Theodore Roethke

Night Journey

Now as the train bears west,
Its rhythm rocks the earth,
And from my Pullman berth
I stare into the night
While others take their rest.
Bridges of iron lace,
A suddenness of trees,
A lap of mountain mist
All cross my line of sight,
Then a bleak wasted place,
And a lake below my knees.
Full on my neck I feel
The straining at a curve;
My muscles move with steel,
I wake in every nerve.
I watch a beacon swing
From dark to blazing bright;
We thunder through ravines
And gullies washed with light.
Beyond the mountain pass
Mist deepens on the pane;
We rush into a rain
That rattles double glass.
Wheels shake the roadbed stone,
The pistons jerk and shove,
I stay up half the night
To see the land I love.

poem by Theodore RoethkeReport problemRelated quotes
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Wander to the Land of Fog

Arjuna walked slowly to the top of the hatch train,
to the land of mist-gray sky
iron wheels of the train collided with rocks
cruising round the wheels to follow his heart troubled wanderer
drown the eastern horizon traces the wheels spin on the horizon,
naim is abandoned, the shade of a fig tree
Petruk fig shady place to lie down, weaving Asa.
Petruk subject to a stroke sleepiness, nodding off
Whether dreaming, whether menginggau on a speeding train
His heels were moving from side to side, legs bent in too long hold ubtuk train.
Iron wheels keep turning, keep heading west, the land where the fog of wrinkles
Cold arctic air to penetrate the bones, which vibrate the body shivering, scared
Wandering soul is troubled, not met the meaning is sought.
Here a mist, wrinkled faces
Arctic air snow and frozen heart.

poem by Prasetya UtamaReport problemRelated quotes
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This Train Keeps Rolling Along

All aboard in montreal
I heard the conductor call
That old engine heaved a sigh
Suitcases and shuffling feet
I found my way to a windo seat
I love to watch the world go by
Made friends with a family
Bound for sault ste marie
They said good bye at sudbury junction
Guess I hated to see em go
Thought about em as it started to snow
Time stops for nothing or no one
This train keeps rollin along
From here to the great beyond
Black somke, pistons churn
Steel rails, big wheels turn
This train keeps rolling along
Across the endless plrairie land
Mighty buffalo used to stand
The cree and the blackfoot lived and died
? ? ? the rockies, nestled in the trees,
I fell in love with lake louise
Smiling with her sparkling emerald eyes
Soon well reach the sea
And there Ill stand
With nothing but the blue between me and japan
Now Im at the end of the line,
Out of track, out of time,
Conductor makes his final round
All the people and places past
They went by just a little too fast
How I wishi couldve slowed this engine down.
This train keeps rollin along
From here to the great beyond
Black somke, pistons churn
Steel rails, big wheels turn
This train keeps rolling along

song performed by by Nitty Gritty Dirt BandReport problemRelated quotes
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The glow in the fog and mist

The spectral glow of a bobbing lantern
As if tossed upon a stormy sea

Appearing..then fading anon, absorbed
In foggy essence, to fade again so feebly

Once more, ere sinking in finality
Into the quicksand of mist

Mere glow of candle, so dear to see
Seen now…then not, …with capricious twist

The spectral light, drifts through the night
As a ghost through fog and mist

Through ribs of rain, the tremulous light
Chills the brain, befogs the sight

Dimly lit, by lanterns in the mist
Dark clouds upon the soul this night

Fog is the dark abode of lost souls
Who wander without rest with lantern high

The mist, the breath, of hollow death
The fog, the food, on which to persist

Tis best my friend, not to be, nor ne'r to see….
The glow in the fog and mist

poem by David WhalenReport problemRelated quotes
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Downtown Train

(tom waits)
Outside another yellow moon
Has punched a hole in the night time mist
I climb through the window and down to the street
Im shining like a new dime
The downtown trains are full
Full of all them brooklyn girls
They try so hard to break out of their little worlds
You wave your hand and they scatter like crows
They have nothing thatll ever capture your heart
Theyre just thorns without the rose
Be careful of them in the dark
Oh if I was the one you chose to be your only one
Oh baby cant you hear me now, cant you hear me now
Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Every night, every night its just the same
On a downtown train
I know your window and I know its late
I know your stairs and your doorway
I walk down your street and past your gate
I stand by the light of the four way
And watch them as they fall, oh baby
They all having their heart attacks
They stay at the carnival
But theyll never win you back
Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Every night, every night its just the same
You leave me lonely
Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
All my dreams, all my dreams fall like rain
On a downtown train
Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Every night, every night its just the same
Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
All my dreams, all my dreams fall like rain
On a downtown train
On a downtown train
All my dreams fall like rain
On a downtown train

song performed by by Rod StewartReport problemRelated quotes
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Demystified for M' lady Cate

The mist persists, it will insist
it has the right to block the light
with trailing wisps of dirty white.

