Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Wood Giant

The Wood Giant

From Alton Bay to Sandwich Dome,
From Mad to Saco river,
For patriarchs of the primal wood
We sought with vain endeavor. <…

303
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The World’s Convention Of The Friends Of Emancipation, Held In London In

The World’s Convention Of The Friends Of Emancipation, Held In London In
1840

YES, let them gather! Summon forth
The pledged philanthropy of Eart…

203
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Witch of Wenham

The Witch of Wenham

I.
Along Crane River's sunny slopes
Blew warm the winds of May,
And over Naumkeag's ancient oaks
The green ou…

280
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Wish Of To-Day

The Wish Of To-Day

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 fo…

263
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Wife Of Manoah To Her Husband

The Wife Of Manoah To Her Husband

Against the sunset's glowing wall
The city towers rise black and tall,
Where Zorah, on its rocky height,

219
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Watchers

The Watchers

BESIDE a stricken field I stood;
On the torn turf, on grass and wood,
Hung heavily the dew of blood.
Still in their fresh mo…

209
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Vow Of Washington

The Vow Of Washington

The sword was sheathed: in April's sun
Lay green the fields by Freedom won;
And severed sections, weary of debates,

264
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Vision Of Echard

The Vision Of Echard

The Benedictine Echard
Sat by the wayside well,
Where Marsberg sees the bridal
Of the Sarre and the Moselle.

274
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Two Loves

The Two Loves

Smoothing soft the nestling head
Of a maiden fancy-led,
Thus a grave-eyed woman said:


'Richest gifts are th…

318
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Vanishers

The Vanishers

Sweetest of all childlike dreams
In the simple Indian lore
Still to me the legend seems
Of the shapes who flit before.

263
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Trailing Arbutus

The Trailing Arbutus

I wandered lonely where the pine-trees made
Against the bitter East their barricade,
And, guided by its sweet
Perfum…

351
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Two Angels

The Two Angels

God called the nearest angels who dwell with Him above:
The tenderest one was Pity, the dearest one was Love.


'Ari…

311
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Tent On The Beach

The Tent On The Beach

I would not sin, in this half-playful strain,-Too
light perhaps for serious years, though born
Of the enforced leisure of s…

291
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Swan Song of Parson Avery

The Swan Song of Parson Avery

When the reaper's task was ended, and the summer wearing late,
Parson Avery sailed from Newbury, with his wife and children…

360
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Slave Ships

The Slave Ships

'ALL ready?' cried the captain;
'Ay, ay!' the seamen said;
'Heave up the worthless lubbers, —
The dying and the dead.'

240
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Star Of Bethlehem

The Star Of Bethlehem

Where Time the measure of his hours
By changeful bud and blossom keeps,
And, like a young bride crowned with flowers,

317
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Sisters

The Sisters

ANNIE and Rhoda, sisters twain,
Woke in the night to the sound of rain,


The rush of wind, the ramp and roar
O…

297
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Shoemakers

The Shoemakers

Ho! workers of the old time styled
The Gentle Craft of Leather!
Young brothers of the ancient guild,
Stand forth once more…

345
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Seeking Of The Waterfall

The Seeking Of The Waterfall

They left their home of summer ease
Beneath the lowland's sheltering trees,
To seek, by ways unknown to all,

320
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Shadow And The Light

The Shadow And The Light

The fourteen centuries fall away
Between us and the Afric saint,
And at his side we urge, to-day,
The immemorial…

300
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Rock In El Ghor

The Rock In El Ghor

Dead Petra in her hill-tomb sleeps,
Her stones of emptiness remain;
Around her sculptured mystery sweeps
The lonely w…

246
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The River Path

The River Path

No bird-song floated down the hill,
The tangled bank below was still;

No rustle from the birchen stem,
No ripple f…

198
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Reunion

The Reunion

The gulf of seven and fifty years
We stretch our welcoming hands across;
The distance but a pebble's toss
Between us and our …

338
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Relic

The Relic

TOKEN Of friendship true and tried,
From one whose fiery heart of youth
With mine has beaten, side by side,
For Liberty and Tru…

243