PURPOSE POEMS
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God Neither Known Nor Loved By The World
Ye linnets, let us try, beneath this grove,
Which shall be loudest in our Maker's praise!
In quest of some forlorn retreat I rove,
For all the world is blind, and wanders from his ways.
.....
William Cowper
Ye linnets, let us try, beneath this grove,
Which shall be loudest in our Maker's praise!
In quest of some forlorn retreat I rove,
For all the world is blind, and wanders from his ways.
.....
William Cowper
What Would Freud Say?
Wasn't on purpose that I drilled
through my finger or the nurse
laughed. She apologized
three times and gave me a shot
.....
Bob Hicok
Wasn't on purpose that I drilled
through my finger or the nurse
laughed. She apologized
three times and gave me a shot
.....
Bob Hicok
Alone
Strange thoughts come to the man alone;
'Tis then, if ever, he talks with God,
And views himself as a single clod
In the soil of life where the souls are grown.
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
Strange thoughts come to the man alone;
'Tis then, if ever, he talks with God,
And views himself as a single clod
In the soil of life where the souls are grown.
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
The Man To Be
Some day the world will need a man of courage in a time of doubt,
And somewhere, as a little boy, that future hero plays about.
Within some humble home, no doubt, that instrument of greater things
Now climbs upon his father's knee or to his mother's garments clings.
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
Some day the world will need a man of courage in a time of doubt,
And somewhere, as a little boy, that future hero plays about.
Within some humble home, no doubt, that instrument of greater things
Now climbs upon his father's knee or to his mother's garments clings.
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
Michael: A Pastoral Poem
If from the public way you turn your steps
Up the tumultuous brook of Green-head Ghyll,
You will suppose that with an upright path
Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent
.....
William Wordsworth
If from the public way you turn your steps
Up the tumultuous brook of Green-head Ghyll,
You will suppose that with an upright path
Your feet must struggle; in such bold ascent
.....
William Wordsworth
Sonnet 020: A Woman's Face With Nature's Own Hand Painted
A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted
Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change, as is false women's fashion;
.....
William Shakespeare
A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted
Hast thou, the master-mistress of my passion;
A woman's gentle heart, but not acquainted
With shifting change, as is false women's fashion;
.....
William Shakespeare
All For Me
All for me the bumble-bee
Drones his song in the perfect weather;
And, just on purpose to sing to me,
Thrush and blue-bird came North together.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
All for me the bumble-bee
Drones his song in the perfect weather;
And, just on purpose to sing to me,
Thrush and blue-bird came North together.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Youth
If I had youth I'd bid the world to try me;
I'd answer every challenge to my will.
Though mountains stood in silence to defy me,
I'd try to make them subject to my skill.
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
If I had youth I'd bid the world to try me;
I'd answer every challenge to my will.
Though mountains stood in silence to defy me,
I'd try to make them subject to my skill.
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
Success
You ask me what I call Success-
It is, I wonder, Happiness?
It is not wealth, it is not fame,
.....
Robert Service
You ask me what I call Success-
It is, I wonder, Happiness?
It is not wealth, it is not fame,
.....
Robert Service
The Other
The forest ended. Glad I was
To feel the light, and hear the hum
Of bees, and smell the drying grass
And the sweet mint, because I had come
.....
Edward Thomas
The forest ended. Glad I was
To feel the light, and hear the hum
Of bees, and smell the drying grass
And the sweet mint, because I had come
.....
Edward Thomas
Nothing But Stones
I think I never passed so sad an hour,
Dear friend, as that one at the church to-night.
The edifice from basement to the tower
Was one resplendent blaze of coloured light.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I think I never passed so sad an hour,
Dear friend, as that one at the church to-night.
The edifice from basement to the tower
Was one resplendent blaze of coloured light.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Vertical
Perhaps the purpose of leaves is to conceal
the verticality of trees which we notice in December
as if for the first time: row after row of dark forms
yearning upwards. And since we will be horizontal
.....
Linda Pastan
Perhaps the purpose of leaves is to conceal
the verticality of trees which we notice in December
as if for the first time: row after row of dark forms
yearning upwards. And since we will be horizontal
.....