The mist is wrong and it will learn
to leave when it has served its turn
Because the sun will rise and burn

the remnants of the mist away
There is no way that it can stay
once the bright sun comes out to play.

The mist defeated has to go.
It leaves reluctantly and slow
but where it goes I do not know.

It will return with fall of night
lurk in the darkness hid from sight.
Unless outlined by the moonlight.

The silver light makes it appear
to be the ghosts which cause men fear.
But they will quickly disappear

When banks of cloud obscure the light.
Be re-absorbed into the night.
to their dismay but men’s delight.

The mists persist they wont desist
as long as day and night exist
and if they did they would be missed.

The moisture which the mist supply
the plants trees drink thirstily.
Without the mists some plants would die.

1-Jun-08

http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers

poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e HoggReport problemRelated quotes
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The Mist

The mist on the water that forms over night
gives an eerie sight to my eyes.
It lingers sometimes for an hour or two
and as it lifts to the skies
I see the lake that's been hidden from view
and all seems right to my sight.
Its rippling movement on breezy days
mirror like imagery at night.

It's home to frogs and ducks at play
and the fish that jump catching flies.
And sometimes when I am lucky enough
much to my surprise
herons and egrets of snowy white
come and land on the banks.
They stalk their prey in stately manner
hoping to pull off their pranks.

So when the mist returns to my lake
I do not get forlorn.
For underneath the mist that's there
is my lake in later morn.

poem by Edwina ReizerReport problemRelated quotes
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Elegy For Poe With The Music Of A Carnival Inside It

There is this sunny place where I imagine him.
A park on a hill whose grass wants to turn
Into dust, & would do so if it weren't
For the rain, & the fact that it is only grass
That keeps the park from flowing downhill past
Its trees & past the slender figures in the statues.
Their stone blends in with the sky when the sky
Is overcast. The stone is a kind of rain,
And half the soldiers trapped inside the stone
Are dead. The others have deserted, & run home.
At this time in the morning, half sun, half mist,
There are usually three or four guys sprawled
Alone on benches facing away from one another.
If they're awake, they look as if they haven't slept.
If they're asleep, they look as if they may not wake....
I only imagine it as a sunny place. If they're
Awake, they gaze off as if onto a distant landscape,
Not at the warehouses & the freeway the hill overlooks,
Not onto Jefferson Avenue where, later, they'll try
To score a little infinity wrapped up in tinfoil,
Or a flake of heaven tied up in a plastic bag
And small as their lives are now, but at a city
That is not the real city gradually appearing
As the mist evaporates, For in the real city,
One was kicked in the ribs by a night watchman
Until he couldn't move. Another was
A small time dealer until he lost his nerve,
And would have then become a car thief, if only
The car had started. And the last failed to appear,
Not only for a court date, but for life itself.
In these ways, they are like Poe if Poe had lived
Beyond composing anything, & had been kicked to death
And then dismembered in this park, his limbs
Thrown as far away from what was left of him
As they could be thrown. And they are not like Poe.
The three of them stare off at a city that is there
In the distance, where they are loved for no
Clear reason, a city they walk toward when
They are themselves again, a city
That vanishes each morning in the pale light.
Poe would have admired them, & pitied them.
For Poe detested both the real city with its traffic
Crawling over the bridges, & the city that vanishes.

