On First Looking into
  
Chapman’s Homer

By John Keats

Much have I travelled in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific -and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise -
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

  
Another World

By Hank Edson

If from birth to hear music, one were transported:
Another world; if from life, from the conception
One were surrounded in melody
As the only expression;
If music hung in the air, like notes of oxygen,
Their breath to mean survival?

If until death even in your soul you could never
Speak no, read no, hear no evil
But only paint only one image,
One thousand words for all;
If your humanity sat perched upon an easel,
You would inspire.

If in time your dance should lose its sense of balance,
Effortlessly you may float in the magnitudes higher
Over life, through the heavens
Of creation's desire;
If you unburden your thoughts of time's tightwire:
Oh, Angelic Vision!

Copyright © Hank Edson 2008

  
Vienna

  

By Billy Joel

Slow down, you crazy child.
You're so ambitious for a juvenile,
               But then if you're so smart, 
               Tell me, why are you still 
               So afraid?
   
Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out.
               You got so much to do 
               And only so many hours 
               In a day.
    
But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old.
               You're gonna kick off! 
               Before you even get 
               Halfway through.
    
When will you realize...
                                                Vienna waits for you.

     
Slow down.  You're doing fine.
You can't be everything you wanna be before your time.
               Although it's so romantic 
               On the borderline tonight—
               Tonight!
   
Too bad, but it's the life you lead:
You're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need.
               Though you can see when you're wrong, 
               You know you can't always see when you're right—
               You're right!
     
You got your passion, you got your pride,
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
               Dream on! 
               But don't imagine they'll 
               All come true.
   
When will you realize...
                                                Vienna waits for you.
   
Slow down, you crazy child.
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while.
               It's alright! 
               You can afford to lose 
               A day or two.
   
When will you realize...
                                                Vienna waits for you.
  
And you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old.
               You're gonna kick off! 
               Before you even get 
               Halfway through.
   
Why don't you realize...
                                                Vienna waits for you.
  
When will you realize...
                                                Vienna waits for you.