Poems and Verse you know by heart

[crich70]

“Sir, I admit your general rule,
That every poet is a fool,
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.”

― Samuel Taylor Coleridge

[pdurrant]

I am his Highness’ dog at Kew; Pray tell me sir, whose dog are you?

-- Alexander Pope. Engraved on the collar of a dog given by Pope to HRH Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1738.

[crich70]

Good friend for Jesus sake forbear,
to dig the dust enclosed here,
Blest be he who spares these stones,
and curst be he who moves my bones.
~inscribed on the tomb of William Shakespeare

[trichobezoar]

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer, that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to heaven he flings.
I know why the caged bird sings!

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

[BetterRed]

April 25th is Anzac Day, the sacredest of all days in Australia.

This year we are told that there will be no dawn services, nor any parades down George St flanked by flag waving kids wearing their forefather's brass medallions and crosses of bronze. And the pubs are shuttered like the eyes of the fallen; so there's nowhere we can stand in circle to bet on the toss of two coins. Besides, gathering is banned, five at a wedding, ten at a funeral, is all we're allowed. So in the early morning on that one day of the year we must stand alone in our picket fenced gardens, a mandatory metre and a half apart, reciting the The Ode [to the Anzacs] repeatedly.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

From "For the Fallen" by Laurence Binyon

Thought I'd better post this now, in case…

[AnotherCat]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

...And the pubs are shuttered like the eyes of the fallen; so there's nowhere we can stand in circle to bet on the toss of two coins. Besides, gathering is banned, five at a wedding, ten at a funeral, is all we're allowed...

But you Guys and Gals over there
Can go to the barber or hairdresser dear
Closed for us 4 weeks from tonight
I always cut my own, a mirror image fright

But here is a "proper" poem by Bernard Shaw, from me to the Ozs.

Haircut

The Barber came to cut my hair,
I told him that it wasn't fair.
My hair had done him no harm,
Without it I would loose my charm.
The Barber he grinned a silly grin,
Said to cut my hair would be no sin.
That I should face it like a man,
But I'm a coward and away I ran.
Do you like sitting in a Barbers chair,
With him chopping away your lovely hair.
Once my head was full of curls,
Covering my face with twisty twirls.
But then the Barber came my way,
I was a child, I had no say.
Off came my curls one by one,
The Barber seemed to have great fun.
Now I'm old and very grey,
I'm nearly bald, my hairs gone away.
But when I see a Barbers chair,
I feel the loss of my curly hair.
You know I truly rue the day,
When that first Barber came my way.

[pdurrant]

I remembered this slightly differently, but when I looked up the author I found the original words, so I give them here.

Hence no force however great
Can stretch a cord however fine
Into a horizontal line
Which is accurately straight

—William Whewell, An Elementary Treatise of Mechanics, 1st Edition, 1819.

(For comparison, my memory of it was

There is no force, however great
Can pull a line, however fine
Into a horizonal line
That shall be absolutely straight

But I shall now try to remember the original version, since the fact is was a found poem is part of the charm. Changing the words loses that.)

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

April 26th is Anzac Day, the sacredest of all days in Australia.

Australia celebrates Anzac Day on the 26th of April? I know of Anzac Day from my connections in NZ, but there it's the 25th. Interesting that the two countries commemorate the event on consecutive days.

[WillAdams]

A couple of my favourites which are graven into memory (a few lines only --- easy enough to find with a search) and their significance to me:

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree,
Where Alph the sacred river ran, down to a sunless sea...

Always loved that, and recently bought a copy of Stephen W. Beyer's The Enchanted Forest which examines it in depth, comparing it to Wieland's Oberon as a source --- on that basis, I read a facsimile copy of John Quincy Adams' translation.

I bought my soldier boy a blade, in far Damascus fashioned well,
Whom first that glittering falchion felled....

Yeah, I'm an incurable romantic.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Australia celebrates Anzac Day on the 26th of April? I know of Anzac Day from my connections in NZ, but there it's the 25th. Interesting that the two countries commemorate the event on consecutive days.

Thanks - you're right, Anzac Day is 25 April, it got conflated with Australia Day (26 Jan) - corrected.

BR