Above Lavender Bay
’Tis glorious morning everywhere
Save where the alleys lie—
I see the fleecy steam jets bid
“Good morning” to the sky.
The gullies of the waratah
Are near, with fall and pool,
And by the shadowed western rocks
The bays are fresh and cool.
To “points” that hint of Italy—
Of Italy and Spain—
I see the busy ferry boats
Come nosing round again.
To the toy station down below
I see the toy trains run—
(I wonder when those ferry boats
Will get their business done?)
Above the Bay called Lavender
This bard is domiciled,
Where up through rich, dark greenery
The red-tiled roofs are piled—
(At least some are—I hope that soon
They all shall be red-tiled)—
A moonlight night in middle-age
That makes one feel a child.
Close over, to the nearer left—
That feels the ocean breeze—
A full moon in a dim blue sky
A church spire and dark trees.
And, further right, the harsher heights
Of Mosman, Double Bay,
And Rose Bay, with their scattered lights,
Have softened with the day.
And fair across to where we know
The shelving sea cliffs are—
The lighthouse, with a still faint glow,
Beneath a twinkling star.
Across the harbour from the right,
And fairly in a line,
The Clock-tower on the City Hall,
A ship-mast and a pine.
The pale and bright, yet dusky blue,
And crossed by fleecy bars,
Flings out the brilliant city lights,
The moonlight and the stars—
And like a transformation scene,
On sheet glass down below,
The fairy-lighted ferry boats
Are gliding to and fro.
poem by Henry Lawson
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Trains And Boats And Planes
Trains and boats and planes are passing by
They mean a trip to Paris or Rome
To someone else but not for me
The trains and boats and planes
Took you away, away from me
We were so in love, and high above
We had a star to wish upon. Wish
And dreams come true, but not for me
The trains and boats and planes
Took you away, away from me
You are from another part of the world
You had to go back a while and then
You said you soon would return again
I'm waiting here like I promised to
I'm waiting here but where are you?
Trains and boats and planes took you a way
But every time I see them I pray
And if my prayers can cross the sea
The trains and the boats and planes
song performed by by Fountains Of Wayne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Horse and Cart Ferry
It was old Jerry Brown,
Who’d an office in town,
And he used to get jocular, very;
And he’d go to the Shore
When they’d serve him no more,
And, of course, by the passenger ferry,
A sight on the passenger ferry.
Now this is a song of the ferry,
And a lay of the juice of the berry;
’Tis the ballad of Brown,
Who’d a business in town,
And commenced to go down
Very slow,
Don’t you know?
By coming home just a bit merry.
By the Drunks’ Boat—that’s right—
On a Saturday night
He would often be past being merry;
With his back teeth afloat,
On the twelve o’clock boat,
And a spectacle there on the ferry
(A picture to all on the ferry).
In the mornings, ashamed—
’Twas the last drink he blamed,
Though the first was the matter with Jerry,
With his nerve out of joint,
He’d sneak down to Blue’s Point,
And he’d cross by the horse-and-cart ferry,
Like a thief—by the horse-and-cart ferry.
But long before night
He’d most likely be tight,
And a subject and theme for George Perry;
And he’d cross to the Shore,
Somewhat worse than before,
And a nuisance to all on the ferry;
Singing-drunk on the passenger ferry.
And so it went on
Till his reason seemed gone,
And the Law, so it seemed, got a derry
On Brown. He went down,
And they sent him to town
One day, by “the trap,” on the ferry—
The Government trap on the ferry.
He was sober and sane
When he came back again,
And the past he’d determined to bury—
Or, I mean, live it down—
And he crossed from the town
Like a man, on the passenger ferry.
(There were sceptical souls on that ferry.)
They say ’twas the jaw
Of his mother-in-law
Drove him back to the juice of the berry;
But he soon got afloat
On the passenger boat
Or adrift on the horse-and-cart ferry
(Wrongly called the ve-hic-ular ferry).
The drink had him fast,
And he drank till at last
He dried up—a withered old cherry;
And they thought him no loss
When they sent him across
In a box, on the cart-and-horse ferry—
In a low, covered trap on the ferry.
Which I rise to explain—
If the moral ain’t plain,
And if you’re a cove that gets merry—
Always stick, when “afloat,”
To the passenger boat;
Or else to the cart-and-horse ferry,
Or you’ll make matters worse, like old Jerry.
