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Wow, I love all of these poems. I'll have to read this thread more closely.
I read "The Road not Taken" at my grandfather's funeral - it was his favorite poem.
Stopping by the Woods ... the censorship thing is insane! For what it's worth, I think there has been new scholarship on this poem - it used to be thought of a death wish (last stanzas); now I guess it's thought of as more life affirming.
I love "When you are Old" by W.B. Yeats.
I also love T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Dylan Thomas.
And yes (sob) things like the Rainbow Bridge and the one about "I did not die". I collected all of those when my beloved pet died.
The sun has seldom turned his face
To smile upon a lovelier place.
Than Ashington Village so fair and dry
That fronts the south and western sky.
The trees in wild luxuriance grow
And pure the ev'ning breezes blow,
The landscape round is fair to see
The parsonage and chestnut tree;
[The blacksmiths shop,the parish pound,
The windmill whirling round and round,
The flowing brook, the trickling rills,
The cottages and towering hills.
That many a ridge and peak display,
And in the distance die away,
sure never yet did jackdaw perch
Upon a prettier parish church,
Than that whose glittering spire is seen
Right opposite the village green,
And twittering birds at early morn,
Skim round the cot where I was born.
Alright, my all-time favorite poet is probably Charles Bukowski.
8 Count - Bukowski
[SIZE=3] from my bed
I watch
3 birds
on a telephone
wire.
one flies
off.
then
another.
one is left,
then
it too
is gone.
my typewriter is
tombstone
still.
and I am
reduced to bird
watching.
just thought I'd
let you
know,
****er. [/SIZE]
Emily Dickinson - Death:
Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.
We slowly drove—He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—
Or rather—He passed Us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—
Since then—'tis Centuries—and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity—
I too love "When You Are Old" by Yeats...it's beautiful. But my favorite poem is the one I used at my wedding this past March; the poet is Pablo Neruda.
Sonnet 17”
“I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz or arrow of carnations that propagate fire: I love you as certain dark things are loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom, and carries hidden within itself the light of those flowers, and thanks to your love, darkly in my body lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where, I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I know no other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you; so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.”
Facing west from California's shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,
Look off the shores of my Western sea, the circle almost circled;
For starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales of Kashmere,
From Asia, from the north, from the God, the sage, and the hero,
From the south, from the flowery peninsulas and the spice islands,
Long having wander'd since, round the earth having wander'd,
Now I face home again, very pleas'd and joyous,
(But where is what I started for so long ago? And why is it yet unfound?)
Walt Whitman
Facing west from California's shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
I, a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,
Look off the shores of my Western sea, the circle almost circled;
For starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales of Kashmere,
From Asia, from the north, from the God, the sage, and the hero,
From the south, from the flowery peninsulas and the spice islands,
Long having wander'd since, round the earth having wander'd,
Now I face home again, very pleas'd and joyous,
(But where is what I started for so long ago? And why is it yet unfound?)
Walt Whitman
Yes, and then there is "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking". Sorry everyone, my cut and paste function isn't cooperating. I love this thread.
THIS IS THE ONE THAT GOT ME THRU TOUGH TIMES,
INVICTUS (latin for 'unconquered') Maybe I'm cornball, but it still gives me goose bumps, I guess ya had to be there, eh? fuggetaboudit!!!
William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903
INVICTUS
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Steve-O...I loved that you mentioned it being a plaque on grandma's wall during your childhood. I believe that is how I came to love reading poetry, and interested in W.E.Henley; the last lines of "Invictus" were good at getting thru turmoil & traumatic times; as a kid I would ask how come he misspelled the word "strait"....not knowing the King's English of the author's times...and that helped a little kid get into Poetry. It gave me fortitude when all around me kept insisting Oh, I'm Powerless, I"m weak! I LOVE THIS FOREVER.
IT MATTERS NOT HOW STRAIT THE GATE,
HOW CHARGED WITH PUNISHMENTS THE SCROLL,
I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE, I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL.
I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE, I AM THE CAPTAIN OF MY SOUL.
***love this line***
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