The Retreat
1 Happy those early days, when I
2 Shin'd in my angel-infancy!
3 Before I understood this place
4 Appointed for my second race,
5 Or taught my soul to fancy ought
6 But a white, celestial thought;
7 When yet I had not walk'd above
8 A mile or two from my first love,
9 And looking back (at that short space)
10 Could see a glimpse of his bright face;
11 When on some gilded cloud or flow'r
12 My gazing soul would dwell an hour,
13 And in those weaker glories spy
14 Some shadows of eternity;
15 Before I taught my tongue to wound
16 My conscience with a sinful sound,
17 Or had the black art to dispense,
18 A sev'ral sin to ev'ry sense,
19 But felt through all this fleshly dress
20 Bright shoots of everlastingness.
21 O how I long to travel back,
22 And tread again that ancient track!
23 That I might once more reach that plain,
24 Where first I left my glorious train,
25 From whence th' enlighten'd spirit sees
26 That shady city of palm trees.
27 But ah! my soul with too much stay
28 Is drunk, and staggers in the way.
29 Some men a forward motion love,
30 But I by backward steps would move;
31 And when this dust falls to the urn,
32 In that state I came, return.
poem by Henry Vaughan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Gunface
Gonna go downtown
Gonna get my gun
Gonna dress real sharp
Gonna beat my drum
I ain't gonna lie
Gonna walk so slow
Gonna talk just right
And my diamond ring
Gonna shine so bright
I ain't gonna lie
I've got a debt to repay
I ain't gonna cry
I put a gun in your face
You'll pay with your life
And I got my ears
And I got my eyes
And I got my narks
And my alibis
I won't waste your time
You made one false move
You made one mistake
When the juice is squeezed
That's the way it breaks
You'll pay for your crime
Your tongue lickin' way out of place
I'll rip it out
I'll stick a gun in your face
You'll pay with your life
I taught her everything I taught her how to dream
I taught her everything
I'm gonna teach her how to scream
I taught her all she knows
I taught her how to lie
I taught her everything
I'm gonna teach her how to cry
And you cause me hurt
And you cause me pain
And you turned the tap
On my burning rage
And I can't put it out
Gonna leave no sign
Gonna leave no trace
Gonna leave this town
In a state of grace
Give me the power
I got a debt to repay
I ain't gonna lie
I put a gun in your face
You'll pay for the crime
I taught her everything
I taught her how to speak
I taught her all she knows
I taught her how to eat
I half invented her
And now she acts so chic
I taught her everything
But now she's obselete
I taught her everything
How to read and write
I taught her all she knows
She was a neophyte
I taught her everything
I loved to watch her grow
I taught her everything
And now I want to see her go
I taught her everything
I got a debt to repay
I ain't gonna cry
I'll put a gun in your face
You're playing with your life
I taught her everything
I taught her how to cheat
I taught her all she knows
She was so indiscreet
I taught her everything
I taught her how to lie
I taught her everything
I'm gonna teach her how to cry
song performed by by Rolling Stones from Bridges To Babylon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The City Of Damn-His Soul
He was nursed and cursed : he lied and died,
In the City of Damn-His-Soul ;
He was mothered and smothered in the slimy tide
Of the City of Damn-His-Soul,
And, strange to say, there were preachers there,
And temples, many and broad ;
But he never had taught him the simplest prayer,
Or had heard of the word of God !
For nobody cared for the poor galoot,
And fewer had cared for his soul
For they said that Hell had a new recruit
From the City of Damn-His-Soul.
But the angels they waited, outside the gate
Of the City of Damn His Soul ;
And they bore him away, with step elate,
To the City of Save-His-Soul ;
And the angels they put him to school How odd !
And they taught him the A B C
Of the Love, and the Wisdom, and Truth of God.
On the winterless side of the sea
He played and was taught, with the angels for chums,
Where the rivers of Paradise roll :
Ah, me, what a change from the bums and the slums
Of the City of Damn-His-Soul !
He has learned a trade in that wonderful place
In the City of Save-His-Soul ;
All traces of sin have been wiped from his face
In the college of Save-His-Soul ;
They Ve taught him to work : they Ve taught him to
pray:
They 've taught him to read and write ;
He works in the gardens of God, by day,
And learns new lessons by night.
