there was a time

THERE WAS A TIME, I NEED NOT NAME.

There was a time, I need not name,
Since it will ne’er forgotten be,
When all our feelings were the same
As still my soul hath been to thee.

And from that hour when first thy tongue
Confess’d a love which equall’d mine,
Though many a grief my heart hath wrung,
Unknown and thus unfelt by thine,

None, none hath sunk so deep as this-
To think how all that love hath flown;
Transient as every faithless kiss,
But transient in thy breast alone.

And yet my heart some solace knew,
When late I heard thy lips declare,
In accents once imagined true,
Remembrance of the days that were.

Yes; my adored, yet most unkind!
Though thou wilt never love again,
To me ‘t is doubly sweet to find
Remembrance of that love remain.

Yes; ‘t is a glorious thought to me,
Nor longer shall my soul repine,
Whate’er thou art or e’er shalt be,
Thou hast been dearly, solely mine.

Lord Byron

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how much longer

I have a book of insight.  It’s comforting to read, particularly at times of indecision  Sometimes, like this morning,  I’ll have a particular question on my mind and out of curiousity I check to see if my answer can be found within the pages of this book.  This morning I let my thumb graze over the pages while my eyes were closed. After a few moments, I settled on one that felt right.  Of the 300 or so pages in this book, the one I chose was the only one with a cut corner.  The funny thing is that I don’t search from the corners.  This passage wanted to be read… and I needed to read it.  Maybe others do too.

How much longer will you go on
letting your energy sleep?

How much longer are you going
to stay oblivious of the immensity
of yourself?

Don’t lose time in conflict;
lose no time in doubt –
time can never be recovered
and if you miss an opportunity
it may take many lives
before another comes
your way again.

– Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
   A Cup of Tea

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we’ll go no more a-roving

So we’ll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart still be as loving,
And the moon still be as bright.

For the sword outwears its sheath,
And the soul outwears the breast,
And the heart must pause to breathe,
And love itself have rest.

Though the night was made for loving,
And the day returns too soon,
Yet we’ll go no more a-roving
By the light of the moon.

Lord Byron (1788-1824)

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come live with me and be my love

For Alexito.

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of th purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my love.

The shepherds’ swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Christopher Marlowe

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Beautiful Elizabeth

“I love thee to the level of everyday’s most quiet need,by sun and candle light…I love thee with the breath,smiles,tears,of all my life.”
– Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 – 1861)

The letters between Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning are among the most beautiful of my collection.  She married him at 40 and passed away only 15 years later.  We never have enough time to show our love.

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someone who understands

“How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.”
– Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

This comment runs deep. Some women are fine with being ordinary. Perhaps they are naive. Perhaps they don’t know any better. Is this normal? If so, I pity their generic lives.

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easier said…

“A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure. I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”
– Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

There are those in my life that possess this very valuable ability. I admire them.

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let others write…

“He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realise.”
– Oscar Wilde

So what does this say of courage, risk, confidence, and character?  Sometimes I’m one, sometimes the other.

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made for another world

“If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world”
– C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)

Sometimes I feel very much like this.

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Lord Jimenez to his Love

Hola Hermosura:

I had a dream; I will try to describe it as better as I can with my poor English.

There were just a few hours to the rising sun, morning. The sky was full of stars, fat, filled, swollen stars, full of night. The moon was out for a while and then was gone. Was one of those sad moons which any body look, those ones which any body pays attention. She was there with out any figure, with out any light, and suddenly she went to hide behind those mountains. We were enjoying these events, together her and me, our bodies were so close like two trees entwined each other that look one from the far; our souls like those that were far and this is the first encounter after a long time, holding so hard because they a afraid to be separated again. We are talking about fantasies, I can smell her breathe, is so pure, feel her warm body, There is music in the background, a tango “Maria de Buenos Aires” by Astor Piazzolla, maybe this is my destiny. Is so comfortable, if this is real, I want to live and die here.

Abruptly I wake up, my eyes hurt there is too much light, an unlikely silence and…she not here.

Now, what are going to do my lips with out her mouth to fill them?

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