General Chat

I would just like to add this simple verse... I don't know who wrote it but I think it sums up life.

When thins go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit....

Maggie Thank you for posting this so quickly, and I am sure that people on here will enjoy this as much as i do. ho knows it may even encourage others to add poems etc that they have written.
Nigglelynellie, found your entry very poignant

B

as requested by Bridget...I am honoured you asked me to put it on here, thank you Bridget !...Maggie :)

OF MILK AND HONEY
I have led a simple life
Achieving little
in material wealth ~

Yet gained wisdom


These hands have toiled
Receiving little
in recompense ~

Yet gained pride


I have given my life
Grieving for heady
days of youth

Yet gained knowledge ~


I lived in a state of hope
Believing in a land
Of milk and honey ~

Then I became a realist !


Maggie © 2011

I found this poem while researching for Remembrance Day, which I found thought provoking.

Please wear a Poppy, the lady said,
and held forth one, but I shook my head,
then I stopped to see how she would fare,
her face was old and lined with care,
but beneath the scars that the years had made,
there remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street
bouncing along on carefree feet,
his smile was full of joy and fun
'lady'he said,may I have one?
As she pinned it on, I heard him say
why do we wear a poppy today?

The lady smiled in her wistful way
and answered, 'this is Remembrance Day
the poppy there is is a symbol for
the gallant men who died in the war
and because they did,you and I are free
thats why we wear a poppy you see.

I had a boy, about your size
with golden hair and big blue eyes
he loved to play and jump and shout,
free as a bird he would prance about,
as the years went on he learned and grew
and became a man as you will too

He was fine and strong with a boyish smile
but he seemed with us just a little while
when war broke out he went away
I still remember his face that day
when he smiled at me and said 'goodbye'
I'll be back soon,so please don't cry.

But the war went on and he had to stay
all I could do was wait and pray,
his letters told of the awful fight
I can still see it in my dreams at night,
with Tanks and Guns and cruel barbed wire,
the mines and bullets, the bombs and fire.
Until at last, the war was won,
and that's why we wear a poppy son,

The small boy turned, as if to go,
then said, 'thanks lady, I'm glad to know
that sure did sound like an awful fight, but
your son, did he come home alright'?
A tear rolled down her faded cheek
and she shook her head, and didn't speak,
I slunk away, head bowed in shame,
if you were me, you'd have done the same,
for our thanks in giving is oft delayed,
for our freedom was bought and thousands paid,

And so you see, when a poppy is worn,
let us reflect on the burden borne
by those, who gave their very all
when asked to answer their countrys call
that we at home,in peace may live.
Then wear a poppy, remember, and give.

By an unknown Poet.

This makes me smile.

DADDY FELL INTO THE POND. Alfred Noyes.


Everyone grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And then there seemed to be nothing beyond,
Then
Daddy fell into the pond!

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed!" Click!

Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
When
Daddy Fell into the pond!

Dear Bridget and All

Hello

Hope you are okay and doing well.

I am very glad you like this piece of poetry, Bridget and that you asked me to add this to your post:


HOW DO I LOVE THEE?

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)


How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Take gentle care
With very best wishes
xx

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

nudge

nudge

As I sit in my house overlooking the sea, the birds chirping, the trees swaying so softly and my dear dogs Jet & Joe are sitting by my feet, I realised that I was experiencing real peace and so I decide to find some
peace related sayings. i hope that you enjoy them and maybe post some "peaceful" sayings /poems of your own.

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
Lao Tzu

"This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love."
Peace Pilgrim

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family."
Mother Teresa

I went out last night with OH to a friends 70th birthday,,,it was great fun, Had a few glasses of G&T so a little befuddled this morning so may just do a search for an entry today.....

nigglynellie, i have never seen this before and I to become very angry if animals are mistreated.
Thank you for adding this poem.

I get very angry about cruelty of ALL kinds, so this poem is a favorite of mine too.

Twould ring the bells of heaven
The wildest peal for years,
If the Parson lost his senses,
and the people came to theirs,
and he and they together knelt down with angry prayers,
For tamed and shabby tigers,
For dancing dogs and bears,
And wretched blind pit-ponies,
And little hunted hares.

Ralph Hodson.

Sayings for love and romance


There is no remedy for love but to love more.
-Henry David Thoreau


Never close your lips to those whom you have opened your heart.
-Charles Dickens


May the love you share be as timeless as the tides and as deep as the sea.
-Anonymous


To get the full value of joy you must have someone to divide it with.
-Mark Twain


The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

Not a poem and i admit that I have copied and pasted this from todays newspaper.

Right reverend and worshipful and my right well-beloved Valentine, I recommend me unto you full heartily, desiring to hear of your welfare which I beseech almighty God long for to preserve unto his pleasure and your heart's desire and if it please you to hear of my welfare I am not in good health of body nor of heart nor shall be till I hear from you, for there knows no creature what pain that I endure and on pain of death I dare not reveal. And my lady my mother has laboured the matter to my father full diligently but she can no more get than ye know of for the which God knows I am full sorry. But if that you love me as I trust verily that you do, you will not leave me therefore. For if that you had not half the livelihood that you have for to do the greatest labour that any woman alive might I would not forsake you. And if you command me to keep me true wherever I go, I advise I will do all my might you to love and never no more. And if my friends say that I do amiss, they shall not me hinder so for to do. My heart me bids ever more to love you truly over all earthly thing and if they be never so angry I trust it shall be better in time coming. No more to you at this time but the holy trinity has you in keeping. And I beseech you that this bill be not seen of no earthly creature except yourself and this letter was written at topcroft with full heavy heart. By your own M[argery] B[rews].



First Valentine: Lasting legacy of 500-year-old love
By Anna Browning BBC News Continue reading the main story
Select








Love it or hate it, even the most hardened anti-Romeo will be hard pressed to avoid Valentine's Day this year. But as an exhibit at the British Library currently on show is testament to, there is a first for everything - even on Valentine's Day.

It is a letter, written from a young woman to her love, and is the first mention of the word Valentine in the English language. And, for the first time, the descendants of Margery Brews and her betrothed John Paston have been traced.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

The letter shows they were no different to us. They had the same loves, desires and financial problems”

I hope that i have pasted this correctly !!!

And yet another - hope you enjoy them as much as I do.


Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening .

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

Another favourite:-)


If

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 worn-out 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!

Rudyard Kipling

A favourite of mine


I Sit Beside the Fire


I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door
Tolkien

The Thousandth Man.
...... Rudyard Kipling


0NE man in a thousand, Solomon says.
Will stick more close than a brother.
And it's worth while seeking him half your days
If you find him before the other.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth Man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin you.

'Tis neither promise nor prayer nor show
Will settle the finding for 'ee.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em go
By your looks, or your acts, or your glory.

But if he finds you and you find him,
The rest of the world don't matter;
For the Thousandth Man will sink or swim
With you in any water.

You can use his purse with no more talk
Than he uses yours for his spendings,
And laugh and meet in your daily walk
As though there had been no lendings.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine of 'em call
For silver and gold in their dealings;
But the Thousandth Man he's worth 'em all
Because you can show him your feelings.

His wrong's your wrong, and his right's your right,
In season or out of season.
Stand up and back it in all men's sight
With that for your only reason!

Nine hundred and ninety-nine can't bide
The shame or mocking or laughter,
But the Thousandth Man will stand by your side
To the gallows-foot - and after!




This was read at my brother's funeral, so brings sad but proud memories.


Gwyn

Some lovely poems added here also for anyone who would like to look

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.page/board/chat/thread/1231508