Poems

Poems List

Explore poems from our collection

Claude Mckay
Claude Mckay

Baptism

Baptism


Into the furnace let me go alone;
Stay you without in terror of the heat.
I will go naked in--for thus ''tis sweet--
Into the weird de…

452
Claude Mckay
Claude Mckay

Commemoration

Commemoration


When first your glory shone upon my face
My body kindled to a mighty flame,
And burnt you yielding in my hot embrace
Until you …

401
Claude Mckay
Claude Mckay

Africa

Africa


The sun sought thy dim bed and brought forth light,
The sciences were sucklings at thy breast;
When all the world was young in pregnant nigh…

453
Claude Mckay
Claude Mckay

Alfonso, Dressing to Wait at Table

Alfonso, Dressing to Wait at Table

Alfonso is a handsome bronze-hued lad
Of subtly-changing and surprising parts;
His moods are storms that frighten and …

362
Claude Mckay
Claude Mckay

Absence

Absence


Your words dropped into my heart like pebbles into a pool,
Rippling around my breast and leaving it melting cool.


Your kisses f…

413
Claude Mckay
Claude Mckay

A Prayer

A Prayer

'Mid the discordant noises of the day I hear thee calling;
I stumble as I fare along Earth's way; keep me from falling.


Mine eyes ar…

551
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Your Brother Has A Falcon

Your Brother Has A Falcon

Your brother has a falcon,
Your sister has a flower;
But what is left for mannikin,
Born within a hour?
I'll nurse …

283
Claude Mckay
Claude Mckay

A Memory of June

A Memory of June

When June comes dancing o'er the death of May,
With scarlet roses tinting her green breast,
And mating thrushes ushering in her day,

382
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Within The Veil

Within The Veil

She holds a lily in her hand,
Where long ranks of Angels stand,
A silver lily for her wand.


All her hair falls sweeping…

183
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Winter Rain

Winter Rain

Every valley drinks,
Every dell and hollow;
Where the kind rain sinks and sinks,
Green of Spring will follow.


Yet a l…

270
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Who Hath Despised The Day Of Small Things?

Who Hath Despised The Day Of Small Things?

As violets so be I recluse and sweet,
Cheerful as daisies unaccounted rare,
Still sunward-gazing from a lowly …

227
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Why Did Baby Die?

Why Did Baby Die?

Why did baby die,
Making Father sigh,
Mother cry?
Flowers, that bloom to die,
Make no reply
Of ‘why?’
But bow a…

261
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

When I am dead, my dearest

When I am dead, my dearest

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be t…

476
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Where Innocent Bright-Eyed Daisies Are

Where Innocent Bright-Eyed Daisies Are

Where innocent bright-eyed daisies are,
With blades of grass between,
Each daisy stands up like a star
Out o…

193
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

When A Mounting Skylark Sings

When A Mounting Skylark Sings

When a mounting skylark sings
In the sunlit summer morn,
I know that heaven is up on high,
And on earth are fields of…

179
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

What Will You Give Me For My Pound?

What Will You Give Me For My Pound?

What will you give me for my pound?
Full twenty shillings round.
What will you give me for my shilling?
Twelve …

229
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

What Does The Donkey Bray About?

What Does The Donkey Bray About?

What does the donkey bray about?
What does the pig grunt through his snout?
What does the goose mean by a hiss?
Oh…

251
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

What do the stars do

What do the stars do

What do the stars do
Up in the sky,
Higher than the wind can blow,
Or the clouds can fly?
Each star in its own glory

197
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Venus's Looking-Glass

Venus's Looking-Glass

I marked where lovely Venus and her court
With song and dance and merry laugh went by;
Weightless, their wingless feet seemed made …

234
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Wee Wee Husband

Wee Wee Husband

Wee wee husband,
Give me some money,
I have no comfits,
And I have no honey.
Wee wee wifie,
I have no money,
Milk…

314
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Twist Me A Crown Of Wind-Flowers

Twist Me A Crown Of Wind-Flowers

Twist me a crown of wind-flowers;
That I may fly away
To hear the singers at their song,
And players at their play…

246
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Under The Rose

Under The Rose

'The iniquity of the fathers upon the children.'

Oh the rose of keenest thorn!
One hidden summer morn
Under the rose I was bor…

242
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Three Seasons

Three Seasons

'A cup for hope!' she said,
In springtime ere the bloom was old:
The crimson wine was poor and cold
By her mouth's richer red.

227
Christina Rossetti
Christina Rossetti

Twilight Calm

Twilight Calm

Oh, pleasant eventide!
Clouds on the western side
Grow grey and greyer, hiding the warm sun:
The bees and birds, their happy labours …

254