~ ~ ~

In autumn the rain slants & flesh turns white.
The tents go up again on the edge of town, &,
In the carny's spiel, everyone gets lost,
And Poe, dismembered, becomes no more than the moral
In the story of his life, the cautionary tale
No better than the sideshow where the boy
With sow's hoofs instead of hands, taps the glass—
Some passing entertainment for the masses.
In the carny's spiel, everyone lost comes
Back again. Even Poe comes back to see
Himself, disfigured, in another. That is what
He's doing here, longing to mingle, invisibly,
With the others on the crowded midway as they lick
Their cotton candy, & stare expressionlessly
At one another. He wants to see the woman
Who has fins instead of arms, & the man without
A mouth. He wants to see the boy behind glass
And his own clear reflection in the glass.
The carnival's so close, only a few blocks,
That he can hear the intermittent off key music
Wheezing faintly out of the merry-go-round....
It might as well be music from the moon.
The traffic never lets him cross. The weeks pass,
And then the months, & then the years with their wars
And the marquees going blank above the streets
Because no one comes anymore. And the crowd,
Filing into the little tent, watches suspiciously,
For the crowd believes in nothing now but disbelief.
And therefore, at the intersection of radiance
And death, the intersection of the real city
And the one that vanishes, Poe is pausing
In the midst of traffic, one city inside the other.
The rain slants. The flesh is a white dust.
The cars pass slowly through him, & the boy keeps
Tapping at the glass, unable to tell his story.

poem by Larry LevisReport problemRelated quotes
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Headless Cross

Look through the people, and on through the mist
To the hill of the headless cross
Where all witches meet, on a night such as this
And the power of darkness is host
They come face to face, eye to eye, soul to soul
With and angel that fell from the sky
Borne on the air, the screams and the wails
Of the masses appointed to die
Listen for the feet as they pound the land to a tune of thunder
Watch as the legions ride again to a fate of death or torture
At the headless cross, at the headless cross
From the first evil night, when a black flash of light
Cut the crucifix half to the ground
Theres been no escape from the power of satan
On a nation so brave and so proud
Listen for the feet as they pound the land to a tune of thunder
Watch as the legions ride again to a fate of death or torture
At the headless cross, at the headless cross
How do you feel, when the locks refuse the key
And the master is calling your name
Does the luck of the charm, really keep you from harm?
Does the talisman protect you from pain?
Listen for the feet as they pound the land to a tune of thunder
Watch as the legions ride again to a fate of death or torture
At the headless cross, at the headless cross
From the first evil night, when a black flash of light
Cut the crucifix half to the ground
Theres no escaping the power of satan
On a nation so brave and so proud
Listen for the feet as they pound the land to a tune of thunder
Watch as the legions ride again to a fate of death or torture, oh no, oh
At the headless cross, at the headless cross
At the headless cross, oh, at the headless cross
Where will you run to?
At the headless cross
Look, to the headless cross

song performed by by Black SabbathReport problemRelated quotes
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Peace

The red-rose flush fades slowly in the west.
The golden water, basking in the light,
Pales to clear amber and to silver white.
The velvet shadow of a flame-crowned crest
Lies dark and darker on its shining breast,
Till lonely mere and isle and mountain-height
Grow dim as dreams in tender mist of night,
And all is tranquil as a babe at rest.

So still! So calm! Will our life's eve come thus?
No sound of strife, of labour or of pain,
No ring of woodman's axe, no dip of oar.
Will work be done, and night's rest earned, for us?
And shall we wake to see sunrise again?
Or shall we sleep, to see and know no more?

poem by Ada CambridgeReport problemRelated quotes
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Dancing With The Mountain

(graham russell, michael sherwood, david young)
Hot sun as warm as the kissing of the wind
Footsteps in perfect time
Heartbeat as loud as the whisper in the wood
Hold me this dance is mine
The dance is mine
We are alone, your love excites me
You are the earth moving inside me
I feel like dancing with the mountain
Feel the rhythm walking on air
Feel like dancing with the mountain
Feel the rhythm dancing with the mountain
We climb up into the shelter of the sky
Footsteps on higher ground
Your voice as soft as a river running dry
Hold me this dance is mine
We are alone, your loves exciting me
You are the earth moving inside me
I feel like dancing with the mountain
Feel the rhythm walking on air
I feel like dancing with the mountain
Feel the rhythm dancing with the mountain
I feel like dancing with the mountain
Feel the rhythm walking on air
I feel like dancing with the mountain
Feel the rhythm dancing with the mountain

song performed by by Air SupplyReport problemRelated quotes
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All Night It Did Rain… (Roundel)

All night it did rain, the morning was bright
while the sun shone with its power again
had an incredible serene kind of light;
all night it did rain,

with dark clouds coming over the mountain
covering it until it was out of sight;
as we did the last red champagne drain

our feelings was warm, passionate and right
and we were of each other very certain,
while through darkness we brought love to delight;
all night it did rain.

