Famous Quoted Line Poetry Contest

Blue Memories

This level reach of blue is not my sea, but my sorrow
For ever fall the glistening drops from my eyes
Since the sea swallowed her up and she was gone
The good Lord gives and the good Lord takes away—
But the blue sea sounds with haunting voices
Figures seen rising in the mist from its watery depths
I must go down to the sea again
All I want is another chance at love
If the deep blue will return my lost love
With a star to guide her by…

Pendragon
© July 17, 2010

(sorry about the second famous quoted line, from John Masefield, Sea Fever the seventh line here)

This level reach of blue is not my sea.
It is the grammar of my mind.
Those who swear the earth is round,
who live by proof and proof alone,
cannot prove love, nor understand
when it is gone. This level reach of blue
goes out from heart to heart. Without it,
there is neither love, nor art.

Promises

This level reach of blue is not my sea,
nor this, the only shade of sky for me,
and hope, then prayer, begs a less cobalt hue.
I search horizons that cleave blue from blue.

Then soft, a timid, tinted wind descends
to proof the line where azure sky begins.
Beneath, the darker stain of oceans deep,
my blues are promises you did not keep.

Four wonderful entries so far - if anyone else feels they can do the 'line' justice, there is only a week remaining before the deadline.

H

The deadline has now passed - thanks to the four entrants, and my gratitude also to those who have visited here for a read without leaving their mark..... next time perhaps you will also enter the fray.

These excellent poems make use of metaphor in four quite different ways, which perhaps shows how each writer approached the quote itself 'this level line of blue is not my sea.....'

DarkMuse : on first reading this a poem about suicide, the poet throwing her body 'tumbling over the ledge' - but then it becomes apparent this is actually about abandoning a conventional love (rather than life itself) in order to fulfill a dream.
I particularly enjoyed 'a pale rose/wrapped in saffron' and 'catching the/celestial skyline' - a beautiful poem very skillfully executed

Pendragon : a poignant poem about physical loss - the sea taking from us, also reminding us constantly of what we have lost - the Masefield line was a welcome addition (although line 4 seemed rather out of place) - a commendable effort nevertheless

Prince - an elegant reflection on the different ways the world may be observed -by the pragmatists 'who live by proof and proof alone', or the romantic where 'this level reach of blue/goes out from heart to heart' - very simple and thought-provoking

hack : almost an elegy on blueness - then comes 'a timid, tinted wind' to separate blue sky from blue sea, hope from despair almost, and reveal that powerful closing line - a very neat piece.

All are worthy of far greater praise than I have scattered here - and it was not an easy task to pick the winner, but under stiff competition the prize goes to Prince for encapsulating so much in just 8 lines.

Congratulations - and to the other 3 for giving him a run for his money.

H

My compliments to the other three entrants. I have chosen the opening lines from Lay your sleeping head, my love, by W.H. Auden:

Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;

The deadline is September 1

Faithful Is As Faithful Does

Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Let me hold you fast against the night
Sheltered and safe from all harm

Head on my chest listening to my heart
Knowing it beats only for you
Knowing somewhere in my disordered brain
I'll always be faithful and true

I call my arm faithless but truth be told
I never could enfold another
Temptations come and temptations go
But we'll always have each other

Going through life on a wing and a prayer
Got to hold on ready or not
Your head on my shoulder when you feel need to cry
Sometime it seems that's all we've got

Come again to arms it is time for rest
To snuggle and sleep for a while
When morning calls the first thing I'll see
Is the brilliance of your gentle smile

Love will keep us together come ever what may
We grow closer as the moments pass by
I know I have found a lover and a friend
So I'll hold you fast and just cry...

Pendragon

Pendragon: A great beginning to this latest iteration of the thread that you initiated.

What, no competition? Come on poets! Write your hearts out!

An Angel's Requiem

Come my dear
and let us watch the world burn
from above upon our precipice,
at the edge of the horizon
where the earth meets the sky.

Fear not my darling
for we are high above their reach
and their unjust reproaches,
we can walk through the ash
of their souls and the ruin
of the world they made.

Do not waste pity
upon the weak who would spare
the likes of us no mercy,
hush and don't shed your bloodied tears
let the shadow extinguish the light for once.

Lay your sleeping head, my love
human upon my faithless arm
and I will carry you upon these wings of fire
somewhere far beyond the crumbling heavens.

What now is the inferno of hell
to us, my sweet
when we ill build something better
a palace out of the bones,
beauty rising from death.

NO LIMIT

The moon may weary of the night
Yet never waver from its track;
It’s pilgrim course forever sets
A silver sheen across the black

The troubled sea may claw the sky
Then fall asunder into spray;
Its hiss of anger,
Kiss of jealousy,
Absolved each dawning day

And for us both, the same is true;
We are not two but one entwined,
Your breath my pulse,
Your heart my mind,
My graceless touch in you refined

So….. lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Smile in contemplation as
I hold you close and safe from harm

Read my eyes and read my heart
Read my lips and read my skin
Never were we meant to part....
We hold the world itself by spin

H

If there are no further entries by midnight tonight I'll announce my choice early tomorrow morning.

My compliments to the three of you.

To Pendragon, for the gentleness in

Quote:

---

Come again to arms it is time for rest
To snuggle and sleep for a while
When morning calls the first thing I'll see
Is the brilliance of your gentle smile

---

Dark Muse for the triumph in

Quote:

---

What now is the inferno of hell
to us, my sweet
when we ill build something better
a palace out of the bones,
beauty rising from death.

---

and my choice is Hillwaker, for the grace that runs from

Quote:

---

The moon may weary of the night
Yet never waver from its track;
It’s pilgrim course forever sets
A silver sheen across the black

---

throughout the whole of this wonderful poem.

Thanks so much, Prince.... and yet again compliments to my two intrepid adversaries.

I thought I would give everyone something slightly different to hopefully generate a little more competition :

Crickets are chirpin', the water is high,
There's a soft cotton dress on the line hangin' dry

- from 'The Man In The Long Black Coat' (lyrics written by Bob Dylan)

- deadline, one minute before midnight Tuesday 28th September. Good luck.

H

A whole week gone by and not a single post yet..... I hope that means you're all busy beavering away in preparation to share your efforts with us on here.

If not - wakey wakey!