Jerome summarised things nicely on the subject of Nietzsche (and for the last time, people, it's spelled N-I-E-T-bloody-Z-S-C-H-E!
). Anyway, I've never heard of his work "Übermensch" [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]
Vask, as a Christian this should appeal to you [img]tongue.gif[/img]
- it's one of my all time favourite poems and the sentiment expressed is just really beautiful and poignant. A bit long for a quote, but I just really love this, and know it by heart too. It's by the 17th century English poet George Herbert.
George Herbert - Deniall
When my devotions could not pierce
Thy silent eares
Then was my heart broken, as was my verse
My breast was full of fears
And disorder:
My bent thoughts, like a brittle bow,
Did flie asunder.
Each took his way; some would to pleasures go
Some to the warres and thunder
Of alarms.
As good go any where, they say,
As to benumme
Both knees and heart, in crying night and day
Come, come, my God, O come
But no hearing.
O that thou shouldst give dust a tongue
To crie to thee,
And then not heare it crying! all day long
My heart was in my knee,
But no hearing.
Therefore my soul lay out of sight,
Untun'd, unstrung:
My feeble spirit, unable to look right,
Like a nipt blossome, hung
Discontented.
O cheer and tune, my heartlesse breast,
Deferre no time;
That so thy favours granting my request,
They and my minde may chime,
And mend my ryme.
The beauty of it is in the volta at the end, where he, only at the very last stanza, regains his faith. The contrast between the despair in the earlier stanzas and the relief of the last one is in the words, but also in the mechanics of the poem. The meter itself is jarring in the despairing stanzas, and there is no rhyme. The last line of each stanza (which should be indented, like the second line of each stanza - automatic outlining on this forum though) just hangs there in the air, unresolved, "unstrung" but when he finds God, his meter is harmonious again and he 'mends his ryme'. The last line restores meter and ryme perfectly, as his heart and faith are restored. The verses where he is searching for answers, for a sign that his prayers are heard, are so beautiful too - the repetition of "but no hearing", the beautiful metaphors (his heart was in his knee, i.e. he was kneeling and praying). Oh well, most people I know cannot appreciate poetry because it always takes several readings to make sense of a poem and start to understand its mechanisms, so I'm probably posting this for nothing. [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Still, I love reciting poems like this one in my head when I'm bored or lonely, the rhythm of it alone is soothing and makes for a good walking pace too.
And well, you asked for quotes that mean a lot, well, this one does. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Here's some shorter quotes I like, falling into the category of words of wisdom slash beautiful poetry, I guess.
For each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard.
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word.
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword.
(From Oscar Wilde - The Ballad Of Reading Gaol)
"
Žęs ofereode, Žisses swa męg"
(From the Old English poem Deor, very roughly translates as "that has passed, and so will this", in the sense of "I coped with that, and so will I cope with this")
And for some truly corny ones
:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts
His acts being seven ages
(Shakespeare)
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
(Blake)
[ 11-12-2003, 06:23 PM: Message edited by: Melusine ]