On The Astrologers (From The Greek)
The astrologers did all alike presage
My uncle's dying in extreme old age;
One only disagreed. But he was wise,
And spoke not till he heard the funeral cries.
poem by William Cowper
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Related quotes
Uncle Toad Said
Uncle toad sittin by the old south gate
Waitin them boys they bin stayin out late
Uncle toad thinks theyre way out of line
Maybe they think he is past his prime
Uncle toad said better straighten up right
When uncle toad spoke it was not a pretty sight
Uncle toad lived in the wood out back
Lived in the shade of a utility shack
He looked in at the big brick housr
At the girls as quiet as a mouse
Uncle toad said you had best get it right
When uncle toad spoke it was not a pretty sight
Uncle toad tucked in the compost pile
Out by the back door look at him smile
He said kid stop drinkin that brew
Plan while ya can or the jokes on you
Uncle toad said better straighten up right
When uncle toad spoke it was not a pretty sight
Uncle toad sittin by the swimmin pool
Sits in the sun when the weather turns cool
Sits in the sun when the girls walk by
Maybe they think hes a little bit sly
Uncle toad said you had best get it right
When uncle toad spoke it was not a pretty sight
Uncle toad sittin by the cool mill race
All day long with a grin on his face
He said boys you had better not try
Kissin em girls cause I wont stand by
Uncle toad sittin by the wrought iron fence
Lookin at the moon like it dont make sense
We say toad heres lookin at you
Hopin you get your wish too
Sway to the left, sway to the right
When uncle toad spoke it was not a pretty sight
song performed by by Gordon Lightfoot
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Problem With Living Too Long
A godlier man, there never lived -
My dear old Uncle Fred,
And throngs should fill the funeral home
When word comes that he's dead.
For the numbers at the funeral home
Are a measure of one's worth;
The sum of all the lives one's touched
While here upon the earth.
But few will visit the funeral home
When my Uncle passes on,
For he's lived so long that those he's touched
Are already dead and gone.
A wise old owl sat upon an oak The more he saw the less he spoke The less he spoke the more he heard Why aren't we like that wise old bird
quote by Edward Hersey Richards
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Warning Of The Lark
High in the treetops, silent as ever,
Sits the foreboding Lark.
Its cries foretell danger, its wings flapping in an arc.
Its cries are heard everywhere, but not everyone hears its cries.
A cry so soft and gentle
Heard only by the humble and wise.
Study this quest you are about to receive, and with courage you will embark.
So my brothers, hear this plea, and heed to the warning of the Lark.
poem by Preston Simmons
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When She Cries
No one knows my lady when she's lonely
No one sees the fantasies and fears my lady hides
There are those who've shared her love and laughter
But no one hears my lady when she cries…but me
No one hears my lady when she cries
And when she cries she makes you wanna run
And chase the sun and bring it back
To brighten up a corner of her dark and troubled skies
When she cries
She walks barefoot through the misty mornin'
Dreams of golden yesterdays reflectin' in her eyes
But soon the evenin' shadows crowd around her
Frightening my lady till she cries…for me
Frightening my lady, till she cries
You may have seen her lyin' in your lamplight
And if you've heard her whispered words, it comes as no surprise
So be the one she shares her secret smiles with
But send me back my lady when she cries…for me
My lady's gonna need me when she cries
poem by Sheldon Allan Silverstein
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The Seers!
A DAY IS BORN FOR THE WISE!
SEE YE THE FUTURE!
IT HOLDS WISDOM FOR THE WISE!
THEY THAT SEE THE PRESENT ARE BUT LOOKERS!
THEY THAT SEE THE FUTURE ARE BUT VISIERS!
AND THEY THAT SEE ETERNITY ARE GRAND VISIERS!
I HAVE SEEN INFINITY AND BEYOND!
AND LO! THE WISDOM OF THE WISE IS BECOME FOOLISHNESS!
AND THE WISDOM OF THEIR ASTROLOGERS ARE BECOME INSANITY!
IF THEY BE WISE, WHY SOWETH THEY' ETERNAL TROUBLES AS SEED FOR THEIR FUTURE CHILDREN?
FOR LO, LIKE A SEA IS THE ENEMIES THAT HAS FALLEN UPON THE POWERS THAT BE TODAY!
TRUELY, I SAW MYSELF IN THAT SEA!
poem by Overlord Don Manuel Ihcakeyno
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Whispers From Other Sky
Cries the night in silence
Covers up the starshine
By the tears of darkness
Cries the night!
Cries the night unaware
Words of pain
Whispers of harassing
Cries the night!
Fade away the rashness
Fall down the mercy plea
With the last shadow
On the earth!
Dying eyes...beholding!
Dying ears...hearing!
Feeling from the other
Other sky!
Whispers from the other sky!!!
Whispers from the other sky!!!
Other sky unknowing
Oh!
Beyond the end
Kingdom of the other
Viskningar!
song performed by by Undercroft
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cries
the sound of gunfire
and the pound of bombing
rhyming...
the cries of dying children,
the cries of a dying earth,
the cry of humanity seaching
for itself!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Two Alike
Two Alike
Two Entities
Pulsating alike—
Two hearts
Beating alike—
Two minds
Throbbing alike—
Two souls
Singing alike!
Has anyone seen
Such a like
In this world
Where nothing is alike?
poem by Chandra Thiagarajan
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Forgotten Language
Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?
poem by Sheldon Allan Silverstein
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Extremes, though contrary, have the like effects. Extreme heat kills, and so extreme cold: extreme love breeds satiety, and so extreme hatred; and too violent rigor tempts chastity, as does too much license.
quote by George Chapman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Willi Brown
Your Uncle was too wise in his own eyes and,
Today you are poorer than ever!
