Wish poems
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The Life of Ovid
© George Sandys
A Snake; a snake-like Stone. Cycnus, a Swan:
Caenis the maid, now Caeneus and a man,
Becomes a Fowle. Neleius varies shapes
At last an Eagle; nor Alcides scapes.
AN ELEGY Upon the immature loss of the most vertuous Lady Anne Rich
© Henry King
I envy not thy mortal triumphs, Death,
(Thou enemy to Vertue as to Breath)
Nor do I wonder much, nor yet complain
The weekly numbers by thy arrow slain.
The Lonely Sparrow
© Giacomo Leopardi
Thou from the top of yonder antique tower,
O lonely sparrow, wandering, hast gone,
The Shepherds Calendar - November
© John Clare
The landscape sleeps in mist from morn till noon;
And, if the sun looks through, 'tis with a face
Beamless and pale and round, as if the moon,
When done the journey of her nightly race,
From Boethius: De Consolatione Philosophiae; Book II. Metre 2.
© Samuel Johnson
Though countless as the grains of sand
That roll at Eurus' loud command;
A Funeral Poem On The Death Of C. E. An Infant Of Twelve Months
© Phillis Wheatley
Through airy roads he wings his instant flight
To purer regions of celestial light;
The Wish Of To-Day
© John Greenleaf Whittier
I ask not now for gold to gild
With mocking shine a weary frame;
The yearning of the mind is stilled,
I ask not now for Fame.
Without And Withiin
© James Russell Lowell
My coachman, in the moonlight there,
Looks through the sidelight of the door;
I hear him with his brethren swear,
As I could do-but only more.
The Finest Age
© Edgar Albert Guest
When he was only nine months old,
And plump and round and pink of cheek,
The Anglers Reveille
© Henry Van Dyke
What time the rose of dawn is laid across the lips of night,
And all the little watchman-stars have fallen asleep in light,
'Tis then a merry wind awakes, and runs from tree to tree,
And borrows words from all the birds to sound the reveille.
The Meetings Of The Flowers
© Denis Florence MacCarthy
There is within this world of ours
Full many a happy home and hearth;
What time, the Saviour's blessed birth
Makes glad the gloom of wintry hours.
The White Doe Of Rylstone, Or, The Fate Of The Nortons - Canto Second
© William Wordsworth
THE Harp in lowliness obeyed;
And first we sang of the greenwood shade
And a solitary Maid;
Beginning, where the song must end,
An Old Memory
© Paul Laurence Dunbar
How sweet the music sounded
That summer long ago,
When you were by my side, love,
To list its gentle flow.
Elegy Written At Hotwells, Bristol
© William Lisle Bowles
The morning wakes in shadowy mantle gray,
The darksome woods their glimmering skirts unfold,
Prone from the cliff the falcon wheels her way,
And long and loud the bell's slow chime is tolled.
Ah! Sunflower
© William Blake
Ah Sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun;
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller's journey is done;
The Four Wishes
© Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon
Father! a youthful hero said, bending his lofty brow
On the world wide I must go forththen bless me, bless me, now!
And, ere I shall return oh say, what goal must I have won
What is the aim, the prize, that most thou wishest for thy son?
Shakuntala Act VII (Final Act)
© Kalidasa
ACT VII
King Dushyant with Matali in the chariot of Indra (king of gods in heaven and also god of thunder), supposed to be above the clouds.
King Dushyant: I am sensible, O Matali, that, for having executed the commission which Indra gave me, I deserved not such a profusion of honours.
Love: An Elegy
© Mark Akenside
At last the visionary scenes decay,
My eyes, exulting, bless the new-born day,
Whose faithful beams detect the dangerous road
In which my heedless feet securely trod,
And strip the phantoms of their lying charms
That lur'd my soul from Wisdom's peaceful arms.
The Stealing Of The Mare - VIII
© Wilfrid Scawen Blunt
Said the Narrator:
And when the Emir Abu Zeyd desired to depart, then said to him the Emir Jaber, ``Was it for the mare then that thou camest to our country, or for what else?'' And Abu Zeyd related to him the whole story of the ancient dame and of all that had happened. And the Emir Fadel cried to the grooms, ``Lead forth the mare, the Hamameh.'' And they led her forth and brought her to the Emir Abu Zeyd. And he departed with her after that he had bidden them farewell. And he went back to those shepherds, and took from them his riding camel, and ceased not until he had returned unto his own Arabs. And when they saw him they saluted him, and came around him and rejoiced exceedingly, and they made feastings, and the tribe rejoiced. And Abu Zeyd related to them all that had happened to him, and they wondered greatly and all the tribe with them. Then sent he to the ancient dame Ghanimeh and begged of her that she might come, and when she came he delivered to her the mare and the gifts and bade her depart to her own people. But she said to him, ``Nay, but send with me one who shall charge himself with my affairs.'' And he sent with her Abul Komsan. And Abul Komsan went with Ghanimeh. And they had not journeyed seven days when they met with the tribe of En Naaman. And Abul Komsan went unto Naaman and said to him: ``Saith my lord Abu Zeyd to thee, let Amer espouse thy daughter, for behold, the mare thou didst require of him my lord hath obtained her for thee.'' But when Naaman heard that, he said, ``Take the mare and return to thy Lord and say he will not listen to thy words, neither will he follow thy counsel.'' But he said to him, ``If thou wilt not do this thing then will I slay thee in the midst of thy Arabs, and destroy thee utterly.'' But when Naaman heard this he leaped upon his mare and rushed upon Abul Komsan. But Abul Komsan struck him with his spear upon his breast and pierced him through, so that the spear shone beyond him. And he called out to all the men of the tribe, and defied them, saying, ``I am your peer, and better than your peer.'' But they said to him, ``Nay, but thou hast done us a service, for this one refused to do according to our counsels.'' So Abul Komsan bade them bury him. And they buried him. Then he bade them to bring Amer before him, and Abul Komsan made rejoicings for him and placed him upon the seat of authority in the room of his uncle Naaman. And they brought to him also Betina, the daughter of Naaman, and he ordered their marriage. And when he had done all these things he desired to leave them. But they brought him gifts and they led forth for him the mare, and he took her and his leave of them and departed, and returned to his master and told him all the story. And Abu Zeyd rejoiced and gave thanks.
And the Narrator once more began his singing and he said:
