One moment take thy rest
One moment take thy rest.
Out of mere nought in space
Beauty moved human breast
To tell in this far face
A dream in noonday seen.
Never to fade or pass;
A breath-time's mute delight;
A joy in flight:
The aught desire doth mean
Sighing, Alas!
poem by Walter de la Mare
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Related quotes
Ay Me, Ay Me, I Sigh the Scythe A-field
Ay me, ay me, I sigh to see the scythe a-field;
Down goeth the grass, soon wrought to wither'd hay:
Ay me, alas! ay me, alas, that beauty needs must yield,
And princes pass, as grass doth fade away.
Ay me, ay me, that life can not have lasting leave,
Nor gold take hold of everlasting joy:
Ay me, alas! ay me, alas, that time hath talents to receive,
And yet no time can make a suer stay.
Ay me, ay me, that wit can not have wished choice,
Nor wish can win that will desires to see:
Ay me, alas! ay me, alas, that mirth can promise no rejoice,
Nor study tell what afterward shall be.
Ay me, ay me, that no sure staff is given to age,
Nor age can give sure wit that youth will take:
Ay me, alas! ay me, alas, that no counsel wise and sage
Will shun the show that all doth mar and make.
Ay me, ay me, come, Time, shear on and shake thy hay,
It is no boot to balk thy bitter blows:
Ay me, alas! ay me, alas, come, Time, take everything away,
For all is thine, be it good or bad, that grows.
poem by Anonymous Americas
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Sonnet XIV: Alas, Have I Not
Alas, have I not pain enough, my friend,
Upon whose breast a fiercer gripe doth tire,
Than did on him who first stole down the fire,
While Love on me doth all his quiver spend,
But with your rhubarb words you must contend,
To grieve me worse, in saying that desire
Doth plunge my well-form'd soul even in the mire
Of sinful thoughts, which do in ruin end?
If that be sin which doth the manners frame,
Well stayed with truth in word and faith of deed,
Ready of wit and fearing nought but shame:
If that be sin which in fix'd hearts doth breed
A loathing of all loose unchastity,
Then love is sin, and let me sinful be.
poem by Philip Sidney
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Idea XX: An evil spirit, your beauty, haunts me still
An evil spirit, your beauty, haunts me still,
Wherewith, alas, I have been long possess'd,
Which ceaseth not to tempt me to each ill,
Nor gives me once but one poor minute's rest.
In me it speaks, whether I sleep or wake;
And when by means to drive it out I try,
With greater torments then it me doth take,
And tortures me in most extremity.
Before my face it lays down my despairs,
And hastes me on unto a sudden death;
Now tempting me to drown myself in tears,
And then in sighing to give up my breath.
Thus am I still provok'd to every evil
By this good-wicked spirit, sweet angel-devil.
poem by Michael Drayton
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Sonnet XX: An Evil Spirit
An evil spirit, your beauty haunts me still,
Wherewith, alas, I have been long possest,
Which ceaseth not to tempt me to each ill,
Nor gives me once but one poor minute's rest;
In me it speaks, whether I sleep or wake,
And when by means to drive it out I try,
With greater torments then it me doth take,
And tortures me in most extremity;
Before my face it lays down my despairs,
And hastes me on unto a sudden death,
Now tempting me to drown myself in tears,
And then in sighing to give up my breath.
Thus am I still provok'd to every evil
By this good wicked spirit, sweet angel-devil.
poem by Michael Drayton
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Love that Doth Reign and Live
Love that doth reign and live within my thought
And built his seat within my captive breast,
Clad in the arms wherein with me he fought,
Oft in my face he doth his banner rest.
But she that taught me love and suffer pain,
My doubtful hope and eke my hot desire
With shamefast look to shadow and refrain,
Her smiling grace converteth straight to ire.
And coward Love then to the heart apace
Taketh his flight, where he doth lurk and plain
His purpose lost, and dare not show his face.
