Written by
Anne Bradstreet |
Proem.
1.
1 Although great Queen, thou now in silence lie,
1.
2 Yet thy loud Herald Fame, doth to the sky
1.
3 Thy wondrous worth proclaim, in every clime,
1.
4 And so has vow'd, whilst there is world or time.
1.
5 So great's thy glory, and thine excellence,
1.
6 The sound thereof raps every human sense
1.
7 That men account it no impiety
1.
8 To say thou wert a fleshly Deity.
1.
9 Thousands bring off'rings (though out of date)
1.
10 Thy world of honours to accumulate.
1.
11 'Mongst hundred Hecatombs of roaring Verse,
1.
12 'Mine bleating stands before thy royal Hearse.
1.
13 Thou never didst, nor canst thou now disdain,
1.
14 T' accept the tribute of a loyal Brain.
1.
15 Thy clemency did yerst esteem as much
1.
16 The acclamations of the poor, as rich,
1.
17 Which makes me deem, my rudeness is no wrong,
1.
18 Though I resound thy greatness 'mongst the throng.
The Poem.
2.
1 No Ph{oe}nix Pen, nor Spenser's Poetry,
2.
2 No Speed's, nor Camden's learned History;
2.
3 Eliza's works, wars, praise, can e're compact,
2.
4 The World's the Theater where she did act.
2.
5 No memories, nor volumes can contain,
2.
6 The nine Olymp'ades of her happy reign,
2.
7 Who was so good, so just, so learn'd, so wise,
2.
8 From all the Kings on earth she won the prize.
2.
9 Nor say I more than truly is her due.
2.
10 Millions will testify that this is true.
2.
11 She hath wip'd off th' aspersion of her Sex,
2.
12 That women wisdom lack to play the Rex.
2.
13 Spain's Monarch sa's not so, not yet his Host:
2.
14 She taught them better manners to their cost.
2.
15 The Salic Law had not in force now been,
2.
16 If France had ever hop'd for such a Queen.
2.
17 But can you Doctors now this point dispute,
2.
18 She's argument enough to make you mute,
2.
19 Since first the Sun did run, his ne'er runn'd race,
2.
20 And earth had twice a year, a new old face;
2.
21 Since time was time, and man unmanly man,
2.
22 Come shew me such a Ph{oe}nix if you can.
2.
23 Was ever people better rul'd than hers?
2.
24 Was ever Land more happy, freed from stirs?
2.
25 Did ever wealth in England so abound?
2.
26 Her Victories in foreign Coasts resound?
2.
27 Ships more invincible than Spain's, her foe
2.
28 She rack't, she sack'd, she sunk his Armadoe.
2.
29 Her stately Troops advanc'd to Lisbon's wall,
2.
30 Don Anthony in's right for to install.
2.
31 She frankly help'd Franks' (brave) distressed King,
2.
32 The States united now her fame do sing.
2.
33 She their Protectrix was, they well do know,
2.
34 Unto our dread Virago, what they owe.
2.
35 Her Nobles sacrific'd their noble blood,
2.
36 Nor men, nor coin she shap'd, to do them good.
2.
37 The rude untamed Irish she did quell,
2.
38 And Tiron bound, before her picture fell.
2.
39 Had ever Prince such Counsellors as she?
2.
40 Her self Minerva caus'd them so to be.
2.
41 Such Soldiers, and such Captains never seen,
2.
42 As were the subjects of our (Pallas) Queen:
2.
43 Her Sea-men through all straits the world did round,
2.
44 Terra incognitæ might know her sound.
2.
45 Her Drake came laded home with Spanish gold,
2.
46 Her Essex took Cadiz, their Herculean hold.
2.
47 But time would fail me, so my wit would too,
2.
48 To tell of half she did, or she could do.
2.
49 Semiramis to her is but obscure;
2.
50 More infamy than fame she did procure.
2.
51 She plac'd her glory but on Babel's walls,
2.
52 World's wonder for a time, but yet it falls.
2.
