The Fairest Cape
The mild Cape Town winter weather
triggers blooming of the Heather.
The Erica shines their lanterns
amongst the Foxtail Ferns.
The white clouds overhead feather.
The Silver Trees create a foil
against which the flora toil.
The King Proteas are gearing up
to supply a feast for birds to sup.
The Cape Cobra in slumber coil.
The Aloes have many a use
and can withstand much abuse.
The fiery red Cape Honeysuckle
led the cultivated hedges to buckle.
Mountain fires lit by the obtuse.
Our proud heritage was in full bloom -
a rambling pathway the only room.
Scorched earth, naked and black;
sustenance of the soil now sadly lack.
The canon on Signal Hill boom.
poem by Suzette Crous
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Related quotes
Cape Town
Cape Town
Is waiting for my return
So that I can go back to work
On my fishing boat
Cape Town
Is where I left my heart
During the winter months
Sleeping away
Until the summer arrives
So that I can go back
To cape Town
To wake up my heart
poem by Aldo Kraas
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You’re in another country called Cape Town
I peer at a city
while the rain is pouring down
and see blue-white thunder
falling from the sky
while dark clouds are milling up high
blown by storm winds
and the smell of rain
rises fresh from the earth
and my thoughts loiter
and I know where I am
and you’re in far off Cape Town
and I in my Pretoria.
Below me I see the zoo
and a city stretched out
in clear squares,
great buildings among statues
and gardens,
and on a hill
the sacred place of a nation
and you’re in far off Cape Town
and I in my Pretoria.
The houses in the suburb
are build for the summer heat
with verandas and big rooms,
with yellowwood floors,
with fans in the ceilings
and yards as big as parks
and trees with purple blue blossoms
lining every street
and you’re in far off Cape Town
and I in my Pretoria.
I hear a crowd roaring
in the stadium near to the university
for their rugby team to win
and everywhere blue flags are waving
and some faces are painted blue
and some heads have caps
with horns thrusting into the air
and you’re in far off Cape Town
and I in my Pretoria.
On the other side of the mountain
avocado and some tropical trees grow
and here I stand in the hero’s acre
among the fallen great
and to Andries Pretorius
I offer my salute
and in church square
my eyes stare
at the statue of uncle Paul
who still faces north
now turning green
and you’re in another country called Cape Town
and I in my Pretoria.
[Reference: To -. Composed at Rotterdam by Thomas Hood.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Nothing can make a day last longer
Nothing can make
a day last longer
but being in love
with the sun.
I long to live
in Cape Town
when it’s summer time,
where at eight
the sun still hangs high
as it did at three
but in winter
when the chill sets in
give my Pretoria to me
and then you can have
your Mediterranean climate
with intermittent rain
and north of the Magaliesberg
I will bask in the sun
and look at a blue sky
unless you invite me
to your lair
and we share
a Cape winter there.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Hawk And Buckle
Where is the landlord of old Hawk and Buckle,
And what of Master Straddler this hot summer weather?
He's along in the tap-room with broad cheeks a-chuckle,
And ten bold companions all drinking together.
Where is the daughter of old Hawk and Buckle,
And what of Mistress Jenny this hot summer weather?
She sits in the parlour with smell of honeysuckle,
Trimming her bonnet with red ostrich feather.
Where is the ostler of old Hawk and Buckle,
And what of Willy Jakeman this hot summer weather?
He is rubbing his eyes with a slow and lazy knuckle
As he wakes from his nap on a bank of fresh heather.
Where is the page boy of old Hawk and Buckle,
And what of our young Charlie this hot summer weather?
He is bobbing for tiddlers in a little trickle-truckle,
With his line and his hook and his breeches of leather.
Where is the grey goat of old Hawk and Buckle,
And what of pretty Nanny this hot summer weather?
She stays not contented with little or with muckle,
Straining for daisies at the end of her tether.
For this is our motto at old Hawk and Buckle,
We cling to it close and we sing all together,
'Every man for himself at our old Hawk and Buckle,
And devil take the hindmost this hot summer weather.'
poem by Robert Graves
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Hat Of The Stars
The cape I don is like victory concealed,
Inspiration is the reaction of this.
My breath worked more and more every day,
As the torture of the sun was above.
I looked at the sky, worse were the stars
At night, fierce was the brightness,
Like supergiants.
The cape I don works as if by magic
A cape has been donned, to adorn the head
Somehow, somewhere in this country.
