Poetry quotes

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,

Bitter the chast’ning rod. Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

but your humble strings You touched in chord with music empyrean. You sang far better than you knew; the songs That for your listeners’ hungry hearts sufficed Still live—but more than this to you belongs:

You sang a race from wood and stone to Christ.

O Southland! O Southland! Have you not heard the call, The trumpet blown, the word made known To the nations, one and all? The watchword, the hope-word, Salvation’s present plan? A gospel new, for all—for you: Man shall be saved by man.

Think not repentance can redeem, That sin his wages can withdraw; No, think as well to change the scheme Of worlds that move in reverent awe;

Forgiveness is an idle dream, God is not love, no, God is law.

O brothers mine, take care! Take care! The great white witch rides out to-night. Trust not your prowess nor your strength, Your only safety lies in flight; For in her glance there is a snare, And in her smile there is a blight.

But pray not to defend from harm, Nor danger to dispel;

Pray, rather, that with steadfast arm I fight the battle well.

Pray, mother of mine, that I always keep My heart and purpose strong, My sword unsullied and ready to leap Unsheathed against the wrong.

Pray, mother of mine, that I always keep My heart and purpose strong, My sword unsullied and ready to leap Unsheathed against the wrong.

The glory of the day was in her face, The beauty of the night was in her eyes.

And over all her loveliness, the grace Of Morning blushing in the early skies.

Those twenty, pitiful, extra years Would please you more than the fifty past, Would they not, Old World?

Well, I hold them up before your greedy eyes, And snatch them away as I laugh in your face,

Ha! Ha! Bang—!

Whene’er in place of using patent wile, Or trying to frighten me with horrid grin, You tempt me with two crimson lips curved in a smile;

Old Devil, I must really own, you win.

The snow has ceased its fluttering flight, The wind sunk to a whisper light, An ominous stillness fills the night, A pause—a hush.

And so the years go swiftly by, Each, coming, brings ambitions high, And each, departing, leaves a sigh Linked to the past.

Large resolutions, little deeds;

Thus, filled with aims unreached, life speeds Until the blotted record reads, “Failure!” at last.

And so the town Went quickly down, For they said that it was haunted; And doors and gates, So the story states, Bore a notice, “Tenants wanted.”

And the town is now for let,

But the ghost is digging yet.

And the town is now for let,

But the ghost is digging yet.

Some men enjoy the constant strife Of days with work and worry rife, But that is not my dream of life: I think such men are crazy.

Let others fume and sweat and boil, And scratch and dig for golden spoil, And live the life of work and toil, Their lives to labor giving.

But what is gold when life is sped,

And life is short, as has been said, And we are such a long time dead, I’ll spend my life in living.

Let others fume and sweat and boil, And scratch and dig for golden spoil, And live the life of work and toil, Their lives to labor giving. But what is gold when life is sped, And life is short, as has been said,

And we are such a long time dead,

I’ll spend my life in living.

But what is gold when life is sped, And life is short, as has been said, And we are such a long time dead,

I’ll spend my life in living.

Old Omar, jolly sceptic, it may be That, after all, you found the magic key To life and all its mystery, and I Must own you have almost persuaded me.

And so we ride Over land and tide, Without a thought of fear—

Man never had The faith in God That he has in an engineer!

Out of the infinite sea of eternity To climb, and for an instant stand Upon an island speck of time.

No greater earthly boon than this I crave, That those who some day gather ’round my grave, In place of tears, may whisper of me then, “He sang a song that reached the hearts of men.”

Seems lak to me de stars don’t shine so bright,

Seems lak to me de sun done loss his light, Seems lak to me der’s nothin’ goin’ right, Sence you went away.

“Brer Wolf am mighty cunnin’, Brer Fox am mighty sly, Brer Terrapin an’ ’Possum—kinder small; Brer Lion’s mighty vicious, Brer B’ar he’s sorter ’spicious,

Brer Rabbit, you’s de cutes’ of ’em all.

”

Well, de race was kinder equal, Lize wuz sorter on de fence;

Sam he had de mostes dollars, an’ I had de mostes sense.

Things dey run along ’bout eben tel der come Big Meetin’ day; Sam den thought, to win Miss Liza, he had foun’ de shoest way.

But de bigges’ crowd come walkin’, wid der new shoes on der backs; ’Scuse wuz dat dey couldn’t weah em ’cause de heels wuz full o’ tacks.

Fact is, it’s a job for Job, a-trudgin’ in de sun an’ heat,

Down a long an’ dusty clay road wid yo’ shoes packed full o’ feet.

O Lord, we come this morning Knee-bowed and body-bent Before thy throne of grace. O Lord—this morning— Bow our hearts beneath our knees, And our knees in some lonesome valley.

We come this morning⁠— Like empty pitchers to a full fountain,

With no merits of our own. O Lord—open up a window of heaven, And lean out far over the battlements of glory, And listen this morning.

And now, O Lord, this man of God, Who breaks the bread of life this morning— Shadow him in the hollow of thy hand,

And keep him out of the gunshot of the devil.

Take him, Lord—this morning— Wash him with hyssop inside and out, Hang him up and drain him dry of sin. Pin his ear to the wisdom-post, And make his words sledge hammers of truth— Beating on the iron heart of sin.

Pin his ear to the wisdom-post, And make his words sledge hammers of truth— Beating on the iron heart of sin. Lord God, this morning— Put his eye to the telescope of eternity, And let him look upon the paper walls of time.

Lord, turpentine his imagination,

Put perpetual motion in his arms, Fill him full of the dynamite of thy power, Anoint him all over with the oil of thy salvation, And set his tongue on fire.

And far as the eye of God could see Darkness covered everything, Blacker than a hundred midnights Down in a cypress swamp.

Then God smiled, And the light broke, And the darkness rolled up on one side, And the light stood shining on the other, And God said: That’s good!

Then God reached out and took the light in his hands, And God rolled the light around in his hands Until he made the sun; And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.

Then into it he blew the breath of life, And man became a living soul. Amen. Amen.

Young man⁠— Young man⁠— Your arm’s too short to box with God.

But Jesus spake in a parable, and he said: A certain man had two sons. Jesus didn’t give this man a name, But his name is God Almighty.

Young man— Young man— You’re never lonesome in Babylon. You can always join a crowd in Babylon. Young man— Young man— You can never be alone in Babylon,

Alone with your Jesus in Babylon.

You can never find a place, a lonesome place, A lonesome place to go down on your knees, And talk with your God, in Babylon. You’re always in a crowd in Babylon.

And Eve and Satan got friendly— Then Eve got to walking on shaky ground;

Don’t ever get friendly with Satan.⁠—

And they started to talk about the garden, And Satan said: Tell me, how do you like The fruit on the nice, tall, blooming tree Standing in the middle of the garden? And Eve said: That’s the forbidden fruit, Which if we eat we die.