Viv

from Don Juan
By Lord George Byron

Still holds true today, the pen is mightier than the sword...

No More "W's"

Beautiful

Viv

I like the sentiments in "If", although it isn't anywhere near as beautifully written, IMO...
It is a little longer, I hope WEB doesn't mind the cut and paste job:

If...
Rudyard Kipling
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 hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Viv

Lol Chookie you're going to shake me out of this despondency whether I want it or not

Slartibartfas

I hope you dont deem me spammer either. But I thought I may add a little bit of German speaking literature as well. I mean the one who does not know Goethe is an absolute ignorant anyway

Its the sole poem I ever had to learn entirely in school. Luckily I have forgotten it already again Well I know what its about, but I cant reproduce it without any help anymore. Its a masterpiece however in that way that it never will be outdated...

In the () you have the English tranlsation, even though it doesnt reach the German original it gives you an idea of it.


Der Zauberlehrling (The Sorcerer's Apprentice)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Translation by Brigitte Dubiel)

Hat der alte Hexenmeister (Good! The sorcerer, my old master)
sich doch einmal wegbegeben! (left me here alone today!)
Und nun sollen seine Geister (Now his spirits, for a change,)
auch nach meinem Willen leben! (my own wishes shall obey!)
Seine Wort' und Werke (Having memorized)
merkt' ich, und den Brauch, (what to say and do,)
und mit Geistesstärke (with my powers of will I can)
tu ich Wunder auch. (do some witching, too!)

Walle, walle, (Go, I say,)
manche Strecke, (Go on your way,)
dass zum Zwecke (do not tarry,)
Wasser fliesse, (water carry,
und mit reichem, vollem Schwalle (let it flow abundantly,)
zu dem Bade sich ergiesse! (and prepare a bath for me!)

Und nun komm, du alter Besen! (Come on now, old broom, get dressed,)
Nimm die schlechten Lumpenhüllen (these old rags will do just fine!)
Bist schon lange Knecht gewesen: (You're a slave in any case,)
nun erfülle meinen Willen! (and today you will be mine!)
Auf zwei Beinen stehe, (May you have two legs,)
oben sei der Kopf, (and a head on top,)
eile nun, und gehe (take the bucket, quick)
mit dem Wassertopf! (hurry, do not stop!)

Walle, walle, (Go, I say,)
manche Strecke, (Go on your way,)
dass zum Zwecke (do not tarry,)
Wasser fliesse, (water carry,)
und mit reichem, vollem Schwalle (let it flow abundantly,)
zu dem Bade sich ergiesse. (and prepare a bath for me.)

Seht, er läuft zum Ufer nieder! (Look, how to the bank he's running!)
Wahrlich! ist schon an dem Flusse, (and now he has reached the river,)
und mit Blitzesschnelle wieder (he returns, as quick as lightning,)
ist er hier mit raschem Gusse. (once more water to deliver.)
Schon zum zweiten Male! (Look! The tub already)
Wie das Becken schwillt! (is almost filled up!)
Wie sich jede Schale (And now he is filling)
voll mit Wasser füllt! (every bowl and cup!)

Stehe! Stehe! (Stop! Stand still!)
Denn wir haben (Heed my will!)
deiner Gaben (I've enough)
Vollgemessen! (of the stuff!)
Ach, ich merk' es! Wehe! Wehe! (I've forgotten - woe is me!)
Hab' ich doch das Wort vergessen! (what the magic word may be.)

Ach, das Wort, worauf am Ende (Oh, the word to change him back)
er das wird, was er gewesen! (into what he was before!)
Ach, er läuft und bringt behende! (Oh, he runs, and keeps on going!)
Wärst du doch der alte Besen! (Wish you'd be a broom once more!)
Immer neue Güsse (He keeps bringing water)
bringt er schnell herein, (quickly as can be,)
Ach, und hundert Flüsse (and a hundred rivers)
stürzen auf mich ein! (he pours down on me!)

Nein, nicht länger (No, no longer)
kann ich's lassen, (can I let him,)
will ihn fassen, (I must get him)
das ist Tücke! (with some trick!)
Ach, nun wird mir immer bänger! (I'm beginning to feel sick.)
Welche Miene! Welche Blicke! (What a look! - and what a face!)

O, du Ausgeburt der Hölle! (O, you ugly child of Hades!)
Soll das ganze Haus ersaufen? (The entire house will drown!)
Seh' ich über jede Schwelle (Everywhere I look, I see)
doch schon Wasserströme laufen. (water, water, running down.)
Ein verruchter Besen! (Be you damned, old broom,)
der nicht hören will! (why won't you obey?)
Stock, der du gewesen, (Be a stick once more,)
steh doch wieder still! (please, I beg you, stay!)

