0007 Rilke on Solitude
If you notice that solitude is great,
rejoice because of this.
For what would solitude be
that had no greatness? There is
but one solitude, and that is great,
and not easy to bear,
and to almost everybody come hours
when they would gladly erxchange it for any sort of intercourse,
however banal and cheap; with the first comer,
with the unworthiest...
but perhaps those are the very hours
when solitude grows, for
its growing is as painful as the growing of boys
and sad as the beginning of springtimes.
To be solitary, the way one was solitary as a child,
when the grownups went around involved with things
that seemed important and big
because they themselves looked so busy
and because one comprehended nothing of their doings.
Be close to things; they will not desert you;
there are the nights still
and the winds that go through the trees
and across many lands;
among things and with the animals
everything is still full of happening
in which you may participate;
and children are still the way you were as a child,
sad like that and happy,
- and if you think of your childhood
you live among them again.
(Abstracted from Rilke's letters to a young poet)
poem by Michael Shepherd
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(V – 2010) The Serenity of Solitude
At times lonely
When we go for a solitary walk
Down the silent valley of solitude:
As we whisper a casual word
It echoes back to us with a renewed energy!
That’s the serenity of solitude.
As we throw a casual glance
It captures for us a hitherto unseen beauty!
That’s the serenity of solitude.
As we touch a casual thought
It blooms before us as profound poetry!
That’s the serenity of solitude.
At times busy
Something entices us to take a solitary walk –
That’s the serenity of solitude!
Involuntary Solitude
How is
Involuntary solitude, the abyss,
Different in temperament
From solitary confinement?
Involuntary solitude
Bothersome with certitude.
Solitary confinement
Painful with infinitude.
Involuntary solitude
Taken advantage of, by some.
Solitary confinement
Feared by all and one.
poem by Lonely People Champion
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In Solitude
In solitude I remain
With absolutely nothing to gain
Perhaps in time I will be strong
You see! Solitude is not my favourite song
A solitary place
Is not where I belong
Read my lips and trace the lines on my face
You see! Solitude is not my favourite song
But social isolation
Combined with social manipulation
Places me once again in solitude
You see! Solitude is not my preferred attitude
This isn’t a journey of spiritual enlightenment
As some people might say to my resentment
But in great loneliness of this magnitude
I must find some self awareness in solitude
I must find strength and pretend
That everyone around me is my friend
To put this state of scale of elevation to an end
I must pretend, I must pretend
That even Solitude is my friend
poem by Sylvia Chidi
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Solitary Man
Sometimes I feel like a solitary man.
Under the night sky writing what I can.
No one else is moving or driving cars.
The world belongs to me under the stars.
While pondering in my solitude
Without a thought or plan,
Thoughts jump into the mind
Of this solitary man.
I don't know where they come from.
They are just my own surprise.
Sometimes I'd swear that they have come
Through a different set of eyes.
In prison I know that solitary
Can drive a person mad.
But in those I once sent there,
For the solitude they seem glad.
The Lord needed His solitude
For at one time forty days.
And again when in the garden,
Where for the souls of men He prayed.
So in my time of solitude
I also have time to pray.
It's when I feel the closest,
To Him in my night each day!
poem by Robert Edgar Burns
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Solitude, Singing
Being alone is knowing
That in in this solitary splendour
Solitude, stark and staring,
Solitude, singing a lullaby
Solitude, singing a dirge
Surrounded by so many sundry things;
Things seen and unseen
Factors known and unknown
Solitude singing softly, chanting without ranting
Solitude’s songs that sing of solemn things
Silence singing golden songs
Silence healing ancient wrongs
If only silence could be
More than a memory
More than history
Silence can be more than words
Empty words echoing in an empty world
Echoing in empty valleys
Silence unspoken, unspoken, unbroken
Transfixed by time.
poem by Rani Turton
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0011 How Rilke might have translated Bashó on poetry
Be solitary.
