Friday, August 8, 2014

Mark Twain indeed!


I enjoyed the Ken Burns biography of Mark Twain on PBS immensely, but didn't care much for his bio of Samuel Clemens. In any event here for POETRY FRIDAY is a Mark Twain poem, complements The Poetry Foundation. And I've thrown in a few Twain quotations, many of which he actually said. Quite a brain that fella Twain!
The Warm Summer Sun
by Mark Twain

Warm summer sun,
Shine kindly here,
Warm southern wind,
Blow softly here.
Green sod above,
Lie light, lie light.
Good night, dear heart,
Good night, good night.


"I was born modest. But it didn't last.

To succeed in life you need two things: ignorance and confidence.

Giving up smoking is easy. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

God's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.

Familiarity breeds contempt — and children."

All quotations verified by Wikiquotes and my Uncle Alex.

7 comments:

Mary Lee said...

Fun Stuff! Love the verification of Twain's quotes!

Cindi Myers said...

Love this post. It made me smile
and love Twain!
I just quoted him the other day in reference to a big fat liar -
"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything".
Yep.

Kelly Polark said...

I'm not sure I ever read that Twain poem. Love the quotes, too.

We visit the Mississippi River often, so another reason I enjoy Twain very much.

Diane Mayr said...

My favorite Twain quote is the one about cats that goes, "If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat."

His thoughts about politicians are still current today, "Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

I love it!

Anonymous said...

Bittersweet poem. One of my favorite Twain quotes:
"When a man likes cats, I am his friend and comrade without further introduction." According to Pinterest, he said it.

Bridget Magee said...

Too funny!

Douglas Florian said...

Thank you so much Mary Lee, Cynthia, Kelly, Diane, Monica, and Bridget!