Linda Pastan
Elegy Xix. - Written In Spring, 1743
Again the labouring hind inverts the soil;
Again the merchant ploughs the tumid wave;
Another spring renews the soldier's toil,
And finds me vacant in the rural cave.
.....
William Shenstone
Again the labouring hind inverts the soil;
Again the merchant ploughs the tumid wave;
Another spring renews the soldier's toil,
And finds me vacant in the rural cave.
.....
William Shenstone
Love's Supremacy
As yon great Sun in his supreme condition
Absorbs small worlds and makes them all his own,
So does my love absorb each vain ambition
Each outside purpose which my life has known.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
As yon great Sun in his supreme condition
Absorbs small worlds and makes them all his own,
So does my love absorb each vain ambition
Each outside purpose which my life has known.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
The Words Of Belief
Three words will I name thee--around and about,
From the lip to the lip, full of meaning, they flee;
But they had not their birth in the being without,
And the heart, not the lip, must their oracle be!
.....
Friedrich Schiller
Three words will I name thee--around and about,
From the lip to the lip, full of meaning, they flee;
But they had not their birth in the being without,
And the heart, not the lip, must their oracle be!
.....
Friedrich Schiller
Four Quartets 4: Little Gidding
I
Midwinter spring is its own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
.....
T. S. Eliot
I
Midwinter spring is its own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
.....
T. S. Eliot
Sonnet 021: So Is It Not With Me As With That Muse
So is it not with me as with that muse,
Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse,
Who heaven it self for ornament doth use
And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,
.....
William Shakespeare
So is it not with me as with that muse,
Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse,
Who heaven it self for ornament doth use
And every fair with his fair doth rehearse,
.....
William Shakespeare
A Goodnight
Go to sleep-though of course you will not-
to tideless waves thundering slantwise against
strong embankments, rattle and swish of spray
dashed thirty feet high, caught by the lake wind,
.....
William Carlos Williams
Go to sleep-though of course you will not-
to tideless waves thundering slantwise against
strong embankments, rattle and swish of spray
dashed thirty feet high, caught by the lake wind,
.....
William Carlos Williams
The Bible
He didn’t pen it with his own hands,
Your lord did inspire it.
By involving forty writers.
He made a fishermen loose the shore site,
.....
Blessings Mitembo
He didn’t pen it with his own hands,
Your lord did inspire it.
By involving forty writers.
He made a fishermen loose the shore site,
.....
Blessings Mitembo
The World Is Against Me
'The world is against me,' he said with a sigh.
'Somebody stops every scheme that I try.
The world has me down and it's keeping me there;
I don't get a chance. Oh, the world is unfair!
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
'The world is against me,' he said with a sigh.
'Somebody stops every scheme that I try.
The world has me down and it's keeping me there;
I don't get a chance. Oh, the world is unfair!
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
A Tryst
From out the desolation of the North
An iceberg took it away,
From its detaining comrades breaking forth,
And traveling night and day.
.....
Celia Thaxter
From out the desolation of the North
An iceberg took it away,
From its detaining comrades breaking forth,
And traveling night and day.
.....
Celia Thaxter
Song
Oh! To be a flower
Nodding in the sun,
Bending, then upspringing
As the breezes run;
.....
Amy Lowell
Oh! To be a flower
Nodding in the sun,
Bending, then upspringing
As the breezes run;
.....
Amy Lowell
While Someone Telephones
Wasted, wasted minutes that couldn't be worse,
minutes of a barbaric condescension.
--Stare out the bathroom window at the fir-trees,
at their dark needles, accretions to no purpose
.....
Elizabeth Bishop
Wasted, wasted minutes that couldn't be worse,
minutes of a barbaric condescension.
--Stare out the bathroom window at the fir-trees,
at their dark needles, accretions to no purpose
.....
Elizabeth Bishop
Dreaming Of Li Bai (2)
Clouds drifting the whole day;
a traveler traveling who never arrives.
Three nights you have been in my dreams;
.....
Du Fu
Clouds drifting the whole day;
a traveler traveling who never arrives.
Three nights you have been in my dreams;
.....
Du Fu
Why I Am A Liberal
"Why?" Because all I haply can and do,
All that I am now, all I hope to be,--
Whence comes it save from fortune setting free
Body and soul the purpose to pursue,
.....
