by Homer
Could I but think to tak’ it back,
It wad be waur than theft. 20
For langest life can ne’er repay
The love he bears to me;
And ere I’m forced to break my troth
I’ll lay me doun and dee.
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
Anne Hunter
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
My Mother Bids Me Bind My Hair
Anne Hunter (1742 — 1821)
MY mother bids me bind my hair
With bands of rosy hue,
Tie up my sleeves with ribbons rare,
And lace my bodice blue.
‘For why,’ she cries, ‘sit still and weep, 5
While others dance and play?’
Alas! I scarce can go or creep
While Lubin is away.
’Tis sad to think the days are gone
When those we love were near; 10
I sit upon this mossy stone
And sigh when none can hear.
And while I spin my flaxen thread,
And sing my simple lay,
The village seems asleep or dead, 15
Now Lubin is away.
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
John Dunlop
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
The Year That’s Awa’
John Dunlop (1755 — 1820)
HERE’S to the year that’s awa’!
We will drink it in strong and in sma’;
And here’s to ilk bonnie young lassie we lo’ed,
While swift flew the year that’s awa’.
And here’s to ilk, etc. 5
Here’s to the sodger who bled,
And the sailor who bravely did fa’;
Their fame is alive though their spirits are fled
On the wings o’ the year that’s awa’.
Their fame is alive, etc. 10
Here’s to the friends we can trust
When storms of adversity blaw;
May they live in our song and be nearest our hearts,
Nor depart like the year that’s awa’.
May they live, etc. 15
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
Samuel Rogers
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
A Wish
Samuel Rogers (1763 — 1855)
MINE be a cot beside the hill;
A bee-hive’s hum shall soothe my ear;
A willowy brook, that turns a mill,
With many a fall shall linger near.
The swallow, oft, beneath my thatch, 5
Shall twitter from her clay-built nest;
Oft shall the pilgrim lift the latch,
And share my meal, a welcome guest.
Around my ivy’d porch shall spring
Each fragrant flower that drinks the dew; 10
And Lucy, at her wheel, shall sing
In russet gown and apron blue.
The village-church among the trees,
Where first our marriage-vows were given,
With merry peals shall swell the breeze, 15
And point with taper spire to heaven.
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
The Sleeping Beauty
Samuel Rogers (1763 — 1855)
SLEEP on, and dream of Heaven awhile —
Tho’ shut so close thy laughing eyes,
Thy rosy lips still wear a smile
And move, and breathe delicious sighs!
Ah, now soft blushes tinge her cheeks 5
And mantle o’er her neck of snow:
Ah, now she murmurs, now she speaks
What most I wish — and fear to know!
She starts, she trembles, and she weeps!
Her fair hands folded on her breast: 10
— And now, how like a saint she sleeps!
A seraph in the realms of rest!
Sleep on secure! Above controul
Thy thoughts belong to Heaven and thee:
And may the secret of thy soul 15
Remain within its sanctuary!
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
William Blake
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
The Lamb
William Blake (1757–1827)
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed.
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
The Tiger
William Blake (1757–1827)
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies 5
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart? 10
And, when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp 15
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water’d heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee? 20
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
Ah! Sun-Flower
William Blake (1757–1827)
AH, sun-flower! weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the Sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime,
Where the traveller’s journey is done;
Where the Youth pined away with desire, 5
And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves, and aspire
Where my sun-flower wishes to go.
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
To Spring
William Blake (1757–1827)
O THOU with dewy locks, who lookest down
Through the clear windows of the morning, turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!
The hills tell one another, and the listening 5
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turn’d
Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth
And
let thy holy feet visit our clime!
Come o’er the eastern hills, and let our winds
Kiss thy perfumèd garments; let us taste 10
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our lovesick land that mourns for thee.
O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put
Thy golden crown upon her languish’d head, 15
Whose modest tresses are bound up for thee.