For my lord's guilt thus faultless bide I pain;
Yet from my lord shall not my foot remove:
Sweet is the death that taketh end by love.
poem by Henry Howard
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Follow Your Saint
1 Follow your saint, follow with accents sweet;
2 Haste you, sad notes, fall at her flying feet.
3 There, wrapp'd in cloud of sorrow, pity move,
4 And tell the ravisher of my soul I perish for her love:
5 But if she scorns my never-ceasing pain,
6 Then burst with sighing in her sight and ne'er return again.
7 All that I sung still to her praise did tend,
8 Still she was first; still she my songs did end;
9 Yet she my love and music both doth fly,
10 The music that her echo is and beauty's sympathy.
11 Then let my notes pursue her scornful flight:
12 It shall suffice that they were breath'd and died for her delight.
poem by Thomas Campion
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Sonnet LXXII
OFt when my spirit doth spred her bolder winges,
In mind to mount vp to the purest sky:
it down is weighd with thoght of earthly things:
and clogd with burden of mortality,
Where when that souerayne beauty it doth spy,
resembling heauens glory in her light:
drawne with sweet pleasures bayt, it back doth fly,
and vnto heauen forgets her former flight.
There my fraile fancy fed with full delight,
doth bath in blisse and mantleth most at ease:
ne thinks of other heauen, but how it might
her harts desire with most contentment please,
Hart need not with none other happinesse,
but here on earth to haue such heuens blisse.
poem by Edmund Spenser
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Butterfly Dreams
The dreams of my heart
my mind doth pass
In my dream of butterflys
for they hug me
without sound
Nothing stays with me to long
In my dream of butterflys
they lift me from this ground
But I have had from
since as a child
In my dream of butterflys
they so still my mind
The deep solace of song
In my dream of butterflys
they flutter for there posied.
In my dream of butterflys
my daughter now is four
If that should ever leave me
In my dream of butterflys
such delight my eyes
forever roam
Let me find life and stay
In my dream of butterflys
soft weaved wings
they always have
With wings whose tunes
are played out and not
forgotten
In my dream of butterflys
linen is does my neice now lay.
Like the rain of yesterday
rainbow weaved it is
thus so
In my dream of butterflys
heavens light doth shine
so true.
In my dream of butterflys
no cut nor sting
for all will sing
for the beauty with
out flowers no dream.
poem by Uloia Norris Moore
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Butterfly Dreams 2 ('The Dreams of My Heart)
The dreams
of my heart
my mind
doth pass
In my dream
of butterflys
for they
hug me
without
sound
Nothing stays
with me to long
In my dream of
butterflys
they lift me
from this ground
But I have
had from
since as a
child
In my dream
of butterflys
they so still
my mind
The deep solace
of song
In my dream
of butterflys
they flutter for they
are posied
In my dream
of butterflys
my daughter
now is four
In my dream of
butterflys
such delight
to my eyes
forever
may roam
Let me find life
and stay
In my dream of
butterflys
Soft weaved wings
they always have
of which we sing
With wings whoms
tunes
are played
out and not
forgotten
In my dream of
butterflys
linen in does
my neice now
lay
Like the rain
of yesterday
rainbow weaved
it is
thus so
In my dream of
butterflys
heavens light
doth shine
so true
In my dream of
butterflys
no cut
nor sting
for all
will sing
for the
beauty with
out flowers
no dream
poem by Uloia Norris Moore
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From Tuscan Came My Lady's Worthy Race
From Tuscan came my lady's worthy race;
Fair Florence was sometime her ancient seat.
The western isle whose pleasant shore doth face
Wild Camber's cliffs, did give her lively heat.
Foster'd she was with milk of Irish breast;
Her sire an earl, her dame of princes' blood.
From tender years in Britain she doth rest
With a king's child, where she tastes ghostly food.
Hunsdon did first present her to mine eyen;
Bright is her hue, and Geraldine she hight;
Hampton me taught to wish her first for mine;
And Windsor, alas, doth chase me from her sight.
Beauty her mate, her virtues from above:
Happy is he that may obtain her love.
poem by Henry Howard
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Life's Mighty Flood
WHAT is wrought in the forge of the living and life--
All things are nought! Ho! fill me the bowl,
For nought is the gear of the world and the strife!
One passion has quickened the heart and the soul,
The Beloved's presence alone they have sought--
Love at least exists; yet if Love were not,
Heart and soul would sink to the common lot--
All things are nought!
Like an empty cup is the fate of each,
That each must fill from Life's mighty flood;
Nought thy toil, though to Paradise gate thou reach,
If Another has filled up thy cup with blood;
Neither shade from the sweet-fruited trees could be bought
By thy praying-oh Cypress of Truth, dost not see
That Sidreh and Tuba were nought, and to thee
All then were nought!
The span of thy life is as five little days,
Brief hours and swift in this halting-place;
Rest softly, ah rest! while the Shadow delays,
For Time's self is nought and the dial's face.
