Notes to Poem: Meditations on 99

NOTES TO POEM: MEDITATIONS ON 99

By Peter Y. Chou, WisdomPortal.com

Line in Poem Literary Sources

Exalt our God, worship at his holy hill—
Preserve us evermore, with blessings,
I have come. I am a magician. I am complete.
God, full of goodness and endless bounty.
King David, Psalms 99.9 (1023 BC)
Rig Veda, VII.99.7 (1500 BC)
Papyrus of Ani, Chapter 99 (1250 BC)
Saint Anthony of Egypt, Text 99 (356 AD)

The holy ones find delight in the forest,
always in constant spiritual prayers
where they sing His praise, there I live
with children playing upon the green.
Buddha's Dhammapada, VII.99 (240 BC)
Saint Hesychios the Priest, Text 99 (650 AD)
Kabir, Songs of Kabir, Verse 99 (1448)
Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Poem 99 (1859)

The sage does not rejoice in life,
not disturbed by heat or cold,
with inner light and enlightenment—
Don't make anything. Don't hold anything.
Ashtavakra Gita, XVIII.99 (400 BC)
Yoga Sutra, Aphroism 99 (200 B.C.)
The Book of Angelus Silesius, page 99 (1657)
Seung Sahn, 365 Kong-ans, Koan 99 (1992)

They are all here tonight—
The jewels take root everywhere,
turn our vision to the Primal Love—
a boat to the river of heaven.
John Keats, "The Eve of St. Agnes", Line 99 (1820)
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, Verse 99 (1389)
Dante, 99th Canto: Paradiso 32.139-144 (1321)
Matsuo Basho, The Complete Haiku, Haiku 99 (1678)

From golddawn glory to glowworm gleam,
from Heaven through Earth I see them—
the blue sky, and in the mind of man,
the fog blanking moon and stars.
James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, Page 99.1 (1939)
Goethe, Faust, Part I, Scene 1, Line 99 (1832)
William Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey" Line 99 (1798)
Wu Ch'eng-en, Journey to the West, Ch. 99 (1518)

I shall take this harp of my life
going to the river for water—
Who dares enter the dragon's cave?
a crow on top of pine tree "Caw! caw! caw!"
Rabindranath Tagore, Verse 99 from Gitanjali (1912)
Mirabai, Poem 99 in Hirshfield's Women in Praise of the Sacred (1565); Setcho, Hekiganroku:, Case 99 (1052)
Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 99 (1851)

The color like a thought that grows
beautiful things— a dark flame, a wind,
towers of pleasure, their ladders—
violins with fragrance of the moon!
Wallace Stevens, "Man with Blue Guitar", Line 99 (1937)
William Carlos Williams, Paterson, Page 99 (1958)
Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies, V.99 (1922)
Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets, Sonnet 99 (1960)

We got out of bed, it was snowing,
the wind lifts, the sky is very blue,
the wild does not have words—
our soul touches infinity in deep sleep.
Kenneth Koch, Collected Poems, Poem 99 (2006)
Robert Creeley, Selected Poems, 1945-2005, Poem 99 (2005)
Tomas Tranströmer, Poems 1954-1986, Poem 99 (2006)
A.E, Song and Its Fountains, Page 99 (1932)

Line in Poem	Literary Sources
Exalt our God, worship at his holy hill— Preserve us evermore, with blessings, I have come. I am a magician. I am complete. God, full of goodness and endless bounty.	King David, Psalms 99.9 (1023 BC) Rig Veda, VII.99.7 (1500 BC) Papyrus of Ani, Chapter 99 (1250 BC) Saint Anthony of Egypt, Text 99 (356 AD)
The holy ones find delight in the forest, always in constant spiritual prayers where they sing His praise, there I live with children playing upon the green.	Buddha's Dhammapada, VII.99 (240 BC) Saint Hesychios the Priest, Text 99 (650 AD) Kabir, Songs of Kabir, Verse 99 (1448) Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, Poem 99 (1859)
The sage does not rejoice in life, not disturbed by heat or cold, with inner light and enlightenment— Don't make anything. Don't hold anything.	Ashtavakra Gita, XVIII.99 (400 BC) Yoga Sutra, Aphroism 99 (200 B.C.) The Book of Angelus Silesius, page 99 (1657) Seung Sahn, 365 Kong-ans, Koan 99 (1992)
They are all here tonight— The jewels take root everywhere, turn our vision to the Primal Love— a boat to the river of heaven.	John Keats, "The Eve of St. Agnes", Line 99 (1820) The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, Verse 99 (1389) Dante, 99th Canto: Paradiso 32.139-144 (1321) Matsuo Basho, The Complete Haiku, Haiku 99 (1678)
From golddawn glory to glowworm gleam, from Heaven through Earth I see them— the blue sky, and in the mind of man, the fog blanking moon and stars.	James Joyce, Finnegans Wake, Page 99.1 (1939) Goethe, Faust, Part I, Scene 1, Line 99 (1832) William Wordsworth, "Tintern Abbey" Line 99 (1798) Wu Ch'eng-en, Journey to the West, Ch. 99 (1518)
I shall take this harp of my life going to the river for water— Who dares enter the dragon's cave? a crow on top of pine tree "Caw! caw! caw!"	Rabindranath Tagore, Verse 99 from Gitanjali (1912) Mirabai, Poem 99 in Hirshfield's Women in Praise of the Sacred (1565); Setcho, Hekiganroku:, Case 99 (1052) Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 99 (1851)
The color like a thought that grows beautiful things— a dark flame, a wind, towers of pleasure, their ladders— violins with fragrance of the moon!	Wallace Stevens, "Man with Blue Guitar", Line 99 (1937) William Carlos Williams, Paterson, Page 99 (1958) Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies, V.99 (1922) Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets, Sonnet 99 (1960)
We got out of bed, it was snowing, the wind lifts, the sky is very blue, the wild does not have words— our soul touches infinity in deep sleep.	Kenneth Koch, Collected Poems, Poem 99 (2006) Robert Creeley, Selected Poems, 1945-2005, Poem 99 (2005) Tomas Tranströmer, Poems 1954-1986, Poem 99 (2006) A.E, Song and Its Fountains, Page 99 (1932)

Meditation Notes to Poem:

This poem was written in honor of my Cornell Professor Harold A. Scheraga's
99th birthday on October 18, 2020. He was my doctorate advisor in Physical Chemistry of Macromolecules (1963-1970). Sadly, he passed on August 1, 2020,
79 days before his 99th birthday. Nevertheless, I completed "Number 99" to honor his longevity & productivity. For the context of sources for the lines, consult my web pages On Number 99 on composition of each line. What unites these writers quoted is the number 99. That is, the writer's words appeared in verse 99, sonnet 99, chapter 99, line 99, or page 99. This poem was arranged essentially in chronological order from King David's Psalms 99 (1023 BC), Hymn 99 in Rig Veda (1500 BC), and Chapter 99 from Papyrus of Ani (1250 BC) to Pablo Neruda's "Love Sonnet 99" (1960) and Poem 99 in Kenneth Koch's Collected Poems (2006). So much joy composing this poem with words from my favorite writers.