Robert Browning
"Why?" Because all I haply can and do,
All that I am now, all I hope to be,--
Whence comes it save from fortune setting free
Body and soul the purpose to pursue,
.....
Robert Browning
A Modest Request
Complied With After The Dinner At President Everett's Inauguration
Scene, - a back parlor in a certain square,
Or court, or lane, - in short, no matter where;
.....
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Complied With After The Dinner At President Everett's Inauguration
Scene, - a back parlor in a certain square,
Or court, or lane, - in short, no matter where;
.....
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Faith
This much I know:
God does not wrong us here,
Though oft His judgments seem severe
And reason falters 'neath the blow,
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
This much I know:
God does not wrong us here,
Though oft His judgments seem severe
And reason falters 'neath the blow,
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
Thoughts About The Person From Porlock
Coleridge received the Person from Porlock
And ever after called him a curse,
Then why did he hurry to let him in?
He could have hid in the house.
.....
Stevie Smith
Coleridge received the Person from Porlock
And ever after called him a curse,
Then why did he hurry to let him in?
He could have hid in the house.
.....
Stevie Smith
Where The Souls Go
There are men and women alike
Who speak about life after death
Telling the scriptural portrayal of heaven and hell
Two opposing pictures of where men shall ever dwell
.....
Fatimah Bint Abdil Alim
There are men and women alike
Who speak about life after death
Telling the scriptural portrayal of heaven and hell
Two opposing pictures of where men shall ever dwell
.....
Fatimah Bint Abdil Alim
You Are Beautiful
I have never told you
your beautiful
because you're not
the markings on your knot
.....
Malagala Umar
I have never told you
your beautiful
because you're not
the markings on your knot
.....
Malagala Umar
The Iliad: Book 23
Thus did they make their moan throughout the city, while the
Achaeans when they reached the Hellespont went back every man to his
own ship. But Achilles would not let the Myrmidons go, and spoke to
his brave comrades saying, “Myrmidons, famed horsemen and my own
.....
Homer
Thus did they make their moan throughout the city, while the
Achaeans when they reached the Hellespont went back every man to his
own ship. But Achilles would not let the Myrmidons go, and spoke to
his brave comrades saying, “Myrmidons, famed horsemen and my own
.....
Homer
The Hunting Of The Snark
Dedication
Inscribed to a dear Child:
in memory of golden summer hours
.....
Lewis Carroll
Dedication
Inscribed to a dear Child:
in memory of golden summer hours
.....
Lewis Carroll
The Castaway
Obscurest night involv'd the sky,
Th' Atlantic billows roar'd,
When such a destin'd wretch as I,
Wash'd headlong from on board,
.....
William Cowper
Obscurest night involv'd the sky,
Th' Atlantic billows roar'd,
When such a destin'd wretch as I,
Wash'd headlong from on board,
.....
William Cowper
Eurolove
I cannot
and I will not
No, I cannot love you less
Like the flower to the butterfly
.....
Spike Milligan
I cannot
and I will not
No, I cannot love you less
Like the flower to the butterfly
.....
Spike Milligan
Easter-day
HOW very hard it is to be
A Christian! Hard for you and me,
â??Not the mere task of making real
That duty up to its ideal,
.....
Robert Browning
HOW very hard it is to be
A Christian! Hard for you and me,
â??Not the mere task of making real
That duty up to its ideal,
.....
Robert Browning
Aliens
The chatter of little people
Breaks on my purpose
Like the water-drops which slowly wear the rocks to powder.
And while I laugh
.....
Amy Lowell
The chatter of little people
Breaks on my purpose
Like the water-drops which slowly wear the rocks to powder.
And while I laugh
.....
Amy Lowell
A Story Of The Rebellion
The treacherous sands had caught our boat,
And held it with a strong embrace
And death at our imprisoned crew
Was sternly looking face to face.
.....
Frances E. W. Harper
The treacherous sands had caught our boat,
And held it with a strong embrace
And death at our imprisoned crew
Was sternly looking face to face.
.....
Frances E. W. Harper
In The Public Library
Standing on tiptoe, head back, eyes and arm
Upraised, Kate groped to reach the higher shelf.