But this is the song of the ferry,
And the lay of the juice of the berry;
And you will not deny—
If you read by-and-bye—
That the casual eye
Of the Tight
At first sight
Misses much in the song of the ferry.
poem by Henry Lawson
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To Leave This City
This is the city to walk around in the rain
Staring at the barges in the harbor
And to hum songs through the night.
The city has countless streets
Bustling with people running around...
The waitress who brings me my tea every evening
And whom I like a lot although she's a White Russian
Is in this city.
The old pianist who turns around
To look at me
When he sneaks in pieces by Schumann and Brahms
While playing waltzes and foxtrot
Is also in this city.
The ferry boats that caryy passengers
To the village where I was born are in this city.
So are my memories,
All those I love,
And the graves of my loved ones.
This is the city where I have a job,
Where I earn my bread money.
And yet, in spite of all this,
This is the same city I'm leaving
Because of a woman
In another city.
poem by Orhan Veli Kanik
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A Mountshannon October Morning
The stranger sat upon the park bench,
and looked across the Lough.
Smoke from his pipe
blended with the cool morning breeze.
The distant mountains patchwork of green
sat under the hand of dawn’s rolling mist.
The white capped dark waters rolled endlessly against the shore,
nudging the sheltering boats against their moorings,
and washed over shoreline rocks
speckled with lichen and moss.
A pair of swans with their signets sheltered
in the calmer waters of the harbour
away from the white capped waves.
The sun edged its way into the sky,
from behind the sleeping mountains,
spreading red and oranged fingers
to touch the retreating night clouds.
The village adopted ginger cat
made his morning patrol
along the harbour’s sleeping boats,
in a search for breakfast.
The autumn coloured tree leaves,
fluttered in the morning breeze
as the wind and waves rolling
over the shore bound rocks disturbing
the dawning silence.
poem by David Harris
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River City
The tall trees that once clothed the banks
Beneath which clear, the waters streamed,
Where parrots bright in colours screamed
From mangroves by its sandy flanks,
And rocky bars by pools that gleamed
With flashing schools of swimming fish
Like silver clouds of weaving light;
Here none, in truth, could ever wish
For better than this peaceful sight
As simple men with nets and spears
Would gather all that Nature gave
O'er centuries of wondrous years
'Til each lay resting in his grave.
These thoughts I ponder as I stroll
Through this great city in the night
Beneath the towering buildings bright
And watch the spreading waves that roll
From ferry boats that burn with light,
And wonder has this place a soul
That yearns for those fair days now past
When man's ways took a lesser toll
And Nature built a scene to last,
And could it come to pass one day
In say, a thousand years or so
That man has found a better way
To use the gifts the Gods bestow.
poem by Dennis N. O'Brien
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Dark Harbour
The lights are shining down upon broken stones and fishing boats
In the amber haze reflections reach for the night that’s crowding close
And on the hill the old hotel is watching over all
And I think I hear a voice I know
From somewhere down among the waves that kiss the harbour wall
The revellers all come and go at the Crown and Harbour House
There’s a solitary violin in the distance drifting down
And from the south a quarter moon is watching over all
And I think I see a face I know
Beneath me in the rippling images that rise and fall
And I’m thinking of so many things
of all the roads that led me on
and all the words I’ve wasted on
dreams that take us nowhere
when all that ever mattered
was waiting for me here
The outside world in silence waits beyond the edge of night
for the pilgrims on the glory road that most of us walk blind
And in the air the promises that kept us driving on
And I think I hear a song I know
In the old dance hall I held you close; by morning I was gone
Now it’s Hogmanay and bitter cold, but nobody seems to care
In the amber night below the lights there is music everywhere
And from the harbour deep and dark it’s time to turn for home
And I think I hear the bells ring out
From somewhere o’er the Auld Lang Synes that echo round the shore
I’ve been thinking of so many things
of all the roads that led me on
and all the words I’ve wasted on
dreams that take us nowhere
when all that ever mattered
was waiting for me here
31 10 11
Fishin' In The Dark
Lazy yellow moon comin' up tonight
Shinin' through the trees
Crickets are singin' and lightning bugs
Are floatin' on the breeze
Baby get ready
Across the field where the creek turns back
By the old stump road
I'm gonna take you to a special place
That nobody knows
Baby get ready
Ooooh - Ooh!
