Ulysses
This is David Stancil's self-designed tattoo.
"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
- Last line in the poem "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Hug O’ War
This tattoo belongs to Catherine V.
This was one of my favorite childhood poems and it's the way I've chosen to live my life.
I will not play at tug o'war.
I'd rather play at hug o'war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins.
- "Hug O' War" by Shel Silverstein
as small as a world
This tattoo belongs to Chealsye.
e.e. cummings is by far my favorite poet, and this my favorite of his work. The line about the stone hit me hard when I first stumbled across this poem in a textbook at 16. Fell in love instantly, but it also pained me. Seriously though, how beautiful is that? "As small as a world and as large as alone" Brilliant too. This world, this physical place that is large enough to inhabit the land, ocean, 7 billion people, countless species of animals, that all pales in comparison to the feeling of being alone. It is such a lovely poem, and spoke to me. We always find what we need. Growing up in Florida, and as a child loving the ocean (not so much in my mid-teen years) definitely adds to it.
maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles,and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
- "maggie and milly and molly and may" by e.e. cummings
Peake/Shakespeare
This is Daniel's tattoo.
I love both the quotes, especially the way that the same four words can mean two completely different things. Sometimes I tell people it's Peake, sometimes Shakespeare! I never tell them it's from the Moulin Rouge, because it isn't....
I first came across the quote in Peake, it was one of those moments, when you read, that you remember. It felt like a Big Thing, and I think his poem gets across some really huge truths in a simple, effective way.
To live at all is miracle enough.
The doom of nations is another thing.
Here in my hammering blood-pulse is my proof.
Let every painter paint and poet sing
And all the sons of music ply their trade;
Machines are weaker than a beetle’s wing.
Swung out of sunlight into cosmic shade,
Come what come may the imagination’s heart
Is constellation high and can’t be weighed.
Nor greed nor fear can tear our faith apart
When every heart-beat hammers out the proof
That life itself is miracle enough.
- Mervyn Peake, "To Live is Miracle Enough"
Come what come may,
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.
- Shakespeare, "Macbeth
Fern Hill
This tattoo belongs to Simon Tonkin:
These are the last three lines from what I regard as Dylan Thomas' greatest poem - in fact one of the greatest poems of all time - 'Fern Hill'.
It's a copy of the lines exactly as they appear on Dylan's memorial stone in Cwmdonkin Park, Swansea. The stone was put there in 1963 and paid for by Barabara Cohen and Marianne Roney who founded Caedmon Records, which owed much of its success to its recordings of the poet.
Words and images of Dylan feature very heavily on my website.Thanks also to 'Pierced Up' of Park Row, Bristol, England - in my humble opinion the finest tattoo parlour in the city beyond doubt!
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea.
- Excerpt from "Fern Hill" by Dylan Thomas. Read the whole poem here.
forever is composed of nows
This tattoo belongs to Ciara Musser.
Forever – is composed of Nows –
‘Tis not a different time –
Except for Infiniteness –
And Latitude of Home –
From this – experienced Here –
Remove the Dates – to These –
Let Months dissolve in further Months –
And Years – exhale in Years –
Without Debate – or Pause –
Or Celebrated Days –
No different Our Years would be
From Anno Dominies –
- Emily Dickinson, "Forever — is composed of Nows —"
Assassin’s Creed
Here's a new category for the site: Video Games.
This is Michael Krenzer's Assassin's Creed II
This was my first tattoo, done at Eagle Tattoo in Chicago in 2010-October. My little brother was killed by a drunk driver just before the school year started; playing video games was one way I tried to escape the immediate aftermath of that event. While the quote itself is born in violence (in the game, its spoken to a man who has just been assassinated); I have found it to be an...important thing for me to remember. Reading it, I also am reminded of a poem by Robert Frost -- that "the woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep".
The New Colossus
This tattoo belongs to Dylan Kelley. It was also featured on the blog for the Rachel Maddow Show.
I got my tattoo as a person protest against all the xenophobia that seems to swirling around in the media these days... especially in regards to immigration policy. Being of mixed heritage myself (Cherokee and Irish) I was raised to see issues from both sides.
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
- Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus", 1883. The poem is mounted inside the lower level of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
Poetry is a Destructive Force
That's what misery is,
Nothing to have at heart.
It is to have or nothing.
It is a thing to have,
A lion, an ox in his breast,
To feel it breathing there.
Corazon, stout dog,
Young ox, bow-legged bear,
He tastes its blood, not spit.
He is like a man
In the body of a violent beast.
Its muscles are his own . . .
The lion sleeps in the sun.
Its nose is on its paws.
It can kill a man.
- "Poetry is a Destructive Force" by Wallace Stevens
This tattoo belongs to Phi Le:
There is one minor detail about this. In the original poem, the first line of the final stanza is actually "The lion sleeps in the sun." Faulty memory on my part rendered it "shade" instead. But it still works.
The lines and dark circles are the Little Dipper. The star at the very tip of the "handle" of the Little Dipper is Polaris, or the North Star. This was to remind me to "keep my eye on the North" aka maintain perspective about what's truly important in life.
The poem itself is supposed to be about poetry and what Stevens believed was his/the driving force that motivates writing poetry...namely desire. For me this served as a reminder that while my desire often drove me to reach for opportunities and to achieve many things, it could also be destructive to my mental wellbeing and blind me from what's truly important.
still I rise
This is Lindsay's tattoo.
When I was in sixth grade, I discovered Maya Angelou, and it would prove to be the greatest discovery of my life. I read her poetry, her autobiographical series, and just about anything I could get my hands on. Maya Angelou introduced me to a world of literature that I immersed myself in. I made new friends, and went on new adventures, but this time, they existed in the pages of a book. Ms. Angelou means a lot to me, and her writing is part of the reason I study English today at my university. Words have the power to change lives, if you let them.
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
- Excerpt from "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou
Follow Contrariwise
Popular Posts
Recent Comments
- Suzanne on heaventree of stars
- xam sua on Allen Ginsberg
- xam sua on Allen Ginsberg
- xam sua on Allen Ginsberg
- gizem on Rockland
- gizem on Rockland
- Wykdd on Aime comme tu l’endends
- Melissa on Aime comme tu l’endends
- Sarah on Harry Potter Week, Day 2
- Pier on burn, burn, burn