I Arise And Go Down To The River
I arise and go down to the River, and currents that come from the sea, Still fresh with the salt of the ocean, are lovely and precious to me, The waters are silver and silent, except where the kingfisher dips, Or the ripples wash off from my shoulder the reddening stain of thy lips. Two […]
Hira Singhs Farewell To Burmah
On the wooden deck of the wooden Junk, silent, alone, we lie, With silver foam about the bow, and a silver moon in the sky: A glimmer of dimmer silver here, from the anklets round your feet, Our lips may close on each other’s lips, but never our souls may meet. For though in […]
Golden Eyes
Oh Amber Eyes, oh Golden Eyes! Oh Eyes so softly gay! Wherein swift fancies fall and rise, Grow dark and fade away. Eyes like a little limpid pool That holds a sunset sky, While on its surface, calm and cool, Blue water lilies lie. Oh Tender Eyes, oh Wistful Eyes, You smiled on me […]
From Behind The Lattice
I see your red-gold hair and know How white the hidden skin must be, Though sun-kissed face and fingers show The fervour of the noon-day glow, The keenness of the sea. My longing fancies ebb and flow, Still circling constant unto this; My great desire (ah, whisper low) To plant on thy forbidden snow […]
Feroza
The evening sky was as green as Jade, As Emerald turf by Lotus lake, Behind the Kafila far she strayed, (The Pearls are lost if the Necklace break!) A lingering freshness touched the air From palm-trees, clustered around a Spring, The great, grim Desert lay vast and bare, But Youth is ever a careless […]
Feroke
The rice-birds fly so white, so silver white, The velvet rice-flats lie so emerald green, My heart inhales, with sorrowful delight, The sweet and poignant sadness of the scene. The swollen tawny river seeks the sea, Its hungry waters, never satisfied, Beflecked with fallen log and torn-up tree, Engulph the fisher-huts on either side. […]
Fate Knows No Tears
Just as the dawn of Love was breaking Across the weary world of grey, Just as my life once more was waking As roses waken late in May, Fate, blindly cruel and havoc-making, Stepped in and carried you away. Memories have I none in keeping Of times I held you near my heart, Of […]
Farewell
Farewell, Aziz, it was not mine to fold you Against my heart for any length of days. I had no loveliness, alas, to hold you, No siren voice, no charm that lovers praise. Yet, in the midst of grief and desolation, Solace I my despairing soul with this: Once, for my life’s eternal consolation, […]
Fancy
Far in the Further East the skilful craftsman Fashioned this fancy for the West’s delight. This rose and azure Dragon, crouching softly Upon the satin skin, close-grained and white. And you lay silent, while his slender needles Pricked the intricate pattern on your arm, Combining deftly Cruelty and Beauty, That subtle union, whose child […]
Famine Song
Death and Famine on every side And never a sign of rain, The bones of those who have starved and died Unburied upon the plain. What care have I that the bones bleach white? To-morrow they may be mine, But I shall sleep in your arms to-night And drink your lips like wine! Cholera, […]
Early Love
Who says I wrong thee, my half-opened rose? Little he knows of thee or me, or love.– I am so tender of thy fragile youth, Yea, in my hours of wildest ecstasy, Keeping close-bitted each careering sense. Only I give mine eyes unmeasured law To feed them where they will, and _their_ delight Was […]
Disappointment
Oh, come, Beloved, before my beauty fades, Pity the sorrow of my loneliness. I am a Rosebush that the Cypress shades, No sunbeams find or lighten my distress. Daily I watch the waning of my bloom. Ah, piteous fading of a thing so fair! While Fate, remorseless, weaving at her loom, Twines furtive silver […]
Deserted Gipsys Song Hillside Camp
She is glad to receive your turquoise ring, Dear and dark-eyed Lover of mine! I, to have given you everything: Beauty maddens the soul like Wine. “She is proud to have held aloof her charms, Slender, dark-eyed Lover of mine! But I, of the night you lay in my arms: Beauty maddens the sense […]
Dedication
