Prologue to the Princess of Cleves
Ladies! (I hope there's none behind to hear)
I long to whisper something in your ear:
A secret, which does much my mind perplex,—
There's treason in the play against our sex.
A man that's false to love, that vows and cheats,
And kisses every living thing he meets;
A rogue in mode,—I dare not speak too broad,—
One that—does something to the very bawd.
Out on him, traitor, for a filthy beast!
Nay, and he's like the pack of all the rest:
None of them stick at mark; they all deceive.
Some Jew has changed the text, I half believe;
Their Adam cozened our poor grandame Eve.
To hide their faults they rap out oaths, and tear;
Now, though we lie, we're too well bred to swear.
So we compound for half the sin we owe,
But men are dipt for soul and body too;
And, when found out, excuse themselves, pox cant them,
With Latin stuff, Perjuria ridet amantum.
I'm not book-learned, to know that word in vogue,
But I suspect 'tis Latin for a rogue.
I'm sure, I never heard that screech-owl hollowed
In my poor ears, but separation followed.
How can such perjured villains e'er be saved?
Achitophel's not half so false to David.
With vows and soft expressions to allure,
They stand, like foremen of a shop, demure:
No sooner out of sight, but they are gadding,
And for the next new face ride out a padding.
Yet, by their favour, when they have been kissing,
We can perceive the ready money missing.
Well! we may rail; but 'tis as good e'en wink;
Something we find, and something they will sink.
But, since they're at renouncing, 'tis our parts
To trump their diamonds, as they trump our hearts.
poem by John Dryden
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Related quotes
The Last Trump
"You led the trump," the old man said
With fury in his eye,
"And yet you hope my girl to wed!
Young man! your hopes of love are fled,
'Twere better she should die!
"My sweet young daughter sitting there,
So innocent and plump!
You don't suppose that she would care
To wed an outlawed man who'd dare
To lead the thirteenth trump!
"If you had drawn their leading spade
It meant a certain win!
But no! By Pembroke's mighty shade
The thirteenth trump you went and played
And let their diamonds in!
"My girl, return at my command
His presents in a lump!
Return his ring! For, understand,
No man is fit to hold your hand
Who leads a thirteenth trump!
"But hold! Give every man his due
And every dog his day.
Speak up and say what made you do
This dreadful thing -- that is, if you
Have anything to say!"
He spoke. "I meant at first," said he,
"To give their spades a bump,
Or lead the hearts; but then you see
I thought against us there might be,
Perhaps, a fourteenth trump!"
They buried him at dawn of day
Beside a ruined stump:
And there he sleeps the hours away
And waits for Gabriel to play
The last -- the fourteenth trump.
poem by Andrew Barton Paterson
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Sonnet 152: In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn
In loving thee thou know'st I am forsworn,
But thou art twice forsworn to me love swearing:
In act thy bed-vow broke and new faith torn
In vowing new hate after new love bearing.
But why of two oaths' breach do I accuse thee,
When I break twenty? I am perjured most,
For all my vows are oaths but to misuse thee,
And all my honest faith in thee is lost.
For I have sworn deep oaths of thy deep kindness,
Oaths of thy love, thy truth, thy constancy,
And to enlighten thee gave eyes to blindness,
Or made them swear against the thing they see.
For I have sworn thee fair. More perjured eye,
To swear against the truth so foul a lie!
poem by William Shakespeare
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Money
When I had money, money, O!
I knew no joy till I went poor;
For many a false man as a friend
Came knocking all day at my door.
Then felt I like a child that holds
A trumpet that he must not blow
Because a man is dead; I dared
Not speak to let this false world know.
Much have I thought of life, and seen
How poor men’s hearts are ever light;
And how their wives do hum like bees
About their work from morn till night.
So, when I hear these poor ones laugh,
And see the rich ones coldly frown—
Poor men, think I, need not go up
So much as rich men should come down.
When I had money, money, O!
