II: And As I Mused On All We Call Our Own
And as I mused on all we call our own,
And (in the words their passionate hope had taught
Expressing this late world for which they fought
And prayed) said, lifting up my head to the sun,
'Ne quibus diis immortalibus,'-one
Ran with fear's feet, and lo! a voice distraught
'The Prince' and 'Dead.' And at the sound methought
The bulwark of my great house thunder'd down.
And, for an instant,-as some spell were sapping
All place-the hilly billows and billowy hills
Heaved through my breast the lapping wave that kills
The heart; around me the floor rises and falls
And jabbling stones of the unsteady walls
Ebb and flow together, lapping, lapping.
poem by Sydney Thompson Dobell
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Related quotes
Ashore, ashore with the tide’s flow
Ashore, ashore with the tide’s flow
As in a sack some thing washed in:
And lay amidst the shells
And pebbles of the shore
Amidst the lapping of the waters rude
And the sea-waves’ roar.
Ashore, ashore with the tide’s flow
The sea-waves washed her in
One eye was closed the other open
And on her golden hair
Were drops of red:
Wild lapped the sea-waves and the cloud
Frowned on the sea-shore
Amidst the lapping of the waters rude
And the sea-waves’ roar.
How many winters rude have skimmed
Their frozen fingers on the white breast
Of the pale moon-lit lake a-dreaming sound
How many a Spring of green
Has come and gone:
Since that ashore, ashore with the tide’s flow
The sea-waves washed her in
Her clothes that rich were tattered were
Unseemly with the smoke of cigars
And the drunk smell of alcohol
Her look was wild and sad and raw:
Wild lapped the sea-waves and the cloud
Frowned on the sea-shore
Amidst the lapping of the waters rude
And the sea-waves’ roar.
poem by Emmanuel George Cefai
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No Other Voice
There is no other voice I miss as much
When I'm far from my home, your laughter, your touch
There's no music on earth I'd rather hear
No other voice but yours
Your birdsong in the morning
You're the wind in the trees
The lapping of night waves on tropical seas
You're the sound of my heart beat, my breathing, my life
The lullabye rocking our babies to sleep at night
And through the dead of the voices I scream in my head
There is only one voice that sings love songs instead
There is no other sound that speaks straight to my heart
There is no other voice
not even a choice
There is no other voice but yours
song performed by by Kenny Loggins
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Stray Dogs Lapping
stray dogs lapping
at the bloody tracks
the homeless leave in the snow.
burnt out Marlboro fingers
shaking with the cold...
small children's big eyes screaming
with silent stinking fear!
and the halls and the walls
of the traders vibrate with smoke...
nothing gained, nothing lost,
in the land of nothing....
my grandmother's Bible lays by
the stove that was never empty...
my father sits and stares at the walls,
listening for the echo of....
my mother's voice....
and all the things we believed in
are lost,
forgotten....
stray dogs lapping
at the bloody tracks
the homeless leave in the snow...
poem by Eric Cockrell
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The Lulling Sound Of Lapping Water
I know
I know
I know
the water's lapping
at my toes
will rise to my head
before I know it
I'll be dead.
poem by Vince Gullaci
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The Fuse
Its coming from so far away
Its hard to say for sure
Whether what I hear is music or the wind
Through an open door
Theres a fire high in the empty sky
Where the sound meets the shore
Theres a long distance loneliness
Rolling out over the desert floor
And the years that I spent lost in the mystery
Fall away leaving only the sound of the drum
Like a part of me
It speaks to the heart of me
Forget what life used to be
You are what you choose to be
Its whatever it is you see
That life will become
Whatever it is you might think you have
You have nothing to lose
Through every dead and living thing
Time runs like a fuse
And the fuse is burning
And the earth is turning
Though the years give way to uncertainty
And the fear of living for nothing strangles the will
Theres a part of me
That speaks to the heart of me
Though sometimes its hard to see
Its never far from me
Alive in eternity
That nothing can kill
Oh lord
Are there really people starving still?
