When We Two Parted

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May this bittersweet poem move your day!

--Description: 19th C, Byron G.G., Disillusion, Love, Separation--

When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning
Sunk chill on my brow--
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me--
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee,
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met--
I silence I grieve,
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.

Lord George G. Byron

--Did You Know: (22 January 1788– 19 April 1824) Lord Byron was a British poet and a leading figure in Romanticism. Amongst Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, We'll Go no More a Roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential, both in the English-speaking world and beyond. Byron's notability rests not only on his writings but also on his life, which featured aristocratic excesses, love affairs with both sexes, huge debts, and self-imposed exile. He was notably described by Lady Caroline Lamb as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Byron served as a regional leader of Italy's revolutionary organization, the Carbonari, in its struggle against Austria. He later travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died from a fever contracted while in Messolonghi in Greece.

--Word of the Day: prestidigitation / (pres-ti-dij-i-TAY-shuhn) (noun):
1. A sleight of hand.
2. Deceitfulness, trickery.
Quote:
"It is, of course, a nonsense number, a statistical prestidigitation."
-Polly Toynbee; Is There Pensions Apartheid?; Guardian (London, UK); Jul 4, 2009.

--Quote of the Day: Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
-Carl Sandburg

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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• He walks in beauty (boston.com)

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Terrific Two of the Week: 9/21-9/25/09

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So many intriguing poems by various poets have been covered this week, it's time to re-discover all the beautiful things written. Here is a recap, and my two favorite poems of the week. What were YOURS? The two, terrific poems of the week for me were:

--Daddy Fell Into The Pond and Follow Thy Fair Sun--

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated daily. Simply subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. You will treasure getting daily poetry in your mail! Please continue reading the Recap below. Just click on the titles to access the poems:

 ----------------------------------

September 21, 2009

Chaucer
--Description: 19th C, Longfellow H.W., Humanity, Sonnet, Tribute--

September 22, 2009

Daddy Fell Into The Pond
--Description: 2, Noyes A., Humor, Children, Parenting--

September 23, 2009

I Do Not Fear To Own Me Kin
--Description: 19th C, Stevenson R.L., Love, Nature--

September 24, 2009

Follow Thy Fair Sun
--Description: 17th C, Campion T., Love, Nature--

September 25, 2009

God Moves In A Mysterious Way
--Description: 18th C, Cowper W., Encouragement, Hope, Christianity-

------------------------------------------
Weekend Haiku:

"Palm trees sway gaily
On shores of sweet sugar sand
Blue lace rolls to shore."

V. Mahfood

--Word of the Day: chimerical \ky-MER-ih-kuhl; -MIR-; kih-\ , adjective:
-Merely imaginary; produced by or as if by a wildly fanciful imagination; fantastic; improbable or unrealistic.
-Given to or indulging in unrealistic fantasies or fantastic schemes.
Quote:
But those risks are real, not chimerical.
-George J. Church, "Mission of Mercy", Time, April 29, 1991


--Quote of the Day:When you're young, you should live out every weekend. Even if you look like a scarecrow, you just gotta go!
-Jonathan Brandis

--Spanish Word of the Day: carrera, (noun f.):
career; degree
(eg) Tuvo una brillante carrera como actriz.
(transl) She had an outstanding career as an actress.
(eg) un diplomático de carrera
(transl) a career diplomat

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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• HTML Poetry in motion... (thenextweb.com)

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God Moves In A Mysterious Way

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May these special words encourage your day!

--Description: 18th C, Cowper W., Encouragement, Hope, Christianity-

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs,
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

William Cowper

--Did You Know: (26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him "the best modern poet", whilst William Wordsworth particularly admired his poem 'Yardley-Oak'. He was a nephew of the poet Judith Madan. Cowper suffered from severe manic depression, and although he found refuge in a fervent evangelical Christianity, the inspiration behind his much-loved hymns, he often experienced doubt and feared that he was doomed to eternal damnation. His religious sentiment and association with John Newton (who wrote the hymn "Amazing Grace") led to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered. He was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England in 1731. After education at Westminster School, he was articled to Mr. Chapman, solicitor, of Ely Place, Holborn, in order to be trained for a career in law. During this time, he spent his leisure at the home of his uncle Ashley Cowper, and there fell in love with his cousin Theodora, whom he wished to marry. But as James Croft, who in 1825 first published the poems Cowper addressed to Theodora, wrote, "her father, from an idea that the union of persons so nearly related was improper, refused to accede to the wishes of his daughter and nephew."