You and me goin' fishin' in the dark
Lyin' on our backs and countin' the stars
Where the cool grass grows
Down by the river in the full moonlight
We'll be fallin in love
In the middle of the night
Just movin' slow
Stayin' the whole night through
Feels so good to be with you!
Spring is almost over and the summer's comin'
The days are gettin' long
I've waited all winter for the time to be right
Just to take you along
Baby get ready
And it don't matter if we sit forever
And the fish don't bite
We'll jump in the river and cool ourselves
From the heat of the night
Baby get ready
Ooooh - Ooh!
You and me goin' fishin' in the dark
Lyin' on our backs and countin the stars'
Where the cool grass grows
Down by the river in the full moonlight
We'll be fallin' in love
In the middle of the night
Just movin' slow
Stayin' the whole night through
Feels so good to be with
You and me go fishin
(You and me goin' fishin in the dark)
in the dark
Lyin' on our backs and countin' the stars
Where the cool grass grows
Down by the river (Down by the river)
in the full moonlight
We'll be fallin' in love
(We'll be fallin in love)
in the middle of the night
Just movin' slow
Feels so good to be with....
You and me go fishin' (You and me go
fishin in the dark) in the dark
Lyin on our backs and countin' the stars
Where the cool grass grows
song performed by by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ferry Me Across The Water
‘Ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do.’
‘If you've a penny in your purse
I'll ferry you.’
‘I have a penny in my purse,
And my eyes are blue;
So ferry me across the water,
Do, boatman, do.’
‘Step into my ferry-boat,
Be they black or blue,
And for the penny in your purse
I'll ferry you.’
poem by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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Burning The Boats
The government have announced
That london bridge is to be closed
Under the full moon of may the third
All the light houses and seaside roads
No I never heard I never read in the news
Come on tell me, whos this for ?
Lighting the questions and
Burning the boats one by one
Burning the boats one by one by
Tap, tap, tap, birds that sing,
Telephone calls that do not ring,
One, two, three, whats the time ?
Whos that hanging off my line ?
I know that nothing lasts for ever
And Im just waiting for the sun to set
Blowing dust from my loud hailer, on the roof.
Come on tell me, whos this for ?
Lighting the questions and
Burning the boats one by one
Burning the boats one by one
Burning the boats one by one by
The ministry of co-operation
Are washed and hanging on the line
Theres a million burning questions
To set the thames alight
Now Ive joined an exclusive club
Just by being more than poor
I saw the deputy chairman, on the floor.
Come on tell me, whos this for ?
Lighting the questions and
Burning the boats one by one
Burning the boats one by one
Burning the boats one by one by
Burning the boats one by one
Burning the boats.
song performed by by Madness
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon - Villanelle
He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon,
From drops of peridot scattered at sea,
Hidden beneath a moon-shadowed ruin.
His father not caring where or with whom,
Or from what rare ocean his being might be-
He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon.
He learnt his letters from a dark winged loon
Who flew where the mountains caress the trees,
Hidden beneath a moon-shadowed ruin.
His speech was a garble of false and truth,
Whistling like a hollow piped reed,
He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon.
His eyes a contagion of waters blue
And brackish trunks of underwater trees
Hidden beneath a moon-shadowed ruin.
His normal voice wove a threadless tune,
Brought close the mermaids, hungry to feed;
He stole his eyes from a milk-glass moon,
Hidden beneath a moon-shadowed ruin.
poem by Patti Masterman
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Almost Independence Day *
I can hear them calling way from Oregon
I can hear them calling way from Oregon
And it's almost Independence Day
Me and my lady, we go steppin' (we go steppin')
We go steppin' way out on China town
All to buy some Hong Kong silver
And the wadin' rushing river (we go steppin')
We go out on the, out on the town tonight
I can hear the fireworks
I can hear the fireworks
I can hear the fireworks
Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay
Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay
I can hear them echoing
I can hear, I can hear them echoing
Up and down the, up and down the San Francisco bay
I can see the boats in the harbor (way across the harbor)
Lights shining out (lights shining out)
And a cool, cool night
And a cool, cool night across the harbor
I can hear the fireworks
I can hear the people, people shouting out
I can hear the people shouting out (up and down the line)
And it's almost Independence Day
I can see the lights way out in the harbor
And the cool, and the cool, and the cool night
And the cool, and the cool, and the cool night breeze
And I feel the cool night breeze
And I feel, feel, feel the cool night breeze
And the boats go by
And it's almost Independence Day
And it's almost, and it's almost Independence Day
Way up and down the line
Way up and down the line...
song performed by by Van Morrison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Recuerdo
We were very tired, we were very merry --
We had gone back and forth all night upon the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable --
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on the hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.
