Best Epics Poems
I have read that book
cover to cover
many a time
It's held me when I was down
gave me smiles all night long
It has given me a sense of self worth
and a feeling I belong
Many a night I have sat in front of a roaring fire
with a glass of wine or two
and have fallen deeply in love
I have floated on air
soared through the sky
slid down moonbeams
got caught in candy floss clouds
and wished upon fallen stars
Oh that book
I have read that book
it has brought me
many nights to tears
the death, the despair, the pain
Oh how I would like to reach out
and save her, comfort her, just to be there
We have had our sorrows but also our laughs
the cute stories of kids flying kites
the wise men chasing their wives
the nonsense alley gang
giving us a smile when we were going insane
Oh how I have loved your stories
Soda Pop, Zach Waverly and Sam Dumpty
just to mention a few
Your epics and your Poe's
and your paranormal too
That book that fantastic book
the one that I love
with all your well wishes
your tributes,
and romantic kisses
You I so adore
But tonight I am saddened
for when I turn to my book
some pages are empty
some have become torn
some no longer are singing
where they once had been born
I sit here at my desk and I read til I'm blue
all my dear departed poets I'm so missing you
Ramayana, a Hindu epic,
written by saint Valmiki, in Sanskrit
one of the two largest ancient epics,
the first ever poem ever created
many many centuries ago.
It depicts story of Lord Rama
as a kind, fair, brave, soft spoken,
handsome prince, who had
the kind benevolence of gods.
Himself an avatar of lord Vishnu
he was bestowed with divine,
powerful weapons of gods
to be used to fight evil forces.
He won over his consort, Sita,
daughter of King Janak,
in a 'swayamvar', a competition.
Keeping the tradition of honouring
a given word or promise at all costs,
a tradition of his sun god lineage
he went to forest for fourteen years
obeying his father, King Dashrath
and forsake the throne of Ayodhya
for his younger brother Bharata,
as demanded by Queen Kaikayi,
the mother of Bharatha.
He went to forests
with Sita and younger brother Lakshman.
There, he often killed many demons
who had terrorised and killed saints worshipping
peacefully in their holy monasteries,
on latter's requests.
In the 14th year of his banishment,
along with younger brother Lakshman,
with help from his follower Hanuman,
and, King of monkeys, Sugreev,
he fought with King of Lanka, Ravana
a demon King, who had kidnapped Sita
and had wanted to marry her.
After this victory of right over wrong,
and freeing Sita and killing Ravana
he returned to his kingdom Ayodhya
and became the king himself theteafter.
Ramayana, steeped in morality,
depicts duties of relationships,
portraying characters, ideal in nature,
like ideal son, ideal father, ideal servant,
ideal brother, ideal husband and ideal king.
Ramayana has greatly influenced
Hindu poetry, life and culture, thereafter.
Presenting teachings of ancient Hindu sages
in narrative allegory, it intermixes
philosophical and ethical elements.
The characters of Rama, Sita, Lakshman,
Hanuman, Ravana are still revered and worshipped,
in some of the culturally conscious
South and East Asian nations even today.
Two great Hindu festivals,
Dussehra and Deepawali
are celebrated to mark the victory of good over evil,
in India and elsewhere
with fervor and gaiety, every year.
8.6.2020
1.
Uninvited you come, oh Erato*, you muse of poetry, the
Majority of the times,
Knocking at my soul’s door at any given moment
Insisting on letting you in, your message to deliver
Disregarding at what state my soul is and if she could
With your request, comply
2.
Oh, Muse of poetry, when with my soul’s inspiration
You are flirting all the time
Whispering in her ears words of wisdom, coming
From your divine essence
My soul, mesmerized, tries the words of wisdom,
Lingering in her depths, again to remember**
3.
A difficult task it is; indeed, I admit,
For the language of heavens that my soul, once
Knew very well, now she has forgotten**
Because of her association with her mortal body
For that reason, oh divine muse,
Be patient with her and give her just
A little more time
4.
The time that my soul needs, divine muse, to learn
Or rather to remember
How to talk and to express herself in writing the way
You would like:
In accordance with the universe’s harmony and
Its eternal laws
5.
When this blessed hour comes, my soul able
Would be, poems to compose
But
Her writings, her creations, and her poetic epics,
The work of you would be, oh muse,
No credit would, my soul, claim
For
She knows very well that only an instrument she is,
Oh muse, into your godly embrace,
Just to be used according to your desire
Because only you, oh muse of poetry, know
How
The universe’s poetic language should be used
And how, in verse, it has to be
Delivered!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
30 SEPTEMBER 2014
* Erato, one of the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory ).
