This poem by Edgar Allen Poe always brings to me the memory of Shakespeare’s Hamlet where he tells Horatio “Alas, Poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio.” And he continues, “I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath borne me on his back a thousand times, and now, how abhorred … Continue reading
The Still Small Voice John Rollin Ridge, 1827 – 1867 There is a voice more dear to me Than man or woman’s e’er could be— A “still small voice” that cheers The woes of these my darker years. I hear it in the busy crowd, Distinct, amid confusion loud; And in the solemn midnight still, When mem’ries sad … Continue reading
Arizona is peerless, her breezes are soft, And mostly her sky is surprisingly fair, For “the sweet little cherub” on duty aloft, Controlling the tricks of the ambient air, Is vigilant always–good-natured enough In doing his meteorological stunts; Yet sometimes we think, when the weather is rough, That he tries to dispense all his … Continue reading
May be she is best known in the Greek as Persephone–this poem features the difference in worlds and the contradictions of life in general. Proserpine spends time in hell and heaven, spreading her influence to the earth and life and death. The Garden of Proserpine by Algernon Charles Swinburne Here, where the … Continue reading
Song of Myself, V by Walt Whitman I believe in you my soul, the other I am must not abase itself to you, And you must not be abased to the other. Loafe with me on the grass . . . . loose the stop from your throat, Not words, not music or rhyme … Continue reading
Across the road, across the field, Across the town and winding river revealed, And far away from sight and sound, Truth never seen or reason found Leaves a chasm beyond the void To quash the heart without loneliness destroyed. Stillness and solitude once admired Turns an older age to days undesired. Yet across the shadows … Continue reading
Most Americans know this poem as lyrics to the song America the Beautiful, the music by Samuel Augustus Ward. Some see this work as worthy of the National Anthem, and from time to time it is used as a replacement to the Star Spangled Banner. For information about this anthem, see this link. I post this … Continue reading
A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow- You are not wrong, who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a … Continue reading
If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being … Continue reading
The Duke of Parma and the Spanish were bearing down on Protestant England by the will of the Catholic fanatic Philip of Spain. At the time, one would not estimate the chances of Elizabeth to survive on the throne as fortuitous. Certainly her greatest weaknesses were that she was a woman and a heretic to … Continue reading
Howard Bosler Artist 