My many friends proved all untrue;
But now I have no money, O!
My friends are real, though very few.
poem by William Henry Davies
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Half The World
Words by neil peart, music by geddy lee and alex lifeson
Half the world hates
What half the world does every day
Half the world waits
While half gets on with it anyway
Half the world lives
Half the world makes
Half the world gives
While the other half takes
Half the world is
Half the world was
Half the world thinks
While the other half does
Half the world talks
With half a mind on what they say
Half the world walks
With half a mind to run away
Half the world lies
Half the world learns
Half the world flies
As half the world turns
Half the world cries
Half the world laughs
Half the world tries
To be the other half
Half of us divided like a torn-up photograph half of us are
Trying to reach the other half
Half the world cares
While half the world is wasting the day
Half the world shares
While half the world is stealing away
song performed by by Rush
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Song. (From The Spanish)
Ah, Love!
Perjured, false, treacherous Love!
Enemy
Of all that mankind may not rue!
Most untrue
To him who keeps most faith with thee.
Woe is me!
The falcon has the eyes of the dove.
Ah, Love!
Perjured, false, treacherous Love!
Thy deceits
Give us clearly to comprehend,
Whither tend
All thy pleasures, all thy sweets!
They are cheats,
Thorns below and flowers above.
Ah, Love!
Perjured, false, treacherous Love!
poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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Speak Gently
Speak gently! -- It is better far
To rule by love, than fear --
Speak gently -- let not harsh words mar
The good we might do here!
Speak gently! -- Love doth whisper low
The vows that true hearts bind;
And gently Friendship's accents flow;
Affection's voice is kind.
Speak gently to the little child!
Its love be sure to gain;
Teach it in accents soft and mild: --
It may not long remain.
Speak gently to the young, for they
Will have enough to bear --
Pass through this life as best they may,
'T is full of anxious care!
Speak gently to the aged one,
Grieve not the care-worn heart;
The sands of life are nearly run,
Let such in peace depart!
Speak gently, kindly, to the poor;
Let no harsh tone be heard;
They have enough they must endure,
Without an unkind word!
Speak gently to the erring -- know,
They may have toiled in vain;
Perchance unkindness made them so;
Oh, win them back again!
Speak gently! -- He who gave his life
To bend man's stubborn will,
When elements were in fierce strife,
Said to them, 'Peace, be still.'
Speak gently! -- 't is a little thing
Dropped in the heart's deep well;
The good, the joy, which it may bring,
Eternity shall tell.
poem by David Bates
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Skyward With Embarrassment
The face goes beetroot red,
skyward goes the eyes
when someone says.
“You flies are flying half-mast.”
That someone who says it
is always someone of the opposite sex.
It is never a nudge and a wink
from one of your friends
so you can hide yourself to do up your zip.
It has to be a member of the opposite sex.
They must stand outside the toilet
just waiting for someone to appear,
then in a voice that could be heard
across the Atlantic just so everyone can hear.
“Hey mister your flying half-mast.”
A quick glance,
face goes a beetroot red,
hands fumble for the zip
as big smiles come from all around
and the voice box is now long gone.
You shrink away to hide
until the beetroot red face
returns to normal again,
then continue on your way,
but stop and look around
as the voice box has caught another one
who looks skyward with embarrassment.
3 April 2010
poem by David Harris
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Love's Logic [Couplet Sonnet]
The more ways I find to express my love,
The more I love you, and the better for love,
And more: What more than seek such ways to it;
Expressing love (and therefore to do it) .
And if my love should make me false I would,
For better no false-love than mere falsehood.
How then is love (which others call) more proved
Than mine is? And not merely false-love's truth?
Where love's logic meets between false or not
No arguments have heard but have forgot
That love is truth - and none is love more false
Than proof; So this I swear on life and pulse:
That infinite love's true call expresses
Love is something more than proof professes.