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
Reeds of Innocence
William Blake (1757–1827)
PIPING down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me:
‘Pipe a song about a Lamb!’ 5
So I piped with merry cheer.
‘Piper, pipe that song again;’
So I piped: he wept to hear.
‘Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;
Sing thy songs of happy cheer!’ 10
So I sung the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.
‘Piper, sit thee down and write
In a book that all may read.’
So he vanish’d from my sight; 15
And I pluck’d a hollow reed,
And I made a rural pen,
And I stain’d the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear. 20
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
Night
William Blake (1757–1827)
THE SUN descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest,
And I must seek for mine.
The moon, like a flower 5
In heaven’s high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night.
Farewell, green fields and happy grove,
Where flocks have took delight: 10
Where lambs have nibbled, silent move
The feet of angels bright;
Unseen they pour blessing
And joy without ceasing
On each bud and blossom, 15
On each sleeping bosom.
They look in every thoughtless nest
Where birds are cover’d warm;
They visit caves of every beast,
To keep them all from harm: 20
If they see any weeping
That should have been sleeping,
They pour sleep on their head,
And sit down by their bed.
When wolves and tigers howl for prey, 25
They pitying stand and weep,
Seeking to drive their thirst away
And keep them from the sheep.
But, if they rush dreadful,
The angels, most heedful, 30
Receive each mild spirit,
New worlds to inherit.
And there the lion’s ruddy eyes
Shall flow with tears of gold:
And pitying the tender cries, 35
And walking round the fold:
Saying, ‘Wrath by His meekness,
And, by His health, sickness,
Are driven away
From our immortal day. 40
‘And now beside thee, bleating lamb,
I can lie down and sleep,
Or think on Him who bore thy name,
Graze after thee, and weep.
For, wash’d in life’s river, 45
My bright mane for ever
Shall shine like the gold
As I guard o’er the fold.’
List of Poems in Alphabetical Order
List of Poets in Alphabetical Order
Auguries of Innocence
William Blake (1757–1827)
TO see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
A robin redbreast in a cage 5
Puts all heaven in a rage.
A dove-house fill’d with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro’ all its regions.
A dog starv’d at his master’s gate
Predicts the ruin of the state. 10
A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.
A skylark wounded in the wing, 15
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm’d for fight
Does the rising sun affright.
Every wolf’s and lion’s howl
Raises from hell a human soul. 20
The wild deer, wand’ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus’d breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher’s knife.
The bat that flits at close of eve 25
Has left the brain that won’t believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever’s fright.
He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov’d by men. 30
He who the ox to wrath has mov’d
Shall never be by woman lov’d.
The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider’s enmity.
He who torments the chafer’s sprite 35
Weaves a bower in endless night.
The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother’s grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgment draweth nigh. 40
He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar’s dog and widow’s cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.
The gnat that sings his summer’s song 45
Poison gets from slander’s tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy’s foot.
The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist’s jealousy. 50
The prince’s robes and beggar’s rags
Are toadstools on the miser’s bags.
A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
It is right it should be so; 55
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro’ the world we safely go.
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine. 60
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Throughout all these human lands
Tools were made, and born were hands, 65
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;
This is caught by females bright,
And return’d to its own delight. 70
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven’s shore.
The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar’s rags, fluttering in air, 75
Does to rags the heavens tear.
The soldier, arm’d with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer’s sun.
The poor man’s farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric’s shore. 80
One mite wrung from the lab’rer’s hands
Shall buy and sell the miser’s lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.
He who mocks the infant’s faith 85
Shall be mock’d in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne’er get out.
He who respects the infant’s faith
Triumphs over hell and death. 90
The child’s toys and the old man’s reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.
The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt 95
Doth put the light of knowledge out.
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar’s laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour’s iron brace. 100
When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket’s cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.
The emmet’s inch and eagle’s mile 105
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne’er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt,
They’d immediately go out. 110
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.
The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation’s fate.
The harlot’s cry from street to street 115