Best lines of Poetry or Literature

[Ironside]

Doctor Glas, (Hjalmar Söderberg)

We want to be loved; failing that, admired; failing that, feared, failing that, hated and despised. At all costs we want to stir up some sort of feeling in others. Our soul abhors a vacuum. At all costs it longs for contact.

[The Stranger]

I like that Ironside, reminds me of some quotes ive written down from my trip... ill look those up.

here's some bob dylan, most of the mans work i can post in here, as of the of rimbaud... or ungaretti... man some people are simply genius with words.

If you see her, say hello, she might be in Tangier
She left here last early spring, is livin' there, I hear
Say for me that I'm all right though things get kind of slow
She might think that I've forgotten her, don't tell her it isn't so.

[Subotan]

Ogden Nash, one of the great unappreciated American poets:

Cow
The cow is of the bovine ilk,
One end is moo, the other, milk.

Turtle
The turtle live 'twixt plated decks
Which practically conceal its sex;
I think it clever of the turtle
in such a fix, to be so fertile.

You wanna know what's really sad? I just typed those from memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOvIot-i6rY

[Fragony]

Was it for this the clay grew tall? - O what made fatuous sunbeams toil. To break earth's sleep at all?

Wilson Owen, futilty

[Hax]

Actually, the entire Fire Sermon, but specifically these lines:

"Disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, he is fully released. With full release, there is the knowledge, 'Fully released.' He discerns that 'Birth is depleted, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.' "

[Sevis]

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

Thanks, but I'm already overloaded with things to read, and rarely write anything myself.

I find translation a horrid thing. Tried doing it on the scale of a book once - every paragraph takes a while, every page takes an eternity, and the end result is unreadable. If I'd be paid for it, I could perhaps finish the translation, but never would I willingly read it.

I'm surprised nothing from Tolkien has been posted so far... For instance:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The world was young, the mountains green,
No stain yet on the Moon was seen,
No words were laid on stream or stone,
When Durin woke and walked alone.

[Azathoth]

Thanks, but I'm already overloaded with things to read, and rarely write anything myself.

I find translation a horrid thing. Tried doing it on the scale of a book once - every paragraph takes a while, every page takes an eternity, and the end result is unreadable. If I'd be paid for it, I could perhaps finish the translation, but never would I willingly read it.

I'm surprised nothing from Tolkien has been posted so far... For instance:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The world was young, the mountains green,
No stain yet on the Moon was seen,
No words were laid on stream or stone,
When Durin woke and walked alone.

Theoden's monolgue in the two towers...... i have literally had this memorized since 4th grade.


Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.


judge me as you will but admit its pretty good

[Sevis]

Argh, can't believe I missed that >.<

Sorry, Centurion1

[Centurion1]

its fine. i like that line you posted as well. seriously tolkien gets alot of jokes made about him but i think he was one of the literary greats.

[Sevis]

Eh, I think most authors here would get a more or less equal amount of jokes from an average member of society... Tolkien is simply the better-known one, so more people try to get through his work, only to realise the language is far beyond anything they were expecting after seeing the movies.

[Centurion1]

yeah i remember the first time i read them, musta been 5th grade..... read the hobbit in 4th. They were good and i enjoyed them but they were a tough read which is very rare for me

[Subotan]

I need to re-reead my Tolkein. I'm stuck on a biography of Chang Kai-Shek, some Nietzsche (And eventually Hobbes, good God) and Joyce at the minute though.

[Azathoth]

I'm stuck on a biography of Chang Kai-Shek

Seriously, what's it called? I'll give you the name of a really good Che Guevara biography in exchange.

[quadalpha]

Actually, the entire Fire Sermon, but specifically these lines:

By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept . . .
Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song,
Sweet Thames, run softly, for I speak not loud or long.

[naut]

Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder, 'Why, why, why?'
Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land;
Man got to tell himself he understand.