She is the Muse of lyric poetry, love poetry, and marriage songs.
** Socrates, Greek philosopher 469-399, believed that the soul knows the truth but because of her association with the body, after her incarnation, she forgets therefore what we call learning is, in reality, a process of remembering as it is indicated also by the name of Erato’s mother, Mnemosyne, (memory).
A poet should always follow Erato’s instructions that come in the form of inspiration, in order to reach the desired result. This is because Erato’s knowledge is unadulterated for it is divine!
Written: November 10, 2024 For Contest Sponsored by: Ink Empress
__________________________
Homeric moonstone sparkles at night.
a glowing globe of gleam amid galaxies,
Its shimmering shafts as flowing fantasies,
gliding glimmering, giddy waves of a wild ocean.
Glowing gaze glances into the gorgeous,
glistening sapphire depths,
where wild winds whirl, a wondrous waltz awakens—
ruby glistens amid the thunderclap.
amethyst whispers in the misty screams.
Hearken: harmonious hymns hover in heavens
colorful loops of capturing emerald and turquoise
every hue is a harmony in a mariner’s melody
each ebbing essence echoes magical epics of yore.
The fracas outside fades
as nature’s narratives naturally navigate—
dense drapery, like drowsy dividers
drawbacks divulge a heart displayed delicately.
Moonbeams meander over majestic mountains
limestone and obsidian, luscious layers lost
while wordsmiths weave wondrous words,
In a cascade of captivating couplets,
that shimmer and crumble.
Do you hear the sirens sing?
a chorus of longing from the depths
they call to hearts heavy like stone
yet light as ashes caught in the smoke.
We walk where men have trodden,
tracing footsteps worn soft by time,
with wonder in every glance, every sigh,
painted worlds vibrate in the very air.
So, step into this symphony of starlit spells.
a captivating collection of contrasting senses—
where dazzling diamonds dance delightfully
and the fierce fight for fervent fantasies flows with the tide.
Out here beneath the blackened blanket of night,
Elysium eagerly awaits our embrace—
a splendid symphony, and you
the softest serenade nestled in its depths.
Patradoot or The Messenger29 /Many
English version by Ravindra K Kapoor
Originally written in Hindi by my
Late father Dr. Amar Nath Kapoor
These young boys and girls, were brought up,
By their parents, with great love and affection,
Now they are mad, in love for their motherland,
To show the splendors of their youthful energy.
They are ready even to sacrifice their heads,
What to say of body pains and tortures inflicted on them,
By seeing such fearlessness and energy of their youth,
Even the enemy gets ashamed of, dear letter.
Triloki was one of these young boys,
Who happily took bullets on his chest, dear letter,
And kept on moving ahead without withdrawing,
Keeping the dignity of our nation and Satyagraha.
DESCRIPTION OF MY CITY ALLAHABAD
You will find my beautiful city Allahabad,*
In an ecstasy and full of rapture, flowing in it’s air,
When you will move on its roads and streets,
Along with the Postman, dear letter.
Ravindra
Kanpur India 12th August 2010 to continue in 30
Clarifications:
* Allahabad Also know as Prayag or Triveni is the most ancient city
of India, where river Ganga and Yamuna now meets at
the holy place called Sangam.
Protected as per Poetry Soup’s copy write protections
Note:
If any reader who is not a member of Poetry soup
Has any question or queries, they can
Send me an email on kapoor_skk@yahoo.com
Patradoot in Hindi was originally written by my late father
Dr. Amar Nath Kapoor around 1932, who was a freedom fighter.
He wrote Patradoot in Hindi, when he was kept in Faizabad Jail for quite
a long time. The Epic was written as a gift for my mother and it was
sent to her secretly from Faizabad Jail. He was imprisoned
by the British, as he was fighting for India's freedom
under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. He was imprisoned
many times during 1920 to 1947. After India’s
independence as a true follower of Gandhi Dr. Amar Nath
Kapoor left active politics and devoted rest of his life in
writing easy mass literature and wrote many Dramas,
Poetry books, epics. All his other literary
works were mainly written from 1955 to 1990.
He left this mortal world in 1994.
Someone had to weave the tale of how the beast was slain,
to paint in valor all the scars and make it worth the pain.
