John Donne

by John Doe 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  BurnTheShips

  Metaphysics

  W HY and Wherefore set out one day

  To hunt for a wild Negation.

  They agreed to meet at a cool retreat

  On the Point of Interrogation.

  But the night was dark and they missed their mark,

  And, driven well-nigh to distraction,

  They lost their ways in a murky maze

  Of utter abstruse abstraction.

  Then they took a boat and were soon afloat

  On a Sea of Speculation,

  But the sea grew rough, and their boat, though tough,

  Was split into an Equation.

  As they floundered about in the Waves of Doubt

  Rose a fearful Hypothesis,

  Who gibbered with glee as they sank in the sea,

  And the last they saw was this:

  On a rock-bound Reef of Unbelief

  There sat the wild Negation;

  Then they sank once more and were washed ashore

  At the Point of Interrogation.

  Oliver Herford
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  snowbird

  Death be not Proud

  Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so, For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow, Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure: then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell; And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. -- John Donne

  John Donne, er I mean Doe, why did you have to go there?

  Now, this will be swirling through my head all the live long day.

  Sylvia
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  BurnTheShips

  Here is one for Sylvia

  NVICTUS by William Ernest Henley

  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.
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  snowbird

  Burn, thank you so very much.

  We had to learn that poem back in grade school, and one girl who had a serious learning disability, "got" it without missing a beat.

  There is so much to the human spirit that cannot be measured.

  And an American haberdasher named Charles Taze Russell thought he held the keys to the universe.

  What hubris!

  LOL.

  Sylvia
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  BurnTheShips

  Here is one on hubris.

  The Blindmen and the Elephantby John Godfrey Saxe

  It was six men of Hindustan
  To learning much inclined,
  Who went to see the Elephant
  (Though all of them were blind)
  That each by observation
  Might satisfy the mind.
  
  The first approached the Elephant
  And happening to fall
  Against his broad and sturdy side
  At once began to bawl:
  "Bless me, it seems the Elephant
  Is very like a wall".
  
  The second, feeling of his tusk,
  Cried, "Ho! What have we here
  So very round and smooth and sharp?
  To me 'tis mighty clear
  This wonder of an Elephant
  Is very like a spear".
  
  The third approached the animal,
  And happening to take
  The squirming trunk within his hands,
  Then boldly up and spake:
  "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
  Is very like a snake."
  
  The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
  And felt about the knee.
  "What most this wondrous beast is like
  Is mighty plain," quoth he;
  "'Tis clear enough the Elephant
  Is very like a tree!"
  
  The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
  Said: "E'en the blindest man
  Can tell what this resembles most;
  Deny the fact who can,
  This marvel of an Elephant
  Is very like a fan!"
  
  The Sixth no sooner had begun
  About the beast to grope,
  Than, seizing on the swinging tail
  That fell within his scope,
  "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
  Is very like a rope!"
  
  And so these men of Hindustan
  Disputed loud and long,
  Each in his own opinion
  Exceeding stiff and strong,
  Though each was partly in the right
  And all were in the wrong.
  
  So oft in theologic wars,
  The disputants, I ween,
  Rail on in utter ignorance
  Of what each other mean,
  And prate about an Elephant
  Not one of them has seen!
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  BurnTheShips

  I am sure Sylvia knows Langston Hughes:

  Mother to son.

  Well, son, I'll tell you:
  Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
  It's had tacks in it,
  And splinters,
  And boards torn up,
  And places with no carpet on the floor --
  Bare.
  But all the time
  I'se been a-climbin' on,
  And reachin' landin's,
  And turnin' corners,
  And sometimes goin' in the dark
  Where there ain't been no light.
  So boy, don't you turn back.
  Don't you set down on the steps
  'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
  Don't you fall now --
  For I'se still goin', honey,
  I'se still climbin',
  And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
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  snowbird

  Burn, you wanna make me cry on this here Monday morning?

  One of my g'sons learned that poem at the age of 4.

  I cried each time he would recite it!

  Sylvia
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  BurnTheShips

  Burn, you wanna make me cry on this here Monday morning?

  BTS
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  truthsetsonefree

  ASCENSION

  And if I go,
  while you're still here...
  Know that I live on,
  vibrating to a different measure
  --behind a thin veil you cannot see through.
  You will not see me,
  so you must have faith.
  I wait for the time when we can soar together again,
  --both aware of each other.
  Until then, live your life to its fullest.
  And when you need me,
  Just whisper my name in your heart,
  ...I will be there.

  "Ascension"
  Copyright ©1987, Colleen Corah Hitchcock
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  truthsetsonefree

  BTW-That Blind men and the Elephant one is Awesome!

  Isaac