"avails" poems
Nor thou, Habib, nor I are glad,
when rosy limbs and sweat entwine;
But rapture drowns the sense and self,
the wine the drawer of the wine,
And Him that planted first the grape-
o podex, in thy vault there dwells
A charm to make the member mad,
And shake the marrow of the spine.
O member, in thy stubborn strength
a power avails on podex-sense
To boil the blood in breast and brain;
shudder the nreves incarnadine!
From me thou drawest pearly drink -
and in its pourings both are drunk.
The Iman drives forth the drunken man
from out the marble prayer-shrine.
Blue Mushtari strove with red Mirrikh
which should be master of the night-
But where is Mushtari, where Mirrikh
when in the sky the sun doth shine?
Now El Qahar to Hazif gives
the worship unto poets due : -
But songs are nought and Music all;
what poet music may define?
Allah's the atheist! he owns
no Allah. Sneer, thou dullard churl!
The Sufi worships not, but drinks,
being himself the all-divine.
Come, my Habib, the roses blush,
the waters gleam, the bulbul sings -
To pierce thy podex El Quahar's
urgent and and imminent design!
5.3k
Long I followed happy guides,—
I could never reach their sides.
Their step is forth, and, ere the day,
Breaks up their leaguer, and away.
Keen my sense, my heart was young,
Right goodwill my sinews strung,
But no speed of mine avails
To hunt upon their shining trails.
On and away, their hasting feet
Make the morning proud and sweet.
Flowers they strew, I catch the scent,
Or tone of silver instrument
Leaves on the wind melodious trace,
Yet I could never see their face.
On eastern hills I see their smokes
Mixed with mist by distant lochs.
I meet many travellers
Who the road had surely kept,—
They saw not my fine revellers,—
These had crossed them while they slept.
Some had heard their fair report
In the country or the court.
Fleetest couriers alive
Never yet could once arrive,
As they went or they returned,
At the house where these sojourned.
Sometimes their strong speed they slacken,
Though they are not overtaken:
In sleep, their jubilant troop is near,
I tuneful voices overhear,
It may be in wood or waste,—
At unawares 'tis come and passed.
Their near camp my spirit knows
By signs gracious as rainbows.
I thenceforward and long after
Listen for their harplike laughter,
And carry in my heart for days
Peace that hallows rudest ways.—
2.2k
Ah what avails the sceptred race,
Ah what the form divine!
What every virtue, every grace!
Rose Aylmer, all were thine.
Rose Aylmer, whom these wakeful eyes
May weep, but never see,
A night of memories and of sighs
I consecrate to thee.
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These are modern English translations of the "Xenia" epigrams written in collaboration by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.
#2 - Verse versus Kiss
She says an epigram’s too terse
to reveal her tender heart in verse ...
but really, darling, ain’t the thrill
of a kiss much shorter still?
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#5 - Criticism
Why don’t I openly criticize the man? Because he’s a friend;
thus I reproach him in silence, as I do my own heart.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#11 - Highest Holiness
What is holiest? This heart-felt love
binding spirits together, now and forever.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#12 - Love versus Desire
You love what you have, and desire what you lack
because a rich nature expands, while a poor one contracts.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#19 - Nymph and Satyr
As shy as the trembling doe your horn frightens from the woods,
she flees the huntsman, fainting, uncertain of love.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#20 - Desire
What stirs the virgin’s heaving ******* to sighs?
What causes your bold gaze to brim with tears?
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#23 - The Apex I
Everywhere women yield to men, but only at the apex
do the manliest men surrender to femininity.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#24 - The Apex II
What do we mean by the highest? The crystalline clarity of triumph
as it shines from the brow of a woman, from the brow of a goddess.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#25 -Human Life
Young sailors brave the sea beneath ten thousand sails
while old men drift ashore on any bark that avails.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#35 - Dead Ahead
What’s the hardest thing of all to do?
To see clearly with your own eyes what’s ahead of you.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#36 - Unexpected Consequence
Friends, before you utter the deepest, starkest truth, please pause,
because straight away people will blame you for its cause.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
#41 - Earth versus Heaven
By doing good, you nurture humanity;
but by creating beauty, you scatter the seeds of divinity.
