My Star by Robert Browning

All, that I know
Of a certain star
Is, it can throw
(Like the angled spar)
Now a dart of red,
Now a dart of blue
Till my friends have said
They would fain see, too,
My star that dartles the red and the blue!
Then it stops like a bird; like a flower, hangs furled:
They must solace themselves with the Saturn above it.
What matter to me if their star is a world?
Mine has opened its soul to me; therefore I love it.

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From Me To Thee by Dennis Allen Lange

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I remember, I remember
…The seat we shared and when,
And watched the world go racing by
…And racing by again.
It mattered not how fast it ran,
…How rough turned out the ride
On rocket ship or Rattler,
…When we were side by side.

I remember, I remember
…When you came to my door.
And searched me out till I was found,
…Like treasure one hunts for.
I love you for the worth you gave
…To my life in that quest,
That out of all the others there,
…That you loved me the best.

I remember, I remember
…The moment that I knew,
When we met within the halls,
…I was in love with you.
Without a thought of where we were,
…I started to reach out
And wrap you up inside my arms,
…But others were about.

I remember, I remember
…A very special place,
Where I so gently raised your chin;
…And then a warm embrace.
There, I was lost as man can be
…Within your whirlpool eyes,
And magic of your gentle touch,
…The wonder of your sighs.

I remember, I remember
…The secrets that we shared,
A knowing wink across the room
…That showed each of us cared.
And when someone came in our space,
…And broke the fragile bond,
We sighed for our own loneliness
…And wished that he were gone.

I remember, I remember
…The stories that you told
Of your life, trusting it to me
…To have, and safely hold.
And in those tales, I heard of one
…Who sought an inner peace,
And found some ways that did not work
…And vowed that they would cease.

I remember, I remember
…The things that did not last,
That aren’t now flesh, but fingerprints
…That mark what is the past.
Those are the things that are no more;
…And mourn for them I must.
The only thing that keeps me sane,
…And this alone I trust –

That I’ll remember; I’ll remember.

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photo by Dez Pain at https://www.rgbstock.com/photo/nWWdhGs/Valentine+Cats+4

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© Dennis Allen Lange, 2019.

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The Skeleton In Armor by Henry Wadsworth Longfello

“Speak! speak! thou fearful guest!
Who, with thy hollow breast
Still in rude armor drest,
Comest to daunt me!
Wrapt not in eastern balms,
But with thy fleshless palms
Stretched, as if asking alms,
Why dost thou haunt me?”

Then from those cavernous eyes
Pale flashes seemed to rise,
As when the northern skies
Gleam in December;
And, like the water’s flow
Under December’s snow,
Came a dull voice of woe
From the heart’s chamber.

“I was a Viking old!
My deeds, though manifold,
No Skald in song has told,
No Saga taught thee!
Take heed, that in thy verse
Thou dost the tale rehearse,
Else drear a dead man’s curse;
For this I sought thee.

“Far in the Northern Land,
By the wild Baltic’s strand,
I, with my childish hand,
Tamed the gerfalcon;
And, with my skates fast-bound,
Skimmed the half-frozen Sound,
That the poor whimpering hound
Trembled to walk on.

“Oft to his frozen lair
Tracked I the grisly bear,
While from my path the hare
Fled like a shadow;
Oft through the forest dark
Followed the were-wolf’s bark,
Until the soaring lark
Sang from the meadow.

“But when I older grew,
Joining a corsair’s crew,
O’er the dark sea flew
With the marauders.
Wild was the life we led;
Many the sould that sped,
Many the hearts that bled,
By our stern orders.

“Manu a wassail bout
Wore the long Winter out;
Often our midnight shout
Set the cocks crowing;
As we the Berserk’s tale
Measured in cups of ale,
Draining the oaken pail,
Filled to o’erflowing.

“Once as I told in glee
Tales of the stormy sea,
Soft eyes did gaze on me,
Burning yet tender;
And as the white stars shine
On the dark Norway pine,
On that dark heart of mine
Fell their soft splendor.

“I wooed the blue-eyed maid,
Yielding, yet half afraid,
And in the forests shade
Our vows were plighted.
Under its loosened vest
Fluttered her little breast,
Like birds within their nest
By the hawk frighted.

“Bright in her father’s hall
Shields gleamed upon the wall,
Loud sang the minstrels all,
Chanting his glory;
When of old Hildebrand
I asked his daughter’s hand,
Mute did the minstrels stand
To hear my story.

