Poems
Owen Barfield
"a whisper,
which memory will warehouse as a shout."
Robert Burns
"For a' That and a' That"-simplified by archipelago7.blogspot.com
Is there, for honest poverty,
That hangs his head, and all that?
The coward slaves, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for all that,
For all that and all that,
Our toil’s obscure, and all that,
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The man’s the gold for all that.
What though on homely fare we dine,
Wear hodden gray, and all that?
Give tools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man’s a man, for all that;
For all that, and all that;
Their tinsel show, and all that;
The honest man, though e’er so poor,
Is king of men, for all that.
You see yon fellow called a lord,
Who struts and stares and all that?
Though hundreds worships at his word,
He’s but a dunce for all that;
For all that, and all that;
For all that, and all that;
The man of independent mind,
He looks and laughs at all that.
A prince can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and all that;
But an honest man’s above his might,
Good faith has he for all that;
Their dignities, and all that;
For all that, and all that;
The pith and sense and pride of worth
Are higher ranks than all that.
Then let us pray that come it man,
As come it will for all that,
That sense and worth; o’er all the earth,
May bear the palm; and all that;
For all that, and all that,
It’s coming yet for all that,
That man to man, the world all o’er,
Shall brothers be for all that.
Robert Browning
A Woman's Last Word
I. Let's contend no more, Love,
Strive nor weep:
All be as before, Love,
—Only sleep!
II. What so wild as words are?
I and thou
In debate, as birds are,
Hawk on bough!
III. See the creature stalking
While we speak!
Hush and hide the talking,
Cheek on cheek!
IV. What so false as truth is,
False to thee?
Where the serpent's tooth is
Shun the tree—
V. Where the apple reddens
Never pry—-
Lest we lose our Edens,
Eve and I.
VI. Be a god and hold me
With a charm!
Be a man and fold me
With thine arm!
VII. Teach me, only teach, Love!
As I ought
I will speak thy speech, Love,
Think thy thought—
VIII. Meet, if thou require it,
Both demands,
Laying flesh and spirit
In thy hands.
IX. That shall be to-morrow
Not to-night:
I must bury sorrow
Out of sight.
X. —Must a little weep, Love,
(Foolish me!)
And so fall asleep, Love,
Loved by thee.
Samuel Smiles
Sow a thought, reap an act,
Sow an act, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character,
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Sir John Bowring
"In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow'ring o' er the wrecks of time."
Whittier
Freedom, hand in hand with labor,
Walketh strong and brave;
On the forehead of his neighbor
No man writeth 'Slave.'
William Hone
The proudest heart that ever beat
Hath been subdued in me;
The wildest will that ever rose
To scorn Thy cause and aid Thy foes
Is quell'd my Lord, by Thee.
Thy will, and not my will be done,
My heart be ever Thine;
Confessing Thee the mighty Word,
My Saviour Christ, my God, my Lord,
Thy cross shall be my sign.
William Wordsworth
"The Excursion IX"
"To every Form of being is assigned"
Thus calmly spake the venerable Sage,
An active Principle: however removed
From sense and observation it subsists
In all things, in all natures; in the stars
Of azure heaven, the unenduring clouds,
In flower and tree, in every pebbly stone
That paves the brooks, the stationary rocks,
The moving waters, and the invisible air.
Whate'er exists hath properties that spread
Beyond itself, communicating good
A simple blessing, or with evil mixed;
Spirit that knows no insulated spot,
No chasm, no solitude; from link to link
It circulates, the Soul of all the worlds.
This is the freedom of the universe;
Unfolded still the more, more visible,
The more we know; and yet is reverenced least,
And least respected in the human Mind,
Its most apparent home.
