To Mirhandah

‘09 – 11 – 27

Mubeen showed me these poems, I liked them and I offered to put them on the internet together with my own verse. I took liberty; with minimal editing.

You do know these words come from The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran?

Juliet

I didn't! But surely not verbatim?! &&

“Love seeketh not Itself to please,
“Nor for itself hath any care,
“But for another gives its ease,
“And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair.”

&
Songs of Experience

"As unto the bow the cord is,
So unto the man is woman;
Though she bends him, she obeys him,
Though she draws him, yet she follows;
Useless each without the other!"

* * *

Thus departed Hiawatha
To the land of the Dacotahs,
Striding over moor and meadow,
Through interminable forests,
Through uninterrupted silence.

At the doorway of his wigwam
Sat the ancient Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs,
At his side, in all her beauty,
Sat the lovely Minnehaha,
Sat his daughter, Laughing Water,
Plaiting mats of flags and rushes
Of the past the old man's thoughts were,
And the maiden's of the future.

Through their thoughts they heard a footstep,
Heard a rustling in the branches,
Suddenly from out the woodlands
Hiawatha stood before them.

"Hiawatha, you are welcome!"

Then uprose the Laughing Water,
From the ground fair Minnehaha,
Brought forth food and set before them,
Water brought them from the brooklet,

Listened while the guest was speaking,
Listened while her father answered,

"That this peace may last forever,
Give me as my wife this maiden,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water,
Loveliest of Dacotah women!"

And made answer very gravely:
"Yes, if Minnehaha wishes;
Let your heart speak, Minnehaha!"
And the lovely Laughing Water
Neither willing nor reluctant,

As she went to Hiawatha,
Softly took the seat beside him,
While she said, and blushed to say it,
"I will follow you, my husband!"

Pleasant was the journey homeward!
All the birds sang loud and sweetly
Songs of happiness and heart's-ease;
Sang the bluebird, the Owaissa,

Thus it was they journeyed homeward;

Brought the moonlight, starlight, firelight,
Brought the sunshine of his people,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water,

*
Excerpts, Longfellow

Can it be the sun descending
O'er the level plain of water?
Or the Red Swan floating, flying,
Wounded by the magic arrow,
Staining all the waves with crimson,
With the crimson of its life-blood,
Filling all the air with splendor,
With the splendor of its plumage?

Over it the Star of Evening
Melts and trembles through the purple,
Hangs suspended in the twilight.
No; it is a bead of wampum
On the robes of the Great Spirit
As he passes through the twilight,
Walks in silence through the heavens.

"Once, in days no more remembered,
Ages nearer the beginning,
When the heavens were closer to us,
And the Gods were more familiar,
In the North-land lived a hunter,
With ten young and comely daughters,
Tall and lithe as wands of willow;
Only Oweenee, the youngest,
She the wilful and the wayward,
She the silent, dreamy maiden,
Was the fairest of the sisters.

“Only Oweenee, the youngest,
Laughed and flouted all her lovers,
All her young and handsome suitors,
And then married old Osseo,
Old Osseo, poor and ugly.

"Ah, but beautiful within him
Was the spirit of Osseo,
From the Evening Star descended,
Star of Evening, Star of Woman,
Star of tenderness and passion!
All its fire was in his bosom,
All its beauty in his spirit,
All its mystery in his being,
All its splendor in his language!

“Called her sweetheart, Nenemoosha,
Soothed her with soft words of kindness,
Till they reached the lodge of feasting,
Till they sat down in the wigwam,
Sacred to the Star of Evening,
To the tender Star of Woman.

"Wrapt in visions, lost in dreaming,
At the banquet sat Osseo;
All were merry, all were happy.

“Through transparent cloud and vapor,
And amid celestial splendors
On the Evening Star alighted,
As a snow-flake falls on snow-flake,
As a leaf drops on a river,
As the thistledown on water.

"Forth with cheerful words of welcome
Came the father of Osseo,
He with radiant locks of silver,
He with eyes serene and tender.

“And he said: `My son, Osseo,
Hang the cage of birds you bring there,
At the doorway of my wigwam.'
Many years, in peace and quiet,
On the peaceful Star of Evening
Dwelt Osseo with his father.

“Many years, in song and flutter,
At the doorway of the wigwam,
Hung the cage with rods of silver,
And fair Oweenee, the faithful,
Bore a son unto Osseo,
With the beauty of his mother,
With the courage of his father.

*
Passages from Hiawatha

William Blake
&

To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
All pray in their distress,
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.

For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
Is God our Father dear;
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love,
Is man, his child and care.

For Mercy has a human heart
Pity, a human face;
And Love, the human form divine;
And Peace, the human dress.

Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine:
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.

And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk, or Jew.
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell,
There God is dwelling too.

