The Pleasures of Melancholy by Thomas Warton
The Pleasures of Melancholy by Thomas Warton Mother of musings, Contemplation sage, Whose grotto stands upon the topmost rock Of Teneriffe; ‘mid the tempestuous night, On which, in calmest meditation held, Thou hear’st with howling winds the beating rain And drifting hail descend; or if the skies Unclouded shine, and through the blue serene Pale […]
The Mocking Bird by Timothy Thomas Fortune
Have you e’er heard, at early morn, The feathered poet sing his song, Clear as a huntsman’s clarion horn, Yet softer, sweeter, and as strong? Have you e’er felt his magic power Soothe, as a balm, your troubled breast, Change into mirth the gloomy hour, Cradle th’ enchanted sense to rest? Have you e’er heard […]
Henry Clay’s Mouth by Thomas Lux
Henry Clay’s Mouth by Thomas Lux Senator, statesman, speaker of the House, exceptional dancer, slim, graceful, ugly. Proclaimed, before most, slavery an evil, broker of elections (burned Jackson for Adams), took a pistol ball in the thigh in a duel, delayed, by forty years, with his compromises, the Civil War, gambler (“I have always paid […]
The Mocking Bird by Timothy Thomas Fortune
Have you e’er heard, at early morn, The feathered poet sing his song, Clear as a huntsman’s clarion horn, Yet softer, sweeter, and as strong? Have you e’er felt his magic power Soothe, as a balm, your troubled breast, Change into mirth the gloomy hour, Cradle th’ enchanted sense to rest? Have you e’er heard […]
Manifestations by Tom Shea
i trace your face with this pencil tip and every time i miss your lips: the line of your jaw as you set your mind on an ideal that you could never find in a house as once upon a time as mine. i trace your face; i get it wrong. i look for you […]
Edgar Allan Poe by Timothy Thomas Fortune
I know not why, but it is true-it may, In some way, be because he was a child Of the fierce sun where I first wept and smiled- I love the dark-browed Poe. His feverish day Was spent in dreams inspired, that him beguiled, When not along his path shone forth one ray Of light, […]
I Have News For You by Tony Hoagland
There are people who do not see a broken playground swing as a symbol of ruined childhood and there are people who don’t interpret the behavior of a fly in a motel room as a mocking representation of their thought process. There are people who don’t walk past an empty swimming pool and think about […]
Don’t Tell Anyone by Tony Hoagland
We had been married for six or seven years when my wife, standing in the kitchen one afternoon, told me that she screams underwater when she swims— that, in fact, she has been screaming for years into the blue chlorinated water of the community pool where she does laps every other day. Buttering her toast, […]
Jerusalem Delivered – Book 06 – part 06 by Torquato Tasso
LXXI “O spotless virgin,” Honor thus began, “That my true lore observed firmly hast, When with thy foes thou didst in bondage won, Remember then I kept thee pure and chaste, At liberty now, where wouldest thou run, To lay that field of princely virtue waste, Or lost that jewel ladies hold so dear? Is […]
With a Bouquet of Twelve Roses by Vachel Lindsay
I saw Lord Buddha towering by my gate Saying: “Once more, good youth, I stand and wait.” Saying: “I bring you my fair Law of Peace And from your withering passion full release; Release from that white hand that stabbed you so. The road is calling. With the wind you go, Forgetting her imperious disdain […]
What the Rattlesnake Said by Vachel Lindsay
The moon’s a little prairie-dog. He shivers through the night. He sits upon his hill and cries For fear that I will bite. The sun’s a broncho. He’s afraid Like every other thing, And trembles, morning, noon and night, Lest I should spring, and sting. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem […]
The Song of the Garden-Toad by Vachel Lindsay
Down, down beneath the daisy beds, O hear the cries of pain! And moaning on the cinder-path They’re blind amid the rain. Can murmurs of the worms arise To higher hearts than mine? I wonder if that gardener hears Who made the mold all fine And packed each gentle seedling down So carefully in line? […]
The Master of the Dance by Vachel Lindsay
A chant to which it is intended a group of children shall dance and improvise pantomime led by their dancing-teacher. I A master deep-eyed Ere his manhood was ripe, He sang like a thrush, He could play any pipe. So dull in the school That he scarcely could spell, He read but a bit, And […]
The Jingo and the Minstrel by Vachel Lindsay
