HYMN BEFORE SUN-RISE, IN THE VALE OF CHAMOUNI
S.T Coleridge
Besides the Rivers, Arve and Arveiron, which have their sources in the foot of Mont Blanc, five conspicuous torrents rush down its sides; and within a few paces of the Glaciers, the Gentiana Major grows in immense numbers, with its 'flowers of loveliest [liveliest Friend, 1809] blue.'
Hast thou a charm to stay the morning-star
In his steep course? So long he seems to pause
On thy bald awful head, O sovran Blanc,
The Arve and Arveiron at thy base
Rave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful Form!
Risest from forth thy silent sea of pines,
How silently! Around thee and above
Deep is the air and dark, substantial, black,
An ebon mass: methinks thou piercest it,
As with a wedge! But when I look again,
It is thine own calm home, thy crystal shrine,
Thy habitation from eternity!
O dread and silent Mount! I gazed upon thee,
Till thou, still present to the bodily sense,
Didst vanish from my thought: entranced in prayer 15
I worshipped the Invisible alone.
Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody,
So sweet, we know not we are listening to it,
Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my Thought,
Yea, with my Life and Life's own secret joy:
Till the dilating Soul, enrapt, transfused,
Into the mighty vision passing—there
As in her natural form, swelled vast to Heaven!
Awake, my soul! not only passive praise
Thou owest! not alone these swelling tears,
Mute thanks and secret ecstasy! Awake,
Voice of sweet song! Awake, my heart, awake!
Green vales and icy cliffs, all join my Hymn.
Thou first and chief, sole sovereign of the Vale!
O struggling with the darkness all the night,
And visited all night by troops of stars,
Or when they climb the sky or when they sink:
Companion of the morning-star at dawn,
Thyself Earth's rosy star, and of the dawn
Co-herald: wake, O wake, and utter praise!
Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in Earth?
Who filled thy countenance with rosy light?
Who made thee parent of perpetual streams?
And you, ye five wild torrents fiercely glad!
Who called you forth from night and utter death,
From dark and icy caverns called you forth,
Down those precipitous, black, jagged rocks,
For ever shattered and the same for ever?
Who gave you your invulnerable life,
Your strength, your speed, your fury, and your joy,
Unceasing thunder and eternal foam?
And who commanded (and the silence came),
Here let the billows stiffen, and have rest?
Ye Ice-falls! ye that from the mountain's brow
Adown enormous ravines slope amain—
Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice,
And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge!
Motionless torrents! silent cataracts!
Who made you glorious as the Gates of Heaven
Beneath the keen full moon? Who bade the sun
Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers
Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet?—
God! let the torrents, like a shout of nations,
Answer! and let the ice-plains echo, God!
God! sing ye meadow-streams with gladsome voice!
Ye pine-groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds!
And they too have a voice, yon piles of snow,
And in their perilous fall shall thunder, God!
Ye living flowers that skirt the eternal frost!
Ye wild goats sporting round the eagle's nest!
Ye eagles, play-mates of the mountain-storm!
Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds!
Ye signs and wonders of the element!
Utter forth God, and fill the hills with praise!
Thou too, hoar Mount! with thy sky-pointing peaks,
Oft from whose feet the avalanche, unheard,
Shoots downward, glittering through the pure serene
Into the depth of clouds, that veil thy breast—
Thou too again, stupendous Mountain! thou
That as I raise my head, awhile bowed low
In adoration, upward from thy base
Slow travelling with dim eyes suffused with tears,
Solemnly seemest, like a vapoury cloud,
To rise before me—Rise, O ever rise,
Rise like a cloud of incense from the Earth!
Thou kingly Spirit throned among the hills,
Thou dread ambassador from Earth to Heaven,
Great Hierarch! tell thou the silent sky,
And tell the stars, and tell yon rising sun
Earth, with her thousand voices, praises God.
S.T Coleridge
Besides the Rivers, Arve and Arveiron, which have their sources in the foot of Mont Blanc, five conspicuous torrents rush down its sides; and within a few paces of the Glaciers, the Gentiana Major grows in immense numbers, with its 'flowers of loveliest [liveliest Friend, 1809] blue.'
Hast thou a charm to stay the morning-star
In his steep course? So long he seems to pause
On thy bald awful head, O sovran Blanc,
The Arve and Arveiron at thy base
Rave ceaselessly; but thou, most awful Form!
Risest from forth thy silent sea of pines,
How silently! Around thee and above
Deep is the air and dark, substantial, black,
An ebon mass: methinks thou piercest it,
As with a wedge! But when I look again,
It is thine own calm home, thy crystal shrine,
Thy habitation from eternity!
O dread and silent Mount! I gazed upon thee,
Till thou, still present to the bodily sense,
Didst vanish from my thought: entranced in prayer 15
I worshipped the Invisible alone.
Yet, like some sweet beguiling melody,
So sweet, we know not we are listening to it,
Thou, the meanwhile, wast blending with my Thought,
Yea, with my Life and Life's own secret joy:
Till the dilating Soul, enrapt, transfused,
Into the mighty vision passing—there
As in her natural form, swelled vast to Heaven!