But, try to be wiser always on this love.
Bury him here because he was a King's son,
Bury her here because she was a Queen's daughter,
For you are facing the traps of your own Uncle.
Willi Brown, of the songs of the birds that you are yet to understand;
But, i am now richer than ever! ! !
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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Lost At Sea
Lost at sea, with all on board!
No one saw their sinking sail,
No one heard their dying wail,
Heard them calling on the Lord—
Lost at sea, with all on board.
Till the sea gives up its dead,
There they lie in quiet sleep,
And the voices of the deep
Sound unheeded overhead,
Till the sea gives up its dead.
poem by Robert Fuller Murray
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Plain Hearts
The wise ones say there are billions of others
Dying to change places with the living,
And there are also many worlds
Where the chance to live's not given.
There are voices one hears
With the heart, but never the ears,
And there are plain hearts given free
To flames of unending fire,
Changing molten ore to love:
Resurrection from the funeral pyre.
poem by Patti Masterman
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She Often Spoke
she often spoke of suicide, wordlessly.
did I see scarred wrists or imagine them?
of whose suicide did she speak?
her eyes, I saw them, told a kind of truth
apart from what I heard-
for that reason alone, I could forgive her.
are thoughts made of chemicals in the brain,
the synapse of neurons, electric sparks?
flash, they appear, another moment gone.
a memory took place and this I heard.
she often spoke, or did she speak, of suicide.
who spoke? who heard?
did I know or did I imagine knowing?
for that reason alone, I could forgive her.
poem by Jesse Weiner
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Inheritance taxes are so high that the happiest mourner at a rich man's funeral is usually Uncle Sam.
quote by Olin Miller
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As My Uncle Used To Say
I've thought a power on men and things,
As my uncle ust to say,--
And ef folks don't work as they pray, i jings!
W'y, they ain't no use to pray!
Ef you want somepin', and jes dead-set
A-pleadin' fer it with both eyes wet,
And _tears_ won't bring it, w'y, you try _sweat_,
As my uncle ust to say.
They's some don't know their A, B, Cs,
As my uncle ust to say,
And yit don't waste no candle-grease,
Ner whistle their lives away!
But ef they can't write no book, ner rhyme
No ringin' song fer to last all time,
They can blaze the way fer the march sublime,
As my uncle ust to say.
Whoever's Foreman of all things here,
As my uncle ust to say,
He knows each job 'at we 're best fit fer,
And our round-up, night and day:
And a-sizin' _His_ work, east and west,
And north and south, and worst and best
I ain't got nothin' to suggest,
As my uncle ust to say.
poem by James Whitcomb Riley
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We Must Be Thinking Alike
So many nights we didn't fight but never talked much
We just lost touch
I think we knew our dream come true was slowly dying
No denying
Now comes the time we must decide to go or stay
To get it back somehow or throw it all away
We must be thinking alike
You never held me so tight
We must be finally doing something right
I'm not about to give in
This is a fight we can win and after all this time
We must be thinking alike
Let's just stay home
I'll get a pizza and a movie we both wanna see
And later on who knows what we'll find to agree on
It's been so long
Dim down the lights, turn off the phone and the TV
I can tell the way you're smiling back at me that
We must be thinking alike
You never held me so tight
We must be finally doing something right
I'm not about to give in
This is a fight we can win and after all this time
We must be thinking alike
We must be thinking alike
Holding aech other so tight
We must be finally doing something right
I'm not about to give in
This is a fight we can win and after all this time
We must be thinking alike
song performed by by Pam Tillis
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dying Words
My words to her
There dying
It was a warning
I made that so clear
But every time
She Ignores them
I don't want to help
But I must
I don't like to see her in pain
So I listen
No matter what its about
I will listen
These dying words
Where a warning
That I didn't want to
But these words
I spoke of
Are dying
I may say them again
But I cant handle seeing her in pain
Why could you just see
That I warned you
You did it again
And now these words
are dying
Just lost in the past
So these are my dying words
I'm not helping you
If you get hurt this time'
You just laughed at the now dying words
I guess now you must learn
There are no happy endings
At least not yet
These are my dying words...
Lost in a memory...
poem by Lizzy Henry
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Dying is a Heavy Responsibility
Dying is such a huge responsibility
I'm not sure I'll even attend.
Will there be sad tears
or none at all;
or worse approbation
and the silence of the resentful
or will there be laughter and love.
Who will do my eulogy
and will it be someone
I would choose
or will it be some hated brother in law?
Dying is such a responsibility.
Will they dress me in dignified black
could I have a last cigarette
or a last run around the block?
Will I lay there
surrounded by hypocrites
who never lifted a finger in life to help
now tearfully they genuflect;
for some of them
I just might
reach out my hand
and slap a face
that would shake up the congregation.
But who would have to pay for the services?
Dying is expensive, at least 5,000 dollars or so
probably more.
Why waste all that money on
hungry worms?
Dying involves financial decisions
Who will attend my funeral
who will the pallbearers be?
Perhaps I will slink off to die alone
and save myself
and others a lot of trouble.
I think I rather leave a few bucks
and have the mourners have a party;
after all
who says a solemn mass
and boozing don't go together,
even Jesus
liked his wine.
So if I go
by disease, accident, lifestyle, or crash
it would be nice if I could get some help
with all that responsibility.
Wonder if I could get someone to die for me
and save me all the trouble;
It could happen.
You can get anything, I understand, for a price.
Besides who really wants to go to a funeral?
Me least of all
especially
if it is my own.
poem by Lonnie Hicks
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