Tributes
Ambrose Bierce
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CYNIC n. A blackguard whose faulty vision causes him to see things as they are, not as they ought to be.
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 Bierce's favorite saying was "Nothing matters."
The poem "Occurrence" is dedicated to one of the most under appreciated authors and journalists of all time: Ambrose Gwinett Bierce. AGB. Almighty God Bierce. "Bitter Bierce" was quite famous in his time, but now only a core following of academics and seekers know about him. And that is a shame. He is most often found in "Quotable Quotes" lists or signature files, but that is as deep as most people's knowledge goes. If one is interested in some great reading, Ambrose Bierce is one favorable discovery. My favorite story by Bierce is "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".
Occurrence
"As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination."
--The last line of the last letter from Ambrose Bierce
December 26,1913 ...
Bierce is best remembered for his cynical but humorous Devil's Dictionary(a.k.a.The Cynic’s Word Book ), Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (a.k.a., In the Midst of Life, 1892),and Can Such Things Be? (1893). He often added a Western setting to Gothic fiction -- and, I feel, more importantly, developed the psychological aspects of horror first recognized by Poe. Two such works are Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (1874) and The Monk and the Hangman’s Daughter (1892.
"His world was the world of Poe, timeless and placeless, ghastly often, chilling always and unnerving. At his best he was Poe returned after a half century equipped with the short story art of the new generation. Few have surpassed him in precision of diction, in reserve, in the use of subtle insinuation and of haunting climax. Some of his tales cling in one’s soul like a memory of the morgue. His failure was his artificiality and his lack of sincerity and of truth to the facts of human life. Like Poe, he was a man of the intellect only, a craftsman of exquisite subtlety, an artist merely for the sake of his art."
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
VOLUME XVI. Early National Literature, Part II; Later National Literature, Part I.
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Robert Frost
"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."
-Nothing Gold Can Stay
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The poem "Old Man Winter" is my tribute to one of my favorite poets - Robert Frost.
Old Man Winter
"I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return."
His works include "Mending Wall", "Birches", "After Apple-Picking", and "The Witness Tree". One of my favorite poems is "The Road Not Taken". Frost's style did not blend with the trend of his contemporaries. He stuck to his own path completely. The more I read of Frost the more I appreciate his thinking, his emotion, his expression and his understanding.
"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference"
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Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway's favorite saying was “Il faut, d’abord durer.”
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The poem "Kilamanjaro" is my tribute to one of my favorite authors - Ernest Hemingway. In his own lifetime of 61 years, Hemingway's fame rested nearly as much on his personality as it did on his art. Between his expertise as an outdoor sportsman, his stints as a war correspondent, and his enthusiasm for bullfighting and boxing, he became a symbol of virile glamour, and his celebrity even among those who never read his books was a phenomenon unique in American letters. His most enduring legacy, however, is his crisp, direct storytelling prose, which has been a shaping influence for countless writers of the twentieth century - including myself.
"First, one must endure."
Kilamanjaro
His works include The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea. One of my favorite collections of short stories are the Nick Adams Stories.
"Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt, use it—don’t cheat with it."
-Letter to F Scott Fitzgerald
"All things truly wicked start from innocence."
Unidentified photographers
Images courtesy Ernest Hemingway Collection, John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts
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Jim Morrison
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The poem "Searchers" is for Mr. Mojo Risin' himself, one of the most unique and brilliant writers of his time. An accomplished singer/songwriter for "The Doors" Jim Morrison was - first and foremost - a poetic god. His vision and perspective on life was a bit wild for some people in his day, but he would have been considered conservative in this new millenium. Jim was able to hypnotize his audience with both his actions and his word. "I am the lizard king i can do anything!" he would yell to them. But his poetry also spoke volumes to his readers. His imagery was concrete, sensory, unique and vivid."I am a guide to the Labyrinth"
"You could say it's an accident that I was ideally suited for the work I am doing. It's the feeling of a bowstring being pulled back for 22 years and suddenly being let go. I am primarily an American, second, a Californian, third, a Los Angeles resident. I've always been attracted to ideas that were about revolt against authority. I like ideas about the breaking away or overthrowing of established order. I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder,
chaos--especially activity that seems to have no meaning. It seems to me to be the road toward freedom--external revolt is a way to bring about internal freedom. Rather than starting inside, I start outside--reach the mental through the physical.
I am a Sagittarian--if astrology has anything to do with it--the Centaur--the Archer--the Hunt--But the main thing is that we are The Doors. We are from the West. The whole thing is like an invitation
to the West:
The sunset
This is the end
The night
The sea
The world we suggest is of a new wild west. A sensuous evil world. Strange and haunting, the path of the sun, you know? Toward the end. At least for our first album
We're all centered around the end of the zodiac. The Pacific/violence and peace/the way between young and
the old.
