When I Too Long Have Looked Upon Your Face
When I too long have looked upon your face,
Wherein for me a brightness unobscured
Save by the mists of brightness has its place,
And terrible beauty not to be endured,
I turn away reluctant from your light,
And stand irresolute, a mind undone,
A silly, dazzled thing deprived of sight
From having looked too long upon the sun.
Then is my daily life a narrow room
In which a little while, uncertainly,
Surrounded by impenetrable gloom,
Among familiar things grown strange to me
Making my way, I pause, and feel, and hark,
Till I become accustomed to the dark.
poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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Related quotes
Sonnets 07: When I Too Long Have Looked Upon Your Face
When I too long have looked upon your face,
Wherein for me a brightness unobscured
Save by the mists of brightness has its place,
And terrible beauty not to be endured,
I turn away reluctant from your light,
And stand irresolute, a mind undone,
A silly, dazzled thing deprived of sight
From having looked too long upon the sun.
Then is my daily life a narrow room
In which a little while, uncertainly,
Surrounded by impenetrable gloom,
Among familiar things grown strange to me
Making my way, I pause, and feel, and hark,
Till I become accustomed to the dark.
poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Fear
A lantern light from deeper in the barn
Shone on a man and woman in the door
And threw their lurching shadows on a house
Near by, all dark in every glossy window.
A horse's hoof pawed once the hollow floor,
And the back of the gig they stood beside
Moved in a little. The man grasped a wheel,
The woman spoke out sharply, 'Whoa, stand still!'
'I saw it just as plain as a white plate,'
She said, 'as the light on the dashboard ran
Along the bushes at the roadside-a man's face.
You must have seen it too.'
'I didn't see it.
Are you sure--'
'Yes, I'm sure!'
'-it was a face?'
'Joel, I'll have to look. I can't go in,
I can't, and leave a thing like that unsettled.
Doors locked and curtains drawn will make no difference.
I always have felt strange when we came home
To the dark house after so long an absence,
And the key rattled loudly into place
Seemed to warn someone to be getting out
At one door as we entered at another.
What if I'm right, and someone all the time-
Don't hold my arm!'
'I say it's someone passing.'
'You speak as if this were a travelled road.
You forget where we are. What is beyond
That he'd be going to or coming from
At such an hour of night, and on foot too.
What was he standing still for in the bushes?'
'It's not so very late-it's only dark.
There's more in it than you're inclined to say.
Did he look like--?'
'He looked like anyone.
I'll never rest to-night unless I know.
Give me the lantern.'
'You don't want the lantern.'
She pushed past him and got it for herself.
'You're not to come,' she said. 'This is my business.
If the time's come to face it, I'm the one
To put it the right way. He'd never dare-
Listen! He kicked a stone. Hear that, hear that!
He's coming towards us. Joel, go in-please.
Hark!-I don't hear him now. But please go in.'
'In the first place you can't make me believe it's--'
'It is-or someone else he's sent to watch.
And now's the time to have it out with him
While we know definitely where he is.
Let him get off and he'll be everywhere
Around us, looking out of trees and bushes
Till I sha'n't dare to set a foot outdoors.
And I can't stand it. Joel, let me go!'
'But it's nonsense to think he'd care enough.'
'You mean you couldn't understand his caring.
Oh, but you see he hadn't had enough-
Joel, I won't-I won't-I promise you.
We mustn't say hard things. You mustn't either.'
'I'll be the one, if anybody goes!
But you give him the advantage with this light.
What couldn't he do to us standing here!
And if to see was what he wanted, why
He has seen all there was to see and gone.'
He appeared to forget to keep his hold,
But advanced with her as she crossed the grass.
'What do you want?' she cried to all the dark.
She stretched up tall to overlook the light
That hung in both hands hot against her skirt.
'There's no one; so you're wrong,' he said.
'There is.-
What do you want?' she cried, and then herself
Was startled when an answer really came.
'Nothing.' It came from well along the road.
She reached a hand to Joel for support:
The smell of scorching woollen made her faint.
'What are you doing round this house at night?'
'Nothing.' A pause: there seemed no more to say.
And then the voice again: 'You seem afraid.
I saw by the way you whipped up the horse.
I'll just come forward in the lantern light
And let you see.'
'Yes, do.-Joel, go back!'
She stood her ground against the noisy steps
That came on, but her body rocked a little.
'You see,' the voice said.
'Oh.' She looked and looked.
'You don't see-I've a child here by the hand.'
'What's a child doing at this time of night--?'
'Out walking. Every child should have the memory
Of at least one long-after-bedtime walk.
What, son?'