Awake, my soul! not only passive praise
Thou owest! not alone these swelling tears,
Mute thanks and secret ecstasy! Awake,
Voice of sweet song! Awake, my heart, awake!
Green vales and icy cliffs, all join my Hymn.
Thou first and chief, sole sovereign of the Vale!
O struggling with the darkness all the night,
And visited all night by troops of stars,
Or when they climb the sky or when they sink:
Companion of the morning-star at dawn,
Thyself Earth's rosy star, and of the dawn
Co-herald: wake, O wake, and utter praise!
Who sank thy sunless pillars deep in Earth?
Who filled thy countenance with rosy light?
Who made thee parent of perpetual streams?
And you, ye five wild torrents fiercely glad!
Who called you forth from night and utter death,
From dark and icy caverns called you forth,
Down those precipitous, black, jagged rocks,
For ever shattered and the same for ever?
Who gave you your invulnerable life,
Your strength, your speed, your fury, and your joy,
Unceasing thunder and eternal foam?
And who commanded (and the silence came),
Here let the billows stiffen, and have rest?
Ye Ice-falls! ye that from the mountain's brow
Adown enormous ravines slope amain—
Torrents, methinks, that heard a mighty voice,
And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge!
Motionless torrents! silent cataracts!
Who made you glorious as the Gates of Heaven
Beneath the keen full moon? Who bade the sun
Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers
Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at your feet?—
God! let the torrents, like a shout of nations,
Answer! and let the ice-plains echo, God!
God! sing ye meadow-streams with gladsome voice!
Ye pine-groves, with your soft and soul-like sounds!
And they too have a voice, yon piles of snow,
And in their perilous fall shall thunder, God!
Ye living flowers that skirt the eternal frost!
Ye wild goats sporting round the eagle's nest!
Ye eagles, play-mates of the mountain-storm!
Ye lightnings, the dread arrows of the clouds!
Ye signs and wonders of the element!
Utter forth God, and fill the hills with praise!
Thou too, hoar Mount! with thy sky-pointing peaks,
Oft from whose feet the avalanche, unheard,
Shoots downward, glittering through the pure serene
Into the depth of clouds, that veil thy breast—
Thou too again, stupendous Mountain! thou
That as I raise my head, awhile bowed low
In adoration, upward from thy base
Slow travelling with dim eyes suffused with tears,
Solemnly seemest, like a vapoury cloud,
To rise before me—Rise, O ever rise,
Rise like a cloud of incense from the Earth!
Thou kingly Spirit throned among the hills,
Thou dread ambassador from Earth to Heaven,
Great Hierarch! tell thou the silent sky,
And tell the stars, and tell yon rising sun
Earth, with her thousand voices, praises God.
Life is filled with transitions.
young become old, rainbows dissapper,
self-esteem can be discouraged, courage
can become fear.
Happy faces and joyful hearts, can sometimes be sad. Sunny days with frustrations, can cause
perfectly good day to go bad.
Seconds change into minutes, minutes change into
hours. A seed planted in soil with the proper
rain and sunlight, can grow into a lovely flower.
friendships may grow distant because of problems and pain. Times are filled with transitions, but I love you just the same.
young become old, rainbows dissapper,
self-esteem can be discouraged, courage
can become fear.
Happy faces and joyful hearts, can sometimes be sad. Sunny days with frustrations, can cause
perfectly good day to go bad.
Seconds change into minutes, minutes change into
hours. A seed planted in soil with the proper
rain and sunlight, can grow into a lovely flower.
friendships may grow distant because of problems and pain. Times are filled with transitions, but I love you just the same.
Forgive my bitterness
I never knew my heart was this cold
Please oh please forgive me
Please
My words cut like knives
They hurt and bleed others
Oh what pain I've caused
Oh and what pain I feel
Forgive me
I never knew I could hurt
I just feel bad now
For what I've caused in life
I made good, bad
I made beauty, ugly
I made fun, dull
I turned healing into suffering
I know I was bad
But I feel remorse
I feel bad
I feel bad now
Listen to me
Listen my love
I will not shatter
Your fragile heart
Never again
We'll be okay
And love again
Everyone will know now
That I will show love
Hate is gone
It's buried
Beneath the ground
Love glows in the darkness of hate
But why so much hate?
Love feels better
Towards everything
So why oh why so much pain?
Hate cuts like a knife
But love can heal
So why try to hurt
When you can heal
I never knew my heart was this cold
Please oh please forgive me
Please
My words cut like knives
They hurt and bleed others
Oh what pain I've caused
Oh and what pain I feel
Forgive me
I never knew I could hurt
I just feel bad now
For what I've caused in life
I made good, bad
I made beauty, ugly
I made fun, dull
I turned healing into suffering
I know I was bad
But I feel remorse
I feel bad
I feel bad now
Listen to me
Listen my love
I will not shatter
Your fragile heart
Never again
We'll be okay
And love again
Everyone will know now
That I will show love
Hate is gone
It's buried
Beneath the ground
Love glows in the darkness of hate
But why so much hate?