On the lip of Oblivion we linger, and short
Is the way from the Lip to the Mouth where we pass
While the moment is thine, fill, oh Saki, the glass
Ere all is nought!
Consider the rose that breaks into flower,
Neither repines though she fade and die--
The powers of the world endure for an hour,
But nought shall remain of their majesty.
Be not too sure of your crown, you who thought
That virtue was easy and recompense yours;
From the monastery to the wine-tavern doors
The way is nought
What though I, too, have tasted the salt of my tears,
Though I, too, have burnt in the fires of grief,
Shall I cry aloud to unheeding ears?
Mourn and be silent! nought brings relief.
Thou, Hafiz, art praised for the songs thou hast wrought,
But bearing a stained or an honoured name,
The lovers of wine shall make light of thy fame--
All things are nought!
poem by Shams al-Din Hafiz
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Leaf
It was one of so many; an army
of greenness; anonymous footsoldier
in the cause of nature’s greater good.
It was tree.
First, as summer lingered into autumn,
it laid down its arms; the days of empire-building
over; no longer did it need
to fight in serried ranks for space.
Then next, laid down the need to breathe;
lingered strong upon the branch
as old soldiers do, before they fade away;
boasted now, beyond loyalty, all pride.
Now, its fire of life turned to new arts
in pensioned, eased retirement; learned
a new palette of colours,
yellows, reds, browns; how to shade
from one to another; how to take
the breath away with contrast.
Then, as it relinquished hold
on water, took up further skills;
learned precious, porcelain fragility;
discovered sculpture,
curled like a dancer’s sway,
found arabesques and curves of beauty
beyond the finest human artistry.
Finally, submitted to relinquish even earth.
A last curling fall at a moment’s puff of wind
all beyond its knowing
brought it onto the gatepost,
level with my eyes, just as I passed the gate;
displayed like some ballerina in the last pose
of some tragic, swan-necked dance, that time
could indeed stand still: so that even beauty
held her breath and waited…
in that moment outside time,
told me all unspoken things:
thoughts that rest too deep for tears;
there where tears meet joy.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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The Changing World
I wish i could fly and see the sun
for no one have ever done
i wish that my dream will come
true and live to my desire until I’ll fade
i wish everyone will be given a chance
to look closer as it grows the passing day
i wish laughter be heard from Pole to Pole
bringing the babies smile of the mother's breast
i wish life fulfillment reach to the horizon of hope
for breath gives meaning when the heart desire
wish comes in every end of the beginning
of Love...
open!
poem by Antonio Liao
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Minstrelsy
For ever, since my childish looks
Could rest on Nature's pictured books;
For ever, since my childish tongue
Could name the themes our bards have sung;
So long, the sweetness of their singing
Hath been to me a rapture bringing!
Yet ask me not the reason why
I have delight in minstrelsy.
I know that much whereof I sing,
Is shapen but for vanishing;
I know that summer's flower and leaf
And shine and shade are very brief,
And that the heart they brighten, may,
Before them all, be sheathed in clay! --
I do not know the reason why
I have delight in minstrelsy.
A few there are, whose smile and praise
My minstrel hope, would kindly raise:
But, of those few -- Death may impress
The lips of some with silentness;
While some may friendship's faith resign,
And heed no more a song of mine. --
Ask not, ask not the reason why
I have delight in minstrelsy.
The sweetest song that minstrels sing,
Will charm not Joy to tarrying;
The greenest bay that earth can grow,
Will shelter not in burning woe;
A thousand voices will not cheer,
When one is mute that aye is dear! --
Is there, alas! no reason why
I have delight in minstrelsy.
I do not know! The turf is green
Beneath the rain's fast-dropping sheen,
Yet asks not why that deeper hue
Doth all its tender leaves renew; --
And I, like-minded, am content,
While music to my soul is sent,
To question not the reason why
I have delight in minstrelsy.
Years pass -- my life with them shall pass:
And soon, the cricket in the grass
And summer bird, shall louder sing
Than she who owns a minstrel's string.
Oh then may some, the dear and few,
Recall her love, whose truth they knew;
When all forget to question why
She had delight in minstrelsy!
poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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Her Beauty
Her true beauty leaves behind
Apprehensions in my mind
Of more sweetness than all art
Or inventions can impart;
Thoughts too deep to be expressed,
And too strong to be suppressed....
... What pearls, what rubies can
Seem so lovely fair to man,
As her lips whom he doth love
When in sweet discourse they move:
Or her lovelier teeth, the while
She doth bless him with a smile!
