Related quotes: All night before the brink...

The School At War

All night before the brink of death
In fitful sleep the army lay,
For through the dream that stilled their breath
Too gauntly glared the coming day.

But we, within whose blood there leaps
The fulness of a life as wide
As Avon's water where he sweeps
Seaward at last with Severn's tide,

We heard beyond the desert night
The murmur of the fields we knew,
And our swift souls with one delight
Like homing swallows Northward flew.

We played again the immortal games,
And grappled with the fierce old friends,
And cheered the dead undying names,
And sang the song that never ends;

Till, when the hard, familiar bell
Told that the summer night was late,
Where long ago we said farewell
We said farewell by the old gate.

'O Captains unforgot,' they cried,
'Come you again or come no more,
Across the world you keep the pride,
Across the world we mark the score.'

poem by Sir Henry Newbolt
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A Frozen Farewell

The night growing older
By the clocks ticker
I approach life’s end
I see him lay in front of me

My beloved grandfather gone away
All around I see his soul gone
People mourn the death
But too far to know I lay

To this very day I miss him
He will always be in my heart
People may have forgotten him
But I always remember him

My only wish…to talk to him
Before he left us in the world
A farewell always frozen in me
A farewell never uttered

I only saw him when it too late
As I entered the gate
It was not my fate
To utter my last farewell

poem by Nosherwan khan
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Pain And Time Strive Not

What part of the dread eternity
Are those strange minutes that I gain,
Mazed with the doubt of love and pain,
When I thy delicate face may see,
A little while before farewell?

What share of the world’s yearning-tide
That flash, when new day bare and white
Blots out my half-dream’s faint delight,
And there is nothing by my side,
And well remembered is farewell?

What drop in the grey flood of tears
That time, when the long day toiled through,
Worn out, shows nought for me to do,
And nothing worth my labour bears
The longing of that last farewell?

What pity from the heavens above,
What heed from out eternity,
What word from the swift world for me?
Speak, heed, and pity, O tender love,
Who knew’st the days before farewell!

poem by William Morris
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Farewell To

Farewell to the young women I used to know
When I was a younger man decades ago
Some of them are ageing grandmothers today
And some of them childless and single did stay.

Farewell to the first feelings of love I knew
Though the one that I loved to another was true
She did not know I loved her 'twas better that way
Since I've always found words like 'I love you' so hard for to say.

Farewell to my childhood friends the girls and the boys
We had fun together and we played with our toys
We grew up too quickly and got to know care
And we found out about life in the big World out there.

Farewell to the Town Park where we played football
An old memory fading that's nice to recall
Still in my flights of fancy the old Town I see
Though life in the old Town goes on without me.

To the old stream that flowed by my old home a tearful farewell
And those old fields that will long outlive my doggerel
And on the leafy hedgerows in the prime of Spring
The songbirds of Nature did whistle and sing.

Farewell to the past since the past is long gone
And without me life in the old Townland goes on
But fond memories of my boyhood years with me remain
And I often go back down memory lane.

poem by Francis Duggan
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Trapped Dingo

So here, twisted in steel, and spoiled with red
your sunlight hide, smelling of death and fear,
they crushed out your throat the terrible song
you sang in the dark ranges. With what crying
you mourned him! - the drinker of blood, the swift death-bringer
who ran with you so many a night; and the night was long.
I heard you, desperate poet, Did you hear
my silent voice take up the cry? - replying:
Achilles is overcome, and Hector dead,
and clay stops many a warrior's mouth, wild singer.

Voice from the hills and the river drunken with rain,
for your lament the long night was too brief.
Hurling your woes at the moon, that old cleaned bone,
till the white shorn mobs of stars on the hill of the sky
huddled and trembled, you tolled him, the rebel one.
Insane Andromache, pacing your towers alone,
death ends the verse you chanted; here you lie.
The lover, the maker of elegies is slain,
and veiled with blood her body's stealthy sun.

poem by Judith Wright
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Ballad IV

Farewell, my lady dear and dread,
Farewell, of all sovereign and queen,
Farewell, perfect and sacred head,
Farewell, who dost all honour mean,
Farewell, true heart, loyal and clean,
Farewell, best flower the world doth bear,
Farewell, yet not farewell, O white and fair !

Farewell, O wise, that no ill said,
Farewell, river that made life green,
Farewell, in whom fame harboured,
Farewell, voice that all ears could win,
Farewell, solace of all my teen,
Farewell, whose grace is wide as air,
Farewell, yet not farewell, O white and fair !

Farewell, soft look that through me sped,
Farewell, more fair than Helen queen,
Farewell, body and sweet soul wed,
Farewell, thou most gracious demesne,
Farewell, pole-star, joyous and keen,
Farewell, fountain of valour rare,
Farewell, yet not farewell, O white and fair !

Farewell, Princess of noblest mien,
Farewell, thou aweing smile serene,
Farewell, without fault, sin's despair,
Farewell, yet not farewell, O white and fair !

poem by Christine de Pizan
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Happy Halloween (self composed lyrics)

Hold your blood,
But keep your mask on.
I'll show you the life,
Of a silver beyond.
Apple bobbing,
Just don't feel right.
Farewell to the Sun,
Hey, to the welcoming night.