“While the brown ale he quaffed,
Loud then the champion laughed,
And as the wind-gusts waft
The sea-foam brightly,
So the loud laugh of scorn,
Out of those lips unshorn,
From the deep drinking-horn
Blew the foam lightly.

“She was a Prince’s child,
I but a Viking wild,
And though she blushed and smiled,
I was discarded!
Should not the dove so white
Follow the sea-mew’s flight,
Why did they leave that night
Her nest unguarded?

“Scarce had I put to sea,
Bearing the maid with me,
Fairest of all was she
Among the Norsemen!
When on the white sea-strand,
Waving his armèd hand,
Saw we old Hildebrand,
With twenty horsemen.

“Then launched they to the blast,
Bent like a reed each mast,
Yet we were gaining fast,
When the wind failed us;
And with a sudden flaw
Came round the gusty Skaw,
So that our foe we saw
Laugh as he hailed us.

“And as to catch the gale
Round veered the flapping sail,
‘Death!’ was the helmsman’s hail,
‘Death without quarter!’
Mid-ships with iron keel
Struck we her ribs of steel;
Down her black hulk did reel
Through the black water!

“As with his wings aslant,
Sails the fierce cororant,
Seeking some rocky haunt,
With its prey laden,–
So toward the open main,
Beating to sea again,
Through the wild hurricane,
Bore I the maiden.

“Three weeks we westward bore,
And when the storm was o’er,
Cloud-like we saw the shore
Stretching to leeward;
There for my lady’s bower
Built there the lofty tower,
Which, to this very hour
Stands looking seaward.

“There lived we many years;
Time dried the maiden’s tears;
She had forgot her fears;
She was a mother;
Death closed her mild blue eyes,
Under that tower she lies;
Ne’er shall the sun arise
On such another!

“Still grew my bosom then,
Still as a stagnant fen!
Hateful to me were men,
The sunlight hateful!
In the vast forest here,
Clad in my warlike gear,
Fell I upon my spear,
Oh, death was greatful!

“Thus, seamed with my scars,
Bursting these prison bars,
Up to its native stars
My soul ascended!
There from the flowing bowl
Deep drinks the warrior’s soul,
Skoal! to the Northland! skoal!”
Thus the tale ended.

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What The Heck! – a song poem by Dennis Allen Lange

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I would like for all to know
That I love you, love you so.
Can the brightness of the sun
Be concealed from everyone?
Can the waters of the sea
Cease their rolling endlessly?

Chorus:
The world is watching – what the heck!
Wrap your arms around my neck.
Kiss me hard and kiss me long;
The world will sing for us a song.

Tilt your head; I see your eyes
Sparkling like the starry skies.
I fall through them and past your face
In-to your deepest inner space.
There, I’m lost, but also found.
‘Tis wonderful – in love, I’ve drowned.

Chorus:
The world is watching – what the heck!
Wrap your arms around my neck.
Kiss me hard and kiss me long;
The world will sing for us a song.

Lift your lips as mine draw near;
Hold me close and never fear.
I will dry your every tear
From your eyes that I hold dear.
And may we always be like this
Entwined as one and filled with bliss.

Chorus:
The world is watching – what the heck!
Wrap your arms around my neck.
Kiss me hard and kiss me long;
The world will sing for us a song.

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© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2018.

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What Changes One’s World – haiku by Dennis Allen Lange

—
No sunsets
Make the world aglow,
But lovesets.

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photo by Gabriella Fabbri at
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mtJHdU6/love+in+the+sunset

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* The haiku I write are lines of 3-5-3 syllables instead of 5-7-5.

See Haiku article here for explanation, if needed: https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/haiku/

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© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2018.

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Night Piece To Julia by Robert Herrick

Her eyes the glow-worm lend thee,
The shooting stars attend thee;
…..And the elves also,
…..Whose little eyes glow
Like the sparks of fire, befriend thee. 

No Will-o’-th’-Wisp mislight thee,
Nor snake or slow-worm bite thee;
…..But on, on thy way,
…..Not making a stay,
Since ghost there’s none to affright thee. 

Let not the dark thee cumber;
What though the moon does slumber?
…..The stars of the night
…..Will lend thee their light,
Like tapers clear without number. 

Then Julia let me woo thee,
Thus, thus to come unto me;
…..And when I shall meet
…..Thy silv’ry feet,
My soul I’ll pour into thee. 