The poor lone youth, who had carried the hod
For the devil's designs below,
Is a power and a prince in the realms of God
And I 'm glad that these things are so.
poem by Robert Kirkland Kernighan
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The Little Black Boy
My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but O! my soul is white
White as an angel is the English child:
But I am black as if bereav'd of light.
My mother taught me underneath a tree
And sitting down before the heat of day
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And pointing to the east began to say:
Look on the rising sun: there God does live
And gives his light, and gives his heat away
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning joy in the noonday.
And we are put on earth a little space
That we may learn to bear the beams of love.
And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove,
For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear
The cloud will vanish we shall hear his voice,
Saying: come out from the grove my love & care
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice.
Thus did my mother say and kissed me.
And thus I say to little English boy.
When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy:
I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our fathers knee.
And then I’ll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him and he will then love me.
poem by William Blake from Songs of Innocence (1789)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Boss
(Nickolas Ashford/Valerie Simpson)
Fancy me
Thought I had my degree
In life and how love
Ought to be a run
I had a one step plan to prove it
Guide in my pocket for fools
Folly and fun
Love had to show me one thing
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(Taught me who was who was the boss)
I'd defy
Anyone who claimed that I
Didn't control whatever moved in my soul
I could tempt
Touch delight
Just because you fell for me
Why should I feel uptight
Love had to show me one thing:
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(Taught me who was who was the boss)
Love taught me
Taught me
Taught me
Taught me
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(Taught me who was who was the boss)
song performed by by Diana Ross
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Boss
(nickolas ashford/valerie simpson)
Fancy me
Thought I had my degree
In life and how love
Ought to be a run
I had a one step plan to prove it
Guide in my pocket for fools
Folly and fun
Love had to show me one thing
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(taught me who was who was the boss)
Id defy
Anyone who claimed that i
Didnt control whatever moved in my soul
I could tempt
Touch delight
Just because you fell for me
Why should I feel uptight
Love had to show me one thing:
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(taught me who was who was the boss)
Love taught me
Taught me
Taught me
Taught me
I was so right
So right
Thought I could turn emotion
On and off
I was so sure
So sure (I was so sure)
But love taught me
Who was who was who was the boss
(taught me who was who was the boss)
song performed by by Diana Ross
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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To Charlotte Cushman
Look where a three-point star shall weave his beam
Into the slumb'rous tissue of some stream,
Till his bright self o'er his bright copy seem
Fulfillment dropping on a come-true dream;
So in this night of art thy soul doth show
Her excellent double in the steadfast flow
Of wishing love that through men's hearts doth go:
At once thou shin'st above and shin'st below.
E'en when thou strivest there within Art's sky
(Each star must o'er a strenuous orbit fly),
Full calm thine image in our love doth lie,
A Motion glassed in a Tranquillity.
So triple-rayed, thou mov'st, yet stay'st, serene --
Art's artist, Love's dear woman, Fame's good queen!
poem by Sidney Lanier
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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In a Minor Key
(AN ECHO FROM A LARGER LYRE.)
That was love that I had before
Years ago, when my heart was young;
Ev'ry smile was a gem you wore;
Ev'ry word was a sweet song sung.
You came--all my pulses burn'd and beat.
(O sweet wild throbs of an early day!)
You went--with the last dear sound of your feet
The light wax'd dim and the place grew grey.
And I us'd to pace with a stealthy tread
By a certain house which is under a hill;
A cottage stands near, wall'd white, roof'd red--
Tall trees grow thick--I can see it still!
How I us'd to watch with a hope that was fear
For the least swift glimpse of your gown's dear fold!
(You wore blue gowns in those days, my dear--
One light for summer, one dark for cold.)
Tears and verses I shed for you in show'rs;
I would have staked my soul for a kiss;
Tribute daily I brought you of flow'rs,
Rose, lily, your favourite eucharis.
There came a day we were doomed to part;
There's a queer, small gate at the foot of a slope:
We parted there--and I thought my heart
Had parted for ever from love and hope.
* * * *
Is it love that I have to-day?
Love, that bloom'd early, has it bloom'd late
For me, that, clothed in my spirit's grey,
Sit in the stillness and stare at Fate?
Song nor sonnet for you I've penned,
Nor passionate paced by your home's wide wall
I have brought you never a flow'r, my friend,
Never a tear for your sake let fall.
And yet--and yet--ah, who understands?
We men and women are complex things!
