Take It or Leave It ... Lyric of the Day

Poem

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn

Is just to love and be loved in return..."

- Nature Boy by Eden Ahbez 

Song

"The hardest thing you'll ever learn

Is just to love and be loved in return..."

 - Orchestra of Wolves by Gallows

Stumblings

I love StumbleUpon. I find such lovely sites, images and musings lost in the space that is the interweb. My first stumble today and I think it is a winner. A poem by Pablo Neruda on love. Enjoy!

"I do not love you as if you were salt-rose or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms,

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers.

Thanks to your love a certain fragrance,

risen darkly from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride,

so I love you because I know no other way than this:

where "I" does not exist, nor "you,"

So close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

So close that your eyes close and I fall asleep."

-Pablo Neruda

Lyric of the Day

I have been listening to neo-swing and rockabilly/psychobilly non-stop for the past month. I used to be obsessed with rockabilly and seem to have tuned back into that obsession. Thus to honour my love for swing and said rockabilly I have partnered my lyric of the day with a poem by William Blake called 'The Tiger'. It happens to be one of my favourite poems, and Tiger Army have sampled a line from it to use in their song, 'Valley of Dreams'.

"I prowl the night

A tiger tiger burning bright now

There's something in the air

Forever searching but I find it nowhere..."

- Valley of Dreams by Tiger Army

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright 

In the forests of the night, 

What immortal hand or eye 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?..."

- The Tiger by William Blake

P.S. The poem is actually recited by Emile Hirsch in the film 'The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' during a funeral scene. This too happens to be one of my favourite movies. Thus a favourite song, poem and movie is acknowledged at the same time. I love efficiency haha.

Tiger Army

William Blake

The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys

Take It or Leave It

I finally went to see Invictus. Oh my. I was close to the "ugly-cry" a few times during the movie. It was a wonderful. I am crazily patriotic. I wanted to burst with pride and excitement the whole time. The poem used in the film, Invictus, is both poignant and around which the entire philosophy of the film is based. I definitely identified with something in it. And after doing a little research I have found that even Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma City Bomber) used it at his final hearing prior to his execution in 2001. Great.

I do not believe in fate or destiny but I can identify with taking responsibility for creating and writing your life path. And for never giving up no matter what you may encounter and have to overcome. I have read the poem over and over and am truly moved that this is the poem that so inspired Nelson Mandela. I hope it does the same for you.

"Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul."

- Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Louise and I at the Soccer World Cup 2010 Kick Off Celebrations

Take It or Leave It

"If there were dreams to sell, what would you buy?"

- Dream-Pedlary by Thomas Lovell Beddoes