--Word of the Day: venial\VEE-nee-uhl\ , (adjective):
Capable of being forgiven; not heinous; excusable; pardonable.
Quotes:
Look less severely on a venial error.
-Jean Racine, Phaedra (translated by Robert Bruce Boswell)
Committing adultery was a mortal sin, while eating meat on Fridays was a venial sin.
-Sheryl McCarthy, "O'Connor Proposal for Meatless Day Is Thoughtless", Newsday, August 12, 1996

--Quote of the Day: Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known.
-Blaise Pascal

--Spanish Word of the Day: afición \afi'θjon\, (noun):
hobby; fans, supporters
Quotes:
(eg) Mi afición es la filatelia.
(transl) My hobby is stamp collecting.
(eg) Pinta por afición.
(transl) He paints as a hobby.

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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• Letters: Song of the Sofa (nytimes.com)

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I Do Not Fear To Own Me Kin

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This vivid poem will delight your day!

--Description: 19th C, Stevenson R.L., Love, Nature--

I do not fear to own me kin
To the glad clods in which spring flowers begin;
Or to my brothers, the great trees,
That speak with pleasant voices in the breeze,
Loud talkers with the winds that pass;
Or to my sister, the deep grass.

Of such I am, of such my body is,
That thrills to reach its lips to kiss.
That gives and takes with wind and sun and rain
And feels keen pleasure to the point of pain.

Of such are these,
The brotherhood of stalwart trees,
The humble family of flowers,
That make a light of shadowy bowers
Or star the edges of the bent:
They give and take sweet colour and sweet scent;
They joy to shed themselves abroad;
And tree and flower and grass and sod
Thrill and leap and live and sing
With silent voices in the Spring.

Hence I not fear to yield my breath,
Since all is still unchanged by death;
Since in some pleasant valley I may be,
Clod beside clod, or tree by tree,
Long ages hence, with her I love this hour;
And feel a lively joy to share
With her the sun and rain and air,
To taste her quiet neighbourhood
As the dumb things of field and wood,
The clod, the tree, and starry flower,
Alone of all things have the power.


Robert Louis Stevenson

--Did You Know: (13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. Stevenson was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Marcel Schwob. Stevenson was born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson at 8 Howard Place, Edinburgh, Scotland, on 13 November 1850, to Thomas Stevenson (1818–1887), a leading lighthouse engineer, and his wife Margaret, born Margaret Isabella Balfour (1829–1897). Lighthouse design was the family profession: Thomas's own father was the famous Robert Stevenson, and his maternal grandfather, Thomas Smith, and brothers Alan and David were also among those in the business. On Margaret's side, the family were gentry, tracing their name back to an Alexander Balfour, who held the lands of Inchrye in Fife in the fifteenth century. Her father, Lewis Balfour (1777–1860), was a minister of the Church of Scotland at nearby Colinton, and Stevenson spent the greater part of his boyhood holidays in his house. "Now I often wonder", says Stevenson, "what I inherited from this old minister. I must suppose, indeed, that he was fond of preaching sermons, and so am I, though I never heard it maintained that either of us loved to hear them

--Word of the Day: alacrity \uh-LACK-ruh-tee\, (noun):
A cheerful or eager readiness or willingness, often manifested by brisk, lively action or promptness in response.
Quote:
As for his homemade meatloaf sandwich with green tomato ketchup, a condiment he developed while working in New York, I devoured it with an alacrity unbecoming in someone who gets paid to taste carefully.
-R.W. Apple Jr., "Southern Tastes, Worldly Memories", New York Times, April 26, 2000

--Quote of the Day: Experiences are savings which a miser puts aside. Wisdom is an inheritance which a wastrel cannot exhaust.
-Karl Kraus

--French Word of the Day: expérience (noun f.) experience
transitive verb connaître (loss, problem);
éprouver (emotion).
(eg) Mon divorce fut une expérience très douloureuse.
(transl) My divorce was a very bad experience.

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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Chaucer

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Let this delightful poem inspire your day!



--Description: 19th C, Longfellow H.W., Humanity, Sonnet, Tribute--

An old man in a lodge
within a park;
The chamber walls depicted all around
With portraitures of huntsman, hawk, and hound,
And the hurt deer. He listeneth to the lark,
Whose song comes with the sunshine through the dark
Of painted glass in leaden lattice bound;
He listeneth and he laugheth at the sound,
Then writeth in a book like any clerk.
He is the poet of the dawn, who wrote
The Canterbury Tales, and his old age
Made beautiful with song; and as I read
I hear the crowing cock, I hear the note
Of lark and linnet, and from every page
Rise odors of ploughed field or flowery mead.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

--Did You Know: (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) Longfellow was an American educator and poet whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and "Evangeline". He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy and was one of the five members of the group known as the Fireside Poets. Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, then part of Massachusetts, and studied at Bowdoin College. After spending time in Europe he became a professor at Bowdoin and, later, at Harvard College. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, living the remainder of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a former headquarters of George Washington. Longfellow predominantly wrote lyric poems which are known for their musicality and which often presented stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and also had success overseas. He has been criticized, however, for imitating European styles and writing specifically for the masses.

