A Swarm Of Gnats
Many thousand glittering motes
Crowd forward greedily together
In trembling circles.
Extravagantly carousing away
For a whole hour rapidly vanishing,
They rave, delirious, a shrill whir,
Shivering with joy against death.
While kingdoms, sunk into ruin,
Whose thrones, heavy with gold, instantly scattered
Into night and legend, without leaving a trace,
Have never known so fierce a dancing.
Translated by James Wright
Submitted by Holt
poem by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
How Heavy The Days
How heavy the days are.
There's not a fire that can warm me,
Not a sun to laugh with me,
Everything bare,
Everything cold and merciless,
And even the beloved, clear
Stars look desolately down,
Since I learned in my heart that
Love can die.
Translated by James Wright
Submitted by Holt
poem by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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At Night On The High Seas
At night, when the sea cradles me
And the pale star gleam
Lies down on its broad waves,
Then I free myself wholly
From all activity and all the love
And stand silent and breathe purely,
Alone, alone cradled by the sea
That lies there, cold and silent, with a thousand lights.
Then I have to think of my friends
And my gaze sinks into their gazes
And I ask each one, silent, alone:
"Are you still mine"
Is my sorrow a sorrow to you, my death a death?
Do you feel from my love, my grief,
Just a breath, just an echo?"
And the sea peacefully gazes back, silent,
And smiles: no.
And no greeting and now answer comes from anywhere.
Translated by James Wright
Submitted by Holt
poem by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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On A Journey
Don't be downcast, soon the night will come,
When we can see the cool moon laughing in secret
Over the faint countryside,
And we rest, hand in hand.
Don't be downcast, the time will soon come
When we can have rest. Our small crosses will stand
On the bright edge of the road together,
And rain fall, and snow fall,
And the winds come and go.
Translated by James Wright
Submitted by Holt
poem by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Lonesome Night
You brothers, who are mine,
Poor people, near and far,
Longing for every star,
Dream of relief from pain,
You, stumbling dumb
At night, as pale stars break,
Lift your thin hands for some
Hope, and suffer, and wake,
Poor muddling commonplace,
You sailors who must live
Unstarred by hopelessness,
We share a single face.
Give me my welcome back.
Translated by James Wright
Submitted by Holt
poem by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I Know, You Walk
I walk so often, late, along the streets,
Lower my gaze, and hurry, full of dread,
Suddenly, silently, you still might rise
And I would have to gaze on all your grief
With my own eyes,
While you demand your happiness, that's dead.
I know, you walk beyond me, every night,
With a coy footfall, in a wretched dress
And walk for money, looking miserable!
Your shoes gather God knows what ugly mess,
The wind plays in your hair with lewd delight---
You walk, and walk, and find no home at all.
Translated by James Wright
Submitted by Holt
poem by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Lying In Grass
Is this everything now, the quick delusions of flowers,
And the down colors of the bright summer meadow,
The soft blue spread of heaven, the bees' song,
Is this everything only a god's
Groaning dream,
The cry of unconscious powers for deliverance?
The distant line of the mountain,
That beautifully and courageously rests in the blue,
Is this too only a convulsion,
Only the wild strain of fermenting nature,
Only grief, only agony, only meaningless fumbling,
Never resting, never a blessed movement?
No! Leave me alone, you impure dream
Of the world in suffering!
The dance of tiny insects cradles you in an evening radiance,
The bird's cry cradles you,
A breath of wind cools my forehead
With consolation.
Leave me alone, you unendurably old human grief!
Let it all be pain.
Let it all be suffering, let it be wretched-
But not this one sweet hour in the summer,
And not the fragrance of the red clover,
And not the deep tender pleasure
In my soul.
Translated by James Wright
Submitted by Holt
poem by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Bologna: A Poem About Gold
Give me this time, my first and severe
Italian, a poem about gold,
The left corners of eyes, and the heavy
Night of the locomotives that brought me here,
And the heavy wine in the old green body,
The glass that so many have drunk from.
I have brought my bottle back home every day
To the cool cave, and come forth
Golden on the left corner
of a cathedral's wing:
White wine of Bologna,
And the knowing golden shadows
At the left corners of Mary Magdalene's eyes,
While St. Cecilia stands
Smirking in the center of a blank wall,
The saint letting her silly pipes wilt down,
Adoring
Herself, while the lowly and richest of all women eyes
Me the beholder, with a knowing sympathy, her love
For the golden body of the earth, she knows me,
Her halo faintly askew,
And no despair in her gold
That drags thrones down
And then makes them pay for it.