Love solitude, and don’t look for poetry;
don’t seek what former poets sought;
see what is still and changeless;
see also what is changing;
be filled with the true nature of things – mountains, rivers, trees, grasses, falling blossoms, the scattering leaves,
and, yes, humanity too, its true nature –
and the universe will become your companion.
So your solitude will be full of the universe;
and you will watch, unmoved, the reality
and the vacuity of the world.
Concentrate your thoughts, in solitude,
on an object, on each object;
in this concentration,
the space between oneself and the object will disappear,
and the essential nature of the object can be perceived.
Then be quick to express it, while it lives for you;
say quickly what is in your mind;
as a woodcutter fells a tree, or
a swordsman leaps at his enemy, or
as you cut a ripe watermelon with a sharp knife,
or take a large bite at a pear;
this immediacy will be the life of your poem,
for nature will write the poem for you.
The language may be untrue;
but it will live with the truth.
You may feel that writing so quickly,
you may always fail; but pay no attention;
know no other thing than writing poetry;
let it make you penniless, if that is
what it needs, to speak itself.
Then, in your solitude,
which is so full of everything,
the poetic spirit will lead you wherever you must go,
make you a friend of nature,
and every form of existence will reveal
its individual feelings to you –
which are similar to those of men;
and all things, you will know, have their fulfilment.
In this solitude, your mind will be undistracted;
and then, enlightened by nature itself,
you may return to the world,
with a lightness of being, and poems
as light as looking
at the sandy bed of a shallow river;
as a tree untouched by the axe,
seemingly useless,
vulnerable to wind and rain,
at ease in itself.
Like a poet.
(This text is Bashó's advice to a poet. But the medieval Japanese poet and the modern European poet seem to be so close in their search for essence, for being, that some of Bashó's phrases have the same ring as Rilke's own advice to a young poet. I have tried to bring this out discreetly..)
poem by Michael Shepherd
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A Poet Until 21st Century
Alone, solitude
Fresh mornings, afternoons and nights
Solitude, alone
Social confusions, drama of hot desires
Alone, solitude
Among social truths
Among art of phoenix world
Solitude, alone
Among worldly plays of knowledge society
Alone, solitude
In the variety shows of storms, beautiful forests
and on the wonderful and magical mountains
Of the universal truths
poet Nyein Way
Solitude
How many times have you told me you love her
As many times as I've wanted to tell you the truth
How long have I stood here beside you
I live through you
You looked through me
Ooh, Solitude,
Still with me is only you
Ooh, Solitude,
I can't stay away from you
How many times have I done this to myself
How long will it take before I see
When will this hole in my heart be mended
Who now is left alone but me
Ooh, Solitude,
Forever me and forever you
Ooh, Solitude,
Only you, only true
Everyone leave me stranded
Forgotten, abandoned, left behind
I can't stay here another night
Your secret admirer
Who could it be
Ooh, Can't you see
All along it was me
How can you be so blind
As to see right through me
And Ooh, Solitude,
Still with me is only you
Ooh, Solitude,
I can't stay away from you
Ooh, Solitude,
Forever me and forever you
Ooh, Solitude,
Only you, only true
song performed by by Evanescence
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Solitude is never worse,
Solitude is never worse,
Solitude can never be worse,
Either way killing is not good,
Tyranny is not a wise calling in murders,
But a solitude with Ideas that change what is Human,
For man is a wild animal,
The monologue of good is even better,
This World hast a lot of problems,
We must bear to see fortune and not felonies,
That man is blessed that say's mankind is to love other's,
But detractors of solitude never cease to ease,
Solitude is never worse if it is for good of Humane,
Virtue is an insight that will regenerate a beauty of concept,
Thinking that solitude is not bad anyway,
But not solitude in making enemies,
But as a teacher,
An advisor and a good communicator.
poem by Maxpoet Beauty
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Ode To A Solitary Mind - 2
Oh mind what is that magnitude
attracting you always to solitude
without any sort of gratitude
for the goodness of the world.
with solitude when you campaign
with it's effects like the champagne
you fell and think of the orgies,
That teach you ungreatfulness
for the world with some goodness,
It, thus, dipicts your hollowness.