Look out beyond the walls of babylon
How long will their needs go unfilled
I want to say right now Im going to be around
Im going to be around
When the walls and towers are crumbling
When the towers are tumbling down
And I will tune my spirit to the gentle sound
I want to hear the sound
Of the waters lapping on a higher ground
Of the children laughing
song performed by by Jackson Browne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Bangladesh (a riff)
Everywhere I stand, I stand in water
It's wide expanse defines the border;
My country sinking into the sea,
The waters lapping at my knee;
My country now a muddy brown
The roofs submerged below their crown
The water lapping at the poles,
The tidal waves toss wooden bowls.
This was once an idyllic spot,
Woven mats float in the rot;
Graceful stands of bending trees
Sad victims of expanding seas.
Were I a fish with breathing gills,
A floating bird, bobbing, still,
I'd bid my children to follow me,
We would have rescue from the sea.
poem by David McLansky
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My heart, with its lapping waves of song, longs to caress this green world of the sunny day.
aphorism by Rabindranath Tagore from Stray Birds (1916), translated by Rabindranath Tagore
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Happy Jack
Happy jack wasnt old, but he was a man
He lived in the sand at the isle of man
The kids would all sing, he would take the wrong key
So they rode on his head on their furry donkey
The kids couldnt hurt jack
They tried and tried and tried
They dropped things on his back
And lied and lied and lied and lied and lied
But they couldnt stop jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldnt prevent jack from feeling happy
But they couldnt stop jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldnt prevent jack from feeling happy
The kids couldnt hurt jack
They tried and tried and tried
They dropped things on his back
And lied and lied and lied and lied and lied
But they couldnt stop jack, or the waters lapping
And they couldnt prevent jack from feeling happy
(I saw ya!)
song performed by by Who
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Unborn
you enter the lair again
dun – colored
shrapnel was on your lips
to hear your truth I lay down
the book
and look beyond the acid rain
falling after the explosion
the yellow flames still lapping
against the crater walls
jasmines were alive
dented memories wer climbing
on hills before you can unsee
the moon bleeding to death
Satish Verma
poem by Satish Verma
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The Unbearable Lightness
Truth is heavy
Like a sackful of stones that falls on the ocean's bottom
Few can reach out to it
Some fish gnaw at it out of curiousity
It rusts and moulds
Aching for a loving touch
Forlorn and forever alone
A lie is so light
It refuses to sink
Bobbing and tantalising on the ocean's surface
Waves keep lapping it up making it shine even more
It glistens and glimmers
You touch it and yearn for more
It makes you its slave
poem by Renu Rakheja
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I wish I wish
I wish I was a bird flying high in the sky
Swooping and soaring way up high
Up and down mountains all on my own
Then back to my nest where I've made my home
I wish I could be the wind that blows
Where does it come from nobody knows
You would not see me as I travel around
You would only hear my whistling sound
I wish I was a wave in the deep blue sea
I'd travel around the world for free
Lapping at the shoreline
And splashing someone's knees
I wish I was a star up in the evening sky
Looking down on everyone as they passed by
I'd twinkle so bright all through the night
But when morning comes I'll vanish from sight
But I wish I wish can never be
It's only a dream for I am me
But now and again wishes do come true
Not very many but maybe a few.
poem by Chris Spurrell
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Blue Waves
Blue waves
Crash against the shore
Lapping gently at her feet
Pristine and bright
Light shines in the distance
A million colors paint the sky
poem by Autumn Winds
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Hope!
hope turned over
like a shell on the sand,
echoing the waves,
lapping at some distant shore....
unheard, untouched,
words fall on the graves
of desire and longing,
marked by time...
who are you?
do you remember my name?
the faint memory of your kiss,
grown bitter on my lips!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Lemnos Visited
Oh Peace! The Peace I knew. I thought thee dead!
And had not hoped again to see thy smile.
I deemed thee dead, but thou hadst only fled,
And his they face within a Grecian isle.
The sun that rises in the early morn
Now gilds these purple hills with golden light.
The land of Lemnos hath not felt the thorn
Of thoughtless war.. It hath a calm delight
In waving fields, a lazy grinding mill,
In winding shores, a drowsy lapping sea;
A humble church upon a dreaming hill;
A sleeping silence and a home for thee.