53 Fierce Tomris (Cirus' Heads-man, Sythians' Queen)
2.
54 Had put her Harness off, had she but seen
2.
55 Our Amazon i' th' Camp at Tilbury,
2.
56 (Judging all valour, and all Majesty)
2.
57 Within that Princess to have residence,
2.
58 And prostrate yielded to her Excellence.
2.
59 Dido first Foundress of proud Carthage walls
2.
60 (Who living consummates her Funerals),
2.
61 A great Eliza, but compar'd with ours,
2.
62 How vanisheth her glory, wealth, and powers.
2.
63 Proud profuse Cleopatra, whose wrong name,
2.
64 Instead of glory, prov'd her Country's shame:
2.
65 Of her what worth in Story's to be seen,
2.
66 But that she was a rich Ægyptian Queen.
2.
67 Zenobia, potent Empress of the East,
2.
68 And of all these without compare the best
2.
69 (Whom none but great Aurelius could quell)
2.
70 Yet for our Queen is no fit parallel:
2.
71 She was a Ph{oe}nix Queen, so shall she be,
2.
72 Her ashes not reviv'd more Ph{oe}nix she.
2.
73 Her personal perfections, who would tell,
2.
74 Must dip his Pen i' th' Heliconian Well,
2.
75 Which I may not, my pride doth but aspire
2.
76 To read what others write and then admire.
2.
77 Now say, have women worth, or have they none?
2.
78 Or had they some, but with our Queen is't gone?
2.
79 Nay Masculines, you have thus tax'd us long,
2.
80 But she, though dead, will vindicate our wrong.
2.
81 Let such as say our sex is void of reason
2.
82 Know 'tis a slander now, but once was treason.
2.
83 But happy England, which had such a Queen,
2.
84 O happy, happy, had those days still been,
2.
85 But happiness lies in a higher sphere.
2.
86 Then wonder not, Eliza moves not here.
2.
87 Full fraught with honour, riches, and with days,
2.
88 She set, she set, like Titan in his rays.
2.
89 No more shall rise or set such glorious Sun,
2.
90 Until the heaven's great revolution:
2.
91 If then new things, their old form must retain,
2.
92 Eliza shall rule Albian once again.
Her Epitaph.
3.
1 Here sleeps T H E Queen, this is the royal bed
3.
2 O' th' Damask Rose, sprung from the white and red,
3.
3 Whose sweet perfume fills the all-filling air,
3.
4 This Rose is withered, once so lovely fair:
3.
5 On neither tree did grow such Rose before,
3.
6 The greater was our gain, our loss the more.
Another.
4.
1 Here lies the pride of Queens, pattern of Kings:
4.
2 So blaze it fame, here's feathers for thy wings.
4.
3 Here lies the envy'd, yet unparallel'd Prince,
4.
4 Whose living virtues speak (though dead long since).
4.
5 If many worlds, as that fantastic framed,
4.
6 In every one, be her great glory famed
|
Written by
Gary Snyder |
Smokey the Bear Sutra
Once in the Jurassic about 150 million years ago,
the Great Sun Buddha in this corner of the Infinite
Void gave a Discourse to all the assembled elements
and energies: to the standing beings, the walking beings,
the flying beings, and the sitting beings -- even grasses,
to the number of thirteen billion, each one born from a
seed, assembled there: a Discourse concerning
Enlightenment on the planet Earth.
"In some future time, there will be a continent called
America. It will have great centers of power called
such as Pyramid Lake, Walden Pond, Mt. Rainier, Big Sur,
Everglades, and so forth; and powerful nerves and channels
such as Columbia River, Mississippi River, and Grand Canyon
The human race in that era will get into troubles all over
its head, and practically wreck everything in spite of
its own strong intelligent Buddha-nature."
"The twisting strata of the great mountains and the pulsings
of volcanoes are my love burning deep in the earth.
