Dictionary Poems

I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. Discuss P. G. Wodehouse

The reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were the authors of them, nay a carefully studied conversation, in which they reveal to us none but the best of their thoughts. Rene Descartes

For each ecstatic instantWe must an anguish payIn keen and quivering ratioTo the ecstasy. For each beloved hourSharp pittances of years,Bitter contested farthingsAnd coffers heaped with tears. – COMPENSATION – For each ecstatic instant by Emily Dickinson

‘Why keep a cow when I can buy,’ Said he, ‘the milk I need,’I wanted to spit in his eye Of selfishness and greed;But did not, for the reason he Was stronger than I be. I told him: ”Tis our human fate, For better or for worse,That man and maid should love and mate, And … Continued

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties. Discuss John Milton

Nothing is ever really lost, or can be lost,No birth, identity, form–no object of the world.Nor life, nor force, nor any visible thing;Appearance must not foil, nor shifted sphere confuse thy brain.Ample are time and space–ample the fields of Nature.The body, sluggish, aged, cold–the embers left from earlier fires,The light in the eye grown dim, … Continued

He wrote a play; by day and nightHe strove with passion and delight;Yet knew, long ere the curtain drop,His drama was a sorry flop. In Parliament he sought a seat;Election Day brought dire defeat;Yet he had wooed with word and penProdigiously his fellow men. And then he wrote a lighter playThat made him famous in … Continued

Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Discuss Bertrand Russell

My old man’s a white old manAnd my old mother’s black.If ever I cursed my white old manI take my curses back.If ever I cursed my black old motherAnd wished she were in hell,I’m sorry for that evil wishAnd now I wish her wellMy old man died in a fine big house.My ma died in … Continued

I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active – not more happy – nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. Discuss Edgar Allan Poe