Solitude makes melancholy to you
Driving the mirth from you away
Deprieving you of the worldly joys
You get nothing though you grieve.
Lonely and binding yourself in a trance
Of solitude you forgo the chance
To give goodness & get it in return
From the world in your turn
from the society into spiteful
Aloofness which is too painful.
Poet: Ratnakar D Mandlik
poem by Ratnakar Mandlik
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In The Solitude Of Prayer
In the solitude of prayer
deep
Lost in moments in between weep
and sleep
In the solitude of prayer
Lonliness finds a rest
Survived another test
Brings out our best
In the solitude of prayer
With nobody there
Except those far away
Reminded of their distant care
In the solitude of prayer
You pray for their smile
For their personal trial
Silently, all the while
In the solitude of prayer
Dreams seem more near
More hope than fear
Thoughts of those past those dear
In the solitude of prayer
Pray for their souls kind
Whose memory is still in your mind
And in your heart
In the solitude of prayer
Pray for your dear friends
Whose heart's you defend
As your own heart they mend
In the solitude of prayer
As for God's wisdom
And his love
As all love comes from above
In the solitude of prayer
Find grace to forgive
And to truely give
And to live
In the solitude of prayer
Recall how to dream
Of warm embraces of affection
And of love returned in your direction
In the solitude of prayer
Pray with conviction
Pray for the impossible
Without fear or restriction
poem by James T. Adair
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Those 6 hours of solitude
No.104, Dated: 31-May-09
Those 6 hours of solitude
Those 3 words “See you later”
Goes right across my heart
Feels the world has come to an end
Still I wish we would never go apart
That one dreaded word “Bye”
I wish I could just make it disappear
Though it always follows with a “Hi”
Its appearance is so austere
This world would again be dry
With my destiny, I fought and argued
Why do I need to face this again
Those 6 hours of solitude
Staring the ceiling, while I lie on the bed
I paint you in my imagination
Yours eyes are closed, your lips are silent
But there’s a subtle revelation
I could hear you breathe; I could feel your warmth
You lie beside so motionless
I keep staring at your face for the next 6 hours
You just make me so obsess
All of a sudden my dream breaks again
And I wish I could get your gratitude
I wish you realized how much I love you
Just to avoid those 6 hours of solitude
poem by Sumeet Mukherjee
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In Solitude
A glass of red wine spent
Recalling life's events
Crowded in my skin
In Solitude
Relishing a melody of lament
Drifting through my window
Gliding in uninvited
In solitude
Last night I cried out loud
For the sake of hearing a sound
Though I did not hear me
In solitude
Gawking at my naked fear
Of living a life unseen
Yearning to belong
In solitude
I woke up in the evening
Read a book out loud
My voice wavering
In Solitude
As the heroine yearned
In an isolated crowd
To be loved
In solitude
I walked around naked
In my new home
My skin in flames
In solitude
Every molecule of air
Brushing against me
Scorched in vain
In solitude
It was raining that morn
When I came to life
My throat stinging
In solitude
I see no soul
I hear no breathing
I smell no skin
In solitude
I mourn not waking up
Next to my beloved
To warm my frozen hind
In solitude
Yet, I feel no cold
And life goes on
As I bury myself
In solitude
poem by Deva De Silva
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Painful Solitude
Painful rejection
Your silence speaks volumes
Solitary dove flies alone,
Looking for a place to belong,
She is lost, heart full of pain
Will she ever be able to sing again?
Painful illness
My body agony
My mind endures
Painful isolation
Painful solitude
Painful loneliness
poem by Lawrence Hiung
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In The Solitude Of My Mind
As I sit and watch the fire’s glow
in the solitude of my mind,
I can see more than any person realises.