poem by Gert StrydomReport problemRelated quotes
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Sometimes

Words and music by bob seger
Sometimes I move in chains
But I never feel the pain
I wish I could explain
Sometimes
Sometimes it goes so fast
I try to make some moment last
I watch it slippin past
Sometimes
I get this infernal need
Im losin ground
Gotta make up speed
Right now
Somethings there just out of reach
Something Im not sure I need
Something I just cant let be
Touchin something deep in me
Sometimes burnin bright
In the dark heart of the night
I think I see a light
Sometimes
Sometimes I hear the sound
Of some night train leavin town
I want to chase it down
Sometimes
I want to catch that train
I want to get on board
I want to ride away to some distant shore
Right now
I want to leave behind this hopeless maze
Of broken dreams and endless days
I want to wake up some place far away
I wanna wake up to a brand new day
Sometimes
Sometimes I move in chains
But I never feel the pain
I wish I could explain
Sometimes
Sometimes it goes so fast
I try to make some moment last
I watch it slippin past
Sometimes
I watch it slippin past
Sometimes

song performed by by Bob SegerReport problemRelated quotes
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Mist On A Monday Morning

I wake and yawn at the crack of dawn
With dewdrops on my feet
As I rise up to greet the morning
Nothing much to eat
Every breath I take seems to make my body ache
My only friend is mist on a monday morning
Pick up my sack and walk for miles
Never thinking why
To the brewers yard where I can sit
And watch my life go by
Drink and drink all day till my memory melts away
I need a friend like mist on a monday morning
Wheres my wife, has she gone
I hear misty morning call
One foot resting in the grave
Destined not to see her anymore
Theres a den in the grass by the autopath
Of corrugated steel
I may be sleeping there tonight
And depending how I feel
Damp and dirty place
Printing sorrow on my face
With nothing but the mist on a monday morning
Chorus
From... I feel the sin
Like wheels upon my feet
Intoxicated by the night
I stumbled in the street
Every breath I take seems to make my body ache
And drift into the mist on a monday morning

song performed by by Electric Light OrchestraReport problemRelated quotes
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Aryan Mist

Aryan mist
Among the bridges
You hang by the river
Youve been here forever
Aryan mist
What can the matter be
In a world full of glamour
Does it lift you up
Or is it railway carriage charm
You just sit here
And look from your carriage
As you watch the scene go by
Gurus from the east
Gurus from the west
Does it lift you up
Or is it railway carriage charm
Aryan mist
Among the bridges
You hang by the river
Youve been here forever
Aryan mist
Aryan mist
Theres so many people
Going down by the river
Down by the river
To get clean
The fog of illusion
The fog of confusion
Is hanging all over the world
Gurus from the east
Gurus from the west
Does it lift you up
Or is it railway carriage charm
Aryan mist
Youve been here forever
Remind me of krishna
Love first sweet kiss
Aryan mist
Aryan mist
Among the bridges
You hang by the river
Youve been here forever
Aryan mist
Does it lift you up
Or is it railway carriage charm

song performed by by Van MorrisonReport problemRelated quotes
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Dark dragon wings

Skies beneath black wings
That binds and lashes winds
Knight of the night ride dark
Brash flames rain to burn lark.

Cast on the castle as thunder
And shadow the land under
Dark wings they've a hole and tear
Dark dragon through red eyes stare.

The skies defence revel in mist
And dawn a kingdom to resist
This warrior wear blood of night
As dry air burns in to light.

Dark dragon in skies dark your hidden
Rapture and reign the forbidden.

poem by Andrew LockleyReport problemRelated quotes
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Rain Keeps Fallin

I remember the night so well.
The rain was fallin but I just couldnt tell,
If it was you that was callin to my love-sick brain.
But the rain kept fallin on my window pane.
Out of the night the thunder rang in my ear.
I cant fight the feelin, lord, that brings forth my fears.
I wish it was over, lord, please stop the rain.
The rain thats fallin on my window pane.
The rain thats fallin on my window pane.
Every night the rains on time, I can feel it in this heart of mine.
But I dont know what to do.
Well, I guess I could go back home, cause you know back home is where I belong.
But it just aint home without you.
And I dont know what to do, baby.
Well, I guess Im a looser but it just dont seem fair.
I lost all my life so tell me, why should I care?
The night that you left me is the night that it came.
And the rains still fallin on my window pane.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
You know the rain.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
I said the rain.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
You know the rain.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
I said the rain.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
You know the rain ...
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
... keeps right on fallin.
The rain keeps fallin on my window pane.
I said, the rain keeps fallin ...