I, who of lighter love wrote many a verse, Made public never words inspired by thee, Lest strangers’ lips should carelessly rehearse Things that were sacred and too dear to me. Thy soul was noble; through these fifteen years Mine eyes familiar, found no fleck nor flaw, Stern to thyself, thy comrades’ faults and […]
Dedication To Malcolm Nicolson
I, who of lighter love wrote many a verse, Made public never words inspired by thee, Lest strangers’ lips should carelessly rehearse Things that were sacred and too dear to me. Thy soul was noble; through these fifteen years Mine eyes familiar, found no fleck nor flaw, Stern to thyself, thy comrades’ faults and […]
Camp Followers Song Gomal River
We have left Gul Kach behind us, Are marching on Apozai,– Where pleasure and rest are waiting To welcome us by and by. We’re falling back from the Gomal, Across the Gir-dao plain, The camping ground is deserted, We’ll never come back again. Along the rocks and the defiles, The mules and the camels […]
Back To The Border
The tremulous morning is breaking Against the white waste of the sky, And hundreds of birds are awaking In tamarisk bushes hard by. I, waiting alone in the station, Can hear in the distance, grey-blue, The sound of that iron desolation, The train that will bear me from you. ‘T will carry me under […]
Au Salon
A sky intensely blue, a low, white wall Against it heaps of up-blown yellow sand, A sleeping figure, holding in her hand Some scarlet cactus blossom; that was all. And yet so mellowly the sunbeams fell Upon the sunburnt limbs, such subtle play Of rosy light and tender shadow lay Upon the upturned face, […]
Atavism
Deep in the jungle vast and dim, That knew not a white man’s feet, I smelt the odour of sun-warmed fur, Musky, savage, and sweet. Far it was from the huts of men And the grass where Sambur feed; I threw a stone at a Kadapu tree That bled as a man might bleed. […]
Ashore
Out I came from the dancing-place: The night-wind met me face to face– A wind off the harbour, cold and keen, “I know,” it whistled, “where thou hast been.” A faint voice fell from the stars above– “Thou? whom we lighted to shrines of Love!” I found when I reached my lonely room A […]
Among The Sandhills
Lie still, Beloved, I also see the day Shoot his white arrows through the trembling sky, But what is dawn to us, who cast away All sense of time that mars our ecstasy ? The scented orange bushes check the breeze Granting in tribute many waxen stars, And aromatic Eucalyptus trees Defy the sun […]
Among The Rice Fields
She was fair as a Passion-flower, (But little of love he knew.) Her lucent eyes were like amber wine, And her eyelids stained with blue. He called them the Gates of Fair Desire, And the Lakes where Beauty lay, But I looked into them once, and saw The eyes of Beasts of Prey. He […]
Afridi Love
Since, Oh, Beloved, you are not even faithful To me, who loved you so, for one short night, For one brief space of darkness, though my absence Did but endure until the dawning light; Since all your beauty–which was _mine_–you squandered On _that_ which now lies dead across your door; See here this knife, […]
Adoration
Who does not feel desire unending To solace through his daily strife, With some mysterious Mental Blending, The hungry loneliness of life? Until, by sudden passion shaken, As terriers shake a rat at play, He finds, all blindly, he has taken The old, Hereditary way. Yet, in the moment of communion, The very heart […]
Wind on the Hill by A. A. Milne
Wind on the Hill by A. A. Milne No one can tell me, Nobody knows, Where the wind comes from, Where the wind goes. It’s flying from somewhere As fast as it can, I couldn’t keep up with it, Not if I ran. But if I stopped holding The string of my kite, It would […]
Us Two by AA Milne
Us Two by A. A. Milne Wherever I am, there’s always Pooh, There’s always Pooh and Me. Whatever I do, he wants to do, “Where are you going today?” says Pooh: “Well, that’s very odd ‘cos I was too. Let’s go together,” says Pooh, says he. “Let’s go together,” says Pooh. “What’s twice eleven?” I […]
twinkletoes.html