Her sleeve slid up like darkness in alarm
At gleam of dawn. Impatient with herself
.....
Lesbia Harford
Standing on tiptoe, head back, eyes and arm
Upraised, Kate groped to reach the higher shelf.
Her sleeve slid up like darkness in alarm
At gleam of dawn. Impatient with herself
.....
Lesbia Harford
Beppo
Why are thou sad, my Beppo? But last eve,
Here at my feet, thy dear head on my breast,
I heard thee say thy heart would no more grieve
Or feel the olden ennui and unrest.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Why are thou sad, my Beppo? But last eve,
Here at my feet, thy dear head on my breast,
I heard thee say thy heart would no more grieve
Or feel the olden ennui and unrest.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Gravikty
I
Fit for perpetual worship is the power
That holds our bodies safely to the earth.
.....
Harold Monro
I
Fit for perpetual worship is the power
That holds our bodies safely to the earth.
.....
Harold Monro
Christmas Eve
I
Out of the little chapel I burst
Into the fresh night-air again.
.....
Robert Browning
I
Out of the little chapel I burst
Into the fresh night-air again.
.....
Robert Browning
The Night Before
Look you, Dominie; look you, and listen!
Look in my face, first; search every line there;
Mark every feature,-chin, lip, and forehead!
Look in my eyes, and tell me the lesson
.....
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Look you, Dominie; look you, and listen!
Look in my face, first; search every line there;
Mark every feature,-chin, lip, and forehead!
Look in my eyes, and tell me the lesson
.....
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Purpose
Not for the sake of the gold,
Not for the sake of the fame,
Not for the prize would I hold
Any ambition or aim:
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
Not for the sake of the gold,
Not for the sake of the fame,
Not for the prize would I hold
Any ambition or aim:
.....
Edgar Albert Guest
An Essay On Man: Epistle I.
THE DESIGN.
Having proposed to write some pieces on human life and manners, such as (to use my Lord Bacon's expression) come home to men's business and bosoms, I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering man in the abstract, his nature and his state; since, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.
.....
Alexander Pope
THE DESIGN.
Having proposed to write some pieces on human life and manners, such as (to use my Lord Bacon's expression) come home to men's business and bosoms, I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering man in the abstract, his nature and his state; since, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.
.....
Alexander Pope
The Odyssey: Book 11
Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into
the water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep
on board and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind.
Circe, that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew
.....
Homer
Then, when we had got down to the sea shore we drew our ship into
the water and got her mast and sails into her; we also put the sheep
on board and took our places, weeping and in great distress of mind.
Circe, that great and cunning goddess, sent us a fair wind that blew
.....
Homer
The Odyssey: Book 03
But as the sun was rising from the fair sea into the firmament of
heaven to shed Blight on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos the
city of Neleus. Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea shore
to offer sacrifice of black bulls to Neptune lord of the Earthquake.
.....
Homer
But as the sun was rising from the fair sea into the firmament of
heaven to shed Blight on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos the
city of Neleus. Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea shore
to offer sacrifice of black bulls to Neptune lord of the Earthquake.
.....
Homer
Trust
I am Thy grass, O Lord!
I grow up sweet and tall
But for a day, beneath Thy sword
To lie at evenfall.
.....
Lizette Woodworth Reese
I am Thy grass, O Lord!
I grow up sweet and tall
But for a day, beneath Thy sword
To lie at evenfall.
.....
Lizette Woodworth Reese
Attainment
There is no summit you may not attain,
No purpose which you may not yet achieve,
If you will wait serenely and believe.
Each seeming loss is but a step to'rd gain.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
There is no summit you may not attain,
No purpose which you may not yet achieve,
If you will wait serenely and believe.
Each seeming loss is but a step to'rd gain.
.....
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
A Hidden Life
Proudly the youth, sudden with manhood crowned,
Went walking by his horses, the first time,
That morning, to the plough. No soldier gay
Feels at his side the throb of the gold hilt
.....
George Macdonald
Proudly the youth, sudden with manhood crowned,
Went walking by his horses, the first time,
That morning, to the plough. No soldier gay
Feels at his side the throb of the gold hilt
.....
George Macdonald