I sometimes wonder if it is the future
my mind allows me to see,
or am I daydreaming
hypnotised by the dancing flames.
I can sit for hours
enchanted under its spell
and visit many countries
in the solitude of my mind.
The world has no boundaries;
there is no place I cannot go,
no tongue that I cannot speak,
as I sit in silence
in the solitude of my mind.
3 January 2009
poem by David Harris
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Lines of Solitude
solitude unto solitude
in the diagonal becoming not yet of the lines of unfamiliar
in the gazing density of the labyrinthine points
the unique imagination of crossing sea and earth
the solitude tale of the journey becoming the song of his path
the passing over poetry of unsaid desert 'all too' human
to the ceremonial dreams of the plants
poem by Massoud Abolfathi
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Solitude
Tim he was a good friend
Yea was a brother of mine
We were imaginary comic book superheroes
Kids wasting time
We were prisoners of our youth
We were growing up strong
til the day he was taken away
For something he did wrong
Tim came round just the other day
And boy he had some stories to tell
His mama kept him locked up in a rehab
Although the doctors said he was well
He said yeah I been through the anger
And the hatred towards my mom
And I put all that behind me
Just tell me what was it like to go to your prom
He said thank you mom for fixing
My clouded broken mind
But excuse me if I seem a little rude
While I was missing my childhood, my brother and my prime
You enjoyed the convenience of my solitude
Well growing up these days just aint easy
And the kids theyre doing the best that they can
So mama you better think twice
Before you lock your kid up and throw away the key
cause soon your little boy is gonna be a man
He said thank you mom for fixing
My clouded broken mind
But excuse me if I seem a little rude
While I was missing my childhood, my brother and my prime
You enjoyed the convenience of my solitude
Tim left town yesterday
He left me with these words
He said yeah I know this lifes got a lot to give
But my childhood is gone
And Im not afraid of dying
Im gonna grab the world by the horns and learn how to live
He said thank you mom for fixing
My clouded broken mind
But excuse me if I seem a little rude
While I was missing my childhood, my brother and my prime
You enjoyed the convenience of my solitude
song performed by by Edwin McCain
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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2010/07/15 Inner Peace
What is happening is not important, eight
storylines, context and presentation make
all the difference in a sunshine world of
translucent blue
People with velvet eyes, music playing, a
narrator adding multifarious dimensions
and the moments happening quietly for
people with happy smiles
Time-travelling for a young boy, lovely
discovery of solitude, the means to inner
peace meditating on the qualities
of godliness
The world is a noisy and busy place, a stimulant
I need time to analyse these impressions, words
rolling on without singing a song in papers
marching before my eyes
Yet feeling, emotion and sentiment keep growing
shining and filling me even without champagne
bubbling in my veins, though I listen
to the wavelength of reality
I hear the golden music of solitude reverberating
through purple halos whirling with silver threads
while the silence of contentment rejoices in the
mystery unfolding in a secret place
To explode in joy…
poem by Margaret Alice
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Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your won presence rather than of the absence of others. Because solitude is an achievement.
quote by Alice Koller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sign Of Solitude
GN OF SOLITUDE
A lugubrious tree high above the lot,
Yearning for an embrace tight,
It is a sign of solitude.
From the leafy world of forest deep,
A fluttery leaf falls when ripe,
It is a sign of solitude.
A scarlet flower shakes its head
But the wind dooms a petal dead,
It `s a sign of solitude.
A flock of birds among the clouds,
Finding all a bliss to the eyes,
A hunter lurks below on earth,
Aims one down for a wholesome feast,
That is a sign of solitude.
Friendship, kinship and lover's bliss,
Frizzles to mud at death's one kiss.
Jocund jolly friendly men,
Shrinks to viscid pit alone.
So death is a sign of solitude.
Glorious sun who makes us gay,
Is a loner in the Milky Way?
So HE is a sign of solitude.
poem by Sheela Devi
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