William Blake,

To my Friend Butts I write
My first Vision of Light
~
On the yellow sands sitting:
The Sun was Emitting
His Glorious beams
From Heaven’s high Streams
Over Sea over Land
My Eyes did Expand
Into regions of air
Away from all Care,
Into regions of fire
Remote from Desire
~
The Light of the Morning
Heaven’s Mountains adorning:
In particles bright
The jewels of Light
Distinct shone & clear, -
Amaz’d & in fear
I each particle gazed,
Astonish’d Amazed
For each was a Man
Human-form’d: Swift I ran
For they beckon’d to me
Remote by the Sea
~
Saying: Each grain of Sand
Every Stone on the Land
Each rock & each hill
Each fountain & rill
Each herb & each tree
Mountain, hill, earth & sea
Cloud, meteor & Star
Are Men seen Afar.
~
I stood in the Streams
Of Heaven’s bright beams
And saw Felpham sweet
Beneath my bright feet
In soft Female charms,
And in her fair arms
My Shadow I knew
And my wife’s shadow too
And My Sister & Friend.
We like Infants descend
In our Shadows on Earth,
Like a weak mortal birth:
~
My Eyes more & more
Like a Sea without shore
Continue Expanding
The Heavens commanding,
Till the Jewels of Light
Heavenly Men beaming bright
Appear’d as One Man,
Who Complacent began
My limbs to infold
In his beams of bright gold:
Like dross purg’d away
All my mire & my clay.
Soft consum’d in delight
In his bosom sun bright
~
I remain’d: Soft he smil’d
And I heard His voice Mild
Saying: This is My Fold
O thou Ram horn’d with gold
Who awakest from Sleep
On the Sides of the Deep,
On the Mountains around
The roarings resound
Of the lion & wolf,
The loud Sea, and deep gulf:
These are guards of My Fold
O thou Ram horn’d with gold!
~
And the voice faded mild:
I remain’d as a child
All I ever had known
Before me bright Shone:
I saw you and your Wife
By the fountains of life.
Such the Vision to me
Appear’d on the Sea.

&
2 October 1800

John Denver
&

He was born in the summer of his 27’th year
Coming home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door

When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hanging by a song
But the string's already broken and he doesn't really care
It keeps changing fast and it don't last for long

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
He saw everything as far as you can see
And they say that he got crazy once and he tried to touch the sun
And he lost a friend but kept the memory

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

It's Colorado rocky mountain high
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
Friends around the campfire and everybody's high,
~
Rocky Mountain High

Poetic Champions Compose,

You're the Queen of the Slipstream
With eyes that shine
You have crossed many waters to here
You have drank of the fountain of innocence
And experienced the long cold wintry years

There's a dream where the contents are visible
Where the poetic champions compose
Will you breathe not a word of this secrecy?
Will you still be my special rose?

Goin' away far across the sea
But I'll be back for you
Tell you everything I know
Baby everything is true

Will the blush still remain
On your cheeks my love?
Is the light always seen
In your head?

Gold and sliver they placed
At your feet my dear
But I know you chose me instead
You're the Queen of the Slipstream
With eyes that shine

~ ~ ~

Van Morrison
&
We were born before the wind
Also younger than the sun
Ere the bonnie boat was won
As we sailed into the mystic
Hark now hear the sailors cry
Smell the sea and feel the sky
Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows
I will be coming home
And when that fog horn blows I want to hear it
I don't have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
Then magnificently we will float into the mystic
And when that fog horn blows you know
I will be coming home
And when that fog horn whistle blows
I got to hear it
I don't have to fear it
I want to rock your gypsy soul
Just like way back in the days of old
And together we will float into the mystic
Come on girl
Too late to stop now
&&

“Twinkle twinkle little bat
How I wonder what you’re at?”
Copy copy copycat
Copy copy silly rat!

You’ve been carrying on like this let me excuse the ignorance. The copyright belongs to the writer and it expires 75 years after his death. (In some countries it’s 100 years). Plagiarism is something entirely different it is when you fraudulently publish another’s work as your own- and mostly applies in academic works. You’re only jealous because you’re illiterate. Unlike my readers.

There were rats, rats, big as blooming cats
In the store, in the store
There were rats, rats, big as blooming cats
In the Quartermaster's store

My eyes are dim I cannot see
I have not got my specs with me
My eyes are dim I cannot see
I have not brought my specs with me

Ye who believe in affection that hopes, and endures, and is patient,
Ye who believe in the beauty and strength of woman's devotion,
Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.

There in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly the sunset
Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on the chimneys,
Gentle Evangeline lived, fair was she to behold, that maiden
of seventeen summers.

Black were her eyes as the berry that grows on the thorn
by the wayside,
Black, yet how softly they gleamed beneath the brown shade
of her tresses!

*
Excerpts, Longfellow

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain : but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

&
Proverbs

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved : he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is thy keeper : the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil : he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

&
Psalm 121 KJV