Famous Quoted Line Poetry Contest

[Pendragon]

Life is a long, one-way street
that, often as not, takes the long way around.

Frost spoke of “The Road Less-Traveled By”.
I’ve been on it all my life. What’s the difference?

Then again, how could you tell any difference
when there is really nothing to compare it to?

Nothing. Something. Are they really the same?
“I think, therefore I am.” Or is it. “I am, therefore I think?”

But in choice of roads I, I took the one less traveled by—
They all reach your final destination—that’s fate…

Existence is like a soap bubble:
it’s pretty, but it doesn’t take much to burst it.

One thing about a less-traveled road:
there are fewer rest areas.

Oh, and don’t break down along the way.
“Less-traveled by”, remember? So who’s going to fix your car?

Pendragon
(I wrote this one all the way back in 1996...)

[MarkBastable]

Ask a Local



He has a lot to answer for, does Frost.
Who knows how many fences have been trashed,
Walls pulled down, and vital boundaries lost
Because of one quite catchy opening line?

And who can count the earnest undergrads
Who’ve justified a dumb, though novel, choice
By citing Robert’s quandary in the woods
As if his verse were GoogleMap, in rhyme?

But - hey - the grassy, pristine path Bob chose
Might well have been untrod simply because
It had been tried, and rightly shunned, by those
Who’d come upon this clearing many times.

Perhaps they’d found it led to a dead-end
Or ran the long way round, did one but know it.
I’d trust those guys – and so you should you, my friend.
I took the one less-travelled by the poet.

[Dark Muse]

A Heart Divided

My heart was torn in two
for twice taken it was
between two loves
as much the same as
night and day.

There was the ever
enchanting Gwendelon,
a fair Aphrodite was she,
for she walked in a halo
of golden sensuality,
for with each upturn of her
sanguine lips I felt my death
come near as my heart stopped
beating.

Her skin was soft as silk
and in her wake she left
the lingering aroma of jasmine
and rose oil, truly she tasted
divine, but alas who has not
thrown their hearts at her feet,
for what man lived did not breathe
the name of Gwendelon, and who
left had not her taste upon their
lips.

No rival in beauty I must confess
but still far from uncomely, for
what mortal maid could compare
to the Goddess born?

There was my second love
Eleanor, so tender of heart
with sweet shy looks, a pale moon
beside amorous Gwendelon
she made up much in singular
devotion.

For never an ill word had I heard
bespoken against my Eleanore,
and I knew her love for me to be
true, though so gentle and soft
a love it was, but still I knew
what more could I be to Gwendelon
but yet another trophy and my heart
to her a cheap token.

But in the eyes of my little
Eleanor I knew there was me
and me alone, and so in the end
I took the one less traveled by
thus Eleanor may forever become
my own true and only love.

[YesNo]

Thanks for all the entries. They all deserved to win, but I have to make a choice.

Pendragon: I liked the practical advice of not going down the road less traveled by. There will likely be fewer repair stations for the car and both paths ultimately lead to the same end.

MarkBastable: This is a similar argument to the one Pendragon presented with additional criticism of Frost's influence. I liked the last line.

Dark Muse: This was a very nice comparison between the well-traveled Gwendelon and the faithful Elenor. I think the narrator made the right choice in picking Elenor.

I enjoyed all of these.

The winner, the one to pick the next line for us, is MarkBastable because of the way he incorporated the quoted line in the last line of his poem.

[MarkBastable]

Thank you.

Here you go - a line from Eliot. The deadline will be December 13th.


I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker

[Pendragon]

I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker
Just a candle in the wind, blown out before its time
Fame is so fleeting, heartache travels quicker
Life sometimes seems to have no rhythm or rhyme

I lived for the days when the sun shone so brightly
Now shadows, fog, and rain are all I can see
Where I once announced myself, now I creep away quietly
This hall of lost memories I'm forced to call me

Will the darkness never lift, nor shadows pass away?
Will the pain deep inside me grow still?
Will I ever again rejoice in the breaking of day?
Do my dreams still have a chance of becoming real ?

While my two natures like Jekyll and Hyde ever bicker
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker

Pendragon

[Dark Muse]

Queen Warrior

I watched my world begin to crumble,
the land became soaked with blood,
while the screams would echo on
never ceasing.

Standing on the eve of the end,
in one last rally cry, we would not
go on bended knee in submission,
but let us die fighting tooth and nail,
for the spirit of this land they desecrate
beats in our hearts.

Let me become Morrigan incarnate,
mother protector of my people,
warrior queen to lead us into victory,
this is our final hour and through the
fear reflected in the eyes of our enemy
I have seen the moment of my greatness
flicker.

Take heart, and know even if we loose
this day, I will live forever and through
the ages they will speak my name,
remember, never surrender and you
will die not in vain.

[MarkBastable]

Tough choice, because for me - taking the purely subjective view - there were pros and cons to each of the entries.

I'm not sure it'd be fascinating to detail the thought processes in-thread, so I'll cut to the chase and say that the winner is Pendragon.

[jajdude]

Ah, I've been missing this thread, haven't been on the site much these days. I would have entered on this one. Good to see Mark participating. I'll try to get back into it when I can. Find a good quote pen.

[Pendragon]

Thanks, Mark. The new line is from Emily Dickinson: "Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul."

Deadline: January 15

[YesNo]

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers,
That perches in the soul
Patiently wondering whether
There's love to make it whole.

[Pendragon]

Two days to deadline and only one entry? Where all my poets at?

[MarkBastable]

Alright, alright...as I had ten minutes.... [Edit: I say ten minutes, but I've been fiddling with this all weekend...]


---------------------------------------------------------------

For reasons too complex to go into here
These four Scandinavians, named after tribes,
Go to a jeweller's in animal gear,
For gifts for their girlfriends and wives.

They figure that watches will be just the thing,
So Blackfoot, from Sweden, disguised as an ibex
Plumps for Omega, while, dressed as a chimp,
Norwegian Apache buys Timex.

A Dane wearing moleskin and known as Mohican
Picks Diesel to give to the Queen of his Soul.
Which leaves only Hopi, who’s come as a toucan.

Yep.

Hopi’s the Finn with feathers, that purchased Ingersoll.

[Pendragon]

Well only two...

Mark, I thought your highly inventive, would have won a comedy poem contest hands down. Unfortunately, this was not a comedy contest.

So, YesNo, your neat little poem wins sorry if it seems to be by default.

You pick next line...

[MarkBastable]

I'm crushed. I demand a recount.