Poems List
Explore poems from our collection
Thought
Thought
Thought, I love thought.
But not the juggling and twisting of already existent ideas
I despise that self-important game.
Thought is t…
Tortoise Family Connections
Tortoise Family Connections
On he goes, the little one,
Bud of the universe,
Pediment of life.
Setting off somewhere, apparently.
Whither awa…
The Virgin Mother
The Virgin Mother
My little love, my darling,
You were a doorway to me;
You let me out of the confines
Into this strange countrie,
Where peop…
The Ship of Death
The Ship of Death
I
Now it is autumn and the falling fruit
and the long journey towards oblivion.
The apples falling like g…
The Punisher
The Punisher
I have fetched the tears up out of the little wells,
Scooped them up with small, iron words,
Dripping over the runnels.
Th…
The Mystic Blue
The Mystic Blue
Out of the darkness, fretted sometimes in its sleeping,
Jets of sparks in fountains of blue come leaping
To sight, revealing a secret, nu…
The Enkindled Spring
The Enkindled Spring
This spring as it comes bursts up in bonfires green,
Wild puffing of emerald trees, and flame-filled bushes,
Thorn-blossom lifting i…
The Hands of the Betrothed
The Hands of the Betrothed
Her tawny eyes are onyx of thoughtlessness,
Hardened they are like gems in ancient modesty;
Yea, and her mouth’s prudent and c…
The Bride
The Bride
My love looks like a girl to-night,
But she is old.
The plaits that lie along her pillow
Are not gold,
But threaded with filigree s…
The Elephant Is Slow to Mate
The Elephant Is Slow to Mate
The elephant, the huge old beast,
is slow to mate;
he finds a female, they show no haste
they wait
f…
Submergence
Submergence
When along the pavement,
Palpitating flames of life,
People flicker round me,
I forget my bereavement,
The gap in the great…
Sorrow
Sorrow
Why does the thin grey strand
Floating up from the forgotten
Cigarette between my fingers,
Why does it trouble me?
A…
Snake
Snake
A snake came to my water-trough
On a hot, hot day, and I in pyjamas for the heat,
To drink there.
In the deep, strange-scented shade of…
Service of all the Dead
Service of all the Dead
Between the avenues of cypresses,
All in their scarlet cloaks, and surplices
Of linen, go the chaunting choristers,
The pri…
Search for Truth
Search for Truth
Search for nothing any more, nothing
except truth.
Be very still, and try and get at the truth.
And the first question…
Restlessness
Restlessness
At the open door of the room I stand and look at the night,
Hold my hand to catch the raindrops, that slant into sight,
Arriving grey …
Patience
Patience
A wind comes from the north
Blowing little flocks of birds
Like spray across the town,
And a train, roaring forth,
Rushes stam…
Piano
Piano
Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boo…
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
There are only two things now,
The great black night scooped out
And this fireglow.
This fireglow, the core,
And w…
Monologue of a Mother
Monologue of a Mother
This is the last of all, this is the last!
I must hold my hands, and turn my face to the fire,
I must watch my dead days fusing tog…
Lui et Elle
Lui et Elle
She is large and matronly
And rather dirty,
A little sardonic-looking, as if domesticity had driven her to it.
Though what she does, ex…
Mating
Mating
Round clouds roll in the arms of the wind,
The round earth rolls in a clasp of blue sky,
And see, where the budding hazels are thinned,
Listening
Listening
I listen to the stillness of you,
My dear, among it all;
I feel your silence touch my words as I talk,
And take them in thrall.
Liaison
Liaison
A big bud of moon hangs out of the twilight,
Star-spiders spinning their thread
Hang high suspended, withouten respite
Wa…