A hundred tunes Fate's inexorable hands
May play on the sensitive soul-strings.
Webs of strange patterns we weave (each owns)
From colour and sound; and like unto these,
Soul has its tones and its semitones,
Mind has its major and minor keys.
Your face (men pass it without a word)
It haunts my dreams like an odd, sweet strain;
When your name is spoken my soul is stirr'd
In its deepest depths with a dull, dim pain.
I paced, in the damp grey mist, last night
In the streets (an hour) to see you pass:
Yet I do not think that I love you--quite;
What's felt so finely 'twere coarse to class.
And yet--and yet--I scarce can tell why
(As I said, we are riddles and hard to read),
If the world went ill with you, and I
Could help with a hidden hand your need;
But, ere I could reach you where you lay,
Must strength and substance and honour spend;
Journey long journeys by night and day--
Somehow, I think I should come, my friend!
Club Soul City
Pack up your bags
Dont look back
Theres a little place
Out cross the the railroad tracks
If youre broken-hearted
And you dont know what to do
But they got a place down there thats just for you
Club soul, club soul city, yeah yeah yeah
Club soul, club soul city, oh yeah
Theres a waitress at the back bar
Goes with the the guy that runs the place
Shes got hair like a weeping willow
And tears running down her face
Shes seen a lot of guys like you coming around
Looking for something that theyve lost
Or trying to lose something that theyve found
Down at
Club soul, club soul city, yeah yeah yeah
Club soul, club soul city, oh yeah
So if youre down on your spirit
And there aint no-one who cares
If youre lost and youre lonely
You wont be lonely down there
You cant miss it, its just up the highway
On the front door theres a sign that says
Restricted to the losing kind
Club soul, club soul city, yeah yeah yeah
Club soul, club soul city, oh yeah
Club soul, club soul city, yeah yeah yeah
Club soul, club soul city, oh yeah
song performed by by Bruce Springsteen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Give Back My Soul
Give back my soul,
You took it away one day,
Or I had given you,
On rent some day,
Give back my soul.
Life had happened before,
Life had happened since,
Life will happen henceforth,
But give back my soul.
The soul was my property sole;
The loss I would not bear
I have nobody to console,
Please give back my soul.
I want those happy days back,
I want those serene times back,
I want those joyous memories back,
Give back my Soul.
I know you won't come back,
For you have a life wonderful;
I know you won't look back,
For you have a companion cheerful;
Give back my soul.
Now people too say,
You were soulful once,
What happened?
You look soulless now,
Give back my soul.
My soul was mine.
I trusted you mine.
I gave you my soul.
Give back my Soul.
The body is dying.
The soul is flying.
The eternity shall happen;
For the sake of,
You and Mine.
poem by Sanjeev Kumar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Do Not Say Goodbye To Me
Do not say goodbye to me.
Please just walk away.
Then I won't be able to hear those words.
I'll pretend that you will stay.
For goodbye is only acceptable
if the parting doesn't last.
And if it does then all I've loved
becomes part of my past.
You taught me love
and I rose above
all I thought I could be.
You taught me desire
and I felt the fire
that became a part of me.
You taught me boldness
and I left the coldness
on a bedroom shelf.
You taught me caring
and I craved the sharing
that became a part of myself.
So do not say goodbye to me.
Please just walk away.
For all that you have taught me,
when you leave will always stay.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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The Change
Saviour shine and cheer my soul,
Bid my dying hopes revive;
Make my wounded spirit whole,
Far away the tempter drive:
Speak the word and set me free,
Let me live alone to thee.
Shall I sigh and pray in vain,
Wilt thou still refuse to hear;
Wilt thou not return again,
Must I yield to black despair?
Thou hast taught my heart to pray,
Canst thou turn thy face away?
Once I thought my mountain strong,
Firmly fixed no more to move;
Then thy grace was all my song,
Then my soul was filled with love:
Those were happy golden days,
Sweetly spent in prayer and praise.
When my friends have said, Beware,
Soon or late you'll find a change;
I could see no cause for fear,
Vain their caution seemed and strange:
Not a cloud obscured my sky,
Could I think a tempest nigh?
Little, then, myself I knew,
Little thought of Satan's pow'r;
Now I find their words were true,
Now I feel the stormy hour!
Sin has put my joys to flight,
Sin has changed my day to night.
Satan asks, and mocks my woe,
Boaster, where is now your God?