'Then I should think you'd try to find
Somewhere to walk--'
'The highway as it happens-
We're stopping for the fortnight down at Dean's.'
'But if that's all-Joel-you realize-
You won't think anything. You understand?
You understand that we have to be careful.
This is a very, very lonely place.
Joel!' She spoke as if she couldn't turn.
The swinging lantern lengthened to the ground,
It touched, it struck it, clattered and went out.
poem by Robert Frost
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Rocket Science
My little boy once asked me
"Mummy, what is space?
Is it all just empty? "
I looked into his face.
I hesitated somewhat
before I gave reply
for I am not a scholar
and that is rocket science.
My answer was as follows,
you may not agree,
but my little boy was satisfied
and comforted by me.
I told him "there are moons,
stars and comets too,
but we just cannot see them
from our sitting room.
If we could switch a light on,
in space, just like at home,
We might see wondrous things,
but, for now, we just don't know.
Imagine for a moment
in this room, right where we are
A light bulb is the sun
and we are all the stars.
If we turn out the light
there's nothing we can see,
but when we turn it on again,
we see many things.
I often think that space
is like our pitch black room,
and one day men will light it
and it may be quite soon! "
My little boy looked up
at the big night sky outside
and said, "I understand now mum"
and rubbed his sleepy eyes.
I really hope I satisfied
his curiosity and one day
when he's grown up
he'll explain it all to me.
poem by Ruth Walters
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Life's Jigsaw
S.A.D, the name is simply right.
It's how I feel when there is no light.
No sunshine sparkling in any room.
Just heavy black, oppressive gloom.
It makes me want to hibernate,
Just like the squirrels who sit on the gate,
‘Til winter comes, and they disappear,
Snuggled in their dreys so near,
But far enough that I can't see
That the gloom will lift and we shall see,
Once more, quite soon, the rays of sun
That warm us, humans and beasts- all one.
So ‘til that day we may all feel S.A.D.
Awaiting the brightness, to again feel glad.
And when the sunshine is here again,
It brings with it too, refreshing rain.
For all life's elements, we need in turn.
We must not turn away and spurn,
The ones we wish simply not to see,
For all are essential on our life's journey.
Overall balance shows many a face.
All must gel together, for it isn't a race.
For harmony complete, in our lives and our land.
Listen to nature, she holds out a hand.
She shows us the way, to embrace day by day,
The seasons of life, be they coloured or grey.
If we blend together completely as one,
Universe, animals, humans-we've won
poem by Rosi Caswell
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When I Turn Off The Living Room Light
Who cares if youre jewish,
And your breath smells of garlic,
And your nose is a shiny red light.
To me you are gorgeous,
And everythings right,
When I turn off the living room light.
Your clothes are old-fashioned,
Your knuckles are bony,
Your hair looks a terrible sight.
But I dont have to see you,
The way that you are,
When I turn off the living room light.
When I turn off the living room light.
I dont have to see you,
The way that you are,
When I turn off the living room light.
Well its not that you are ugly,
And Im not being cruel,
It helps me to relax, dear,
It helps to keep me cool.
Now I am not intending,
To make you feel ashamed,
Whats wrong in me pretending?
cause you cant help being plain.
Your nose may be bulbous,
Your face may be spotty,
Your skin may be wrinkled and tight.
But I dont want to see you,
The way that you are,
So I turn off the living room light.
We dont feel so ugly,
We dont feel so draggy,
We dont feel so twisted up tight.
And we dont feel as ugly as we really are,
When we turn off the living room light.
When we turn off the living room light.
We dont feel as ugly as we really are,
When we turn off the living room light.
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Psalm 40
I waited patiently upon the Lord
That He may hear my cry
Surrounded by darkness on every side
In this place I will surely die
Where is this place I thought I knew
Its dark, its dimply lit
I looked around and all I could see
Was the bottom of the bottomless pit
I looked up and could see no light
And cried out ' O God help me.'
And in an instant His hand came down
And before I knew it I was free
I was out of the pit and standing on the Rock
I could feel the sun on my face
My heart was warm, there was a song on my lips
I was engulfed in a warm embrace
And now I delight to do your will
Your law is written on my heart
Neither death nor life or anything
Shall ever keep us apart
poem by Frank McEleny
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Two Travellers in the Place Vendome
Reign of Louis Philippe
A great tall column spearing at the sky
With a little man on top. Goodness! Tell me why?
He looks a silly thing enough to stand up there so high.
What a strange fellow, like a soldier in a play,
Tight-fitting coat with the tails cut away,
High-crowned hat which the brims overlay.
Two-horned hat makes an outline like a bow.