-September 20 2005
poem by David Zvekic
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Heart Of Hearts
I found myself
In a cross condition
Maybe it was her
Maybe it was me
Somethin's wrong
There was somethin' missin'
I couldn't stand to stay
So I had to leave.
A half a tank of gas
Brought me this distance
Half a mind to run
Got me this far
There's a woman willin'
Where there ain't no witness
'Cept the one that lives
In my heart of hearts.
My heart of hearts
Won't lie to me
It won't tell me things
That I can't believe
I better stop this thing
Before it starts
'Cause it don't feel right
To my heart of hearts.
I could be tastin'
Stolen kisses
But that might
Tear my world apart
When it all comes down
To my wish of wishes
I'd have to go with
My heart of hearts.
My heart of hearts
Won't lie to me
It won't tell me things
That I can't believe
I better stop this thing
Before it starts
'Cause it don't feel right
To my heart of hearts.
I better stop this thing
Before it starts
'Cause it don't feel right
To my heart of hearts.
My heart of hearts
Won't lie to me...
song performed by by Randy Travis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Television? The word is half Greek, half Latin. No good can come of it.
quote by C.P. Scott
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Half The World
Half the world lives,
Half the world makes,
Half the world gives
While the other half takes.
Half the world hates,
Half the world runs away,
Half the world's late,
Half the world praises the day.
Half the world is,
Half the world was,
Half the world thinks,
Half the world does.
Half the world lies,
Half the world burns,
Half the world cries
While the other half turns.
Half the world cares,
Half the world weeps,
Half the world shares,
Half the world keeps.
Half the world sings,
Half the world laughs,
Half the world brings,
Half the world tries to be the other half.
End.
Half Breed
My father married a Cherokee
My mother's people were ashamed of me
The Indian's said that I was white by law
The white man always called me Indian Squaw
Half breed
Is all I ever heard
Half breed
Let me hate the word
Half breed
She's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
We never settled went from town to town
When you're not welcome you don't hang around
The other children always laughed at me
Give her a feather she's a Cherokee
Half breed
Is all I ever heard
Half breed
Let me hate the word
Half breed
She's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
We weren't accepted and I felt the shame
Fifteen I left and tell me whose to blame
My life since then has been from man to man
But I can't run away from what I am
Half breed
Is all I ever heard
Half breed
Let me hate the word
Half breed
She's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
Half breed
Is all I ever heard
Half breed
Let me hate the word
Half breed
She's no good they warned
Both sides were against me since the day I was born
song performed by by Shania Twain
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Paddington Ear
alone
i made
a call
home
far away
from platform
one
& found
upon
my phone
a family
(half
asleep)
in bed
one half
my wife
one half
my son
& spoke
to both
a wife
i once
(or twice)
had listened
to
(or more)
a son
i heard
now speak
who wouldn’t
speak before
today it was
the first time
that my son
would speak
today
the first time
i would hear
him speak
today
i heard
my son
speak
today
i heard
my son.
13.iii.08 London Paddington
poem by Andrew Fincham
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Foremostly, I Am Still Beast...
i shall not restrain myself forever,
flowers open to the sun somehow,
buds turning into full orange petals
red centers, glossy views of the
coming days,
i am bound, i have long accepted that,
my hands have ropes as stems,
but my heart is too a sharp knife
that cuts across those hidden
boundaries of my own being
i am free, this morning, i tell myself
beside you, i am, unbound and you
look at the happy angle of my face,
half-moon, half-sun, half-beast
half-human,
at a certain hour of the day,
i wish i have achieved a certain
divinity of my thoughts,
but soon, these all crumple, i am not
that mostly, i am beast,
i am undefined, but most of all,
i content with the mystery
that you still love me.
my fingers run wild over the belly
of your body, the navel tells the story
of love and hate,
the mind closes some more
there is no distraction anymore about the
promises of certainties,
for these are all unnecessary.
meanwhile, the emptiness rests on the floor
like a dog,
the desire to be beast is on top of the bed
with you, another beast,
on mutual tolerances.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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Acknowledgement
With the ladies' permission, most humbly I'd mention
How much we're obliged by all their attention;
We sink with the weight of the huge obligation
Too long & too broad to admit compensation.