--Word of the Day: voluptuary \vuh-LUHP-choo-er-ee\, (noun):
1. A person devoted to luxury and the gratification of sensual appetites; a sensualist.
(adjective):
1. Of, pertaining to, or characterized by preoccupation with luxury and sensual pleasure.
Quote:
Colette used to begin her day's writing by first picking fleas from her cat, and it's not hard to imagine how the methodical stroking and probing into fur might have focused such a voluptuary's mind.
-Diane Ackerman, "O Muse! You Do Make Things Difficult!", New York Times, November 12, 1989

--Quote of the Day: Any healthy man can go without food for two days - but not without poetry.
-Charles Baudelaire

--Spanish Word of the Day: desgracia, (noun):
misfortune, bad luck
(eg) Es una desgracia que haya* tenido que abandonar el Tour de esta manera.
(transl) It’s bad luck that he’s had to drop out of the Tour like this.
(eg) Se apenó de la desgracia de su compatriota.
(transl) He was saddened by his compatriot’s misfortune.

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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Terrific Two of the Week: 9/14 - 9/18/09

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So many intriguing poems by various poets have been covered this week, it's time to re-discover all the beautiful things written. Here is a recap, and my two favorite poems of the week. What were YOURS? The two, terrific poems of the week for me were:

--Touched By An Angel and I Had Been Hungry All These Years--

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated daily. Simply subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. You will treasure getting daily poetry in your mail! Please continue reading the Recap below. Just click on the titles to access the poems:

 ----------------------------------

September 14, 2009

To The Men of England
--Description: 19th C, Shelley P., Humanity, Patriotism--

September 15, 2009

The Bride of Abydos
--Description: 19th C, Byron G.G., Love--

September 16, 2009

Infant Sorrow
--Description: 19th C, Blake W., Children, Parenting--

September 17, 2009

Touched By An Angel
--Description: 21st C, Angelou, M., Hope, Love--

September 18, 2009

I Had Been Hungry All These Years
--Description: 19th C, Browning E.B., Desire, Disillusion, Envy--

------------------------------------------
Weekend Haiku:

"A deep, muddy lake
Herons and fish live in peace
Gators destroy life."

--Word of the Day: efficacious \ef-ih-KAY-shuhs\, adjective:
Capable of having the desired result or effect; effective as a means, measure, remedy, etc.
Quote:
Lawyers make claims not because they believe them to be true, but because they believe them to be legally efficacious.
-Paul F. Campos, Jurismania

--Quote of the Day:The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.
-Elbert Hubbard

--French Word of the Day: pardon (noun m.)
forgiveness
ask forgiveness .. demander pardon
beg forgiveness .. implorer le pardon

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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• Soaked in rhyme (guardian.co.uk)

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I Had Been Hungry All The Years

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This thoughtful poem will move your day!



--Description: 19th C, Browning E.B., Desire, Disillusion, Envy--

I had been hungry all the years-
My noon had come, to dine-
I, trembling, drew the table near
And touched the curious wine.

'Twas this on tables I had seen
When turning, hungry, lone,
I looked in windows, for the wealth
I could not hope to own.

I did not know the ample bread,
'T was so unlike the crumb
The birds and I had often shared
In Nature's dining-room.

The plenty hurt me, 't was so new,--
Myself felt ill and odd,
As berry of a mountain bush
Transplanted to the road.

Nor was I hungry; so I found
That hunger was a way
Of persons outside windows,
The entering takes away.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

--Did You Know: (March 6, 1806 – June 29, 1861) Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. Browning published many poems in her lifetime, and many more were published by her husband after her death. Elizabeth Barrett Moulton-Barrett was born on March 6, 1806, in Coxhoe Hall, England. Her parents were Edward Barrett Moulton Barrett and Mary Graham-Clarke; she was the eldest of their 12 children (eight boys and four girls). All the children in her family had nicknames: Elizabeth's was `Ba`. The Barrett family, who were part Creole, had lived for centuries in Jamaica, where they owned sugar plantations and relied on slave labour. Elizabeth's father chose to raise his family in England while his fortune grew in Jamaica. The Graham-Clarke family was as wealthy as the Barretts family wealth. After the third child Henrietta was born, Edward bought Hope End, a 500-acre (2.0 km2) estate near the Malvern Hills in Ledbury, Herefordshire. Elizabeth had "a large room to herself, with stained glass in the window, and she loved the garden where she tended white roses in a special arbour by the south wall. Elizabeth was educated at home, and attended lessons with her brother's tutor. This gave her a good education for a girl of that time, and she is said to have read passages from Paradise Lost and a number of Shakespearean plays, among other works, before the age of ten. During the Hope End period she was "a shy, intensely studious, precocious child, yet cheerful, affectionate and lovable".

