Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

St. Martin's Summer

St. Martin's Summer

Though flowers have perished at the touch
Of Frost, the early comer,
I hail the season loved so much,
The good St. Ma…

248
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Stanzas for the Times

Stanzas for the Times

Is this the land our fathers loved,
The freedom which they toiled to win?
Is this the soil whereon they moved?
Are …

333
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Song Of The Negro Boatman

Song Of The Negro Boatman

Oh, praise an' tanks! De Lord he come
To set de people free;
An' massa tink it day ob doom,
An' we ob jubilee. …

323
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl

Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl

To the Memory of the Household It Describes
This Poem is Dedicated by the Author:


"As the Spirits of Da…

318
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Ritner

Ritner


THANK God for the token! one lip is still free,
One spirit untrammelled, unbending one knee!
Like the oak of the mountain, deep-ro…

358
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Seed-Time And Harvest

Seed-Time And Harvest

As o'er his furrowed fields which lie
Beneath a coldly dropping sky,
Yet chill with winter's melted snow,
The husba…

303
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Requital

Requital


As Islam's Prophet, when his last day drew
Nigh to its close, besought all men to say
Whom he had wronged, to whom he then shoul…

335
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Revelation

Revelation


Still, as of old, in Beavor's Vale,
O man of God! our hope and faith
The Elements and Stars assail,
And the awed spiri…

229
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Remembrance

Remembrance


WITH COPIES OF THE AUTHOR'S WRITINGS.

Friend of mine! whose lot was cast
With me in the distant past;
Where, …

279
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Raphael

Raphael


I shall not soon forget that sight
The glow of Autumn's westering day,
A hazy warmth, a dreamy light,
On Raphael's pictur…

224
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

R. S. S., At Deer Island On The Merrimac

R. S. S., At Deer Island On The Merrimac
Make, for he loved thee well, our Merrimac,
From wave and shore a low and long lament
For him, whose last look s…

290
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Randolph Of Roanoke

Randolph Of Roanoke

O Mother Earth! upon thy lap
Thy weary ones receiving,
And o'er them, silent as a dream,
Thy grassy mantle weaving, <…

294
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Pentucket

Pentucket


How sweetly on the wood-girt town
The mellow light of sunset shone!
Each small, bright lake, whose waters still
Mirror …

309
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Proem

Proem


I LOVE the old melodious lays
Which softly melt the ages through,
The songs of Spenser’s golden days,
Arcadian Sidney’s sil…

295
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Overruled

Overruled


The threads our hands in blindness spin
No self-determined plan weaves in;
The shuttle of the unseen powers
Works out a…

322
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Palestine

Palestine


Blest land of Judea! thrice hallowed of song,
Where the holiest of memories pilgrim-like throng;
In the shade of thy palms, by …

271
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Our River

Our River

FOR A SUMMER FESTIVAL AT 'THE LAURELS' ON THE MERRIMAC.

Once more on yonder laurelled height
The summer flowers have budded;

279
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Our Country

Our Country

WE give thy natal day to hope,
O Country of our love and prayer!
Thy way is down no fatal slope,
But up to freer sun and air.…

290
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

One Of The Signers

One Of The Signers

O storied vale of Merrimac
Rejoice through all thy shade and shine,
And from his century's sleep call back
A brave and…

327
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

On Receiving An Eagle's Quill From Lake Superior

On Receiving An Eagle's Quill From Lake Superior

All day the darkness and the cold
Upon my heart have lain,
Like shadows on the winter sky,

324
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Norumbega Hall

Norumbega Hall

Not on Penobscot's wooded bank the spires
Of the sought City rose, nor yet beside
The winding Charles, nor where the daily tide

250
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Official Piety

Official Piety

A PIOUS magistrate! sound his praise throughout
The wondering churches. Who shall henceforth doubt
That the long-wished millennium…

300
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

Naples – 1860

Naples – 1860

I GIVE thee joy!—I know to thee
The dearest spot on earth must be
Where sleeps thy loved one by the summer sea;

275
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier

New Hampshire

New Hampshire

GOD bless New Hampshire! from her granite peaks
Once more the voice of Stark and Langdon speaks.
The long-bound vassal of the exult…

273