For us (and I blush while I speak I declare)
The charming enchanters be-torture their hair
Till gently it rises and swells like a knoll
Thirty inches at least from the dear little poll;
From the tip-top of which all peer out together
The ribband, the gause & the ostrich's feather;
Composing a sight for an Arab to swear at
Or huge Patagonian a fortnight to stare at.
Then hoops at right angles that hang from ye knees
And hoops at the hips in connection with these
Set the fellows's presumptuous who court an alliance
And ev'ry pretender at awful defiance.
And I have been told (though I must disbelieve
For the tidings as fact I would never receive)
That billets of cork have supplied the place
Of something the Fair-ones imagine a grace;
But whether 'tis placed behind or before,
The shoulders to swell or the bosom to shoar,
To raise a false wen or expand a false bump
Project a false hip or protrude a false rump,
Was never ascertain'd, and fegs I declare
To make more enquiry I never will dare.
poem by Major Henry Livingston Jr.
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Long Did I Toil
Long did I toil, and knew no earthly rest,
Far did I rove, and found no certain home;
At last I sought them in His sheltering breast,
Who opes His arms, and bids the weary come:
With Him I found a home, a rest divine,
And since then I am His, and He is mine.
The good I have is from His stores supplied,
The ill is only what He deems the best;
He for my Friend, I’m rich with naught beside,
And poor without Him, though of all possessed:
Changes may come, I take, or I resign,
Content, while I am His, while He is mine.
Whate’er may change, in Him no change is seen,
A glorious Sun that wanes not nor declines;
Above the clouds and storms He walks serene,
And on His people’s inward darkness shines:
All may depart—I fret not, nor repine,
While I my Savior’s am, while He is mine.
While here, alas! I know but half His love,
But half discern Him, and but half adore;
But when I meet Him in the realms above,
I hope to love Him better, praise Him more,
And feel, and tell, amid the choir divine,
How fully I am His, and He is mine.
poem by Henry Francis Lyte
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The Song OF The Sons
One from the ends of the earth -- gifts at an open door --
Treason has much, but we, Mother, thy sons have more!
From the whine of a dying man, from the snarl of a wolf-pack freed,
Turn, and the world is thine. Mother, be proud of thy seed!
Count, are we feeble or few? Hear, is our speech so rude?
Look, are we poor in the land? Judge, are we men of The Blood?
Those that have stayed at thy knees, Mother, go call them in --
We that were bred overseas wait and would speak with our kin.
Not in the dark do we fight -- haggle and flout and gibe;
Selling our love for a price, loaning our hearts for a bribe.
Gifts have we only to-day -- Love without promise or fee --
Hear, for thy children speak, from the uttermost parts of the sea!
poem by Rudyard Kipling
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Half A World Away
I would like to leave this city
This old town don't smell too pretty and
I can feel the warning signs running around my mind
And when I leave this island I'll book myself into a soul asylum
And I can feel the warning signs running around my mind
So here I go still scratching around the same old hole
My body feels young but my mind is very old
So what do you say?
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway
You're half the world away
Half the world away
Half the world away
I've been lost I've been found but I don't feel down.
And when I leave this planet, y'know I'd stay but I just can't stand it
and I can feel the warning signs, running around my mind
And if I leave this spirit, find me a hole and I will fill it
and I can feel the warning signs, running around my mind
So here I go still scratching around in the same old hole
My body feels young but my mind if very old
So what do you say?
You can't give me the dreams that are mine anyway
You're half the world away
Half the world away
Half the world away
I've been lost I've been found but I don't feel down
No I don't feel down (x2)
I don't feel down (x4
song performed by by Oasis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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