Do you have a favorite poem? (long post alert)

[catsrule]

Stray Cat

Oh, what unhappy twist of fate
has brought you, homeless, to my gate.
The gate where once another stood
to beg for shelter, warmth & food.
For from that day I ceased to be
the master of my destiny,
while she, with purr & velvet paw
became, within my house, the law.

She scratched the furniture & shed,
and claimed the middle of my bed.
She ruled in arrogance & pride
and broke my heart the day she died.

So if you really think, oh cat,
I'd willingly relive all that,
because you come, forlorn & thin...
Well... don't just stand there, come on in!

 

[catsrule]

The Hairball and the Mouse
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Cat

I chased a mouse beneath the stair,
It went to ground, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it ran, my sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I coughed a hairball in the air,
It fell to earth, I know not where;
For though my sight is sharp and true,
I saw not where that fur-bullet flew.

Some time aferward, quite by chance,
I spied them both in a single glance;
For the mouse in a corner lay dead,
A hairball lodged in his tiny head.

 

[MosMom]

It is by Shel Silverstein and it is called "The old man and the little boy". When I was a little girl that poem would always make me cry and actually still does. I don't know it by heart and couldn't find it online but it is about a little boy talking about his frustrations to an elderly man...

I just remember it ending with...

"And he felt the warmth of an old wrinkled hand, I know what you mean said the little old man"

Just makes me tear up with that line. LOL I'm silly

 

[ibouncetoo]

OK, Catsrule, you've made me want to give Ode to Spot a try.
Please, everyone, forgive any misspellings as I've never seen this poem written down and don't want to spend the entire evening with my nose in the dictionary:

Ode to Spot, by Data

Felis catus, is your taxinomic nomenclature
an endothornic quadroped carnivorus by nature?
Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses
contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.
A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents
For you would not be so agile if you lacked it's counterbalance.
And when not being used to aid in locomotion
it often serves to demonstrate the state of your emotion.
I find myself intrigued by your subvocal occilations,
a singular development of cat communications
that aviates(?) your basic hedonistic prediliction
for a rythmic stroking of your fur, to indicate affection.
Oh, Spot, the complex level of behaviour you display
connotes a fairly well developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot and cannot comprehend,
I none the less consider you a true and valued friend.


hows that?

 

[Cruisin]

I always thought this one was kind of cute, it is by Shel Silverstein???, I think, that guy who did children's books of poems.


There are too many kids in this tub,
There are too many elbows to scrub,
I just washed a behind,
That I'm sure wasn't mine,
There are too many kids in this tub.

 

[crazyforgoofy]

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh my friends -
It gives a lovely light

Edna St. Vincent Millay

 

[catsrule]

Originally posted by ibouncetoo
OK, Catsrule, you've made me want to give Ode to Spot a try.
Please, everyone, forgive any misspellings as I've never seen this poem written down and don't want to spend the entire evening with my nose in the dictionary:

Ode to Spot, by Data

Felis catus, is your taxinomic nomenclature
an endothornic quadroped carnivorus by nature?
Your visual, olfactory and auditory senses
contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.
A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents
For you would not be so agile if you lacked it's counterbalance.
And when not being used to aid in locomotion
it often serves to demonstrate the state of your emotion.
I find myself intrigued by your subvocal occilations,
a singular development of cat communications
that aviates(?) your basic hedonistic prediliction
for a rythmic stroking of your fur, to indicate affection.
Oh, Spot, the complex level of behaviour you display
connotes a fairly well developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot and cannot comprehend,
I none the less consider you a true and valued friend.


hows that?

Very nice!

 

[Catzeyes]

What though the radiance
which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass,
of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

William Wordsworth

 

[Pin Wizard]

I've always loved poetry! It's my favorite form of Literature. I have a book of about five of Carl Sandburg's books combined into one. But Robert Frost is my favorite. And one of them is 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 is 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.

 

[delikado]

Originally posted by Catzeyes
What though the radiance
which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass,
of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

William Wordsworth

Great poem! It just reminded me of the movie "Splendour in the Grass," starring Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty (I think). Didn't she recite this poem at some point in the movie? Either way, it was really good.

 

[Pin Wizard]

By Joseph Brodsky:

Love Song

If you were drowning, I'd come to the rescue,
wrap you in my blanket and pour hot tea.
If I were a sheriff, I'd arrest you
and keep you in the cell under lock and key.

If you were a bird, I'd cut a record
and listen all night long to your high-pitched trill.
If I were a sergeant, you'd be my recruit,
and boy I can assure you you'd love the drill.

If you were Chinese, I'd learn the language,
burn a lot of incense, wear funny clothes.
If you were a mirror, I'd storm the Ladies,
give you my red lipstick and puff your nose.

If you loved volcanoes, I'd be lava
relentlessly erupting from my hidden source.
And if you were my wife, I'd be your lover
because the church is firmly against divorce.


That last line seems a bit odd for a poem! I guess he needed it to rhyme.