Best lines of Poetry or Literature

[ajaxfetish]

Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death . . . Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

Here's a few favorites from one text.

Ajax

[naut]

So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut.

[rajpoot]

One is in my sig.

Another favourite is by Byron -

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She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright,
Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

And a third one from a translation of Omar Khayyam, can't rightly remember who translation it was;

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Morning when dawn's left hand was in the sky,
I heard a voice within the tavern cry,
Awake my little ones and fill the cup,
Before life's liquor in its cup be dry....

And a fourth one which I nearly forgot...don't even remember who it is by.....read it in a RD book of Wit and Wisdom ages back;

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I praise the Frenchman, his remark was shrewd,
How sweet, how passing sweet, is solitude!
But grant me still a friend in my retreat
Whom I may whisper, solitude is sweet.

Great thread by the way.....lots of potential.

[Sevis]

I am considering learning this bit by heart:

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The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

And, a poem:

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"Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth and hated her for her pride,
And when she fell in feeble health, ye blessed her- that she died!
How shall the ritual, then, be read? — the requiem how be sung
By you — by yours, the evil eye, — by yours, the slanderous tongue
That did to death the innocence that died, and died so young?"

E. A. Poe, Lenore

EDIT: Oh, and almost forgot a recent jewel I discovered (non-English, I hope you don't mind):

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Daar waren eens drie studentjes
Drie vrienden in lust en in nood;
Ze sprongen zoo moedig de wereld in,
En de wereld - trapte ze dood.

P. Paaltjens, Drie Studentjes
P. Paaltjens, Three Little Students

[Lemur]

When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?

— William Blake

[Samurai Waki]

"Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honourably. And Rhaegar died."

~George R.R. Martin



"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Alfred Tennyson

[The Stranger]

EDIT: Oh, and almost forgot a recent jewel I discovered (non-English, I hope you don't mind):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Daar waren eens drie studentjes
Drie vrienden in lust en in nood;
Ze sprongen zoo moedig de wereld in,
En de wereld - trapte ze dood.

P. Paaltjens, Drie Studentjes
P. Paaltjens, Three Little Students

specially for you I have this one i just found,

Maar Noa zwijgt, en haar zwijgen is meer dan gewoon een stilte, en haar zwijgen snijdt alle woorden uit zijn mond. (by one called helga)

there's more here, in dutch though http://www.schrijvenonline.org/forum/102216?page=1

and Ungaretti's

Eterno

Tra un fiore colto e l'altro donato
l'inesprimibile nulla

between one flower reaped and the other given
the inexpressible nothingness

(I don't know but somehow english ruins most french and italian poems in translation)

[drone]

"Oh freddled gruntbuggly? thy micturations are to me
As plurdled gabbleblotchis on a lurgid bee.
Groop I implore thee, my foonting turlingdromes.
And hooptiously drangle me with crinkly bindlewurdles,
Or I will rend thee in the gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon, see if I don't!"

-Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz

[Subotan]

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"Now can you tell me how all this happened?" asked Mrs Jones, the police officer in charge of finding out what happened, "it is vitally important"
"Yes I think I can" I replied, and I was forced to re-live my terrible experience.
"I miss you too," I was saying to my girlfriend Jess "no I miss you more"
"Sorry Adam my mum says I've got to get to off the phone and finish my homework bye "she had replied
"Bye love you see you tomorrow"
"Bye bye love you to" and she put the phone down, I carried on walking home, and then i saw them the bunch of 7, 18 year old, pikies I had seen yesterday, that threatened me, that if they saw me again they would mug me and beat me up.

"Damn" I thought I had forgotten my penknife, I was about to turn and run, when I realised that they were beating up someone they looked small about 10 or 11, I felt sorry for them, I would of them pikies up but I was only 14, and there was 7 of them and only one of me, so I was walking past trying not to be noticed, when I tried to get to get a glimpse of who it was, when I got a great shock, was that, no it couldn't be, but there again, my 10 year old brother, John and then I felt the rage build up, that had only happened once before, in year 4 when my worst enemy, his older brother and his gang, he was in year 5 and his brother was in year 6, were beating up my best friend, there were 4 of them, 3 year 5's and a year 6, it had come off badly, for them.
Back to the present I ran at the nearest one, rugby tackled him to the floor, we skid at least 15 feet, I cut up the knuckles on one hand, the other hand was holding his face to the floor, the last 5 feet there was a red skid of his blood, when we stopped I started to pummel his face, with both of my hands, the other pikies where looking now, this little kid decked the biggest of them they couldn't believe it, I kept on punching until one of them hit me, I got up and faced them, I shouted at John
"John get home now, take your bike and go and get help!" he got up, staggered a bit, started to walk towards me, to help but "John get home now, first house, get help now!"
He ran, the pikies started on me, I expected the one on the floor to get up, he didn't, I turned and ran, I was the sporty type, fasted sprinter best fighter, the strongest boy in our school and one of the smartest, I got my bike I yanked the keys out my pocket, and then realised I had so many keys and they looked the same, so I started to find the right key, they finally caught up with me, just as I opened the padlock
"Good for us that you opened the lock, after we kill you we can take the bike easier" one of them taunted me with his words, obviously the leader, being the strongest, then they all took a flick knife out there pocket and flicked the blade out, they were blood stained they had stabbed before and weren't afraid to do it again, they advanced on me
"bad for you actually," I replied
"How can in be bad for us?" he replied, "there are 7, no wait Daves down, 6 of us 10 more on there way I would say bad for you.