Silence, Lord, this cruel foe,
Let him know I'm bought with blood:
Tell him, since I know thy name,
Though I change thou art the same.
poem by John Newton
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Now I lay Me
When I pass from earth away,
Palsied though I be and gray,
May my spirit keep so young
That my failing, faltering tongue
Frames that prayer so dear to me
Taught me at my mother's knee:
'Now I lay me down to sleep,'
(Passing to Eternal rest
On the loving parent breast)
'I pray the Lord my soul to keep;'
(From all danger safe and calm
In the hollow of His palm
'If I should die before I wake,'
(Drifting with a bated breath
Out of slumber into death,)
'I pray the Lord my soul to take.'
(From the body's claim set free
Sheltered in the Great to be.)
Simple prayer of trust and truth
Taught me in my early youth-
Let my soul its beauty keep
When I lay me down to sleep.
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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Hit Me Like A Train
I have visions, I have visions of a happy land
And in this happy land, happy land
There is still one unhappy man
Because of all the things he wants
There is always something he cant have
Its like a siren singing, like a church bell ringing
I can feel you winning, and my head starts spinning
Now Im back at the beginning
I, i, I see you lying there and
I, I felt a wave come over me and
I, i, I thought I had escaped you
As I sat down by the roadside
And it hit me like a train
Hit me like a freight train
When the truth came down on me
It hit me like a long, slow train
It is written, I know its written
All gods children get smitten
And if theres anyone, anybody
I know the [lord] can fit that description
And if I could turn back the hands of time
Still I wouldnt know what Im supposed to change
Its like a well gone dry, like a kiss goodbye
As the grip gets tighter, I continue to fight it
Then you strike me with your lightning
I, i, I woke up in a cold sweat and
I, I thought I heard you call my name and
I, i, I had to reach out for your fingers
And before I could call the doctor
You hit me like a train
Hit me like a freight train
When the truth came down on me
Swear you hit me like a long, slow train
Lord you hit me like a train
Hit me like a coal train
When your love came down on me yeah
Say hit me like a long, slow
Lord I feel it coming down and
I, i, i, i, oooh
I, i, i, oh lord have mercy [on me]
I cant hold out no longer
I was ready to surrender
And it hit me like a train yeah
Hit me like a freight train
When your love came down on me yeah
And it me like a long, slow train
Lord you hit me like a train
Hit me like a soul train
When your love, when your love came down on me child
Hit me like a long slow [how long was it] long train
Hit me like a coal train?
song performed by by Todd Rundgren
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Concrete
In the city the heart still whispers
Flaking metal a silent witness
Theres chemical fields and cathode clouds
The milky way is emasculated as exhaust fans
And smart cards shrink wrap the coloured air
And send it coughing to eternity
We can see the bright light but we cant reach it
We are not afraid enough to call
Go back wrong way you cannot stay you cannot live here
Concrete you dont free my soul
In the city the sound is biting
Cement fingers they are clutching
The emissary of trash decorates the way
No wild acres you can see, yearning to breathe
Concrete you dont free my soul
Blackened hands and heart of steel,
No wish to consume, embellish, discard and expire
Concrete you dont free my soul
Concrete you dont free my soul
song performed by by Midnight Oil
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lost
You left me with the autumn time;
When the winter stripped the forest bare,
Then dressed it in his spotless rime;
When frosts were lurking in the air
You left me here and went away.
The winds were cold; you could not stay.
You sought a warmer clime, until
The south wind, artful maid, should break
The winter's trumpets, and should fill
The air with songs of birds; and wake
The sleeping blossoms on the plain
And make the brooks to flow again.
I thought that the winter desolate,
And all times felt a sense of loss.
I taught my longing heart to wait,
And said, 'When Spring shall come across
The hills, with blossoms in her track,
The she, our loved one, will come back.'
And now the hills with grass and moss
The spring with cunning hands has spread,
And yet I feel my grievous loss.
My heart will not be comforted,
But crieth daily, 'Where is she
You promised should come back to me? '
Oh, love! where are you? day by day
I seek to find you, but in vain.
Men point me to a grave, and say:
'There is her bed upon the plain.'
But though I see no trace of you,
I cannot thiink their words are true.
You were too sweet to wholly pass
Away from earth, and leave no trace;
You were to fair to let the grass
Grow rank and tall above your face.
Your voice, that mocked the robin's trill,
I cannot think is hushed and still.
