Share a book or a poem that is especially meaningful to you.

I love the poem about the pathless woods written by Lord Byron in 1700. It shows you how beautiful and peaceful the woods and nature must have been in those days. It is also rather sad because today there are no more pathless woods. We have developed them all one way or another.
Perhaps with God's help we will one day get back to that kind of beauty.
Enjoy the poem!
PML

There Is Pleasure In The Pathless Woods

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

The Power of the Dog, by Rudyard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie—
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

When the fourteen years which Nature permits
Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
Then you will find—it’s your own affair—
But… you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear.

When the body that lived at your single will,
With its whimper of welcome, is stilled (how still!).
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone—wherever it goes—for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.

We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way,
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we’ve kept ’em, the more do we grieve:
For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short-time loan is as bad as a long—
So why in—Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?

@scottrl This rings so true, and brought tears to my eyes.

@binw Yeah, no matter how many times I read it, I can't get through the poem without choking up as I remember the furry friends I've lost over the years.

Life's burning stream? Sounds like an STD!

@pml I've always loved this poem! Here in the mountains of New Mexico there are indeed still pathless woods. People get lost with regularity, so the rule of thumb is to always tell somewhere where you will be going. Also, I do feel like my human heart is a pathless wood, a place to "mingle." Thank you for the poetic reminder.

I love the poem about the pathless woods written by Lord Byron in 1700. It shows you how beautiful and peaceful the woods and nature must have been in those days. It is also rather sad because today there are no more pathless woods. We have developed them all one way or another.
Perhaps with God's help we will one day get back to that kind of beauty.
Enjoy the poem!
PML

There Is Pleasure In The Pathless Woods

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the Universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal.

@pml
I just wanted to thank you for posting the Lord Byron poem. I love that poem. Your comment made me think of walks I took in the redwoods as a child, and the happy memories. 💙