Must have a sword, I can see the light glow
Between a dark line and his leg. Vertigo
I get gazing up at him, a pygmy flashed with sun.
A weathercock or scarecrow or both things in one?
As bright as a jewelled crown hung above a throne.
Say, what is the use of him if he doesn't turn?
Just put up to glitter there, like a torch to burn,
A sort of sacrificial show in a lofty urn?
But why a little soldier in an obsolete dress?
I'd rather see a Goddess with a spear, I confess.
Something allegorical and fine. Why, yes -
I cannot take my eyes from him. I don't know why at all.
I've looked so long the whole thing swims. I feel he ought to fall.
Foreshortened there among the clouds he's pitifully small.
What do you say? There used to be an Emperor standing there,
With flowing robes and laurel crown. Really? Yet I declare
Those spiral battles round the shaft don't seem just his affair.
A togaed, laurelled man's I mean. Now this chap seems to feel
As though he owned those soldiers. Whew! How he makes one reel,
Swinging round above his circling armies in a wheel.
Sweeping round the sky in an orbit like the sun's,
Flashing sparks like cannon-balls from his own long guns.
Perhaps my sight is tired, but that figure simply stuns.
How low the houses seem, and all the people are mere flies.
That fellow pokes his hat up till it scratches on the skies.
Impudent! Audacious! But, by Jove, he blinds the eyes!
poem by Amy Lowell
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I'm Making Believe
I'm Making Believe
Ella Fitzgerald with The Ink Spots
Words by Mack Gordon and Music by James V. Monaco
Peaked at # 1 in 1944
Also charted at # 14 in 1945 by Hal McIntyre
Played on the soundtrack of the film "Sweet and Low Down" by Benny Goodman. The film
starred Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie.
I'm making believe that you're in my arms though I know you're so far away
Making believe I'm talking to you, wish you could hear what I say
And here in the gloom of my lonely room we're dancing like we used to do
Making believe is just another way of dreaming, so till my dreams come true
I'll whisper "Good night", turn out the light, and kiss my pillow
Making believe it's you
I'm making believe that you're in my arms though I know you're so far away
Making believe I'm talkin' to you, wish you could hear what I say
And here in the gloom of my lonely room we're dancing like we used to do
Making believe is just another way of dreamin', so till my dreams come true
I'll whisper "Good night", turn out the light, and kiss my pillow
Making believe it's you
And here in the gloom of my lonely room we're dancing like we used to do
Making believe is just another way of dreamin', so till my dreams come true
I'll whisper "Good night", turn out the light, and kiss my pillow
Making believe it's you
song performed by by Ella Fitzgerald
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You See.
You see the way she looked
when father died.
That lost
in a dark maze gaze;
that emptied
of being stare,
still there
years later
as could be expected
of a devoted wife.
Could see
in her eyes
worlds set ablaze
and burnt out
leaving just gutted ruins
where love had been
and lived and slept.
You see the way she studied
the roofs of houses
from her window
of her lonely room;
grey tiles and skies
with mists and gloom.
You see her now
mind gone
to dementia’s claim;
hardly remembering
a face or place or name;
but still that lost look
that drowning
in a maze of words
in some dark
foreign language book.
poem by Terry Collett
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Beauty And Terror
Beauty does not walk through lovely days.
Beauty walks with horror in her hair.
Down long centuries of pleasant ways
Men have found the terrible most fair.
Youth is lovelier in death than life,
Beauty mightier in pain than joy.
Doubly splendid burn the fires of strife,
Brighter in the brightness they destroy.
poem by Lesbia Harford
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The Magic Wand Of The Too Familiar
it happens all the time
the most familiar things and events and people
come daily and they become so ordinary
and then
you wonder
somehow
something
unfamiliar begins to strike you
making some furrows in your face
it becomes magical
a wand of the familiar
turns you into a prince
a sword is handed to you
a horse for you to mount
upon
a heart that begins its journey
on some adventures
that were there once
in your youth
you become alive
then the world changes its colors
and you realize
you never notice
something had long been put here
how foolish you have been
for not noticing such a familiar thing?