--Word of the Day: pleiad / (PLEE-uhd) (noun):
A group of (usually seven) brilliant persons or things.
Quote:
"'The turbulent 1990s were a time of rapid change and bold, extraordinary people. ... Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, without any exaggeration, belongs among just such a pleiad,' Putin said."
-Lynn Berry; Russian Leaders Honor Boris Yeltsin on 1st Anniversary of His Death; Associated Press; Apr 23, 2008.

--Quote of the Day: If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
-Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

--Spanish Word of the Day: esperar, (verb):
to hope
(eg) Espero que le guste* el regalito.
(transl) I hope he likes the present.
(eg) Esperamos que no sea* nada grave.
(transl) We hope it’s nothing serious.

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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• Rhyme and Unreason (nytimes.com)

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Touched By An Angel

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This charming poem will brighten your day!



--Description: 21st C, Angelou, M., Hope, Love--

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Maya Angelou

--Did You Know: Dr. Maya Angelou is a remarkable Renaissance woman who is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. As a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, she continues to travel the world, spreading her legendary wisdom. Within the rhythm of her poetry and elegance of her prose lies Angelou's unique power to help readers of every orientation span the lines of race and Angelou captivates audiences through the vigor and sheer beauty of her words and lyrics. The works of Maya Angelou encompass autobiography, poetry, plays, screenplays for television and film, directing, acting, and speaking. She is best known for her series of six autobiographies, starting with the critically acclaimed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), which was nominated for a National Book Award. Angelou did not write Caged Bird with the intention of writing a series of autobiographies, but critics have "judged the subsequent autobiographies in light of the first".

--Word of the Day: equanimity / (ee-kwuh-NIM-i-tee, ek-wuh-) (noun):
Evenness of temper in all circumstances.
Quote:
"Even as a young netball star, Tharjini had no inflated opinion about herself nor did she ever take offence at the numerous teasing remarks or stares that her height drew. She met both celebrity status and silly remarks with equanimity."
Thulasi Muttulingam; A Player With Many Highs in Her Life; The Sunday Times (Colombo, Sri Lanka); Jul 12, 2009.

--Quote of the Day: But men must know, that in this theatre of man's life it is reserved only for God and angels to be lookers on.
-Francis Bacon

--French Word of the Day: ange /angel (noun m.):
(eg) Elle a un ange gardien qui s'occupe d'elle.
(transl) She has a guardian angel taking care of her.

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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• Maya Angelou Still I Rise - Sunday Poetry Post (untreatableonline.com)

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Infant Sorrow

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Let this tender baby poem lighten your day!

--Description: 19th C, Blake W., Children, Parenting--

My mother groaned, my father wept,
Into the dangerous world I leapt;
Helpless, naked, piping loud,
Like a fiend hid in a cloud.

Struggling in my father's hands,
Striving against my swaddling bands,
Bound and weary, I thought best
To sulk upon my mother's breast.


William Blake

--Did You Know: (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry has led one modern critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". Although he only once journeyed farther than a day's walk outside London during his lifetime, he produced a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced 'imagination' as "the body of God", or "Human existence itself". Considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterized as part of both the Romantic movement and "Pre-Romantic",for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the Church of England, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions.

--Word of the Day: arcadian /(ahr-KAY-dee-uhn)
adjective: Idyllically pastoral: simple, peaceful.
noun: One leading a simple rural life.
Quote: "Farms, fields, cottages, what [photographer Kevin G. Malella] calls 'the Arcadian view', are blended with industrial images -- mostly nuclear cooling towers -- to create new landscapes that plop the environmentally hazardous engine of contemporary society into our nostalgically folksy lap."
-Bob Hicks; Questioning Art's Rules and Roles; The Oregonian (Portland); Aug 21, 2009.

--Quote of the Day: The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives.
-Albert Einstein

--Spanish Word of the Day: tiempo, (noun m.):
time
In our time-poor world, time ? tiempo is one of the things we talk about most ? in English and in Spanish. There are lots of phrases using tiempo with a verb. Some of them are very similar to English, such as tener tiempo ? to have time, and matar el tiempo to kill time:
(eg) No tengo mucho tiempo.
(transl) I don’t have much time.
(eg) Para matar el tiempo leí el periódico del lugar.
(transl) To kill time I read the local paper.

Coffee Table Poetry for Tea Drinkers is updated often. The easiest way to get your regular poetic inspiration is to subscribe by selecting E-mail or RSS Reader. Also, come follow us on Twitter. We look forward to making every day memorably intriguing for you.

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• Sentences so good they sing. (slate.com)

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