Poems

Poems List

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John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Drovers

The Drovers

THROUGH heat and cold, and shower and sun,
Still onward cheerly driving!
There's life alone in duty done,
And rest alone in striving. <…

327
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Eternal Goodness

The Eternal Goodness

O Friends! with whom my feet have trod
The quiet aisles of prayer,
Glad witness to your zeal for God
And love of man I bear. <…

352
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Double-Headed Snake of Newbury

The Double-Headed Snake of Newbury

Far away in the twilight time
Of every people, in every clime,
Dragons and griffins and monsters dire,
Born of w…

345
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Disenthralled

The Disenthralled

HE had bowed down to drunkenness,
An abject worshipper:
The pride of manhood's pulse had grown
Too faint and cold to stir;
…

337
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Dead Ship Of Harpswell

The Dead Ship Of Harpswell

What flecks the outer gray beyond
The sundown's golden trail?
The white flash of a sea-bird's wing,
Or gleam of slanting…

453
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Cypress-Tree Of Ceylon

The Cypress-Tree Of Ceylon

THEY sat in silent watchfulness
The sacred cypress-tree about,
And, from beneath old wrinkled brows,
Their failing eyes …

316
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Cry Of A Lost Soul

The Cry Of A Lost Soul

In that black forest, where, when day is done,
With a snake's stillness glides the Amazon
Darkly from sunset to the rising sun,

313
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Cross

The Cross

'The cross, if rightly borne, shall be
No burden, but support to thee;'
So, moved of old time for our sake,
The holy monk of Kempen spake…

303
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Conquest Of Finland

The Conquest Of Finland

ACROSS the frozen marshes
The winds of autumn blow,
And the fen-lands of the Wetter
Are white with early snow.
But wh…

271
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Countess

The Countess

TO E. W.

I KNOW not, Time and Space so intervene,
Whether, still waiting with a trust serene,
Thou bearest up thy fourscore year…

314
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Christmas Of 1888

The Christmas Of 1888

Low in the east, against a white, cold dawn,
The black-lined silhouette of the woods was drawn,
And on a wintry waste
Of fros…

345
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Clear Vision

The Clear Vision

I did but dream. I never knew
What charms our sternest season wore.
Was never yet the sky so blue,
Was never earth so white before…

288
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Changeling ( From The Tent on the Beach )

The Changeling ( From The Tent on the Beach )

FOR the fairest maid in Hampton
They needed not to search,
Who saw young Anna favor
Come walking into…

215
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Christian Slave

The Christian Slave

A CHRISTIAN! going, gone!
Who bids for God's own image? for his grace,
Which that poor victim of the market-place
Hath in her s…

314
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Call Of The Christian

The Call Of The Christian

Not always as the whirlwind's rush
On Horeb's mount of fear,
Not always as the burning bush
To Midian's shepherd seer,

263
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Brown Dwarf of Rügen (From Narrative and Legendary Poems )

The Brown Dwarf of Rügen (From Narrative and Legendary Poems )

THE pleasant isle of Rügen looks the Baltic water o'er,
To the silver-sanded beaches of the Pome…

275
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Branded Hand

The Branded Hand

WELCOME home again, brave seaman! with thy thoughtful brow and gray,
And the old heroic spirit of our earlier, better day;
With that fro…

206
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Bridal of Pennacook

The Bridal of Pennacook

We had been wandering for many days
Through the rough northern country. We had seen
The sunset, with its bars of purple cloud,

270
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Birthday Wreath

The Birthday Wreath

Blossom and greenness, making all
The winter birthday tropical,
And the plain Quaker parlors gay,
Have gone from bracket, stand…

281
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Battle Autumn of 1862

The Battle Autumn of 1862

The flags of war like storm birds fly,
The charging trumpets blow;
Yet rolls no thunder in the sky,
No earthquake strives…

318
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Angels of Buena Vista

The Angels of Buena Vista

Speak and tell us, our Ximena, looking northward far away,
O'er the camp of the invaders, o'er the Mexican array,
Who is losing…

383
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The Barefoot Boy

The Barefoot Boy

Blessings on thee, little man,
Barefoot boy, with cheek of tan!
With thy turned-up pantaloons,
And thy merry whistled tunes;

330
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Tauler

Tauler


Tauler, the preacher, walked, one autumn day,
Without the walls of Strasburg, by the Rhine,
Pondering the solemn Miracle of Life;
As o…

265
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

The

The


Weary of jangling noises never stilled,
The skeptic's sneer, the bigot's hate, the din
Of clashing texts, the webs of creed men spin
Roun…

237