We were very tired, we were very merry --
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.
We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, "Good morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and the pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.
poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay
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Summer Night City
Summer night city...
Summer night city...
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
In the sun i feel like sleeping
I can't take it for too long
My impatience slowly creeping
Up my spine and growing strong
I know what's waiting there for me
Tonight i'm loose and fancy-free
Aa-ahhh
When the night comes with the action
I just know it's time to go
Can't resist the strange attraction
From that giant dynamo
Lots to take and lots to give
Time to breathe and time to live
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
It's elusive party feeling
Somehow something turns me on
Some folks only see the middle
We don't miss them when they're gone
I love feeling in the air
My kind of people everywhere
When the night comes with the action
I just know it's time to go
Can't resist the strange attraction
From that giant dynamo
And tomorrow, when it's dawning
And the first birds start to sing
In the pale light of the morning
Nothing's worth remembering
It's a dream, it's out of reach
Scattered driftwood on the beach
Waiting for the sunrise, soul dancing in the dark
Summer night city
Walking in the moonlight, love-making in the park
Summer night city
song performed by by ABBA
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dali
High, in Castille,
Lives senora Dali alone.
And higher still
She keeps her gallery.
Distance means nothing to me.
A-ee-aha-ee-aha-oo,
A-ee-aha-ee-aha-oo...
Debris everywhere,
Gazing. It's amazing.
Ferry me over,
Ferry me over,
Ferry me over
The music, Dali.
Deeper here lies hidden answers and treasures for him.
"Oh, I prefer absence," said she,
"My heart grows fonder alone."
A-ee-aha-ee-aha-oo,
A-ee-aha-ee-aha-oo...
Debris everywhere,
Gazing. It's amazing.
Ferry me over,
Ferry me over,
Ferry me over
The music, Dali.
song performed by by Kate Bush
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Blue Moon Of Kentucky
(words & music by bill monroe)
Blue moon, blue moon, blue moon,
Keep shining bright.
Blue moon, keep on shining bright,
Youre gonna bring me back my baby tonight,
Blue moon, keep shining bright.
I said blue moon of kentucky
Keep on shining,
Shine on the one thats gone and left me blue.
I said blue moon of kentucky
Keep on shining,
Shine on the one thats gone and left me blue.
Well, it was on one moonlight night,
Stars shining bright,
Wish blown high
Love said good-bye.
Blue moon of kentucky
Keep on shining.
Shine on the one thats gone and left me blue.
Well, I said blue moon of kentucky
Just keep on shining.
Shine on the one thats gone and left me blue.
I said blue moon of kentucky
Keep on shining.
Shine on the one thats gone and left me blue.
Well, it was on one moonlight night,
Stars shining bright,
Wish blown high
Love said good-bye.
Blue moon of kentucky
Keep on shining.
Shine on the one thats gone and left me blue.
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Paper Boats
Day by day I float my paper boats one by one down the running
stream.
In bid black letters I write my name on them and the name of
the village where I live.
I hope that someone in some strange land will find them and
know who I am.
I load my little boats with shiuli flower from our garden, and
hope that these blooms of the dawn will be carried safely to land
in the night.
I launch my paper boats and look up into the sky and see the
little clouds setting thee white bulging sails.
I know not what playmate of mine in the sky sends them down
the air to race with my boats!
When night comes I bury my face in my arms and dream that my
paper boats float on and on under the midnight stars.