Doorbells ringing,
off the hook.
hands in your pockets,
Here comes The Cook.
Blood opened wounds,
Eating flesh tonight.
Here comes Satan,
Time for Flight or Fright.

Hold your blood,
But keep your mask on.
I'll show you the life,
Of a silver beyond.
Apple bobbing,
Just don't feel right.
Farewell to the Sun,
Hey, to the welcoming night.

Black haired girl,
Makeup on right.
Costume of death, girl,
You make my heart jump high.
Billowing black robes,
And a shadowed face.
Never seen a killer,
Move with such grace.

Hold your blood,
But keep your mask on.
I'll show you the life,
Of a silver beyond.
Apple bobbing,
Just don't feel right.
Farewell to the Sun,
Hey, to the welcoming night.

Farewell to the Sun,
Hey, to the welcoming night.

poem by Satan's Sibling
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A Woman's Farewell

SO with this farewell kiss I taste at last
The all of life; the Future and the Past
Upon your dear lips dwell.
Love will not come again, though I implore;
And in my heart a twilight evermore—
Farewell!
A man's heart is so wide that I was wrong
To dream that I could fill it with the song
A woman loves so well;
A woman's heart is narrow, but I filled
Mine brimming with your kisses—none was spilled—
Farewell!
So fierce your love was, I was half-afraid.
The roses blossom and the roses fade;
The withered petals tell!
So high into your heart you lifted me,
So far I have to fall, since it must be
Farewell!
Now all the world I fashioned round me falls;
And from the past one memory calls and calls,
Grieving, and like a knell;
Now all the days like drear regrets shall seem,
And all the nights—the nights! ..I dare not dream!
Farewell!

But what if I can hold you, hold you yet
Till all else but my lips you must forget:
If love could but compel!
But all the mystic hopes our hearts have heard
Must droop and wither to this wistful word—
Farewell!
My love was like a little child to me;
Now in my heart 't is crying piteously—
Hush, dear! all will be well!
My lips on yours for ever! Say again
You love me—though it be not true—and then—
Farewell!

poem by Arthur Henry Adams
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SOMNAMBULISM

I
Night is above me,
And Night is above the night.
The sea is beside me soughing, or is still.
The earth as a somnambulist moves on
In a strange sleep ...
A sea-bird cries.
And the cry wakes in me
Dim, dead sea-folk, my sires—
Who more than myself are me.
Who sat on their beach long nights ago and saw
The sea in its silence;
And cursed it or implored;
Or with the Cross defied;
Then on the morrow in their boats went down.

II
Night is above me ...
And Night is above the night.
Rocks are about me, and, beyond, the sand ...
And the low reluctant tide,
That rushes back to ebb a last farewell
To the flotsam borne so long upon its breast.
Rocks ... But the tide is out,
And the slime lies naked, like a thing ashamed
That has no hiding-place.
And the sea-bird hushes—
The bird and all far cries within my blood—
And earth as a somnambulist moves on.

poem by Cale Young Rice from Sea Poems (1921)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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The Lost Battle

It is not over yet-the fight
Where those immortal dreamers failed.
They stormed the citadels of night,
And the night praised them-and prevailed.
So long ago the cause was lost
We scarce distinguish friend from foe;
But-if the dead can help it most-
The armies of the dead will grow.

The world has all our banners now,
And filched our watchwords for its own.
The world has crowned the ' rebel's ' brow
And millions crowd his lordly throne.
The masks have altered. Names are names.
They praise the 'truth' that is not true.
The ' rebel' that the world acclaims
Is not the rebel Shelley knew.

We may not build that Commonweal,
We may not reach the goal we set;
But there's a flag they dare not steal.
Forward! It is not over yet.
We shall be dust and under dust,
Before we end that ancient wrong;
But there's a sword that cannot rust,
And where's the death can touch a song?

So, when our bodies rot in earth,
The singing souls that once were ours,
Weaponed with light and helmed with mirth,
Shall front the kingdoms and the powers.
The ancient lie is on its throne,
And half the living still forget;
But, since the dead are all our own,
Courage, it is not over yet.

poem by Alfred Noyes
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Unable To Sleep

didn't sleep well last night
I didn't dream last night
Losing all the battles
Losing all my fight

I didn't sleep well last night
Barely closed my eyes
tossed and turned and paced
until sunrise

I didn't dream last night
Any time I tried
I cried inside
and wanted to run and hide

I didn't sleep well last night
My world seems confused
Like a dead-end in a maze
like an ocean without a sky

All my friends are far away
the hands I hold are imagined
my life in shades of blue and grey
A life derailed and gone astray

I didn't dream last night
All my dreams feel broken
Hardly uttered or spoken
my tears have run dry

I didn't sleep at all last night
caught up in dispair
for all the things not right
not all black and white

I didn't dream last night
my heart is ablaze
with sadness and fright
No way to make things right

I didn't sleep at all last night
My ship must have sailed away
All I can do is pray
but I've forgotten why