But let us not molest the bloodless reign,
Lest fields of flowers change to fields of pain.
poem by Leon Gellert
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Cape Cod
The low sandy beach and the thin scrub pine,
The wide reach of bay and the long sky line,—
O, I am sick for home!
The salt, salt smell of the thick sea air,
And the smooth round stones that the ebbtides wear,—
When will the good ship come?
The wretched stumps all charred and burned,
And the deep soft rut where the cartwheel turned,—
Why is the world so old?
The lapping wave, and the broad gray sky
Where the cawing crows and the slow gulls fly,
Where are the dead untold?
The thin, slant willows by the flooded bog,
The huge stranded hulk and the floating log,
Sorrow with life began!
And among the dark pines, and along the flat shore,
O the wind, and the wind, for evermore!
What will become of man?
poem by George Santayana
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The Grey Tide
The cold green rocks and lapping waves
Are all my world as here I sit
With downcast eye and heart that craves
The bush and blue sky over it.
The tide of years is washing by,
The misty water drifts between
A soul with wings that may not fly
And shadowy realms that might have been.
Too late, too late, alas, I know
The track that winds by shining leaves
From where the flood reflects, below,
The greyness of the heart that grieves.
Another yet may tread the way,
And offer at that hidden shrine
His gift of rolled and twisted clay,
And set his lips to holy wine.
Another yet may tinge the flame
Upon that altar blue or red,
And freely call upon Her name,
And taste at will the blessed bread.
The waves are grey about the rocks,
A cold wind sets across the sea,
A travelling ray of sunlight mocks
The shadow on the heart of me.
poem by John Le Gay Brereton
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Lying Naked
sunset to nightfall.
undressing slowly,
as years pass like shadows
that cant be grasped.
lying naked in the darkness.
the hypnotic hum of the fan,
the cool breeze lapping at my body.
listening for the sound
of footsteps from long ago.
but only the sound of a car passing,
and a neighbor's dog barking.
lying naked in the darkness
my spirit gets up and walks away,
my body calm as fallen leaves
nightfall to eternity.
a kiss, a dropp of blood.
you and i lived like thunder,
now it's time for the rain!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Black Thunder
black thunder/ broken pieces, tired eyes.
church bells silent ringing, crow feet scarred pillows.
small children walking, without tongues praying,
wagon wheels bogged down in sand.
black thunder/ second hand lives, worn out lies.
dead soldiers mournful singing, borrowed tomorrows.
blind mouths moving, talking without saying,
unlit rooms forged by fugitive hands.
black thunder/ pregnant women without faces.
waves lapping orphan feet, ships lost in the storm.
refugee stars lost in unmarked skies,
an old tree dying rotting on the ground.
black thunder/ families disappearing without traces.
trash blown deserted streets, old men waiting to be born.
molded crucifixes, covered with flies,
clouds chant scriptures without a sound.
(guns silent weeping,
angels prayerful sweeping.
dreams born dying, dreams unfolding,
looking without seeing, touching without holding.)
black thunder/ hungry barefoot ghosts whisper.
priests covered in blood, empty windows open.
tiny infinities wrapped in colored matchsticks,
nowhere standing lost by the road.
black thunder/ brothers burying virgin sisters.
dialogue without talking, homeless heroes smoking.
ants' prophecies well hidden, time worn bricks,
strangers huddled against the cold.
black thunder/ salvation starved borrowed clothes.
smoke charred walls, forever dripping to the floor.
flesh tokens paid, lifetimes yet unforgiven,
candles dressed in cemetery suits.
black thunder/ nobody cares, nobody knows.
horses stomping stalls, doors open to doors.
while the dead barter for the living,
with bayonets and religious boots....
black thunder!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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The lapping waters
Come and wash away my dirt
My soul gets cleansed
haiku by Renu Rakheja
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If we don't want to see the map of Central America covered in a sea of red, eventually lapping at our own borders, we must act now.
quote by Ronald Reagan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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