―from “Xenia” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Keyword/Tags: Goethe, Schiller, epitaph, epigram, German, Germany, translation, love, kiss, friendship, desire, holy, holiness, earth, heaven, beauty, divinity, nature, spirit
Feb 6, 2021
Feb 6, 2021 at 4:39 AM UTC
Needed someone to love
someone to hold,
someone to fall for
Couldn't I have told
You, that I wasn't cold
Out of my mold
I could not crowl
Just a little bold
That's what I needed to be, lord
To confront the world
No treasure, silver or gold
Too young, I wasn't that old
To take consideration,
And of your love behold
The world distorting your peace
Your true self I could not uphold
Couldn't you have managed to hold
Hold onto me through madness and massacre
How could I have believed
We had no enemies
When all I saw was war
Our chances were rigged
Our chances were not ours to deal
Our places were not opportune
Our cards were long fortold
We held onto the unattainable
We fell to the struggle from within
We were fighting hard to rebuild
What had already failed,
Thinking the helpless
Could reverse their inevitable fall
In the questions, desperation, and pondering
No catharsis, no purging, avails
All the true revelations are lost
Only un-resourceful quiescence stalls
Sep 20, 2012
Sep 20, 2012 at 10:06 PM UTC
When my mind is at rest I think of peace and blissful things
I see the unfettered and innocent smile of a new babe in arms
Or the Omnipotence gilded arms outstretch showering blessings
The shores of a pristine beach with blue waves marking times
Silver sunset sprinkling magic across quiet waters with no stressing
Or me sat at my fathers feet as he reads engrossed in his charmes
My mind rests easy in places of warmth and enriching lovings
My mind has no space to linger in the murkiness of failings
I do not plunge dark dept to court the uninspiring s in terms
To share company with wretches with wasted mental ecthings
Eyes that see dew in darkness and acrimony in fruitless farms
Voices made for howling dirges and apostles of negative cravings
Demented downers who drink from the fountains of fallen vamps
Satiated miserably they seek to retch their stench on followings
My mind finds the luminous stars and praise their spark-lings
It atunes to the silent melodies of sages who now sleep uncramp
It relishes the delights of the million trillion wonders tinklings
Its marvels the joys of the thousand mothers holding new champs
Can share the lifting dreams of hopes for happy new beginnings
Living is never about waste for the Creator avails no dumps
For a mind that lives and grows in the Light is forever inspired and inspiring
Copyright LaurencA.1stAugust2018.All rights reserved
Aug 1, 2018
Aug 1, 2018 at 7:54 PM UTC
--Proverbs xxiv. 11, 12.
1.
I have done I know not what,--what have I done?
My brother's blood, my brother's soul, doth cry:
And I find no defence, find no reply,
No courage more to run this race I run
Not knowing what I have done, have left undone;
Ah me, these awful unknown hours that fly
Fruitless it may be, fleeting fruitless by
Rank with death-savor underneath the sun.
For what avails it that I did not know
The deed I did? what profits me the plea
That had I known I had not wronged him so?
Lord Jesus Christ, my God, him pity Thou;
Lord, if it may be, pity also me:
In judgment pity, and in death, and now.
2.
Thou Who hast borne all burdens, bear our load,
Bear Thou our load whatever load it be;
Our guilt, our shame, our helpless misery,
Bear Thou Who only canst, O God my God.
Seek us and find us, for we cannot Thee
Or seek or find or hold or cleave unto:
We cannot do or undo; Lord, undo
Our self-undoing, for Thine is the key
Of all we are not though we might have been.
Dear Lord, if ever mercy moved Thy mind,
If so be love of us can move Thee yet,
If still the nail-prints in Thy Hands are seen,
Remember us,--yea, how shouldst Thou forget?
Remember us for good, and seek, and find.
3.
Each soul I might have succored, may have slain,
All souls shall face me at the last Appeal,
That great last moment poised for woe or weal,
That final moment for man's bliss or bane.
Vanity of vanities, yea all is vain
Which then will not avail or help or heal:
Disfeatured faces, worn-out knees that kneel,
Will more avail than strength or beauty then.
Lord, by Thy Passion,--when Thy Face was marred
In sight of earth and hell tumultuous,
And Thy heart failed in Thee like melting wax,
And Thy Blood dropped more precious than the nard,--
Lord, for Thy sake, not ours, supply our lacks,
For Thine own sake, not ours, Christ, pity us.
