An Ocean Musing by Henrietta Cordelia Ray

An Ocean Musing

BY HENRIETTA CORDELIA RAY

Far, far out lie the white sails all at rest;

Like spectral arms they seem to touch and cling

Unto the wide horizon. Not a wing

Of truant bird glides down the purpling west;

No breeze dares to intrude, e’en on a quest

To fan a lover’s brow; the waves to sing

Have quite forgotten till the deep shall fling

A bow across its vibrant chords. Then, lest

One moment of the sea’s repose we lose,

Nor furnish Fancy with a thousand themes

Of unimagined sweetness, let us gaze

On this serenity, for as we muse,

Lo! all is restless motion: life’s best dreams

Give changing moods to even halcyon days.

I like the alliteration in this sonnet. A link to learn more about this poet is here.http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/henrietta-ray-fine-black-poet-and-biographer

Echo by Christina Rossetti

Echo

BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

Come to me in the silence of the night;

   Come in the speaking silence of a dream;

Come with soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright

   As sunlight on a stream;

      Come back in tears,

O memory, hope, love of finished years.

Oh dream how sweet, too sweet, too bitter sweet,

   Whose wakening should have been in Paradise,

Where souls brimfull of love abide and meet;

   Where thirsting longing eyes

      Watch the slow door

That opening, letting in, lets out no more.

Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live

   My very life again tho’ cold in death:

Come back to me in dreams, that I may give

   Pulse for pulse, breath for breath:

      Speak low, lean low,

As long ago, my love, how long ago.

Speaks so well of loss. Beautiful. A link to read more is here.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/christina-rossetti

Sonnet CXXXV: Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thyWill

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will,

And Will to boot, and Will in overplus;

More than enough am I that vex thee still,

To thy sweet will making addition thus.

Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,

Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine?

Shall will in others seem right gracious,

And in my will no fair acceptance shine?

The sea, all water, yet receives rain still,

And in abundance addeth to his store;

So thou being rich in Will add to thy Will

One will of mine, to make thy large Will more.

   Let no unkind, no fair beseechers kill;

   Think all but one, and me in that one Will.

Unbelievably clever. A link to read more is here. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/william-shakespeare

Chapter 3 On the Excellence of Contentment Story 13 by Sa'Di

Chapter 3 On the Excellence of Contentment Story 13
by Sa'di


A dervish wanted something and a man told him that a certain individual possessed untold wealth who, if he were made aware of his want, would not consider it proper to fail in supplying it forthwith. The dervish answering that he had no acquaintance with him, the man proposed to show him the house and when the dervish entered he caught sight of a person with hanging lips and sitting morosely. He returned immediately and being asked what he had done replied: ‘I excused him from making me a present when I saw his face.’


        Carry not thy necessity to a sour-faced fellow
        Because his ill-humour will crush thy hopes.
        If thou confidest thy heart’s grief, tell it to one
        Whose face will comfort thee like ready cash.




Wise words. A link to read more about this poet is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulistan_of_Sa'di

Love-Lily by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Love-Lily

BY DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI

Between the hands, between the brows,

      Between the lips of Love-Lily,

A spirit is born whose birth endows

      My blood with fire to burn through me;

Who breathes upon my gazing eyes,

      Who laughs and murmurs in mine ear,

At whose least touch my colour flies,

      And whom my life grows faint to hear.

Within the voice, within the heart,

      Within the mind of Love-Lily,

A spirit is born who lifts apart

      His tremulous wings and looks at me;

Who on my mouth his finger lays,

      And shows, while whispering lutes confer,

That Eden of Love's watered ways

      Whose winds and spirits worship her.

Brows, hands, and lips, heart, mind, and voice,

      Kisses and words of Love-Lily,—

Oh! bid me with your joy rejoice

      Till riotous longing rest in me!

Ah! let not hope be still distraught,

      But find in her its gracious goal,

Whose speech Truth knows not from her thought

      Nor Love her body from her soul.

Fun to read these old poems. I wonder about them. A link to read more is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti

Break, Break, Break by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Break, Break, Break

BY ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON

Break, break, break,

         On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!

And I would that my tongue could utter

         The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman's boy,

         That he shouts with his sister at play!

O, well for the sailor lad,

         That he sings in his boat on the bay!

And the stately ships go on

         To their haven under the hill;

But O for the touch of a vanish'd hand,

         And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break

         At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!

But the tender grace of a day that is dead

         Will never come back to me.

Thought full imagery.  A link to learn more about this poet is here. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/alfred-tennyson

To his three friends by Li Bai

TO HIS THREE FRIENDS

送韓準裴政孔巢父還山

By 李白 (Li Bai)

獵客張兔罝，不能掛龍虎。
所以青雲人，高歌在岩戶。
韓生信英彥，裴子含清真。
孔侯复秀出，俱與雲霞親。
峻節凌遠松，同衾臥磐石。
斧冰漱寒泉，三子同二屐。
時時或乘興，往往云無心。
出山揖牧伯，長嘯輕衣簪。
時宵夢裡還，雲拜竹溪月。
今晨魯東門，帳飲與君別。
雪崖滑去馬，蘿迳迷歸人。
相思苦煙草，歷亂無冬春。

When the hunter sets traps only for rabbits,
Tigers and dragons are left uncaught.
Even so, men of blue-cloud ambition remain unsought,
Singing aloud at the door of their rocky den.

My friend, Han, you are rare and profound;
Pei, you possess a true clean breast;
And Kung, you, too, are an excellent man;
And all you three are lovers of cloud and mist.
Your stout and straight souls
Are loftier than the loftiest pine.
A flat boulder for a bed, you sleep together under one cover;
You hack the ice and sip water from the winter stream;
You own two pairs of shoes to wear among you three.

Once wandering as you please
Like the vagrant clouds,
You came out of the mountains to greet the governor.
Indifferently you wore cap and mantle a while,
Whistling long.

Last night you dreamed of returning to your old haunt,
And enjoying, you say, the moon of the Bamboo Valley.
This morning outside the east gate of Luh
We spread the tent and drink the farewell cup.

Be careful as you go!
The cliffs are snowy, and your horses may slip;
And the road of tangled vines may perplex you.
Pray remember,
My thoughts of longing are like the smoke grass,
That grows always in profusion, winter or spring!

I enjoy these poems very much. A link to read more about this poet.http://www.poemhunter.com/li-po/