Art: Cinderella’s Ball by Chris Klein

10 VARIATIONS ON THE 50 MOST-QUOTED LINES OF POETRY

1.

If music be the food of love,

Candy/Is dandy/But liquor/Is quicker.

 

2.

The proper study of mankind

is my mistress’ eyes –

a joy forever.

 

3.

I think that I shall never see.

 

4.

To be or not to be

a rose – a dangerous thing:

truth … beauty … all.

 

5.

Do not go gentle,

O, Romeo,

in Flander’s Field where poppies blow.

Humankind cannot bear

to err.

 

6.

Things fall apart.

Stop the clocks, cut off the telephone.

The time has come,

but at my back I always hear

‘tis better to have loved,

to only stand and wait,

not to yield.

 

7.

Lend me your ears,

band of brothers.

The father of the man

full fathom five … lies

in Xanadu with fortune

and men’s eyes.

 

 

 

8.

If you can keep your head,

busy old fool,

tread softly

like a narrow fellow in the grass.

 

9.

Because I could not stop for death,

I am the master of my fate.

Look on my works –

The moving finger writes

seasons of mist and the old lie.

We have no time to stand and stare.

The mind is its own place

where hope springs eternal.

 

10.

Let me count the ways

I grow old lonely as a cloud.

I shall wear purple

and talk of many things –

the quality of mercy,

a summer’s day,

a bang … a whimper;

protest too much the miles

to go before I sleep.

 

Previously published in The Opiate


About the author: 

From Assistant Professor of English to management trainer to retiree, Carolyn Martin has journeyed from New Jersey to Oregon to discover Douglas firs, months of rain, and dry summers. Her poems and book reviews have appeared in publications throughout North America and the UK, and her third poetry collection, Thin Places, was released by Kelsay Books in Summer 2017.

Art: Cinderella’s Ball by Chris Klein from Chris’s Costumes series of paintings. This depicts the ball gowns from Rodger’s & Hammerstein’s Broadway production “Cinderella”

In the artist’s words:

Chris Klein is a British artist, currently sharing his time between Quebec and Ontario in Canada. Exhibiting his own work in the UK, Europe and North America. In 1983 Chris had his work accepted by the Royal Academy of Arts in London, UK for their prestigious Summer Exhibition. Before coming to Canada he was also an associate member of the Guild of Motoring Artists. As well as producing his own work, he is also a scenic artist for film and theatre. For 10 years he has served as the head of scenic art at both the Stratford Festival and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Chris has worked on many sets, creating backdrops and related artwork and has contributed to major productions in London’s West End and Broadway. In Canada, he has painted for many major Hollywood films and many shows for the Cirque du Soleil.