"
"The grand highway
is crowded
w/
lovers
&
searchers
&
leavers
so
eager
to
please
&
forget
Wilderness"
Searchers
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Edgar Allan Poe
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My essay "The Trickster" is dedicated to Poe's immortal contribution to several literary fields and literature in general. His innovation is unparalled.
"The Raven and Other Poems" is probably his best known work but most any of his poems or stories are among history's best. "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The City in the Sea", "Annabel Lee", and "Tell-Tale Heart" are among my favorite selections by Poe, but I do not have a single one in mind to be any better than the rest. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “The Purloined Letter”, and "The Masque of the Red Death”. They are all masterpieces.
The Trickster
"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door"
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Elvis Presley
One of the King's favorite sayings was “TCB, Taking Care of Business.”
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The poem "Monarch" is my tribute to one of my favorite entertainers - Elvis Presley. If there is anyone who has shaped music history, it is him. From the very beginning of his career with That's Alright Momma and Hound Dog Elvis made his presence known to his screaming fans and their over-protective parents. Some felt Presley was the Devil incarnated because of his gyrating hips and unique style of music.
Monarch
(1935-1977)
Singer. Father. Soldier. America's Son. The King of Rock and Roll.
Quotes about Presley
"Elvis is My Man"-Janis Joplin
"Nothing really affected me until Elvis"-John Lennon
"Elvis Presley was a symbol of the country's vitality,rebelliousness,and good humor"-Jimmy Carter
Before...
"He never contributed a damn thing to music"-Bing Crosby
After...
"The things he did during his career,the things he created are really something important"-Bing Crosby
"I wonder if you're lonesome tonight
You know someone said that the world's a stage
And each must play a part.
Fate had me playing in love you as my sweet heart.
Act one was when we met, I loved you at first glance
You read your line so cleverly and never missed a cue
Then came act two, you seemed to change and you acted strange
And why I'll never know."
Are you Lonesome Tonight? Written By Turk and Handman
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Henry David Thoreau
"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."
The poem "DISSIPATE" is dedicated to Henry David Thoreau.
DISSIPATE
Thoreau was 100% pure Transcendentalism. His path was covered with thorns, but he cleared them all away and took to the unmarked road - making a map as he went. He lived life on his own terms to a remarkable degree, and he wrote his thoughts and adventures all down. This is amazing to me. He did write some poetry, but for the most part wrote essays. These would usually begin as a journal entry then evolve into an elaborate and in depth piece of insight into the human journey.
"I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil, -- to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society."
One of the great and respectable accomplishments with Walden is that it is not a mere story - but is about a real person and a real place. If I had a time machine, I would most certainly want to travel back in time to the mid 1800's to pay a visit to him in his cabin retreat. It is about survival, pontification, and losing the illusion of life and really living. Cape Cod and The Maine Woods are two other works I can suggest that are well-written. Thoreau's discoveries are unparalled by his contemporaries.
"Talk of mysteries!--Think of our life in nature, -- daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, -- rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! The solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! Contact! Contact! Who are we? where are we?"
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Mark Twain
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries of life disappear and life stands explained."
My poem "Lovers and Gamblers" is dedicated to the memory of one of America's greatest Humorists - Mark Twain(a.k.a. Samuel Clemons).
Lovers and Gamblers
According to Ernest Hemingway, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was the "one book" from which "all modern American literature" came, and 20th-century critics and scholars have treated it as one of the greatest American works of art. It is still frequently in the news, as various schools and school systems across the country either ban it from or restore it to their classrooms.
"What a lumbering poor vehicle prose is for the conveying of a great thought! ...Prose wanders around with a lantern & laboriously schedules & verifies the details & particulars of a valley & its frame of crags & peaks, then Poetry comes, & lays bare the whole landscape with a single splendid flash."
"Mark Twain!" Two fathoms meant safe clearance for river boats, so Sam Clemens chose a name which not only recalled his life on the river but which also had a reassuring "all's well" meaning.
"Some things you can't find out; but you will never know you can't by guessing and supposing; no, you have to be patient and go on experimenting until you find out that you can't find out. And it is delightful to have it that way, it makes the world so interesting. If there wasn't anything to find out, it would be dull. Even trying to find out and not finding out is just as interesting as trying to find out and finding out, and I don't know but more so."
Twain's best known works would have to be Tom Sawyer,Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but his collected works would fill a bookshelf. His short stories and novels are all worth a look.
Newer Poems
Cessation
Fire Giver
Serendipity
Newer Poems
About JS Moore
Twilight of the Gods
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