A knight disfigured, charred and gaunt, returning from his quest
employed a bard’s convincing tongue to tell it to the rest.
The townsfolk were a fickle lot; naught kept their love for long
until the wordsmith cleverly described it all in song.
Young maiden hearts were often won by tales of chivalry
of shining knights, and deathly fights for love eternally.
Who better could express to they, the champion’s desire
or stoke the ember in her breast into a roaring fire?
Who but the bard, in gifted grace, could tell of blood and gore
and cause all those who saw the knight to marvel and adore?
Thus we see that though they wore no armor and no helm
that poets, not the knights of yore, were masters of the realm.
For had they never sung their songs, nor wrote their epics down
the knights to all would strangers be; mere beggars in the town.
05/24/15
I miss the candles of your fingers holding mine ,
as we waltz on floors that bathe our dusk.
Seasons glimmer of moist orange,
hands tracing night passages with mirrors
inside our eyes capturing reveries and hymns
of epics written in ashes, on orchids,
and among seashells.
Yet, I have to part for now
through the sweet ghost of winters lost...
here are your hands ; I give them back to you
with mine for a while...
God, how I still miss the candles of your dusk
Posted 6/6/2016
Scented smoke from sandalwood upwards rose
As the venerable sage in yogic pose
Chanted arcane, esoteric Vedic prose.
The Sylvan glade with marigold and rose,
Where the doe with its deer fearlessly goes,
For its tranquility the Rishi chose.
The ancient mantras of mysterious force
Stirred up the Asuras, put them in throes,
Invoked the Deva, who blessings bestows.
The demons destroyed, there were no further woes,
The sage sat in peace his sagas to compose.
Born thus were amanuenses of Epics, I suppose.
~ 10 May 2016 ~
NOT WRITTEN FOR A CONTEST
I often write about the ocean's secrets,
of its crashing waves that roar in apogee
and the treasures it washes upon the shore.
I've verses founded on tales of sailor's lore.
Stanzas about fragile seashells and abalone
and of gulls noisily squawking in cacophony.
I've penned Sonnet filled with romantic notions
in which mermaids live in depths of oceans.
I wrote I'd found Atlantis beneath the waves,
and chests of gold and silver in a maze of caves.
I am always watching out for predatory sharks,
for in ocean waters, they are considered hierarchs.
I've claimed the sun cries when twilight is nigh.
When his day his done, he yawns his 'goodbye.'
I narrated epics of its tide, controlled by the moon,
and of sirens who lure men with a beguiling tune.
Poems tell of typhoons, caused by Neptune's hand,
and of shipwrecks, men and cargo strewn on sand.
The ocean beckons to me as I stand on the cliffs.
It speaks in the breakers. My thought often drifts
to how beautiful are the waters that God has made.
It covers most of Earth's surface with salty brine.
The magnitude of its power, I would dare not define.
Much is unknown about what lies beneath the deep
but all its secrets, it seems, the ocean intends to keep.
~
Among watching forbidden archangels saunter sullen paths
I reflect mandragoras through evanescent gleams of orrery elegies,
whirling into significant distraught dizain stanzas of my obsidian paint
in halcyon hopes my expressive ekphrasis will bloom alongside aureate tulips.
Under opal moons shading dozens of writhing languid lavenders of mauve,
a hushing zephyr cuddles lost villanelle verses of my nocturne lilt heart
shaping obsidian thorns of withering torment into eloquent paradelles
gifting me picturesque promises of prospering ovary triumph over obsidian odes.
O, how I dream vermillion serenade reveries of idyllic illusions
whilst pouring out serpentine verses in poise patterns of bewitching ballads,
perhaps yearning celestine fantasies to be painted in aureate ruby recognition
are as asking one to grasp glazing pearl stars under an elixir eclipse.
Upon scrolling night's interrogating introspective sighs of myrrh melodies
I refocus labyrinthine lilacs of drizzling determination through ethereal epics,
for it is through periwinkle poetry I've learned to set palindromes forward
and through vignette vellichor musings I'll leap amethyst acrostics.
~
My pleasure is in creating my own mythology.
I have read the saga's, the legends the great epics,
and they have made a garden for my spirit to walk in,
yet, they are the 'other' stories, ones told for so long now
they seem like the often played grooves
in an old vinyl record.
Better to unfold my own myths, better to believe
and speak boldly of impossible things,
for only the impossible can be transformed.
I am a story, you are a story, why tell those tales
in any stale or pedestrian way when we can
reveal a new parable of truth, make it fly?