 

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Romance by Edgar Allan Poe

Romance, who loves to nod and sing,
With drowsy head and folded wing,
Among the green leaves as they shake
Far down within some shadowy lake,
To me a painted paroquet
Hath been – a most familiar bird –
Taught me my alphabet to say –
To lisp my earliest word
While in the wild wood I did lie,
A child – with a most knowing eye.

Of late, eternal Condor years
So shake the very Heaven on high
With tumult as they thunder by,
I have no time for idle cares
Though gazing on the unquiet sky.
And when an hour with calmer wings
Its down upon my spirit flings –
That little time with lyre and rhyme
To while away – forbidden things!
My heart would feel to be crime
Unless it trembled with the strings.

 

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Forget Thee? by John Moultrie

“Forget thee?” If to dream by night and muse on thee by day,
If all the worship deep and wild a poet’s heart can pay,
If prayers in absence breathed for thee to Heaven’s protecting power,
If winged thoughts that flit to thee – a thousand in an hour –
If busy fancy blending thee with all my future lot –
If this thou call’st “forgetting,” thou, indeed, shall be forgot! 

“Forget thee?” Bid the forest-birds forget their sweetest tune;
“Forget thee?” Bid the sea forget to swell beneath the moon;
Bid the thirsty flowers forget to drink the eve’s refreshing dew;
Thyself forget thine own “dear land,” and its “mountains wild and blue.”
Forget each old familiar face, each long-remember’d spot –
When these things are forgot by thee, then thou shalt be forgot! 

Keep, if thou wilt, thy maiden peace, still calm and fancy-free,
For God forbid thy gladsome heart should grow less glad for me;
Yet, while that heart is still unwon, oh! bid not mine to rove,
But let it nurse its humble faith and uncomplaining love;
If these, preserved for patient years, at last avail me not,
Forget me then; but ne’er believe that thou canst be forgot!

 

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The Lonely Souls Duet (a song poem) by Dennis Allen Lange

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A man and a woman are separated on a darkened stage, then get closer together and finally meet.  Positions ( )

(1)           (2)           (3)(3)             (2)             (1)

The light shines on the one singing and on neither during the chorus, except in the last position.  There, the light shines on the man and does not go off as the light then shines also on the woman, and on both during the chorus.

(1) M: I sit and sing a lonesome song,
My life is hard and cold.
I sometimes think I’ll never have
A special girl to hold.

(1) F: There’s nights when I can’t fall asleep,
One pillow on my bed,
The only shoulder for my grief
And bitter tears I shed.

Chorus:
M: But one day
F: Someday
M: Says my mind
F: Perhaps I’ll find
M: And then I’ll know,
F: I’ll surely know.
M: And holding hands
F: Through life we’ll go.
M: I’ll love her so.
F: I’ll love him so.

(2) M: I’d give a rib to have a mate;
I’d even give an arm.
This lonely life I’m leading now
Brings my heart far more harm.

(2) F: I know that I have love to give,
But none to give it to.
I ache to find a man for me
With whom to go life through.

Chorus:
M: But one day
F: Someday
M: Says my mind
F: Perhaps I’ll find
M: And then I’ll know,
F: I’ll surely know.
M: And holding hands
F: Through life we’ll go.
M: I’ll love her so.
F: I’ll love him so.

(3) M: I sometimes think she is so near,
That she can hear my cry,
And I could see her lovely face
If I would harder try.

(3) F: The curtain has been lifted;
My sorrow veil is gone.
The warmth and brightness flooding
Is a new loving dawn.

Chorus:
M: And one day
F: This day
M: Says my mind
F: I now have found
M: And I now know
F: I surely know.
M: And holding hands
F: Through life we’ll go.
M: I’ll love you so.
F: I’ll love you so.

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photo by Eve Blackwood at
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/nZ1d434/frame+with+hearts

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© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2017.

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In Love by Dennis Allen Lange

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In love, he gives what she desires
…And oft ere she would tell him so.
Her face-gleams and her fast eye-fires
…Tell him her wants he needs to know.

Because he loves, he views her face,
…As mother would her baby scan,
And sees the instant her glows grace
…The cherished cheeks he cups in hand.

Her twinkling eyes he always sees;
…They list to him what her heart stores.
He’s e’er intent on her to please;
…Love studies long what it adores.

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The photo is mine, taken in the Rose Garden in Tyler, Texas.

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© Dennis Allen Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2017.

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