My obstinate compassion is schist and basalt and
granite, to be mountains, to bring down the rain. In that
future American Era I shall enter a new form; to cure
the world of loveless knowledge that seeks with blind hunger:
and mindless rage eating food that will not fill it."
And he showed himself in his true form of
SMOKEY THE BEAR
•A handsome smokey-colored brown bear standing on his hind legs, showing that he is aroused and
watchful.
•Bearing in his right paw the Shovel that digs to the truth beneath appearances; cuts the roots of useless
attachments, and flings damp sand on the fires of greed and war;
•His left paw in the Mudra of Comradely Display -- indicating that all creatures have the full right to live to their limits and that deer, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, dandelions, and lizards all grow in the realm of the Dharma;
•Wearing the blue work overalls symbolic of slaves and laborers, the countless men oppressed by a
civilization that claims to save but often destroys;
•Wearing the broad-brimmed hat of the West, symbolic of the forces that guard the Wilderness, which is the Natural State of the Dharma and the True Path of man on earth: all true paths lead through mountains --
•With a halo of smoke and flame behind, the forest fires of the kali-yuga, fires caused by the stupidity of
those who think things can be gained and lost whereas in truth all is contained vast and free in the Blue Sky and Green Earth of One Mind;
•Round-bellied to show his kind nature and that the great earth has food enough for everyone who loves her and trusts her;
•Trampling underfoot wasteful freeways and needless suburbs; smashing the worms of capitalism and
totalitarianism;
•Indicating the Task: his followers, becoming free of cars, houses, canned foods, universities, and shoes;
master the Three Mysteries of their own Body, Speech, and Mind; and fearlessly chop down the rotten
trees and prune out the sick limbs of this country America and then burn the leftover trash.
Wrathful but Calm. Austere but Comic. Smokey the Bear will
Illuminate those who would help him; but for those who would hinder or
slander him,
HE WILL PUT THEM OUT.
Thus his great Mantra:
Namah samanta vajranam chanda maharoshana
Sphataya hum traka ham nam
"I DEDICATE MYSELF TO THE UNIVERSAL DIAMOND
BE THIS RAGING FURY DESTROYED"
And he will protect those who love woods and rivers,
Gods and animals, hobos and madmen, prisoners and sick
people, musicians, playful women, and hopeful children:
And if anyone is threatened by advertising, air pollution, television,
or the police, they should chant SMOKEY THE BEAR'S WAR SPELL:
DROWN THEIR BUTTS
CRUSH THEIR BUTTS
DROWN THEIR BUTTS
CRUSH THEIR BUTTS
And SMOKEY THE BEAR will surely appear to put the enemy out
with his vajra-shovel.
•Now those who recite this Sutra and then try to put it in practice will accumulate merit as countless as the sands of Arizona and Nevada.
•Will help save the planet Earth from total oil slick.
•Will enter the age of harmony of man and nature.
•Will win the tender love and caresses of men, women, and beasts.
•Will always have ripe blackberries to eat and a sunny spot under a pine tree to sit at.
•AND IN THE END WILL WIN HIGHEST PERFECT ENLIGHTENMENT.
thus have we heard.
|
Written by
Wang Wei |
Fishing boat pursue water love hill spring
Both banks peach blossom arrive ancient river crossing
Travel look red tree not know far
Travel furthest blue stream not see people
Mountain mouth stealthy move begin cave profound
Mountain open spacious view spin flat land
Far see one place accumulate cloud tree
Nearby join 1000 homes scattered flower bamboo
Firewood person first express Han surname given name
Reside person not change Qin clothing clothing
Reside person together live Wu Ling source
Still from outside outside build field orchard
Moon bright pine below room pen quiet
Sun through cloud middle chicken dog noisy
Surprise hear common visitor contend arrive gather
Compete lead back home ask all town
At brightness alley alley sweep blossom begin
Approach dusk fisher woodman via water return
Beginning reason evade earth leave person among
Change ask god immortal satisfy not return
Gorge inside who know be human affairs
World middle far gaze sky cloud hill
Not doubt magic place hard hear see
Dust heart not exhaust think country country
Beyond hole not decide away hill water
Leave home eventually plan far travel spread
Self say pass through old not lost
Who know peak gully now arrive change
Now only mark entrance hill deep
Blue stream how many times reach cloud forest
Spring come all over be peach blossom water
Not know immortal source what place search
A fisher's boat chased the water into the coveted hills,
Both banks were covered in peach blossom at the ancient river crossing.