I thought I saw your golden hair
One day, and reached to touch a strand;
I found but yellow sunbeams there -
The bright rays fell aslant my hand,
And seemed to mock, with lights and shades,
The silken meshes of your braids.
Again, I thought I saw your hand
Wave, as if beckoning to me;
I found 'twas but a lily, fanned
By the cool zephyrs from the sea.
Oh, love! I find no trace of you -
I wonder if their words were true?
One day I heard a singing voice;
A burst of music, trill on trill.
It made my very soul rejoice;
My heart gave and exultant thrill.
I cried, 'Oh heart, we've found her - hush! '
But no - 'twas the silver-throated thrush.
And once I thought I saw your face,
And wild with joy I ran to you;
But found, when I had reached the place,
'Twas a blush rose, bathed in dew.
Ah, love! I think you must be dead;
And I believe the words they said.
poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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My Life
I can feel it in the darkness
Getting closer in the night
Like a sacred song
You linger on
You give me the wings of flight
And I love your sense of power
Every hour every need
When the red light shows
Your arms enclose
Like the pillars of destiny
With one step forward
I know I can leave this behind
Never look backward
I want to move through space, through time
I want to get to it
Seek and youll find
Check the world - do it its my life
Theres a star shines over you and i
Its my life
Im just keeping my soul alive
Theres talk of revolution
Theres no solution to our plight
A red guitar can get you
But you still know how to fight
They say all roads come together
Every shoulder to the wheel
Solid gold future unfolds
When you give me the hands that heal
Im looking out, and I call your name
I go running in a circle
But I cant get back again
And Im calling I need you here
My whole life took a tumble
And Im so filled up with fear
My life feels like a runaway train
Im leading through a tunnel and I cant get back again
Its my life
Keeping my soul alive
Written by : kerr/burchill reproduced without permission
song performed by by Simple Minds
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Searching Inner Space
Searching now for inner space
Sure one day to find the place
What means of travel does one face
This journey from the human race
Listen sounds to tell the way
Or wait the stars to show way
Doth the soul to body say
Suppress all fears felt today
If it's thought that moves the man
Act as if your thoughts still can
God designed this travel well
So we can move through heav'n or hell
Take a trip a different kind
Open channels in your mind
Inner space you soon will find
Is god and you intertwined
The choice is yours all's been planned
You can move through thought command
Meditate and learn first hand
Your mind controls this world so grand
poem by Daniel Lloyd Kennedy
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To Travel Back In Time
If I could have the chance
To jump through the distances of time
If I could have the chance to travel back in time centuries ago
To those days to find the Innocency who is lost from the world
Take my soul to the real love!
Take me to those days where purity and goodhearted people still survived
Take me to the people with no colored hearts
If I could have the chance
To jump through the distances of time
to travel back in time to the black and white to jump through the screen and enter to one of those old movies and there I would love to survive
Take me back in time to
glory days of love
Where the love was boundless and honesty still alive
Take me to those days where the lovers survived through the pain and vain
but love never died
Please save my soul I can't bear all these lies
poem by Sossi Khachadourian
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The Dark Night Of The Soul
When we are in the dark night of the soul,
We gasp and flounder within this hole
Of mire and darkness, with no light,
But hark, look up and see the sight,
Of smiling angel faces true.
Holding hands and beckoning you,
To rise above the darkness tight,
Fly and flow, into the light.
Once more to find our love's true end,
As thro' Universe, our footsteps wend.
To free the soul, from darkness black.
Taking us forward, to never look back,
But forward always into the peace,
And joy and calm as horrors cease.
And then we turn and head for home,
Until once more, our steps will roam.
poem by Rosi Caswell
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On Heroes Ground
flirt your self in the eve of the rising
sun, for nothing of a minute you
close your eyes, not a single words you
utter nor a flip of shadow of
goodbye tells you that the night
does fall my dear
everybody wants to be near, yet
everyone caught in the dark, what
makes it sense, ah! all seems to be
happy for the coming day has return to
the an endless bright of the night comes
the lonely soul in the darkest day
live my spirit the hero of my blood in
the ground, marching to begin the
end, while my flesh wonder of where
to step, as lou my dirt of my foot
hide my shadow of the past, the naked
eye sees the path I walk, tender my
soul, long to be with the heaven sky
I wait...
poem by Antonio Liao
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