The path to happiness is donned
By the head, it is the cap I wear for safety.
poem by Naveed Akram
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Christmas In Capetown
Every night
In jungletown
All the boogies in the street
Radios turned up very loud
Playin dancing queen
They love our music
This english girl from the north somewhere
Is stayin with me at my place
Drinkin up all my beer
Talkin about the poor niggers all the time
Its a real disgrace, she says
I tell her, darling, dont talk about things
You dont understand
I tell her, darling, dont talk about something
You dont know anything about
I tell her, darling, if you dont like it here
Go back to your own miserable country
Its christmas in cape town but it aint the same
Oh, the boys on the beach are still blowin
And the summer wind still kicks the clouds around
You know my little brother, babe
Well, he works out at the diamond mine
I drove him out there at five this mornin
The niggers were waitin in a big long line
You know those big old lunch pails they carry, man
With a picture of star wars painted on the side
They were starin at us real hard with
Their big ugly yellow eyes
You could feel it
You could feel it
Its christmas in cape town but it aint the same
The stores are open all the time
And little kids on skateboards cut in and out of the crowd
And the christmas lights still shine
Myself, I dont like to drink the way
I used to, man, you know
It dont seem to get me high
And the beer dont taste the way it
Ought to taste somehow
And I dont know why
Dont talk to me about the planes
Man, Ive heard it
Just take a look around
What are we gonna do, blow up
The whole damn country?
Its christmas in cape town
Its christmas in cape town
Its christmas in cape town
song performed by by Randy Newman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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There was an Old Man of the Cape,
Who possessed a large Barbary ape,
Till the ape one dark night
Set the house all alight,
Which burned that Old Man of the Cape.
quote by by Edward Lear
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Mister Fox
Fields sing a winter song
Jack frost is here again
Dressed in a cape of the blackest black silk
Looking for his oldest old friend
But nobodys seen mister fox
No-one has seen mister fox
Reds and blues dart between the trees
And this time the sky is really falling
Jack looks hard through the bracken and the thorns
Listen hey! hear him calling
But nobodys seen mister fox
Nobodys seen mister fox
Fields sing a november tale
Jack is up, set to leave
And as he spreads his cape hes blissfully unaware
Of the wild eyes watching from the trees
But not does he see mister fox
He never sees mister fox
song performed by by Waterboys
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ghosts Of Cape Horn
All around old cape horn
Ships of the line, ships of the morn
Some who wish theyd never been born
They are the ghosts of cape horn
Fal deral da riddle de rum
With a rim dim diddy
And a rum dum dum
Sailing away at the break of morn
They are the ghosts of cape horn
See them all in sad repair
Demons dance everywhere
Southern gales, tattered sails
And none to tell the tales
Come all of you rustic old sea dogs
Who follow the great southern cross
You were rounding the horn
In the eye of a storm
When ya lost er one day
And you read all yer letters
From oceans away
Then you took them to the bottom of the sea
All around old cape horn
Ships of the line, ships of the morn
Those who wish theyd never been born
They are the ghosts of cape horn
Fal deral da riddle de rum
With a rim dim diddy
And a rum dum dum
Sailing away at the break of morn
They are the ghosts of cape horn
Come all you old sea dogs from devon
Southampton, penzance, and kinsale
You were caught by the chance
Of a sailors last dance
It was not meant to be
And ya read all yer letters
Cried anchor aweigh
Then ya took them to the bottom of the sea
All around old cape horn
Ships of the line, ships of the morn
Those who wish theyd never been born
They are the ghosts of cape horn
Fal deral da riddle de rum
With a rim dim diddy
And a rum dum dum
Sailing away at the break of morn
They are the ghosts of cape horn
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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But very unfortunately the merchant marine died away till even the majority of fishing done about the Cape is in the hands of the Portuguese who emigrated to the Cape some fifty years ago.
quote by Joseph C. Lincoln
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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South Gippsland In April
The leaves on the deciduous trees are turning brown
Yet in the Parks and gardens of Wonthaggi Town
The mynas are singing their songs tell of rain
And the frogs they are calling in the roadside drain.
Though into mid April and the Winter quite near
The weather quite warm for the time of year
On the beach at Cape Paterson the sun lovers lay
It may rain tomorrow but the sun shines today.
Only six weeks left of Autumn the time ticking on
And quite Summery weather though Summer is long gone
The old coastal hills overlooking the sea shore
Have seldom looked this dry or this brown before.
South Gippsland in April a fresh coastal breeze
In the woodland is soughing in the sunlit trees
Utopia on Earth the South Gippslanders say
That from where they live Heaven is not far away.
The birds in the Parkland they whistle and sing
It is more like weather in Summer or late Spring
The sun shining brightly but those brown hills nearby
A few hours of rain now would surely enjoy.
poem by Francis Duggan
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There was an Old Man of Cape Horn,
Who wished he had never been born;
So he sat on a chair,
Till he died of despair,
That dolorous Man of Cape Horn.
by Edward Lear from A Book of Nonsense (1846)
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Song of the Crew of Diaz
On the Discovery of the Cape of Good Hope,
or Cape of Storms
Where no sound was ever heard
But the ocean's hollow roar,
As it breaks, in foamy mountains,
Along the rugged shore:
Where ev'ry wind of heaven
That has terror on its wings,
Howls to the startled echo
That through each cavern rings:
Upon that world of waters,
Where nought has ever pass'd
But the storm-bird's glittering pinions,
As it whirls amidst the blast—
Where no sail has ever wandered
Beneath that troubled sky,
Frowns the stately Cape of Storms
O'er the drear immensity!
Above whose hoary summit,
Where captive thunders sleep,
Three huge black clouds for ever
Their dreadful station keep.