AN ARGUMENT FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND GOODWILL WITH THE JAPANESE PEOPLE Glossary for the uninstructed and the hasty: Jimmu Tenno, ancestor of all the Japanese Emperors; Nikko, Japan’s loveliest shrine; Iyeyasu, her greatest statesman; Bushido, her code of knighthood; The Forty-seven Ronins, her classic heroes; Nogi, her latest hero; Fuji, her most beautiful […]
The Chinese Nightingale by Vachel Lindsay
A Song in Chinese Tapestries “How, how,” he said. “Friend Chang,” I said, “San Francisco sleeps as the dead— Ended license, lust and play: Why do you iron the night away? Your big clock speaks with a deadly sound, With a tick and a wail till dawn comes round. While the monster shadows glower and […]
The Beggar’s Valentine by Vachel Lindsay
Kiss me and comfort my heart Maiden honest and fine. I am the pilgrim boy Lame, but hunting the shrine; Fleeing away from the sweets, Seeking the dust and rain, Sworn to the staff and road, Scorning pleasure and pain; Nevertheless my mouth Would rest like a bird an hour And find in your curls […]
Star of My Heart by Vachel Lindsay
Star of my heart, I follow from afar. Sweet Love on high, lead on where shepherds are, Where Time is not, and only dreamers are. Star from of old, the Magi-Kings are dead And a foolish Saxon seeks the manger-bed. O lead me to Jehovah’s child Across this dreamland lone and wild, Then will I […]
Queen Mab in the Village by Vachel Lindsay
Once I loved a fairy, Queen Mab it was. Her voice Was like a little Fountain That bids the birds rejoice. Her face was wise and solemn, Her hair was brown and fine. Her dress was pansy velvet, A butterfly design. To see her hover round me Or walk the hills of air, Awakened love’s […]
Genesis by Vachel Lindsay
I was but a half-grown boy, You were a girl-child slight. Ah, how weary you were! You had led in the bullock-fight… We slew the bullock at length With knives and maces of stone. And so your feet were torn, Your lean arms bruised to the bone. Perhaps ’twas the slain beast’s blood We drank, […]
Eden in Winter by Vachel Lindsay
[Supposed to be chanted to some rude instrument at a modern fireplace] Chant we the story now Tho’ in a house we sleep; Tho’ by a hearth of coals Vigil to-night we keep. Chant we the story now, Of the vague love we knew When I from out the sea Rose to the feet of […]
Caught in a Net by Vachel Lindsay
Upon her breast her hands and hair Were tangled all together. The moon of June forbade me not — The golden night time weather In balmy sighs commanded me To kiss them like a feather. Her looming hair, her burning hands, Were tangled black and white. My face I buried there. I pray — So […]
By the Spring, at Sunset by Vachel Lindsay
Sometimes we remember kisses, Remember the dear heart-leap when they came: Not always, but sometimes we remember The kindness, the dumbness, the good flame Of laughter and farewell. Beside the road Afar from those who said “Good-by” I write, Far from my city task, my lawful load. Sun in my face, wind beside my shoulder, […]
Alone in the Wind, on the Prairie by Vachel Lindsay
I know a seraph who has golden eyes, And hair of gold, and body like the snow. Here in the wind I dream her unbound hair Is blowing round me, that desire’s sweet glow Has touched her pale keen face, and willful mien. And though she steps as one in manner born To tread the […]
A Sense of Humor by Vachel Lindsay
NO man should stand before the moon To make sweet song thereon, With dandified importance, His sense of humor gone. Nay, let us don the motley cap, The jester’s chastened mien, If we would woo that looking-glass And see what should be seen. O mirror on fair Heaven’s wall, We find there what we bring. […]
Vaishnavi Prakash by Vaishnavi Prakash
Stars trip down into the air to enjoy the sweet bliss.. Mighty swords go blunt to make the day merrier than a tulip’s kiss.. A princess clad in beautiful drapes blooms into a new worlds abode.. Hope your prince charming gets a rocking life abord!!! Poetry In Englishwww.poetry.monster
Empty Pages by Vaishnavi Prakash
Wavering million letters awaited Flawless transient literal hand ahead A long ‘F’ of Feel and an apple’s start All slants and scribbles tendered people smart A hope of horizon not approaching for another million leap years. Tears stale these white pages many a time Clear always with peace but a melanchony Makes me hear this […]
Bliss Of Eternity by Vaishnavi Prakash