Love feels better
Towards everything
So why oh why so much pain?
Hate cuts like a knife
But love can heal
So why try to hurt
When you can heal
Some day earth will cease to be
And with it, so will I.
I don't mind the leaving,
But I'd like to say goodbye.
Before I am swept away
In an unknown swell,
I wish the world would warn me
So I can say farewell
To the world that's sheltered me,
My home for many years.
It is far from perfect;
It coldly watched my tears.
As my mind grew far too much,
Its pressure never ceased,
Though I suppose that was my fault.
I'm the beauty, I'm the beast.
And that's why I fear going,
Though where, no one can say;
Wherever I go, so comes my mind,
I have no hideaway.
I don't think I'd mind nothingness,
But infinity with my head?
I'd rather live forever
With a monster under the bed.
Give me something I can fight,
I'll leave it black and blue,
But how can you beat a monster
That lives inside of you?
Some people fear the darkness.
Some people are not me.
I don't fear oblivion,
I fear eternity.
~an original poem by me~
And with it, so will I.
I don't mind the leaving,
But I'd like to say goodbye.
Before I am swept away
In an unknown swell,
I wish the world would warn me
So I can say farewell
To the world that's sheltered me,
My home for many years.
It is far from perfect;
It coldly watched my tears.
As my mind grew far too much,
Its pressure never ceased,
Though I suppose that was my fault.
I'm the beauty, I'm the beast.
And that's why I fear going,
Though where, no one can say;
Wherever I go, so comes my mind,
I have no hideaway.
I don't think I'd mind nothingness,
But infinity with my head?
I'd rather live forever
With a monster under the bed.
Give me something I can fight,
I'll leave it black and blue,
But how can you beat a monster
That lives inside of you?
Some people fear the darkness.
Some people are not me.
I don't fear oblivion,
I fear eternity.
~an original poem by me~
My senses all are backwards
and it really makes me wonder
if on the day that I was born
somebody made a blunder.
For, strange but true, my senses
all got totally reversed.
Now everything I like the best
is what you'd call the worst.
I only like the smell of things
that frighten other noses.
I love the odor of a skunk.
I hate the smell of roses.
I only like the taste of foods
that cause most folks to shiver.
I hate the taste of chocolate.
I'm crazy over liver.
I'm not too fond of music
but there's simply no denying
I like the sound of honking horns
and little babies crying.
I hate the feel of silky, velvet
softness on my skin.
I much prefer the way it feels
when sitting on a pin.
I hate the look of anything
that's really cute and snuggly.
The things I think are pretty
are what most consider ugly.
So let me tell you one more thing
before I have to go:
I think YOU are the most attractive
person that I know.
and it really makes me wonder
if on the day that I was born
somebody made a blunder.
For, strange but true, my senses
all got totally reversed.
Now everything I like the best
is what you'd call the worst.
I only like the smell of things
that frighten other noses.
I love the odor of a skunk.
I hate the smell of roses.
I only like the taste of foods
that cause most folks to shiver.
I hate the taste of chocolate.
I'm crazy over liver.
I'm not too fond of music
but there's simply no denying
I like the sound of honking horns
and little babies crying.
I hate the feel of silky, velvet
softness on my skin.
I much prefer the way it feels
when sitting on a pin.
I hate the look of anything
that's really cute and snuggly.
The things I think are pretty
are what most consider ugly.
So let me tell you one more thing
before I have to go:
I think YOU are the most attractive
person that I know.
we tie time
in knots and try
to connect the dots,
but time was meant
to measure between
things and all
we’re measuring
is the difference
between his time
and my time
or between this time
and last time.
30 seconds in the microwave
means nothing
until those 30 seconds
could have been spent
eating the food,
talking to a sister,
or practicing that new
dance move which is only
new because it is newer
than those other moves
because its distance
is shorter to the present
than the other dance class
and not because
it is the next big thing,
although that makes a different
move new.
what i mean to say
is that time is overused,
overemphasized. we give
time the throne
and it rules and makes rules.
we follow them
because we like to think
that time is important
and we are important
and our time is gold,
but even gold
would have no value
if there were an endless supply,
and time is endless, but
not for us, but
time is endless nevertheless.
in knots and try
to connect the dots,
but time was meant
to measure between
things and all
we’re measuring
is the difference
between his time
and my time
or between this time
and last time.
30 seconds in the microwave
means nothing
until those 30 seconds
could have been spent
eating the food,
talking to a sister,
or practicing that new
dance move which is only
new because it is newer
than those other moves
because its distance
is shorter to the present
than the other dance class
and not because
it is the next big thing,
although that makes a different
move new.
what i mean to say
is that time is overused,
overemphasized. we give
time the throne
and it rules and makes rules.
we follow them
because we like to think
that time is important
and we are important
and our time is gold,
but even gold
would have no value
if there were an endless supply,
and time is endless, but
not for us, but
time is endless nevertheless.