Delphi Poetry Anthology: The World's Greatest Poems (Delphi Poets Series Book 50)

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Delphi Poetry Anthology: The World's Greatest Poems (Delphi Poets Series Book 50) Page 124

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

 

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