Oh,
She may look sorry to Cecilia
And
The right-hand saint on the tree,
But
She didn't look sorry to Raphael,
And
I bet she didn't look sorry to Jesus,
And
She doesn't look sorry to me.
(Who would?)
She doesn't look sorry to me.
She looks like only the heavy deep gold
That drags thrones down
All day long on the vine.
Mary in Bologna, sunlight I gathered all morning
And pressed in my hands all afternoon
And drank all day with my golden-breasted
Love in my arms.
poem by James Arlington Wright
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Manhattan
Out of the night you burn, Manhattan,
In a vesture of gold -
Span of innumerable arcs,
Flaring and multiplying -
Gold at the uttermost circles fading
Into the tenderest hint of jade,
Or fusing in tremulous twilight blues,
Robing the far-flung offices,
Scintillant-storied, forking flame,
Or soaring to luminous amethyst
Over the steeples aureoled -
Diaphanous gold,
Veiling the Woolworth, argently
Rising slender and stark
Mellifluous-shrill as a vender's cry,
And towers squatting graven and cold
On the velvet bales of the dark,
And the Singer's appraising
Indolent idol's eye,
And night like a purple cloth unrolled -
Nebulous gold
Throwing an ephemeral glory about life's vanishing points,
Wherein you burn…
You of unknown voltage
Whirling on your axis…
Scrawling vermillion signatures
Over the night's velvet hoarding…
Insolent, towering spherical
To apices ever shifting.
poem by Lola Ridge
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Mystical Moon
In a horizon of a magical hue
an integration of lilac
with a bow of blue
a mystical moon so bright
just above the tree's of lace
oh such a lovely light
shining full upon my face
suspended in the western sky
such a beauty to behold
before my naked eye
there on the edge of night
to see is worth more than gold
I enchantingly admire and I gaze
as beauty vanishes so quickly
without leaving a trace
vanishing so completely
poem by Rachel Nichols
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Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic
Rave un2 the joy fantastic - rave
Rave un2 the joy fantastic - rave
World full of lovers, city full of good times - rave
Dont go undercover, I can get u out of your mind - come on - rave
All you need is a good walk and a brand new position
Then we can spread the real soul, doin it like a mission (rave) - rave
Oh, rave un2 the joy fantastic - rave
Everybody, rave un2 the joy fantastic - rave
Arrividerci cock poppy, that was hip yesterday - rave
New thing hitting where it feel good, what did u say? - rave
Tell me all: aint that a bomb? mack daddy aint got no gun - rave
Everybody got a new thing, new fun - scandalous - rave
Ooh, uve got 2 - rave un2 the joy fantastic - rave
Everybody, rave un2 the joy fantastic - rave - ooh yeah oh
Come on, sugar
Rave
Take a look inside your mind
Sister got a sizzler on, (know she 2 hot) ooh - know she 2 hot (rave) - rave
Brutha playing an apache scarf
Gaultier - stop (oh-oh)
Ooh, ifhad a dollar 4 every time they smiled
Id sho nuff jump and holla
Cuz Id sho nuff be rich a while - rave
Everybody rave
(rave un2 the joy fantastic) - ooh rave {2x}
Ooh
song performed by by Prince
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Gold!
Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!
Bright and yellow, hard and cold
Molten, graven, hammered and rolled,
Heavy to get and light to hold,
Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold,
Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled,
Spurned by young, but hung by old
To the verge of a church yard mold;
Price of many a crime untold.
Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!
Good or bad a thousand fold!
How widely it agencies vary,
To save - to ruin - to curse - to bless -
As even its minted coins express :
Now stamped with the image of Queen Bess,
And now of a bloody Mary.
poem by Thomas Hood
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Sestina: War
There is nothing like war
But a fire
Plaguing the land
Spreading rapidly
Hurting those who cant prevent pain
Destroying those who are innocent
The destruction of fire
Guns spraying bullets rapidly
Blood seeping into the land
Not only death, but torture and pain
Killing those who are innocent
All for the cause of war
A marsh of green land
Destroyed by red fire
Turning a once plushed land to char, rapidly
And bringing pain to the innocent
To further on the war
For a point to cause national pain
News spreading rapidly
Spreading across to many in a land
About the death of which is war
Bringing to good hearts, pain
And of the upcoming apocalyptic fire
Bringing terror to the innocent
Families who can’t avoid the war
Getting wiped out rapidly
Through screams and pain
From the soldiers of hells fire
Leaving the innocent
Six feet under the land
Nations defeated rapidly
Leaving once great nationed lands
Charred by evils fire
Wiping out the innocent
Causing people and economic pain
All for a man made war
But what good comes out of war?