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Life Is Eternal
(carly simon/teesa gohl)
Ive been doing a lot of thinking
About growing older and moving on
Nobody wants to be told that theyre getting on
For a long, long stay
But just how long and who knows
And how and where my spirit will go
Will it soar like jazz on a saxophone
Or evaporate on a breeze
Wont you tell me please
That life is eternal
And love is immortal
And death is only a horizon
Life is eternal
As we move into the light
And a horizon is nothing
Save the limit of our sight
Save the limit of our sight
Here on earth Im a lost soul
Ever trying to find my way back home
Maybe thats why each new star is born
Expanding heavens room
Eternity in bloom
And will I see you up in that heaven
In all its light will I know youre there
Will we say the things that we never dared
If wishing makes it so
Wont you let me know
That life is eternal
And love is immortal
And death is only a horizon
Life is eternal
As we move into the light
And a horizon is nothing
Save the limit of our sight
Save the limit of our sight
song performed by by Carly Simon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Best Is Yet To Come Undone
It's behind you and
It's in your face
Close your eyes
Selling years of their
Smoke and mirrors and
Open minds
And they try to find a way to make me something that
I'm not
I touched the world
I felt the sun
I know the best is yet to come undone
I looked around
At everyone
I know the best is yet to come undone
The best is yet to come undone
It's so obvious
That the promise
Keeps me here
Painting pictures where
All the colors Disappear And they try to find a way to make me something that I'm not
I touched the world
I felt the sun
I know the best is yet to come undone
I looked around
At everyone
I know the best is yet to come undone
The best is yet to come undone
The best is yet to come undone
And I find my way out
And I find my way out
It's so obvious
That the promise
Keeps me here
Painting pictures where
All the colors Disappear
And they try to find a way to make me something that I'm not
I touched the world
I felt the sun
I know the best is yet to come undone
I looked around
At everyone
I know the best is yet to come undone
Touched the world
Felt the sun
I know the best is yet to come undone
I looked around
At everyone
I know the best is yet to come undone
The best is yet to come undone
The best is yet to come undone
song performed by by Lit from A Place In The Sun
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Widow
Grief hath pacified her face;
Even hope might share so still a place;
Yet, on the silence of her heart,
Haply, if a strange footfall start,
Or a chance word of ecstasy
Cry through dim cloistered memory,
Into her eyes her soul will steal
To gaze into the irrevocable --
As if death had not power to keep
One who has loved her long asleep.
Now all things lovely she looks on
Seem lovely in oblivion;
And all things mute what shall not be
Richer than any melody.
Her narrow hands, like birds that make
A nest for some old instinct's sake,
Have hollowed a refuge for her face --
A narrow and a quiet place --
Where, far from the world's light, she may
See clearer what is passed away.
And only little children know
Through what dark gates her smile may go.
poem by Walter de la Mare
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Doubting
A Brother wandered forth with me,
Beside a barren beach:
He harped on things beyond the sea,
And out of reach.
He hinted once of unknown skies,
And then I would not hark,
But turned away from steadfast eyes,
Into the dark.
And said — “an ancient faith is dead
And wonder fills my mind:
I marvel how the blind have led
So long the blind.
“Behold this truth we only know
That night is on the land!
And we a weary way must go
To find God’s hand.”
I wept — “Our fathers told us, Lord,
That Thou wert kind and just,
But lo! our wailings fly abroad
For broken trust.
“How many evil ones are here
Who mocking go about,
Because we are too faint with fear
To wrestle Doubt!
“Thy riddles are beyond the ken
Of creatures of the sod:
Remember that we are but men,
And Thou art God!
“O, doting world, methinks your stay
Is weaker than a reed!
Our Father turns His face away;
‘Tis dark indeed.”
The evening woods lay huddled there,
All wrapped in silence strange:
A sudden wind — and lo! the air
Was filled with change.
“Your words are wild,” my brother said,
“For God’s voice fills the breeze;
Go — hide yourself, as Adam did,
Amongst the trees.
“I pluck the shoes from off my feet,
But dare to look around;
Behold,” he said, “my Lord I greet,
On holy ground!”
And God spake through the wind to me —
“Shake off that gloom of Fear,
You fainting soul who could not see
That I was near.
“Why vex me crying day and night? —
You call on me to hark!
But when I bless your world with light,
Who makes it dark?
“Is there a ravelled riddle left
That you would have undone?
What other doubts are there to sift?”
I answered — “None.”
“My son, look up, if you would see
The Promise on your way,
And turn a trustful face to me.”
I whispered — “Yea.”
poem by Henry Kendall
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Good Morning Dear
Mickey newbury
Were the nights any sweeter
The mornings any cooler, when she was here?
Or was the mind grown accustomed to hearing good morning dear?
Should I still feel all the sunshine
That remembering brings to mind with my thoughts of her?
Lord, we both know things could never be the way they were
Her little girl illusions
Built the wall of confusion between right and wrong
That stands between her and the dream I had cherished so long
Now faded and tattered, once all that mattered when she was here
And a mind grown accustomed to hearing good morning dear
Were the nights any sweeter
The mornings any cooler, when she was here?
