"Autobiographies of great nations are written in three manuscripts – a book of deeds, a book of words, and a book of art. Of the three, I would choose the latter as truest testimony." - Sir Kenneth Smith, Great Civilisations

"I must write each day without fail, not so much for the success of the work, as in order not to get out of my routine." - Leo Tolstoy

I have never believed that one should wait until one is inspired because I think the pleasures of not writing are so great that if you ever start indulging them you will never write again. - John Updike

"The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it." - J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

Poetry is the shadow cast by our streetlight imaginations." - Lawrence Ferlinghetti


[Note - If any article requires updating or correction please notate this in the comment section. Thank you. - res]


Thursday, May 23, 2013

Edgar Allan Poe - Annabel Lee




Annabel Lee
by Edgar Allan Poe

It was many and many a year ago,
   In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
   By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
   Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
   In this kingdom by the sea,
But we loved with a love that was more than love -
   I and my Annabel Lee -
With a love that the wingèd seraphs of Heaven
   Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
   In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
   My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsmen came
   And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
   In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
   Went envying her and me -
Yes! - that was the reason (as all men know,
   In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
   Of those who were older than we -
   Of many far wiser than we -
And neither the angels in Heaven above
   Nor the demons down under the sea
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
   Of my darling - my darling - my life and my bride,
   In her sepulchre there by the sea -
   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

 ~ Edgar Allan Poe, c. 1809-1849 (Painting by Kate Curry)

    More about the author - http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/edgar-allan-poe




Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Poems by Shannon Eason

 
 
 
 
 
Love between friends is
 
So hard to live with because
 
You can't be yourself no matter
 
How hard you try so you cry yourself
 
To sleep by the pain of loving a friend.
 
Love between friends is the unwise thing
 
To do because in the end you'll break yours
 
And his heart into a million pieces and the
 
Friendship will be over within minutes.
 
 
Shannon Eason
Submitted: Monday, July 04, 2011
Edited: Monday, July 25, 2011
 
 
 
 
 
 
What is love? Love is where
 
Two people fell in love with
 
Somebody that they can not
 
Live without feeling like they
 
Are dead or on another planet.
 
Love is the reason why people
 
Have broken hearts and tears in
 
Their eyes. Love is trouble to cause
 
People pain of both happy and hurt.
 

Shannon Eason
Submitted: Monday, July 04, 2011
Edited: Tuesday, July 05, 2011
 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, April 6, 2013

R.E. Slater - The Glory of the Lord (a psalm)


The Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt


The Glory of the Lord
by R.E. Slater


Where is thy glory now O Kings of Egypt?
Where is the glory of the tombs of thy people?
For dust thou art and to dust thou hast returned,
And naught but the Lord doth sustain.


Who rules over the heavens and earth,
Who commands the seas and all that is in them,
Who raises up mountains and lays low
Those who by pride would stride the earth.


Who rule not by wisdom nor by mercy,
But by brute strength and vain glory,
To these the Lord of the heavens commands,
Bow down and lay low all ye nations of the earth.


For I am the Lord your God,
Maker of the heavens and the earth,
Whose forgiveness is unmeasured,
Whose joy is boundless as the stars.


Whose glory arises on the wings of the dawn,
Who strideth the earth seeking wisdom's mercy,
That peace might reign over the land of the living,
Before all nations of men full of sin and ruin.


For you, O Lord, art enthroned forever,
You are remembered throughout all generations,
Even as your years endure through all generations,
May all the kings of the earth fear your just name.


O Lord, we lie as a broken people,
Spent before the hot mid-day sun,
All our works lie in toil's upheaval,
Worn out like perishable garments.


O Lord, hear the prayers of the destitute,
Despise not the prayers of your children,
Who lament in sin's grief and lie stricken before you,
Whithered upon the dark days of mortal distress.


O Lord, remember the cries of your servants,
That we might dwell in your glory and praise,

Though the heavens be rolled up like a scroll,
Though the earth passes like an evening shadow.


For you, O Lord, art enthroned forever,
You are remembered throughout all generations,
Even as your years endure through all generations,

May we, your servants, dwell securely in your holy name.


- R.E. Slater
April 6, 2013
*written as a psalm

@copyright R.E. Slater Publications

all rights reserved




Psalm 102
English Standard Version (ESV)

Do Not Hide Your Face from Me

A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint
and pours out his complaint before the Lord.

102 Hear my prayer, O Lord;
let my cry come to you!
2 Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!


3 For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
4 My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
5 Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
6 I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl[a] of the waste places;
7 I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
8 All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
9 For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
10 because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
11 My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.

12 But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
13 You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 For the Lord builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory;
17 he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.

18 Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
19 that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
21 that they may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
22 when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

23 He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.
24 “O my God,” I say, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
you whose years endure
throughout all generations!”

25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.
28 The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.

Footnotes:
Psalm 102:6 The precise identity of these birds is uncertain