Though it causes pain
In the long run, you’ve freed the innocent
poem by John McAdam
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Leaving Me
wake up in the middle of the night
the air is so heavy my head's screwed on too tight
and in the glow of the christmas lights i watch you sleep
the hands on the cigarette clock are just
time ticking away this love i've got
there's no way to make it stop before you wake
i know you're leaving me
this is not the way that i was brought up to believe that it would be
i know you're leaving me
i'm running round in circles trying to figure out
just who i'm supposed to be
we go down to prospect park
to watch the light become the dark
and i don't think i've ever been this scared
outside as the yellow moon rises
i know this time it won't surprise us
but that don't mean that i will be prepared
i know you're leaving me
this is not the way that i was brought up to believe that it would be
i know you're leaving me
i'm running round in circles trying to figure out
just who i'm supposed to be
i'm so tired of writing sad songs
but my mind's on misery
and i know there's time until you're gone
but i can't let it be
i can't let it be
song performed by by Zox
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Corn Circles
Corn circles
Appearing all over the land
Corn circles
Appearing all over the land
Nobody knows where they come from
Nobody understands
Corn circles
Mysterious symbols in the fields
Corn circles
Mysterious symbols in the fields
No one knows - are they phony
Or maybe are they real?
Corn circles!
Corn circles!
Corn circles
Is somebody playing a trick?
Corn circles
Pixies, witches, hoaxers
Take your pick
Throw a few theories out there
See what sticks!
Corn circles!
Corn circles!
Corn circles
Patterns in the gold
Corn circles
Pretty patterns in the gold
Like something out of the future
Or something very old
Corn circles!
Corn circles!
song performed by by Waterboys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Thinking Of A Friend At Night
In this evil year, autumn comes early...
I walk by night in the field, alone, the rain clatters,
The wind on my hat...And you? And you, my friend?
You are standing--maybe--and seeing the sickle moon
Move in a small arc over the forests
And bivouac fire, red in the black valley.
You are lying--maybe--in a straw field and sleeping
And dew falls cold on your forehead and battle jacket.
It's possible tonight you're on horseback,
The farthest outpost, peering along, with a gun in your fist,
Smiling, whispering, to your exhausted horse.
Maybe--I keep imagining--you are spending the night
As a guest in a strange castle with a park
And writing a letter by candlelight, and tapping
On the piano keys by the window,
Groping for a sound...
--And maybe
You are already silent, already dead, and the day
Will shine no longer into your beloved
Serious eyes, and your beloved brown hand hangs wilted,
And your white forehead split open--Oh, if only,
If only, just once, that last day, I had shown you, told you
Something of my love, that was too timid to speak!
But you know me, you know...and, smiling, you nod
Tonight in front of your strange castle,
And you nod to your horse in the drenched forest,
And you nod to your sleep to your harsh clutter of straw,
And think about me, and smile.
And maybe,
Maybe some day you will come back from the war,
and take a walk with me some evening,
And somebody will talk about Longwy, Luttich, Dammerkirch,
And smile gravely, and everything will be as before,
And no one will speak a word of his worry,
Of his worry and tenderness by night in the field,
Of his love. And with a single joke
You will frighten away the worry, the war, the uneasy nights,
The summer lightning of shy human friendship,
Into the cool past that will never come back.
Translated by James Wright
Submitted by Holt
poem by Hermann Hesse
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Shivering And Not Singing
Cold and freezing in low degrees,
Leaving people to turn up their collars.
Mittens, earmuffs and coats of fleece,
Leaving people to turn up their collars.
And breezes seem to hollar...
'Winter's here and will slick the streets.'
Leaving people to turn up their collars.
The snow is deep and boots are needed on feet,
Leaving people to turn up their collars.
And spending more to crank up that heat...
While wrapped in blankets,
And warm bed sheets.
Oh...
Shivering and not singing in their homes.
Shivering are many doing this alone.
Winter's here and will slick the streets.'
Leaving people to turn up their collars.