song performed by by Grand Funk RailroadReport problemRelated quotes
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Ravers

Well, we're the ravers, we just want to come out and play
If you try to keep us down, you better get out of our way
If you don't know by now, I'm tellin' you we're here to stay
We're a super-charged machine like a rock-mobile
Our pistons are poppin' right under your wheels
We're the ravers, oh yeah
The ravers (ahh, yeah yeah yeah)
The ravers, look out
They say we're brats with no manners or pride
Our reputation's spreadin' far and wide
A bottle of gin is all we need tonight
A hell-raisin' night
Start to shake, oh yeah
We're a super-charged machine like a rock-mobile
Our pistons are poppin' right under your wheels
We're the ravers, oh yeah
The ravers (yeah, yeah yeah yeah)
The ravers, watch out
We're givin' you the rest, gonna give it to you 'n' you
Look out baby, or we'll get you too
We go anyway, way we choose
Anyway, anyhow, anywhere, we wanted too
Here we go
We're the ravers
The ravers
The ravers (oh yeah)
Well we're a super-charged machine like a rock-mobile
Our pistons are poppin' right under your wheels
We're the ravers, oh yeah
The ravers, yeah yeah yeah, yeah-e-yeah
The ravers come on down
We're here to stay!

song performed by by Quiet RiotReport problemRelated quotes
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The Nerve

Im glad I had the nerve to talk to you that day
I could just have easily have let you get away
In that crowded airport, far from my hometown
If I had lost my courage then, you wouldnt be around
Im glad I had the nerve.
And Im glad he had the nerve to get down on his knees
And say I bought this ring for you, wont you wear it please?
My daddy sure touched somethin in my mommas heart somehow
If he hadnt, I sure wouldnt be here with you now
Im glad he had the nerve.
Or I never wouldve lived like this
Or learned like this
Or laughed like this
Or loved like this
Im glad he had the nerve to sail across the sea
My great grand-daddys great grandpa in 1833
He met an indian maiden in the smoky mountain mist
If they hadnt crossed that line, I would not exist
Im glad they had the nerve.
And Im glad he had the nerve, while staring into space
To give this universe a time and a place
With one tiny atom or an adam and an eve
However you look at it, whatever you believe
Im glad he had the nerve.
Or we never wouldve live like this
Or learned like this
Or laughed like this
Or loved like this
Thank God he had the nerve.
And Im glad I had the nerve to talk to you that day

song performed by by George StraitReport problemRelated quotes
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Man On The Silver Mountain

Im a wheel, Im a wheel
I can roll, I can feel
And you cant stop me turning
cause Im the sun, Im the sun
I can move, I can run
But youll never stop me burning
* come down with fire
Lift my spirit higher
Someones screaming my name
Come and make me holy again
Im the man on the silver mountain
Im the man on the silver mountain
Im the day, Im the day
I can show you the way
And look Im right beside you
Im the night, Im the night
Im the dark and the light
With eyes that see inside you
* x 2
Just look at me and listen
Im the man, the man, give you my hand
Come down with fire
Lift my spirit higher
Im the man on the silver mountain
Im the man on the silver mountain
Im the night the light
The black and the white
The man on the silver mountain

song performed by by RainbowReport problemRelated quotes
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Of Wolf And Man

Off through the new day's mist I run
off from the new day's mist I have come
I hunt
therefore I am
harvest the land
taking of the fallen lamb
off thruogh the new day's mist I run
off from the new day'smist I have come
we shift
pulsing with the earth
company we keep
roaming the land while you sleep
shape shift nose to the wind
shape shift feeling I've been
move swift all senses clean
earth's gift back to the meaning of life
bright is the moon high in starlight
chill is the air cold as steel tonight
we shift
call of the wild
fear in your eyes
it's later than you realized
shape shift nose to the wind
shape shift feeling I've been
move swift all senses clean
earth's gift back to the meaning of life
I feel I change
back to a better day
hair stands on the back of my neck
in wildness is the preservation of the world
so seek the wolf in thyself
shape shift nose to the wind
shape shift feeling I've been
move swift all senses clean
earth's gift
back to the meaning of wolf and man

song performed by by MetallicaReport problemRelated quotes
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