Or was the mind grown accustomed to hearing good morning dear?
song performed by by Roy Orbison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Secret
SHE passes in her beauty bright
Amongst the mean, amongst the gay,
And all are brighter for the sight,
And bless her as she goes her way.
And now a gleam of pity pours,
And now a spark of spirit flies,
Uncounted, from the unlock’d stores
Of her rich lips and precious eyes.
And all men look, and all men smile,
But no man looks on her as I:
They mark her for a little while,
But I will watch her till I die.
And if I wonder now and then
Why this so strange a thing should be—
That she be seen by wiser men
And only duly lov’d by me:
I only wait a little longer,
And watch her radiance in the room;
Here making light a little stronger,
And there obliterating gloom,
(Like one who, in a tangled way,
Watches the broken sun fall through,
Turning to gold the faded spray,
And making diamonds of dew).
Until at last, as my heart burns,
She gathers all her scatter’d light,
And undivided radiance turns
Upon me like a sea of light.
And then I know they see in part
That which God lets me worship whole:
He gives them glances of her heart,
But me, the sunshine of her soul.
poem by William Cosmo Monkhouse
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Sucker For Mystery
And Ive always been a sucker for mystery
And Ive always been a sucker for mystery
And Ive always been a sucker for mystery
And Ive always been a sucker for mystery
So I turn to the left and I turn to the right
But none of the answers are in sight
So I made a mistake maybe once or twice
And I cant even get to paradise
And a priest came up to me and touched my face
He said terrible things happen round this place
Such terrible things happen round this place
Such terrible things happen round this place
No demon, no man has got a clue
But surely son, the end will turn out right for you
cause Ive always been a sucker for mystery
And Ive always been a sucker for mystery
Theres a little boy walking up the stairs
Through a dark hallway that leads nowhere
He comes to a door but hes afraid to knock
And he bends down low and peers throught the lock
And theres a tall man standing with a glistening knife
And hes stooping over something that has no life
With stifled tears he starts to turn away
But a strange little voice seems to whisper
Stay!
Hes always been a sucker for mystery
And hes always been...
(chorus)
I dont want to say good bye
I want to give it one more try
I dont want to say good bye
I want to give it one more try
Wont somebody help
Wont somebody help
Im all alone now with nothing to do
And Im all dressed up with nowhere to go
And Im stuck with two tickets to an awful show
And my mouths full of words but Ive got nothing to say
And Ive been sitting in front of the tv set all day
And my heads in a vice and it wont let up
And my feet wont move and if that aint enough
The telephone rings... hello!
Ive seen children with such angry faces
When you look in their eyes, it makes you want to cry
Theres a time and a place for everything
Theres a time and a place for everything
Now it doesnt seem fair
But who cares theyre someone elses
As long as they dont come close to mine
Theres a time and a place for everything
Theres a time and a place for everything
So we packed our bags and went back to the hotel
In back of the squalor and the living hell
And they sell you this and they sell you that
They sell you their sister for a buck and a half
Such terrible things happen round this place
Such terrible things happen round this place
Such terrible things happen round this place
And people disappear without a trace
And Ive always been a sucker for mystery
And Ive always been...
Well the mystery that intrigues me the most
Is the one that makes men give up hope
The pride and the search for even little things
That might give a meaning, or even a hint
Cause how can a free man not have hope
When he hasnt even reached the end of his rope
I dont want to say good bye
I want to give it one more try
I dont want to close the gate
I still think that its not too late
I know when I reach the end
I want to start all over again
And Ive always been a sucker for mystery...
song performed by by Oingo Boingo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As Long As...
As long as their is water in ocean, as long as their is brightnes in sun, as long as moon brighting the night, as long as millions of birds cannot overshadow the brightness of d sky, as long as their is beauty in nature, as long as their is colour in rainbow, as long as their is not limit to the sky, as long as days follow the nite, as long as sunset is pretty, as long as diamon is to be precious, as long as secret are to heart, as long as pictures are meant for memories, as long as human are meant to be born, to live and die! my love for you will never die, my fillings for you will never fade, as long as i'm still breathing, i can never stop loving you.
poem by Tijani Adebowale Destiny
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Hall of Mirrors
Starring down the long impenetrable hallway
Mirror after mirror after mirror
They always bring you back to the same spot
One turn and you walk straight into glass
Another turn and you fall on your ass
You only come face to face with yourself
There’s no escape
From the dark egotistic mind
That brought you here
To the hall of mirrors
Nobody is around to save you
It is only you
It’ll only ever be you
Trapped, lost and suffering
In a field of your repetitive reflection
It's that egotistic mind
That brought you here
To the hall of mirrors
poem by Elyse Elwood
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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