We have gazed on what no other
Has ever gazed upon—
We have braved the angry spirits,
And our victory is won.
We have conquered all the dangers
Of a yet unfathom'd sea;
And we bring the prize of glory.
Our country, Spain, to thee!
poem by Louisa Stuart Costello
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My Cape women are generally true to type - big hearted, motherly women who love the sea. My other characters, with the exception of the Portuguese, who I occasionally mention as Cape dwellers, are obviously drawn from the city types one sees in everyday life.
quote by Joseph C. Lincoln
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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At Cape Point
As I drive past Cape Point
and the winter rain sieves down,
I see the track going up the hill
and see walking up the slope
my girlfriend and I
on a long gone summer’s day.
Her smile was like the sun
and the tranquillity
as we walked up the hill
is with me still and what we said
does not matter at all
and at the top we looked
at the great rollers of the sea
where two oceans
and two strong currents meet
and saw huge waves crashing below
and through the telescope
we watched a liner sailing bye
and the wind ruffled her hair
and only the two of us were there
my girlfriend and I
and as feelings go
never have I felt a thing like that
and was the great world
as lovely as just then
and now I would give almost anything
to be back there
while my solitude
is giving way to loneliness.
[Reference: Cape point: A place where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet and the hot Agulhas (Mozambique) and cold Benguela currents.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Table Bay
The sun sets over table bay
and that rough sea lies calm
and a moon rises full,
above the waves
and the thundering breakers
roar like they did
many years before
Odysseus sailed from the island of Ithaca
and went to Troy to war
where he accompanied the heroes
Neoptolemus and Philoctetes and the
armour and shield of great Achilles,
was his to take
and for years he dwelt
on stormy seas and in far away lands.
If per chance his ship would stray
and reach the cape of storms
in another age and time
and his eyes could see
the beauty of that lovely shore,
no other place would
his ship sail to
When Bartolomeu Dias set his ships sails
and left king John ashore,
he was prepared to sail
to the ends of the earth
and no horrendous sea creature
could keep his ships in check.
I wonder what he thought
when the fog faded away
and table mount sprang into view
and table bay lay stretched out
up to its shore
and when he set his cross
did he know that he was marking
a great place
and when he marked his charts
did he wish to come back
to that stormy Cape?
When King John gave the name
Cabo da Bõa Esperança,
did he know that he was naming a place
from where a nation would sprout
and that it would become a city of hope?
[Reference: =>”Cabo da Bõa Esperança=>Cape of Good Hope”]
poem by Gert Strydom
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A Flower To Auroville Mother-55
Honeysuckle(Japanese Honeysuckle,
Madhumati, Lonicera japonica)
(Dutch Honeysuckle, Madhumati,
Lonicera periclymenum 'Serotina')
(Translucent Honeysuckle
Lonicera quinquelocularis)
(Cape Honeysuckle, Tecomaria capensis)
Somewhere at the northern Bharath
Born you with honeyed fragrance
Sending in whiffs your redolence
Sensing in sniffs all me in mirth
Somewhere shrubby somewhere viny
Some are lancelike, some are oval
Branching leafing shining brainy
Changing white to yellow by fall..
Made in medicated make wholesome
Sprayed in heavenly nectar awesome
Suckled honey humming to embosom
Elsewhere in red-orange decor winsome
What could it be than the bestest
What else could be than the sweetest
So you are the sweetest heartiest
So you are the heartiest bestest
poem by Indira Renganathan
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Black Forest
Welcome to the winter soccer in South Africa,
With 'Vuvuzelas' to great you all over in the 'Black Forest'!
For the muse of the African is now noted by all.
To the slums of Cape Town,
Believe in yourself and kick the ball!
For our story is now to the world.
Do your best no matter what,
For the winter soccer went with the hand gloves!
And of the noise from the 'Vuvuzelas' to respect at last,
For that was part of the game.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Wild Mountain Thyme
1. oh, the summer time is coming,
And the trees are sweetly blooming,
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather.
Chorus:
Will you go, lassie, go?
And well all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather,
Will you go lassie, go?
2. I will build my love a bower
By yon clear and crystal fountain,
And on it I will pile
All the flowers of the mountain.
3. if my true love, she wont have me,
I will surely find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around the blooming heather.
4. oh, the summer time is coming
And the trees are sweetly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around the blooming heather
song performed by by James Taylor
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Valparaiso
Chase the dog star
Over the sea
Home where my true love is waiting for me
Rope the south wind
Canvas the stars
Harness the moonlight
So she can safely go
Round the cape horn to valparaiso
Red the port light
Starboard the green
How will she know of the devils Ive seen
Cross in the sky, star of the sea
Under the moonlight, there she can safely go
Round the cape horn to valparaiso
Valparaiso
And every road I walked would take me down to the sea
With every broken promise in my sack
And every love would always send the ship of my heart
Over the rolling sea
If I should die
And waters my grave
Shell never know if Im damned or Im saved
See the ghost fly over the sea
Under the moonlight, there she can safely go
Round the cape horn to valparaiso
Valparaiso
Valparaiso
Valparaiso
song performed by by Sting
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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