"Bring it on then" I taunted he pushed me backwards I stumbled over something on the floor, my brothers bike chain, I picked it up clicked the padlock shut I did the same with my padlock.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh" I screamed with rage then I swung the chains round like deadly batons and cracked them into his skull it made a hard impact and he went down on the floor blood trickled down from where the padlocks had struck. I carried on swinging moving toawrds the others.
"come on then bring it on" then I realised there were only 4 of them where was the other then I found out as he stabbed me in the back of my leg and punched me in the small of my back I bought the batons round and hit him he was down I thought 4 to go but then there were 10 more people coming towards me I turned round and quickly attacked the others they where down silently I turned back to the 10 but there where only 8 the other 2 where lying on the floor then the back 1 fell 7 and then Mr Williamson come round the corner holding a gun I knew it he was an elite sniper in the army when he was younger we all had thought it but he shot again 6 left the others scattered as 1 more went down there where still running towards me I swung the chins round as another fell shot the 4 where on me nearly 3 I hit one 2 he shot 1, 1 left I swung as he shot they hit the last 1 at the same time mass pain.

"Don't worry there only darts they will wake up, you made a mess of some of them"
"And that's how it happened"
"Thank you we wil be back."

Seriously though, either

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Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods' roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine.

Or.

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O my brothers! With whom lies the greatest danger to the whole human future? Is it not with the good and just?-

-As those who say and feel in their hearts: "We already know what is good and just, we possess it also; woe to those who still seek thereafter!

And whatever harm the wicked may do, the harm of the good is the harmfulest harm!

And whatever harm the world-maligners may do, the harm of the good is the harmfulest harm!

O my brothers, into the hearts of the good and just looked some one once on a time, who said: "They are the Pharisees." But people did not understand him.

The good and just themselves were not free to understand him; their spirit was imprisoned in their good conscience. The stupidity of the good is unfathomably wise.

It is the truth, however, that the good must be Pharisees- they have no choice!

The good must crucify him who creates his own virtue! That is the truth!

The second one, however, who discovered their country- the country, heart and soil of the good and just,- it was he who asked: "Whom do they hate most?"

The creator, hate they most, him who breaks the law-tablets and old values, the breaker,- him they call the law-breaker.

For the good- they cannot create; they are always the beginning of the end:-

-They crucify him who writes new values on new law-tablets, they sacrifice to themselves the future- they crucify the whole human future!

The good- they have always been the beginning of the end.-

The Common translation is better, but I can't find that online, and I'm too lazy to type it up.

And I just started reading Lovecraft, so I'm really appreciating all the references.

[Sevis]

specially for you I have this one i just found,

Maar Noa zwijgt, en haar zwijgen is meer dan gewoon een stilte, en haar zwijgen snijdt alle woorden uit zijn mond. (by one called helga)

there's more here, in dutch though http://www.schrijvenonline.org/forum/102216?page=1
(I don't know but somehow english ruins most french and italian poems in translation)

Ah, thank you! :)

Unfortunately, I cannot access that page - is registration required, perhaps?


As for English ruining poems - I feel that when you've heard (and understood) the original, the translation (if you can understand it) will feel wrong. I often have this, and rarely see works that feel the same once translated.

[Ramses II CP]

My favorite bit of poetry:

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The Emperor of Ice-Cream

Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.

Wallace Stevens, The Emperor of Ice Cream

As a person who generally finds poetry distasteful or boring I think the sense of grim humor in this poem is inescapably elegant and suitably nonsensical.

[The Stranger]

Ah, thank you! :)

Unfortunately, I cannot access that page - is registration required, perhaps?


As for English ruining poems - I feel that when you've heard (and understood) the original, the translation (if you can understand it) will feel wrong. I often have this, and rarely see works that feel the same once translated.

oh yes, you need to registrate... well if you like poetry or writing than it is a good site to check out. if you'd like i can send you a pm with some other sites.

and youre right about translation, its actually a cruelty... although sometimes i believe translation can add another dimension... but seldom though