He knew not how far he sailed, gazing at the reddened trees,
He travelled to the end of the blue stream, seeing no man on the way.
Then finding a crack in the hillside, he squeezed through the deepest of caves,
And beyond the mountain a vista opened of flat land all about!
In the distance he saw clouds and trees gathered together,
Nearby amongst a thousand homes flowers and bamboo were scattered.
A wood-gatherer was the first to speak a Han-era name,
The inhabitants' dress was unchanged since the time of Qin.
The people lived together on uplands above Wu Ling river,
Apart from the outside world they laid their fields and plantations.
Below the pines and the bright moon, all was quiet in the houses,
When the sun started to shine through the clouds, the chickens and dogs gave voice.
Startled to find a stranger amongst them, the people jostled around,
They competed to invite him in and ask about his home.
As brightness came, the lanes had all been swept of blossom,
By dusk, along the water the fishers and woodsmen returned.
To escape the troubled world they had first left men's society,
They live as if become immortals, no reason now to return.
In that valley they knew nothing of the way we live outside,
From within our world we gaze afar at empty clouds and hills.
Who would not doubt that magic place so hard to find,
The fisher's worldly heart could not stop thinking of his home.
He left that land, but its hills and rivers never left his heart,
Eventually he again set out, and planned to journey back.
By memory, he passed along the way he'd taken before,
Who could know the hills and gullies had now completely changed?
Now he faced only the great mountain where he remembered the entrance,
Each time he followed the clear stream, he found only cloud and forest.
Spring comes, and all again is peach blossom and water,
No-one knows how to reach that immortal place.
|
Written by
Andrew Barton Paterson |
The Premier and the Socialist
Were walking through the State:
They wept to see the Savings Bank
Such funds accumulate.
"If these were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be great.
"
"If three financial amateurs
Controlled them for a year,
Do you suppose," the Premier said,
"That they would get them clear?"
"I think so," said the Socialist;
"They would -- or very near!"
"If we should try to raise some cash
On assets of our own,
Do you suppose," the Premier said,
"That we could float a loan?"
"I doubt it," said the Socialist,
And groaned a doleful groan.
"Oh, Savings, come and walk with us!"
The Premier did entreat;
"A little walk, a little talk,
Away from Barrack Street;
My Socialistic friend will guide
Your inexperienced feet.
"
"We do not think," the Savings said,
"A socialistic crank,
Although he chance just now to hold
A legislative rank,
Can teach experienced Banking men
The way to run a Bank.
"
The Premier and the Socialist
They passed an Act or so
To take the little Savings out
And let them have a blow.
"We'll teach the Banks," the Premier said,
"The way to run the show.
"There's Tom Waddell -- in Bank finance
Can show them what is what.
I used to prove not long ago
His Estimates were rot.
But that -- like many other things --
I've recently forgot.
"Advances on a dried-out farm
Are what we chiefly need,
And loaned to friends of Ms.
L.
A.
Are very good, indeed,
See how the back-block Cockatoos
Are rolling up to feed.
"
"But not on us," the Savings cried,
Falling a little flat,
"We didn't think a man like you
Would do a thing like that;
For most of us are very small,
And none of us are fat.
"
"This haughty tone," the Premier said,
"Is not the proper line;
Before I'd be dictated to
My billet I'd resign!"
"How brightly," said the Socialist,
"Those little sovereigns shine.
"
The Premier and the Socialist
They had their bit of fun;
They tried to call the Savings back
But answer came there none,
Because the back-block Cockatoos
Had eaten every one.
|