Twinkletoes by A. A. Milne When the sun Shines through the leaves of the apple-tree, When the sun Makes shadows of the leaves of the apple-tree, Then I pass On the grass From one leaf to another, From one leaf to its brother, Tip-toe, tip-toe! Here I go! Read all poems by A.A. Milne AA […]
The Morning Walk
The Morning Walk by A. A. Milne When Anne and I go out a walk, We hold each other’s hand and talk Of all the things we mean to do When Anne and I are forty-two. And when we’ve thought about a thing, Like bowling hoops or bicycling, Or falling down on Anne’s balloon, […]
the_kings_breakfast.html
The King’s Breakfast by A. A. Milne The King’s Breakfast The King asked The Queen, and The Queen asked The Dairymaid: “Could we have some butter for The Royal slice of bread?” The Queen asked the Dairymaid, The Dairymaid Said, “Certainly, I’ll go and tell the cow Now Before she goes to bed.” The Dairymaid […]
the_dormouse_and_the_doctor.html
The Dormouse and the Doctor by A. A. Milne There once was a Dormouse who lived in a bed Of delphiniums (blue) and geraniums (red), And all the day long he’d a wonderful view Of geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue). A Doctor came hurrying round, and he said: “Tut-tut, I am sorry to find you […]
the_christening.html
The Christening by A. A. Milne What shall I call My dear little dormouse? His eyes are small, But his tail is e-nor-mouse. I sometimes call him Terrible John, ‘Cos his tail goes on – And on – And on. And I sometimes call him Terrible Jack, ‘Cos his tail goes on to the end […]
Teddy Bear
Teddy Bear by A.A. Milne A bear, however hard he tries, Grows tubby without exercise. Our Teddy Bear is short and fat, Which is not to be wondered at; He gets what exercise he can By falling off the ottoman, But generally seems to lack The energy to clamber back. Now tubbiness is just […]
rice_pudding.html
Rice Pudding by A. A. Milne What is the matter with Mary Jane? She’s crying with all her might and main, And she won’t eat her dinner; rice pudding again – What is the matter with Mary Jane? What is the matter with Mary Jane? I’ve promised her dolls and a daisy-chain, And a book […]
politeness.html
Politeness by A. A. Milne If people ask me, I always tell them: “Quite well, thank you, I’m very glad to say.” If people ask me, I always answer, “Quite well, thank you, how are you to-day?” I always answer, I always tell them, If they ask me Politely….. BUT SOMETIMES I wish That they […]
Missing
Missing by A. A. Milne Has anybody seen my mouse? I opened his box for half a minute, Just to make sure he was really in it, And while I was looking, he jumped outside! I tried to catch him, I tried, I tried…. I think he’s somewhere about the house. Has anyone seen my […]
market_square.html
Market Square by A. A. Milne I had a penny, A bright new penny, I took my penny To the market square. I wanted a rabbit, A little brown rabbit, And I looked for a rabbit ‘Most everywhere. For I went to the stall where they sold sweet lavender (“Only a penny for a bunch […]
lines_and_squares.html
Lines and Squares by A. A. Milne Whenever I walk in a London street, I’m ever so careful to watch my feet; And I keep in the squares, And the masses of bears, Who wait at the corners all ready to eat The sillies who tread on the lines of the street Go back to […]
if_i_were_king.html
If I Were King by A. A. Milne I often wish I were a King, And then I could do anything. If only I were King of Spain, I’d take my hat off in the rain. If only I were King of France, I wouldn’t brush my hair for aunts. I think, if I were […]
hoppity.html
Hoppity by A. A. Milne Christopher Robin goes Hoppity, hoppity, Hoppity, hoppity, hop. Whenever I tell him Politely to stop it, he Says he can’t possibly stop. If he stopped hopping, He couldn’t go anywhere, Poor little Christopher Couldn’t go anywhere… That’s why he always goes Hoppity, hoppity, Hoppity, Hoppity, Hop. Read all poems by […]
happiness.html
Happiness by A. A. Milne John had Great Big Waterproof Boots on; John had a Great Big Waterproof Hat; John had a Great Big Waterproof Mackintosh — And that (Said John) Is That. Read all poems by A.A. Milne AA Milne Website English poetry Subscribe The Poetry Library Talking Writing Monster A free-for-all writing anythying […]