1.5k
10,000
early morning muses
but sometimes late at night
he brings enough sun
to make 1000 poems look easy
he is the leaven to our loaves and
the tequila to our margaritas
positively
positive he works through
the dark of night
to bring us light
and for the full effect
of his efficacy
drink dark coffee
first
then
sufficiently caffeinated
awakened and ready
to read
put in the work
to discover the words
his encouraging words of life
and maybe you’ll burn to earn
a bonus of how to survive
so very little sleep
for me
personally
its more about
the lines between the lines
than those not spoken at all
or written at all
rather realized
if I were to
focus on others
half as much as he
then maybe my life
would be less miserably
my own
more jokes than yokes
and less wails to no avails
no non-satiated regrets
or cratered frustration
rather
peace in a storm of senility
he writes for us all
with a message of hope
like the god of HP he sees
we are radiating rays
positivity pointed
one and all and
all together at
the same time
toward heaven
he moves freely
amongst our home page
from whence did he come?
from the fourth dimension
he brings forth conjuration
his style is love
his style is hope
his style is empathy
his style is encouragement
his style is truly who he is
he is an early morning beacon
bewildering
he comes from the east
to rise across our browsers
seeking the infection of discovery
in each hissy fit writ
we write
Sep 7, 2017
Sep 7, 2017 at 12:24 AM UTC
What avails of this sidereal year?
If not my love with me ever.
What if the flowers spread and disperse?
Even they make the earth paradise.
What though sweetest your incessant loving be?
If now you're receding from me.
What lies behind your heart to reside far?
To me it seems all, you rift through the clouds like a lone star.
Is it a gentle pride?
It’s your fallacy my beautiful bride!
Afraid of your restless youth and irresistible trait,
I am drawn so close to you; so no one can drift us apart.
My thoughts in your mind should often come across
A timeless true love in your mind brighter than luminous stars
That you never forget.
Playing hot and cold never dishearten the resolute.
Give and take in love is an enchanted gift
Never drift away from true love otherwise pain will grow in rift.
Where have you been all this while?
Your sweet incessant love beguile.
Setting moon besets, between us flitting moments
Wretchedness came upon in disappointments.
The days, the moments and the years all unfetched begone.
All this time, our feelings had never lain dormant and forlorn
There you dear staring at me willingly,
Yet looking upon your grace continually.
Nov 12, 2018
Nov 12, 2018 at 11:04 PM UTC
When my pillow is drenched with tears, my mind filled with fear.
She still avails herself to me
Even when their cruelty ****** me,
she gently dresses my wounds.
When I can't sleep at night,
she is my dulcimer lullaby
Even when my teeth's peak,
when my cheecks lift,
when my heart jumps so high
And when my eyes gleam so bright.
She still avails herself to me
She connects so well with ears,
wipes my tears,erase my fears
She is my music!
Dec 12, 2024
Dec 12, 2024 at 1:11 AM UTC
As of time remembers;
The beauty of a rose.
The lake holds still and quite
… until the ripples flow.
The fog of dawn still hovers
… stately morning glides on and on
Silence clings to memories
… as of her scent avails upon.
The heart beats slow and weary;
A tear… reaches the cool still air
As of time remembers …
A rose and the dew now share.
As of time remembers
… the water now dances rings;
Silence becomes of a melody;
The sounds of nature sings
Rocks and trees accompany
Foggy mist serenely glows
For as time remembers;
Thus…,
It is only for time to know.
May 23, 2014
May 23, 2014 at 8:26 AM UTC
Illusions are both perceptions and deceptions.........
