Poems List
Explore poems from our collection
The Microbe
The Microbe
The Microbe is so very small
You cannot make him out at all,
But many sanguine people hope
To see him through a microscope.
His j…
The Loser
The Loser
He lost his money first of all
And losing that is half the story-
And later on he tried a fall
With fate, in things less transitory
…
The Gnu
The Gnu
G stands for Gnu, whose weapon of defence
Are long, sharp, curling horns, and common sense.
To these he adds a name so short and strong,
Th…
The Lion
The Lion
The Lion, the Lion, he dwells in the Waste,
He has a big head and a very small waist;
But his shoulders are stark, and his jaws they are grim, <…
The Fragment
The Fragment
Towards the evening of her splendid day
Those who are little children now shall say
(Finding this verse),'Who wrote it, Juliet?'
And J…
The Face
The Face
A face Sir Joshua might have painted! Yea:
Sir Joshua painted anything for pay . . .
And after all you're painted every day.
The Early Morning
The Early Morning
The moon on the one hand, the dawn on the other:
The moon is my sister, the dawn is my brother.
The moon on my left and the dawn on my …
The Elm
The Elm
This is the place where Dorothea smiled.
I did not know the reason, nor did she.
But there she stood, and turned, and smiled at me:
A sudde…
The Diamond
The Diamond
This diamond, Juliet, will adorn
Ephemeral beauties yet unborn.
While my strong verse, for ever new,
Shall still adorn immortal you.
The Catholic Sun
The Catholic Sun
Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Dom…
Talking (and Singing) of the Nordic Man
Talking (and Singing) of the Nordic Man
I
Behold, my child, the Nordic man,
And be as like him, as you can;
His legs are long, his mind is sl…
The Birds
The Birds
When Jesus Christ was four years old
The angels brought Him toys of gold,
Which no man ever had bought or sold.
And yet with these …
Sarah Byng, Who Could Not Read And Was Tossed Into A Thorny Hedge By A
Sarah Byng, Who Could Not Read And Was Tossed Into A Thorny Hedge By A
Bull
Some years ago you heard me sing
My doubts on Alexander Byng.
His siste…
On Vital Statistics
On Vital Statistics
Ill fares the land to hast'ning ills a prey (1)
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.'
But how much more unfortunate are those
On Torture: A Public Singer
On Torture: A Public Singer
Torture will give a dozen pence or more
To keep a drab from bawling at his door.
The public taste is quite a different thing-…
On the Ladies of Pixton
On the Ladies of Pixton
Three Graces; and the mother were a Grace,
But for profounder meaning in her face.
Lord Lundy
Lord Lundy
Who was too Freely Moved to Tears, and thereby ruined his Political Career
Lord Lundy from his earliest years
Was far too freely moved t…
Matilda Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death
Matilda Who told Lies, and was Burned to Death
Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes;
Her Aunt, who, from her Earliest…
Lines to a Don
Lines to a Don
Remote and ineffectual Don
That dared attack my Chesterton,
With that poor weapon, half-impelled,
Unlearnt, unsteady, hardly held, <…
Juliet
Juliet
How did the party go in Portman Square?
I cannot tell you; Juliet was not there.
And how did Lady Gaster's party go?
Juliet was …
Heroic Poem in Praise of Wine
Heroic Poem in Praise of Wine
To exalt, enthrone, establish and defend,
To welcome home mankind's mysterious friend
Wine, true begetter of all arts that …
Is there any reward?
Is there any reward?
Is there any reward?
I'm beginning to doubt it.
I am broken and bored,
Is there any reward
Reassure me, Good Lord,
Ha'nacker Mill
Ha'nacker Mill
Sally is gone that was so kindly,
Sally is gone from Ha'nacker Hill
And the Briar grows ever since then so blindly;
And ever since t…
Her Final Role
Her Final Role
This man's desire; that other's hopeless end;
A third's capricious tyrant: and my friend.