The new legends are waiting to be narrated;
they are imagined collectively or dreamt of
in a dream within a dream.
Remember, words are symbols of symbols,
there is a power in every poet and story-teller
that cannot for long live in the dark.
Your visionary flowers need sunlight, your legend
waits for your heroic self to publish you.
light penetrated dark, sound birthed
the Word ~ p o e t r y
a superlative emitting that which changes
emerging when ripened as verse
speaking to people faraway
unlocking alphabets from minds
to glide, fast fly, jump or slowly crawl, landing
at destined places, swords or aces
I am Poetry ~ weep or whimper not for me
existentially dancing, enthralling, glancing at
blank paper to be embroidered in ink
ruby red, black or olive green
free flow I from fingers fragile, artistic or sturdy
regulate me only for joy or exploring expansion
perhaps for judicious judgement
I, P o e t r y ~ sequins of Love convoluted or rayed, in service
purifying emotive sentiments conditioned, romantic, missioned
Heart is my home where rest my letters, forms
cadences, couplets, epics
in non-bewildered intelligence visioning dreamscapes
divine, liberated from bandages, buckles, bondages
alive is my Supersoul breath giving voice to electrons
protons, neutrons which fleetingly capture
essenced life through observed elixirs
as Poetry, I witness action followed by pure
stillness ~ transcendental whirlpools in orbits
my limbs reach language lyrical or plain
burnished and wise
cherishing recitals in sacred spaces
I activate thoughts and visions remaining
supremely unattached attuning words
for Grace ~
undulate imagination in perfect waves
misty, clear or intricate, intriguing, unblemished
gratifying, swivelling, sizzling in my own
fire or ice
I, Poetry, consummated
voice the W o r d
Hero of Epics,
Powerful spell in his hand.
Your blood on his blade.
Patradoot or The Messenger 39 /50
English version by Ravindra K Kapoor
Originally written in Hindi by my
Late father Dr. Amar Nath Kapoor
When in the nectar pond of her mouth,
My kiss use to take breathe, dear,
Even the pride of the beauties of heaven,
Seems faded before her charms, dear letter
When during her extreme laughs and passions,
The rows of her pearl like teeth appeared,
They use to wave like necklace of pearl,
In the red shines of her lovely lips, dear letter.
The round mark of her forehead used to disappear,
Whenever her face shined with luster dear,
Also during our love making,
When pride ever came in her mind, dear letter.
Such lovely face, of the moonfaced my beloved,
You would find without a smile dear letter,
The face that never bent in self respect,
You will find plight full, dear letter.
Her limbs which she used to keep covered,
With the softness and colors of beautiful silk sarees,
You would find them covered now with,
Coarse cotton Khadi colorless sarees, dear letter.
Seeing her motherland in miseries,
And her people unfed and uncovered,
She must be wearing that coarse clothes,
On her tender body in sympathy of her people,
Ravindra
Kanpur India 013th Sept 2010 continues in 40
Based on the true freedom struggle story of Dr. Amar Nath Kapoor
Protected as per Poetry Soup’s copy write protections
Note:
If any reader who is not a member of Poetry soup
Has any question or queries, they can
Send me an email on kapoor_skk@yahoo.com
Patradoot in Hindi was originally written by my late father
Dr. Amar Nath Kapoor around 1932, who was a freedom fighter.
He wrote Patradoot in Hindi, when he was kept in Faizabad Jail for quite
a long time. The Epic was written as a gift for my mother and it was
sent to her secretly from Faizabad Jail. He was imprisoned
by the British, as he was fighting for India's freedom
under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. He was imprisoned
many times during 1920 to 1947. After India’s
independence as a true follower of Gandhi Dr. Amar Nath
Kapoor left active politics and devoted rest of his life in
writing easy mass literature and wrote many Dramas,
Poetry books, epics. All his other literary
works were mainly written from 1955 to 1990.
He left this mortal world in 1994.
Love even enemies with humanity
Endeavour ever for creativity
Live united with smile until death
Add eminence to parents for birth
Let truth alone remain in the universe
Aspire for flawless life with perseverance
Ensure peace persists everywhere
Make poverty and disparity among people rare
Acquire doubtless knowledge
Impede united against evils you judge
Preserve the accepted holy epics
Also admire philanthropy and ethics
Hate hatred and corruption in every walk of life
Adopt Ahimsa as the right path for eternal life.