And spending more to crank up that heat...
While wrapped in blankets and warm bed sheets.
And...
Shivering and not singing in their homes.
Shivering are many doing this alone.
Shivering and not singing in their homes.
Shivering are many doing this alone.
And spending more to crank up that heat...
While wrapped in blankets and warm bed sheets.
And...
Shivering and not singing in their homes.
Shivering are many doing this alone.
Oh...
Shivering and not singing in their homes.
Oh...
Shivering are many doing this alone.
Oh...
Shivering and not singing in their homes.
Oh...
Shivering are many doing this condoned!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Vanishing
If I could recaputre
all of the memories
and bring them to life
surely I would
hear the distant laughter
wasn't it you and me
survivng the night
you're faiding out of my sight
swiftly
you're vanishing
drifting away
your vanishing a-a-a-a-o-oo-o
I was so enraputred
no sensability
to open my eyes
I misunderstood
now you're fading faster
it's suddenly hard to see
you're talking the light
letting the shadows inside
swiftly
your vanishing
drifting awway
you're vanishing a-a-a-a-w-w-a-a-y
reaching out into the distance
searching for spirits of that past
just a trace of your existance to grasp
and if somehow I could recaputre
all of the memories
and bring them to life
lord know I would
but now you're faidng faster
getting so hard to see
you're talking the light
letting the darkness inside
swiftly
you're vanishing
drifting so far away
you're vanishing
a-a-a-a-a-a- yeah
awa-a-a-a-a--aa--a-aa-a-a-a-a-a-a-y
song performed by by Mariah Carey from Mariah Carey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We and them
each we and them
are heavy, especially
when used with
self indulgence
at both ends
each becomes a
two pointed sword
each we weighs a kilogram
and them another kilogram
put them all together
they would easily wear,
tear down a country
sinking it in broad daylight
if all the wes and thems
could be translated into
a love for the country
each citizen would
emerge strong, and proud
that he or she has started out
with a heart of gold
a sincere attempt to
help make a difference to
everybody's life
throwing racism to the winds
all the self serving wes and thems
melted down and soldered
into wes, wes and wes so that
they are now a gigantic piece of gold
glittering to the world
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Rave In2 The Joy Fantastic
Rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
Rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
World full of lovers, city full of good times - Rave!
Don't go undercover, I can get you out of yo mind, come on - Rave!
All you need is a DJ and an urge to move (Are you ready?)
We can get this party on, don't ya wanna groove?
Rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
Everybody rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
Arrividerci cock poppy, I just need a funky beat
To get my body movin' up outta my seat
Tell me y'all, ain't that the bomb?
Mack daddy ain't got no gun
We just droppin' this needle right dat there up on the one
(The one most scandalous)
Rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
Everybody rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
Tell me y'all, ain't that the bomb?
Everybody got a new thang - Scandalous (Rave)
Ooh, you're so hot, boo
Ahh, you've got to..
Rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
(Into the shining light)
Rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
(It ain't a sin to party all night)
Rave in2 the joy fantastic supergroovelastic funk
Guaranteed to make you shake
Move something round your big ole trunk
Punk sucka talkin' plenty gettin' yo Henny on
Grab your partner by the hand
And dance to this song, come on
Brotha playin' an Apache scar!
Gaultier - stop!
(Whoa whoa whoa)
Rave in2 this joy fantastic
Moneyapolis Beautiful Strange
Pump it up loud New York City
Headbobbin' in the Range
Baby knows where to go
Tangerine, but I like your flow
Tonight we get tight, uhh
Until the morning light
Rave in2 the joy fantastic - Rave!
(Into the morning, the morning light)
Rave in2 the joy fantastic -
song performed by by Prince
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Form the Green Helmet And Other Poems
HIS DREAM
I SWAYED upon the gaudy stem
The butt-end of a steering-oar,
And saw wherever I could turn
A crowd upon a shore.
And though I would have hushed the crowd,
There was no mother's son but said,
'What is the figure in a shroud
Upon a gaudy bed?'
And after running at the brim
Cried out upon that thing beneath
-- It had such dignity of limb --
By the sweet name of Death.
Though I'd my finger on my lip,
What could I but take up the song?
And running crowd and gaudy ship
Cried out the whole night long,
Crying amid the glittering sea,
Naming it with ecstatic breath,
Because it had such dignity,
By the sweet name of Death.
poem by William Butler Yeats
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