Willst's am Ende (Is the end)
gar nicht lassen? (not in sight?)
Will dich fassen, (I will grab you,)
will dich halten, (hold you tight,)
und das alte Holz behende (with my axe I'll split the brittle)
mit dem scharfen Beile spalten. (old wood smartly down the middle.)

Seht, da kommt er schleppend wieder! (Here he comes again with water!)
Wie ich mich nur auf dich werfe, (Now I'll throw myself upon you,)
gleich, o Kobold, liegst du nieder! (and the sharpness of my axe)
Krachend trifft die glatte Schärfe. (I will test, o spirit, on you.)
Wahrlich, brav getroffen! (Well, a perfect hit!)
Seht, er ist entzwei! (See how he is split!)
Und nun kann ich hoffen, (Now there's hope for me,)
und ich atme frei! (and I can breathe free!)

Wehe! Wehe! (Woe is me! Both pieces)
Beide Teile (come to life anew,)
steh'n in Eile (now, to do my bidding)
schon als Knechte (I have servants two!)
völlig fertig in die Höhe! (Help me, o great powers!)
Helft mir, ach ihr hohen Mächte! (Please, I'm begging you!)

Und sie laufen! Nass und nässer (And they're running! Wet and wetter)
wird's im Saal und auf den Stufen, (get the stairs, the rooms, the hall!)
Welch entsetzliches Gewässer! (What a deluge! What a flood!)
Herr und Meister, hör' mich rufen! (Lord and master, hear my call!)
Ach, da kommt der Meister! (Ah, here comes the master!)
Herr, die Not ist groß! (I have need of Thee!)
Die ich rief, die Geister, (from the spirits that I called)
werd' ich nun nicht los. (Sir, deliver me!)

„In die Ecke (“Back now, broom,)
Besen, Besen! (into the closet!)
Seids gewesen, (Be thou as thou)
denn als Geister (wert before!)
ruft euch nur zu seinem Zwecke (Until I, the real master)
erst hervor der alte Meister!” (call thee forth to serve once more!”)

__________________
"Every country gets the cuisine it deserves"

Common insult examples and how to avoid them

Viv

OK Slarti, things are not as bad as that for me here!! You remind me there is always someone worse off than yourself

Viv

So, Sir John Moore was a Scottish soldier who fought in various theatres, including the American war of independence. He was sent to Spain in 1808 to the Peninsular War where he was commander of the British force. Defeat was looming, those annoying Frenchies occupied Madrid and Moore's force had to retreat in winter's dreadful weather to La Coruna, but they were caught up by the French armies and a desperate battle ensued. The British prevailed, but Moore died a hero in the final stage of that battle.
I visited his resting place there in Spain and my Irish friend John read this poem to us on a sunny Spanish afternoon:

NOT a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corse to the rampart we hurried;
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
O'er the grave where our hero we buried.

We buried him darkly at dead of night,
The sods with our bayonets turning,
By the struggling moonbeam's misty light
And the lanthorn dimly burning.

No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
Not in sheet or in shroud we wound him;
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest
With his martial cloak around him.

Few and short were the prayers we said,
And we spoke not a word of sorrow;
But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
And we bitterly thought of the morrow.

We thought, as we hollow'd his narrow bed
And smooth'd down his lonely pillow,
That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
And we far away on the billow!

Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that 's gone,
And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him--
But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on
In the grave where a Briton has laid him.

But half of our heavy task was done
When the clock struck the hour for retiring;
And we heard the distant and random gun
That the foe was sullenly firing.

Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
From the field of his fame fresh and gory;
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone,
But we left him alone with his glory.

by Charles Wolfe

factfinder

Pollution (Tom Lehrer)
Pollution,pollution
You can use the latest toothpaste
And then rinse your mouth with industrial waste
Just go out for a breath of air
And you will be ready for medicare
The city streets are quite a thrill
If the hoods don´t get you , the monoxide will.
Pollution,pollution , wear a gas mask and a veil
Then you can breathe - long as you don´t inhale
Fish gotta swim,birds gotta fly
But they don´t last long
If they try ...

Kazikli Bey

I've alerady posted this on another part of the forum, but i thought i'd add it here while the going was still hot. This is a poem a wrote a couple of years ago... i'm actually debating whether to turn it into a song.

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Viv

Ohhhh, good, very good. Thank you for letting us see it, I know that's not easy. What is the inspiration, KB?