This feeling pauses my breath I resume my heartbeat to fulfill yet another dose of pain The ecstasy of Love unbound A true myth that I dearly found Oceans of joy and selflessness Wrapped in an aura of fear I dare not hold a thought of forfeit As the duty to my Heart should never […]
The Prisoners Of The Little Box by Vasko Popa
Open little box We kiss your bottom and cover Keyhole and key The whole world lies crumpted in you It resembles everything Except itself Not even your clear-sky mother Would recognize it anymore The rust will eat your key Our world and us there inside And finally you too We kiss your four sides And […]
Far Within Us #1 by Vasko Popa
We raise our arms The street climbs into the sky We lower our eyes The roofs go down into the earth From every pain We do not mention Grows a chestnut tree That stays mysterious behind us From every hope We cherish Sprouts a star That moves unreachable before us Can you hear a bullet […]
Bulgarian Lullaby by Vasil Slavov
Bulgarian Lullaby by Vasil Slavov ( excerpt ) 1. . . . what have you done where have you gone the road back flight of the salmon resembling glistening scimitar cutting deep into the forehead of the falling sun stretched shadows sensing distant premonition . . . 7 seas + oceans lake(s) Monongahela(s) Allegheny(s). . […]
Snake eggs by Victor A. Bueno M.
Snake eggs Universe’s architect Likes to reuse designs To repeat itself In a way Only a lovely mother Would appreciate Repeating patterns Aggregated building blocks Some people say I mean eggs But of snakes I’m talking about Saturday morning rain And of talking to you In vain Knowing that you Are very far away VABM […]
Juan In Middle Age by Vernon Scannell
The appetite which leads him to her bed Is not unlike the lust of boys for cake Except he knows that after he has fed He’ll suffer more than simple belly-ache. He’ll groan to think what others have to pay As price for his obsessive need to know That he’s a champion still, though slightly […]
Incendiary by Vernon Scannell
That one small boy with a face like pallid cheese And burnt-out little eyes could make a blaze As brazen, fierce and huge, as red and gold And zany yellow as the one that spoiled Three thousand guineas’ worth of property And crops at Godwin’s Farm on Saturday Is frightening—as fact and metaphor: An ordinary […]
Song IX: Ho Ye Who Seek Saving by William Morris
Love is enough: ho ye who seek saving, Go no further; come hither; there have been who have found it, And these know the House of Fulfilment of Craving; These know the Cup with the roses around it; These know the World’s Wound and the balm that hath bound it: Cry out, the World heedeth […]
Song IV: Draw Near and Behold Me by William Morris
Love is enough: draw near and behold me Ye who pass by the way to your rest and your laughter, And are full of the hope of the dawn coming after; For the strong of the world have bought me and sold me And my house is all wasted from threshold to rafter. –Pass by […]
Song II: Have No Thought for Tomorrow by William Morris
Love is enough: have no thought for to-morrow If ye lie down this even in rest from your pain, Ye who have paid for your bliss with great sorrow: For as it was once so it shall be again. Ye shall cry out for death as ye stretch forth in vain Feeble hands to the […]
Sir Galahad, a Christmas Mystery by William Morris
It is the longest night in all the year, Near on the day when the Lord Christ was born; Six hours ago I came and sat down here, And ponder’d sadly, wearied and forlorn. The winter wind that pass’d the chapel door, Sang out a moody tune, that went right well With mine own thoughts: […]
Near But Far Away by William Morris
She wavered, stopped and turned, methought her eyes, The deep grey windows of her heart, were wet, Methought they softened with a new regret To note in mine unspoken miseries, And as a prayer from out my heart did rise And struggled on my lips in shame’s strong net, She stayed me, and cried “Brother!” […]
King Arthur’s Tomb by William Morris
Hot August noon: already on that day Since sunrise through the Wiltshire downs, most sad Of mouth and eye, he had gone leagues of way; Ay and by night, till whether good or bad He was, he knew not, though he knew perchance That he was Launcelot, the bravest knight Of all who since the […]
Earth the Healer, Earth the Keeper by William Morris
So swift the hours are moving Unto the time unproved: Farewell my love unloving, Farewell my love beloved! What! are we not glad-hearted? Is there no deed to do? Is not all fear departed And Spring-tide blossomed new? The sails swell out above us, The sea-ridge lifts the keel; For They have called who love […]