Hymn of Apollo

I.
The sleepless Hours who watch me as I lie,
Curtained with star-inwoven tapestries,
From the broad moonlight of the sky,
Fanning the busy dreams from my dim eyes,–
Waken me when their Mother, the gray Dawn,
Tells them that dreams and that the moon is gone.

II.
Then I arise, and climbing Heaven’s blue dome,
I walk over the mountains and the waves,
Leaving my robe upon the ocean foam;
My footsteps pave the clouds with fire; the caves
Are filled with my bright presence, and the air
Leaves the green Earth to my embraces bare.

III.
The sunbeams are my shafts, with which I kill
Deceit, that loves the night and fears the day;
All men who do or even imagine ill
Fly me, and from the glory of my ray
Good minds and open actions take new might,
Until diminished by the reign of Night.

IV.
I feed the clouds, the rainbows, and the flowers,
With their ethereal colors; the Moon’s globe,
And the pure stars in their eternal bowers,
Are cinctured with my power as with a robe;
Whatever lamps on Earth or Heaven may shine,
Are portions of one power, which is mine.

V.
I stand at noon upon the peak of Heaven;
Then with unwilling steps I wander down
Into the clouds of the Atlantic even;
For grief that I depart they weep and frown:
What look is more delightful than the smile
With which I soothe them from the western isle?

VI.
I am the eye with which the Universe
Beholds itself, and knows it is divine;
All harmony of instrument or verse,
All prophecy, all medicine, is mine,
All light of art or nature; – to my song
Victory and praise in its own right belong.

-Percy Bysshe Shelley (1820)

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Playlist: My Favorite Songs, Ever

“Walk The Line” – Johnny Cash
“All Along The Watchtower” – Jimi Hendrix Experience
“L.A. Woman” – The Doors
“As Time Goes By” – Jimmy Durante
“Take On Me” – A-Ha
“Holy Diver” – Dio
“Stairway To Heaven” – Led Zeppelin
“The Number Of The Beast” – Iron Maiden
“Love Will Tear Us Apart” – Joy Division
“Wish You Were Here” – Pink Floyd
“Have You Ever Seen The Rain” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Let It Be” – The Beatles
“A Few Hours After This” – The Cure
“Battle Against Time” – Wintersun

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Weathercock… by Jethro Tull

Good morning Weathercock: How did you fare last night?
Did the cold wind bite you, did you face up to the fright
When the leaves spin from October
and whip around your tail?
Did you shake from the blast, did you shiver through the gale?

Give us direction; the best of goodwill;
Put us in touch with fair winds.
Sing to us softly, hum evening’s song;
Tell us what the blacksmith has done for you.

Do you simply reflect changes in the patterns of the sky,
Or is it true to say the weather heeds the twinkle in your eye?
Do you fight the rush of winter; do you hold snowflakes at bay?
Do you lift the dawn sun from the fields and help him on his way?

Good morning Weathercock: make this day bright.
Put us in touch with your fair winds.
Sing to us softly, hum evening’s song.
Point the way to better days we can share with you.

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Songs From The Wood… by Jethro Tull

Let me bring you songs from the wood:
To make you feel much better than you could know.
Dust you down from tip to toe,
Show you how the garden grows,
Hold you steady as you go.
Join the chorus if you can:
It’ll make of you an honest man.

Let me bring you love from the field:
Poppies red and roses filled with summer rain.
To heal the wound and still the pain
That threatens again and again
As you drag down every lovers lane.
Life’s long celebrations here;
I’ll toast you all in penny cheer.

Let me bring you all things refined:
Galliards and lute songs served in chilling ale.
Greetings well met fellow, hail!
I am the wind to fill your sail,
I am the cross to take your nail:
A singer of these ageless times.
With kitchen prose and gutter rhymes.

Songs from the wood make you feel much better.

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