best words in the best order, sometimes poetry

Sunday, March 12, 2006



OF KINGS



From Lewis Carol

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--


From THE THREE KINGS

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,
Three caskets of gold with golden keys;
Their robes were of crimson silk with rows
Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,
Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.



The Wise King Solomon (1 Kings 3:1-15 and 5:9-14) -


In a dream God appears to Solomon and grants him a wish, so Solomon asks for wisdom. Since Solomon asked wisely rather than asking for riches, his wish for wisdom is granted, fame spreading among the neighbouring nations. Solomon also uttered thousands of songs and proverbs.

From the Song of Solomon (Song of Songs)


I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.

Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.



Of an African King

BEHANZIN HOSSU BOWELLE
THE KING SHARK (1841-1906)

Behanzin is known as one of the most powerful kings in West African history. Born in 1841 Behanzin was a tall, well-built, and dignified man.

He strongly resisted European intervention into his country. This was done with an army which included a division of five thousands female warriors. He is often referred to as the King Shark, a Dahomeyan surname which symbolized strength and wisdom. He was also fond of humanities and is credited with the creation of some of the finest song and poetry ever produced in Dahomey.

Behanzin as king was considered so sacred that his saliva was not allowed to touch the ground.




Shakespeare (King Henry / Henry V)

What infinite heart’s ease
Must King’s neglect that private men enjoy!
And what have King’s that private men have not too
Save ceremony, save general ceremony?
And what art thou idle ceremony?
What kind god art thou that suffer’st more
Of mortal griefs than so the worshippers?
What are thy rents? What are thy comings-in?
O ceremony! show me but thy worth
What is thy soul of adoration?
Art thou else but place, degree, and form,
Creating awe and fear in other men
Wherein thou art more unhappy being feared,
Than they in fearing.



The Hand That Signed The Paper

Dylan Thomas


The hand that signed the paper felled a city;
Five sovereign fingers taxed the breath,
Doubled the globe of dead and halved a country;
These five kings did a king to death.

The mighty hand leads to a sloping shoulder,
The finger joints are cramped with chalk;
A goose's quill has put an end to murder
That put an end to talk.

The hand that signed the treaty bred a fever,
And famine grew, and locusts came;
Great is the hand that holds dominion over
Man by a scribbled name.

The five kings count the dead but do not soften
The crusted wound nor pat the brow;
A hand rules pity as a hand rules heaven;
Hands have no tears to flow.


"There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors,
and no slave who has not had a king among his."    Helen Keller







posted by mike smith @ 9:30 PM 

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