Severin,

I agree - great thread, Foxy.

William Blake is a favourite poet of mine. Here are the first four lines of "Auguries Of Innocence"

To see a World in a grain of sand,
And Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.

And this from "The Four Zoas" - Blake's prophesy of the changes the Industrial Revolution would bring.

And all the arts of life they changed into the arts of death.
The hour glass contemnd because its simple workmanship.
Was the workmanship of the plowman & the water wheel.
That raises water into Cisterns broken and burned in fire.
Because its workmanship was like the workmanship of the Shepherd.
And in their stead intricate wheels invented Wheel without wheel.
To perplex youth in their outgoings & bind to labours.
Of day & night the myriads of Eternity, that they might file
And polish brass & iron hour after hour laborious workmanship
Kept ignorant of the use that they might spend the days of wisdom.
In sorrowful drudgery to obtain a scanty pittance of bread
In ignorance to view a small portion & think that All
And call it Demonstration blind to all the simple rules of life.

Dear Proxy,

Rhyme is only one of several elements
of poetry.

Thanks for the poem you quoted -
I'm not sure of the title and
author, however its style reminds
me of - "Metamorphoses," by Ovid.

Dear Pynch,

Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gently
Into That Good Night," is one of
my mother's favourites. She actually
had us read it at my step-father's
funeral. It was very moving.

Dear Poirot,

"Look at my works, ye Mighty,
and despair..." Shelley puts it
so beautifully. Power is fleeting.
Every time I read this poem, visions
of the tearing down of Lenin/Stalin's
statues in Moscow spring to mind.

Dear Suze,

I love Robert Frost.

"The Road Not taken," reminds me
of an old Lithuanian saying:

"Along a straight road you will travel faster
but you will see less."

Dear Pynch,

Absolutely brilliantly done!

C.S. Lewis - who'd have thought...

Dear Rehctub,

Loved your fishing poem - it's made
me want to re-read some of my books
on Australian Verse - so Thanks!

Dear Belly,

I love bush poetry as well.
And of course Banjo Paterson is
on top of my list.
I hope that you'll find some time
to enjoy a few quiet reading moments.
You deserve it!

Dear Severin,

I've added your beautiful Haiku poems to my
collection. Thank You.

Dear Poirot,

"Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright..."

William Blake - another classic!

I'm really enjoying this thread.
Keep it coming - please!

Foxy

As today is Mothers' Day how about this from Rudyard Kipling

Mother o' Mine

If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

Foxy to pick just one mon ami, impossible. :)

Some of my favourites include T S Eliot's 'The Wasteland' too long to put here. Also love Yeats's 'Leda and the Swan' because of the language and the ability of Yeats to create a mood - in this case sadness.

I tend to like the imagist poems and this one by D H Lawrence really sets the scene. It is typical of Lawrence I guess in it's sexual focus.

"Gloire De Dijon"

"When she rises in the morning
I linger to watch her;
She spreads the bath-cloth underneath the window
Glistening white on her shoulders,
While down her sides the mellow
Golden shadow glows as
She stoops to the sponge, and her swung breasts
Sway like full-blown yellow
Gloire de Dijon roses.

She drips herself with water, and her shoulders
Glisten as silver, they crumple up
Like wet and felling roses, and I listen
For the sluicing of their rain-dishevelled petals,
In the window full of sunlight
Concentrates her golden shadow
Fold on fold, until it flows as
Mellow as the glory roses."

Dear Severin,

Thank You for that!

I'm having a lousy "Mother's Day,"
I took both my mum's out on Friday
for a Chinese Banquet - and had
flowers delivered to both of them
yesterday. (Their grandchildren are
visiting both today).

Whereas, I've spent the day drinking
medication, liquids, and having
multiple bowel movements - because
I'm booked in for a Colonoscopy
tomorrow arvo at the hospital.

So, my "Mother's Day," has virtually
gone down the crapper!

My apologies, for sharing this with you -
but as I said - it's been a lousy day.
And, then all that antagonism from
some male posters - on other threads -
which I needed like a hole in the head ...

So, Thank You dear heart, for this
lovely poem!