
With a home of my own and a blue eyed son
And 'til this day I can hear ma saying to me
You're a big boy now
-------------------------------------------------------------------
song performed by by Genesis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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