Family poems
/ page 4 of 43 /
The Reasons
© Isabel Ecclestone Mackay
One with a whimsical face spoke freely;
"I?--I sought some stir,
Some urge in living,
Some sense in dying.
I sought a mountain top
With a view!"
The True Born Englishman (excerpt)
© Daniel Defoe
Which medly canton'd in a heptarchy,
A rhapsody of nations to supply,
Among themselves maintain'd eternal wars,
And still the ladies lov'd the conquerors.
The Family Laramie
© William Henry Drummond
Hssh! look at ba-bee on de leetle blue chair,
W'at you t'ink hes tryin' to do?
Verses For After-Dinner
© Oliver Wendell Holmes
PHI BETA KAPPA SOCIETY, 1844
I WAS thinking last night, as I sat in the cars,
With the charmingest prospect of cinders and stars,
Next Thursday is--bless me!--how hard it will be,
If that cannibal president calls upon me!
Family Reunion
© Sylvia Plath
Like a diver on a lofty spar of land
Atop the flight of stairs I stand.
A whirlpool leers at me,
I cast off my identity
And make the fatal plunge.
An Excellent New Song Being The Intended Speech Of A Famous Orator Against Peace
© Jonathan Swift
An orator dismal of Nottinghamshire,
Who has forty years let out his conscience to hire,
Out of zeal for his country, and want of a place,
Is come up, vi et armis, to break the queen's peace.
Who Shall Rule This American Nation?
© Henry Clay Work
"No, never! no, never!"
The loyal millions say;
And 'tis they who rule this American Nation!
They, boys, they!
The Eutawville Lynching
© Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer
In the State of "Old Palmetto," from the town of Eutawville,
Comes a voice of pain and anguish that refuses to be still.
'Tis a voice that cries for vengeance for the wrongs it has received,
Yea, it asks a nation's conscience, When will justice be achieved?
The Orchard And The Heath
© George Meredith
I chanced upon an early walk to spy
A troop of children through an orchard gate:
The boughs hung low, the grass was high;
They had but to lift hands or wait
For fruits to fill them; fruits were all their sky.
On An Old Sepuchral Bas-Relief
© Giacomo Leopardi
WHERE IS SEEN A YOUNG MAIDEN, DEAD, IN THE ACT OF DEPARTING,
TAKING LEAVE OF HER FAMILY.
An Incindent At Pisa
© Richard Monckton Milnes
``From the common burial--ground
Mark'd by some peculiar bound,
Beppo! who are these that lie
Like one numerous family?''
House Or Window Flies
© John Clare
These little window dwellers, in cottages and halls, were always
entertaining to me; after dancing in the window all day from sunrise
Within and Without: Part II: A Dramatic Poem
© George MacDonald
Julian.
Hm! ah! I see.
What kind of man is this Nembroni, nurse?
The Parrot and the Billy-Goat
© Henry Clay Work
There were no romping children at Doctor Quibble's door;
Long past the silver wedding, no toys lay on the floor,
But to relieve her longings, to soothe her vain regrets,
His good wife had contrived to raise a family of pets.
The Sparrow And The Hen
© Charles Lamb
A sparrow, when sparrows like parrots could speak,
Addressed an old hen who could talk like a jay:
Said he, "It's unjust that we sparrows must seek
Our food, when your family's fed every day.
The Lesson
© James Russell Lowell
I sat and watched the walls of night
With cracks of sudden lightning glow,
And listened while with clumsy might
The thunder wallowed to and fro.
The Family Party
© Edgar Albert Guest
I SING the family party that once we used to know,
The old time family parties we gave so long ago,
The Comedian As The Letter C: 06 - And Daughters With Curls
© Wallace Stevens
Portentous enunciation, syllable
To blessed syllable affined, and sound
The Scout Toward Aldie
© Herman Melville
Nine Blue-coats went a-nutting
Slyly in Tennessee-
Not for chestnuts - better than that-
Hugh, you bumble-bee!
Nutting, nutting -
All through the year there's nutting!