Stars indeed fair creatures be;
Yet amongst us where is he
Joys not more the whilst he lies
Sunning in his mistress' eyes.
Than in all the glimmering light
Of a starry winter's night?
Note the beauty of an eye,
And if aught you praise it by
Leave such passion in your mind,
Let my reason's eye be blind.
Mark if ever red or white
Anywhere gave such delight
As when they have taken place
In a worthy woman's face.
poem by George Wither
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Sonnet LXXIX
MEn call you fayre, and you doe credit it,
For that your selfe ye dayly such doe see:
but the trew fayre, that is the gentle wit,
and vertuous mind is much more praysd of me.
For all the rest, how euer fayre it be,
shall turne to nought and loose that glorious hew:
but onely that is permanent and free
from frayle corruption, that doth flesh ensew.
That is true beautie: that doth argue you
to be diuine and borne of heauenly seed:
deriu'd from that fayre Spirit, from whom al true
and perfect beauty did at first proceed.
He only fayre, and what he fayre hath made,
all other fayre lyke flowres vntymely fade.
poem by Edmund Spenser
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Judith and You and A Morning Mist
The morning mist
that hung over
the pond (or your lake
as Judith called it)
had moved away
by the time she came
and stood next to you
wrapped up in her
Sunday best
waiting until the time
for the bus to take
you both to sing
in the church
her breath flowing out
on the air
like cigarette smoke
her eyes focused
on the skin
of the still water
I dreamt of you
last night
she said
you and I
were snuggled
together in my bed
having made love
you watched
a magpie take flight
over the water
nice
wish I could
have been there
in person
you said
more breath
left her lips
and rose upwards
maybe next time
you can
she said
turning her head
spreading her lips
into a smile
just be my luck
your mother
will invade the dream
and catch us
you said
yes
Judith said
that would
spoil the dream
some what
there was a mist
over the pond earlier
you said
it looked beautiful
she turned
and stared
over the water
I missed that
as you missed
making love to me
in my dream
she whispered
drawing closer
her hands
taking hold
of yours
what did you
dream about?
she asked
an empty bed
and cold sheets
and a space
where you should
have been
you said
she smiled
and said
I couldn't be
in both beds
at once could I?
once more
there was the rising
of her breath
you couldn't tell her
you'd seen
an image
of her death.
poem by Terry Collett
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Warmth And Beauty
The warmth and beauty of this moment
go beyond mere reality, if Seth is right
and true continuity lies in something else
than mere development in space and time
Then this is part of a long series of beautiful
moments that have accumulated since my
early youth and it connects experiences of
insight that span chronological reality
Like the silver cord that binds spirit to
physical form – watching Fred Astaire
perform while dreaming on Turandot
devouring the illustrated book
My mind calms down as if Cesar Milan
himself is taking charge of the canine
posing as my psyche, I am in a state
of such wonderful delight!
poem by Margaret Alice Second
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The Saddest Fate
To touch a broken lute,
To strike a jangled string,
To strive with tones forever mute
The dear old tunes to sing--
What sadder fate could any heart befall?
Alas! dear child, never to sing at all.
To sigh for pleasures flown,
To weep for withered flowers,
To count the blessings we have known,
Lost with the vanished hours--
What sadder fate could any heart befall?
Alas! dear child, ne'er to have known them at all.
To dream of love and rest,
To know the dream has past,
To bear within an aching breast
Only a void at last--
What sadder fate could any heart befall?
Alas! dear child, ne'er to have loved at all.
To trust an unknown good,
To hope, but all in vain,
Over a far-off bliss to brood,
Only to find it pain--
What sadder fate could any soul befall?
Alas! dear child, never to hope at all.
poem by Anonymous Americas
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Kindness
Just one moment is all it took for me
to fall in love forever,
forever and a day.
And what is a moment
in the minutes that you love?
It's as big as an ocean
and the skies up above.
It can be elongated into an eternity
which has no end.
It can consume every breath you take
and can always mend
every separation that eventually
comes along.
Just that one moment is filled with song.
It sings in the heart of me
and fills me with delight.
There's always that one moment
I remember day and night.
A moment of recognition,
a moment of joy
a moment of acceptance
for me to employ
all of my wiles to keep you content,
All of my attempts to keep you spent
as you lay your head upon my breast
and know that we have been so blessed
by just one moment.
poem by Edwina Reizer
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