We allow ourselves to believe them
..........to escape problems
We wend our way thru a care free day
And consume the .........perfect love
And all that we are capable of,
Emerged in Fantsy, we create reality,
To insure our denyability and
Preserve our culpability,
In the hopes that the perception
Or deception, avails the....ILLUSIONS..... JMF 1/7/115
Jan 9, 2015
Jan 9, 2015 at 7:06 AM UTC
Brethren, if A man is overtaken in any trespass, You who are Spiritual Should Restore such A One in A Spirit Of Gentleness, Considering Thyself lest You also be Tempted. Bear one another's Burden and so Fulfill the Law Of Christ. For if anyone thinks thyself to be something, when He is nothing, He Deceives Himself. But let each One examine His Own Work, and then He will have Rejoicing in Himself Alone, and not in Another. For each One Shall bear His own Load. Let Him who is taught the Word share in All Good things with Him who Teaches. Do not be deceived, GOD Is Not Mocked, for whatever A Man Sows, that He will also Reap. For He who Sows to His Flesh will of the Flesh Reap Corruption, but He who Sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit Reap Everlasting Life. And let Us not Grow Weary while doing Good, for in Due Season we Shall Reap if we do not Lose Heart. Therefore, as we have Opportunity, let us do Good to all, Especially to those who are of the Household Of Faith. See with what Large letters I have Written to You with my Own Hand! As many as Desire to make A Good Showing in the Flesh, these would Compel You to be Circumstance, only that they may not Suffer Persecution for the Cross Of Christ. For no even those who are Circumcised keep the Law, but they Desire to have Thee Circumcised that they may Boast in thy Flesh. But GOD forbid that I should Boast except in the Cross Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the World has been Crucified to Me, and I to thy World. For in Christ Jesus neither Circumcision nor Uncircumcision avails anything, but a New Creation. And as many as Walk According to this Rule, Peace and Mercy be Upon thy Israel Of GOD. From now on let no One Trouble Me, for I Bear in My Body the Marks Of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the Grace Of Our Lord Jesus Christ Be With Your Spirit, Amen.! GOD Remain Our Strength, GOD Is Love.. GOD With Us.!
Jun 6, 2015
Jun 6, 2015 at 3:57 PM UTC
i.
I watch my cigarette make the water and step from the dock onto my father’s boat. a large fish moves from beneath it and I sense the fish is of a tearful species of fish and sense that to it my father’s boat was a shadow. alas, fish, I am trying to know the first thing about boats.
ii.
my father makes it hard for the cops because he isn’t hurting anyone. he avails himself of the dense novel and uses his ***** to camouflage the riding horse. he goes headlong up the slide and enters a realm where he is embraced for blowing a tooth from his nose. by the time he’s using the seesaw as a surfboard, he feels the cops haven’t had enough.
iii.
my father is asleep on his back with a book across his chest and my sister nudges me like it’s never happened. I ask her what she sees and she sees a man missing his glasses because they are on his face. for me, it takes two fathers to begin the long process of choosing an epitaph.
iv.
I cannot mention my brother without mentioning how in that old farmhouse he saw a ghost leaning over the bathtub wearing nothing but a yellow rain slicker and how he used ten of his eleven years to push my father down the stairs while screaming don’t look don’t look
enough to make ****** mary jealous. also how brother denied it later and called it a joke but I knew better because after the sighting I began to see my brother everywhere which made it easy for me to be there for my mother.
v.
presence is a petition.
Feb 4, 2014
Feb 4, 2014 at 3:25 PM UTC
you wake and read the message on your phone
which tells you something that is bitter cold
at edge of summer now you are not old
just middle-aged not in the best of tone
a little silly too inclined to moan
about the minor things yet not the gold
measure of what can now be truly told
you see the words a crab now eats her bone
the tale's been written on a rotting page
yet can be read by any human eye
we can't escape the poison nor the taint
nothing avails there is no use to rage
each comfortable answer is a lie
and yet she set the signal down in paint
Jun 17, 2010
Jun 17, 2010 at 1:56 PM UTC
Counting Chimneypots
On this bed of cardboard dreams
under Waterloo
where steam trains trickle by above my head
drip fed by the sheen of lights
that float through cracks in cracked out nights
and slower still the will that wills me to survive
is locked behind and under baggy eyes
where sleep to no avail
avails me of no rest.
This zest of bitter lemon juice
splashes
tells me what's the use of going on
but go on I must if only just to spite those gentlemen
with fountain pens who sit at desks on fancy chairs
and never give a thought or care to me
out here in there.
I'll make them look
let me strip off layers of ***** skin and pin it to the pinafores
of petit fours
and let them smell the smell I smell
and eat?
Well
the devil always knows his own and knows who owns the rights
to Waterloo and steam train nights.
I'm breaking out of here
once upon the time when my cluttered mind is clear
and I can see beyond the grime where lines of strategy
will parallel to set me free
the straight
the narrow streets where narrow minded minds are funded
seconded from the corporation
to adjust and tinker with my situation.