The fairies of sleep are sailing in them, and the lading ins
their baskets full of dreams.
poem by Rabindranath Tagore
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Down the seafront tonight - Pinewood Royal
Tall ships in the harbour
Waiting for a sailing far away
Stones across the water
Herring gulls drifting across the bay
Painted lady in the garden
The Blackcap sings from early dawn
The warm air slumbers
Soothing the Trevello Lawn
On the red cliffs of The Berry
The lighthouse shines till early dawn
We're going down
Down to the sea front tonight
We're going down
Down to the sea front tonight
We're going down to where the lights, the lights are shining bright
On the sea front you can see the rows of coloured lights
We're going down
Down to the sea front tonight
We're going down
Down to the sea front tonight
Just you and I
The bright lights sparkle
On the sea front walking by
The ice cream parlour
Fairground rides and coconut shy
Ocean going liners
Cabin lights blazing wave goodbye
White horses in the moonlight
Constellations across the sky
Red glow from leaded windows
A summer's evening in July
We're going down
Down to the sea front tonight
We're going down
Down to the sea front tonight
We're going down to where the lights, the lights are shining bright
On the sea front you can see the rows of coloured lights
We're going down
Down to the sea front tonight
We're going down
Down to the sea front tonight
Just you and I
poem by GuyPaul MitchellDwelly
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Upon This Wide Water, For Staten Island Ferry, circa 1985, Manhattan
.
'On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross,
returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are
more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.'
- Walt Whitman, from 'Crossing Brooklyn Ferry'
1
Upon this wide water, Whitman's bay, wandering
outward toward Eastward windings -
Upon this white-starred charted bay we ride
gray with midnight leaning toward the Towers**
distant growing, stalking, yellow and glowing,
mimicing the stars -
Our eyes stare tearing,
seawind pushes lids to slits.
We glimmer. Lights shimmer
ahead and above,
and still we cry -
the wind.
The ferry, furtive, floats the edge of Manhatta.
There's power pushing against the bow,
riptides to the rear, but we go on,
approach sleepily, enamored of gin and
the beds we will make again and again
pulling sheets tighter. This stretching water
safe-keeps the light of eyes and the city there-
Upon the water's wide skirt one will, quiet,
lift up a hand to the spray, sway for love,
and pray for the world -
A dark tern unfurls from the sail
of a starboard yacht, flirts once with
the silhouette extended upon the wave,
then leaves, an under-turning rail or rudder
sinking in the ferrier's wake.
Each night there must be one, out there,
on the deck, supplicating in boozy tongue,
oozing heart-love all over, spurning the way
things go down in the world, cheap spindrift
the cranes know of, dipping their bloated beaks
to the waves. And he must dip his head, braying,
with his hands motioning to the night -
Away! Away!
[**World Trade Towers]
poem by Warren Falcon
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City Lights
Oh oh I feel the city rhythm
Oh oh I love those city lights
But when the sun comes up
And the partys over
I dont care Im coming back tonight
To the bright city lights
Home from work got your money in your pocket
Pull on your boots brand new suit
If you had the chance youd hock it
For a night on the tiles
And a shot of midnight fever
Get off your back get on the track
Tune in your receiver oh oh
Oh oh I feel the city rhythm
Oh oh I love those city lights
But when the sun comes up
And the partys over
I dont care Im coming back tonight
To the bright city lights
Truck down the street feeling kinda funky
Get on the beat shuffle your feet
Never know you might get lucky
You got love on the brain
Flashing like a neon
Feed 'em a line
Give 'em a sign
Theyre looking for a come on oh oh
Oh oh I feel the city rhythm
Oh oh I love those city lights
But when the sun comes up
And the partys over
I dont care Im coming back tonight
To the bright city lights
No way to stop when the musics in your body
Into the night feel all right
No time for feeling sorry
You go down to the club
With the old familiar faces
Buy 'em a drink kick up a stink
Everybodys going crazy oh oh
Oh oh I feel the city rhythm
Oh oh I love those city lights
But when the sun comes up
And the partys over
I dont care Im coming back tonight
To the bright city lights
To the bright city lights
To the bright city lights
To the bright city lights
Oh I love those city lights
song performed by by 10 Cc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Moonlight river.
moonlight river the eyes are shineing bright.
moonlight river love her with all you might.
moonlight river the darkness is falling.
moonligh river is there such thing off morning.
moonlight river makes my head sway.
moonlight river voice off the ocean on a sand beach bay.
moonlight river i think off her night and day.
moonlight river bring her back to me today.
moonlight river the star's are shineing bright.
moonlight river she is back with such delight.
moonlight river never let her go.
moonlight river tell her i love her so.
moolight river tear's in her eye.
moonlight river why did i have to die.
poem by Neil Derek Singleton
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