2008 © James T. Adair

poem by James T. Adair
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The Singer

Nay! sing no more thy wild delusive strain
(I heard them say, while I my song pursued),
'Tis but the rage of thy delirious brain
(I heard them say, yet still my song renewed):
Nay! sing no more with reckless, idle breath
Of man immortal and of life to come,
For one brief moment scan the face of death,
Then be thy foolish song for ever dumb;
Behold the dusty ash that once was fire,
And mark the summer leaf in autumn fall,
Watch thou the wavering breath of man expire,
And know that Death hath lordship over all
(I heard them say with many a scornful word,
Yet still sang on as one who nothing heard).

poem by William Gay
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I Dreamed About Mama Last Night

I've just been to heaven with someone so true I dreamed about mama last night
She read me the Bible like she used to do I dreamed about mama last night
She never close her eyes to sleep till we were all in bed
And on party nights when we come home she often sat and read
We little thought about it then for we were young and gay
Just how much mama worried when we children were away
We only knew she never slept when we were out at night
That she waited just to know that we'd all come home alright
Why sometimes when we'd stay away till one or two or three
It seemed to us that mama heard the turnin' of the key
For always when we'd step aside she'd call and we'd reply
But we were all too young back then to understand the reason why
Until the last one had returned she'd always keep a light
For mama couldn't sleep until she kissed us all goodnight
She had to know that we were safe before she went to rest
She seemed to fear that the world might harm the ones that she loved the best
And once she told me when you're grown to women and to men
Perhaps I'll sleep the whole night through I may be different then
And so it seemed that night and day we knew a mother's care
That always when we got back home we'd find her waitin' there
Then came the night that we were called together round her bed
The children're all with you now the kindly doctor said
And in her eyes the gleam again that old time tender light
That told that she's just been waitin' to know that we were alright
She smiled that old familiar smile and prayed to God to keep
Her children safe from harm throughout the years tand then she went to sleep
My dream is a treasure that I'll always keep I dreamed about mama last night

song performed by by Hank Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sometimes Late At Night

(e) sometimes late at night,
When our (a) friends are fast a- (e) sleep,
You say youd like to take a stroll with (b7) me,
Tho (e) we are wed to others, and (a) it may not be (e) right,
I have (a) longed to hold you (e) in my arms,
(b7) sometimes late at (e) night.
Chorus:
Ive (a) cried myself to sleep,
A (e) thousand times or more,
But when I dream of you, my heart is (b7) light,
No (e) matter what our friends may (e7) say,
And (a) it may not be (e) right,
I (a) love you so, you (e) know Ill go,
(b7) sometimes late at (e) night.
Repeat chorus.

song performed by by Hank Williams
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Love By The Sea

Out of the starless night that covers me,
(O tribulation of the wind that rolls!)
Black as the cloud of some tremendous spell,
The susurration of the sighing sea
Sounds like the sobbing whisper of two souls
That tremble in a passion of farewell.

To the desires that trebled life in me,
(O melancholy of the wind that rolls!)
The dreams that seemed the future to foretell,
The hopes that mounted herward like the sea,
To all the sweet things sent on happy souls,
I cannot choose but bid a mute farewell.

And to the girl who was so much to me
(O lamentation of this wind that rolls!)
Since I may not the life of her compel,
Out of the night, beside the sounding sea,
Full of the love that might have blent our souls,
A sad, a last, a long, supreme farewell.

poem by William Ernest Henley
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The Dead

Hail and farewell to those who fought and died,
Not laughingly adventurous, nor pale
With idiot hatred, nor to fill the tale
Of racial selfishness and patriot pride,
But merely that their own souls rose and cried
Alarum when they heard the sudden wail
Of stricken freedom and along the gale
Saw her eternal banner quivering wide.

Farewell, high-hearted friends, for God is dead
If such as you can die and fare not well
If when you fall your gallant spirit fail.
You are with us still, and can we be adread
Though hell gape, bloody-fanged and horrible?
Glory and hope of us who love you, Hail!

poem by John Le Gay Brereton
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Farewell my friend

I could easily foretell
You had something to tell
As you dropped a stinking bombshell

Farewell, farewell my friend
With words I spell
It all out in a nutshell

Farewell, farewell my friend
What else can I say?
When you take off today for good

Farewell I say with a broken mood
Farewell there goes my wedding bell
Farewell there goes your innocent smell
Farewell there goes our fun in and out of hotels
Farewell I hope that life treats you well

Farewell in your ventures
Our spent time is my treasure
Your heart must wander to where it belongs
Friend, I only urge you to be strong
With love you can simply do no wrong
I say it with these words tipping off my tongue

Farewell, farewell my friend
I am a great believer
Farewell is not forever
I say not goodbye
I do not wish to sit and cry

Farewell, farewell my friend
What else can I say?
You weren’t meant to stay
I will do nothing to detain
You from flying on that plane

Farewell, farewell my friend
I say with pain
Farewell, farewell my friend
In sunshine or in rain
One day, one day
I know we’ll see again

Farewell, farewell my friend
I cannot stand and pretend
That a part me
With you, would still like to be!

poem by Sylvia Chidi
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