I can take or leave them
that other form that gentlemen can take
swamp life
swamped by life
trampled underfoot by feet where the shoes do fit
and do not rub or hurt a bit
and once the touchpaper's lit
there'll be no stopping me
set free
broken out
broken in
watch them gentlemen begin
to worry then.
Jun 3, 2013
Jun 3, 2013 at 4:04 AM UTC
If up was down
And left was right
Then death was life
If heaven was on earth
Sadness would be hapiness
Laughing as i cry
The world would be a paradise
If all the wars on earth were disregarded
Peace avails all over
Humanity united in accord
Life more simpler..
If everything was normal
In accordance with the creation purpose
All toils disbanded
Then happy would have been me
Oct 25, 2016
Oct 25, 2016 at 2:52 AM UTC
Ne'er say the attempt naught avails,
the toils and the struggles are vain,
the betrayer nay drops nor fails,
and as all has been, all doth remain.
For while the waves that are breaking,
seem to have no aching increase to gain
-long ago, thru brooks & rills making...
comes hushed
--flowing in
The Main.
Jul 4, 2016
Jul 4, 2016 at 7:26 PM UTC
One shot fired into open air—
As heavy curtains
Draw dark corners
Into our house,
We turn away and run .
Two shots fired into open air—
The empty walls
Resonate
As we lay under
A new, foreign sky.
Three shots fired into open air—
We try to forget-
What is now history
We walk down the streets
With a name in an unfamiliar
Tongue
And our heads bent
Last shot fired into open air—
Our necks forced down,
One of us is wailing;
Two of us in silence-
Nothing avails.
Because
We are a shade darker
than their soils
And there’s a cloth on our heads-
Screaming.
Nov 6, 2018
Nov 6, 2018 at 2:20 AM UTC
illusions are both
perceptions and
deceptions.........
we allow ourselves
to believe them
to escape problems
we wend our way
thru a care free day
and consume the
.........perfect love
and all that we are
capable of, emerged
in Fantsy, we create
reality, to insure our
denyability and preserve
our culpability, in the
hopes that the perception
or deception, avails the....
ILLUSIONS..... JMF 1/7/115
Jan 8, 2015
Jan 8, 2015 at 5:43 PM UTC
through knurly boughs surly éclat breaks,
burn of gold that rips the vineyard’s breast;
it cleavers slumber, all stray living shakes,
and bids the mourner’s heart forsake its rest.
o Godly Sun, thou art no tender flame,
but grim as verdict in the twilight’s hour;
thy light, as gars, enthrall the flesh with shame,
and sear the fragile bloom of mortal flower.
yet soft the Sea, with soughing lips of brine,
still thumps her griefs against the granite shore;
though wave on wave seems lush, of tone divine,
she gnaws the stone till stone it is no more.
thus love forays in twofold dread disguise:
now sudden fire, now patient tidal spell;
it strikes with glory, burns the blinded eyes,
or wears the years to dust with late farewell.
o Love, thou art a tyrant robed in grace,
of sweet miasma, vile in delight;
thou make a banquet of the heart’s own place,
and leave the corpse to banquet with the night.
no mortal choice avails ’gainst Love’s decree;
its law is writ in fire and surging sea.
naturally, fatally, all lovers know:
the last, most faithful act is;
let them go.
Aug 23, 2025
Aug 23, 2025 at 6:32 AM UTC
When the ringing of the bells awaken your soul
And the earth beneath your feet crumble your bones
When your body becomes but dust and sand
And your soul flees to escape the unplanned
When you stand before the creator himself
And atone for your sins as though to prove yourself
When the life you've once had flashes before your eyes
And the sweet sting comes of not saying goodbye
When the good and bad are weighed with a scale
And all you can do is watch as the truth avails
When you realize you've gone and time is up
And nothing you do can stop you from sipping deaths cup
When death becomes you and the judgment is final,
And the faces you see are but primal
When hell accepts you and tortures your soul
Remember this time there’s no parole…
Jun 18, 2014
Jun 18, 2014 at 8:45 AM UTC
*Carrying the art of love
to her ***** so lovely
much pleasure she holds
takes hold of the night
sheer radiance reveals
undertaking of noble verse
breath avails
idea of a poet thoughts.*
by Debbie Brooks.. 2014
Sep 27, 2014
Sep 27, 2014 at 6:49 PM UTC