Shakespeare – by Matthew Arnold (Sonnet)

Poem 90 - 100 days of poetry

Others abide our question. Thou art free.
We ask and ask—Thou smilest and art still,
Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill,
Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty,
Planting his steadfast footsteps in the sea,
Making the heaven of heavens his dwelling-place,
Spares but the cloudy border of his base
To the foil'd searching of mortality;
And thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know,
Self-school'd, self-scann'd, self-honour'd, self-secure,
Didst tread on earth unguess'd at.—Better so!
All pains the immortal spirit must endure,
All weakness which impairs, all griefs which bow,
Find their sole speech in that victorious brow.

The World Is Too Much With Us – William Wordsworth

Poem 89 - 100 days of poetry

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. --Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

Leisure – Poem by William H. Davies

Poem 88 - 100 days of poetry

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare. Continue reading "Leisure – Poem by William H. Davies"

Love is Enough by William Morris (Poem)

Poem 87 - 100 days of poetry

Love is enough: though the World be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the sky be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds pass'd over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter;
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.

Faith – by Frances Anne Kemble (Poem)

Poem 86 - 100 days of poetry

Better trust all and be deceiv’d,
And weep that trust, and that deceiving,
Than doubt one heart that, if believ’d,
Had blessed one’s life with true believing.

Oh, in this mocking world, too fast
The doubting fiend o’ertakes our youth!
Better be cheated to the last
Than lose the blessèd hope of truth.

The White Birds – Poem by W. B. Yeats

Poem 85 - 100 days of poetry

I would that we were, my beloved, white birds on the foam of the sea!
We tire of the flame of the meteor, before it can fade and flee;
And the flame of the blue star of twilight, hung low on the rim of the sky,
Has awaked in our hearts, my beloved, a sadness that may not die. Continue reading "The White Birds – Poem by W. B. Yeats"

The House of Life: 22. Heart’s Haven – Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Poem 84 - 100 days of poetry

Sometimes she is a child within mine arms,
Cowering beneath dark wings that love must chase,—
With still tears showering and averted face,
Inexplicably fill'd with faint alarms:
And oft from mine own spirit's hurtling harms
I crave the refuge of her deep embrace,—
Against all ills the fortified strong place
And sweet reserve of sovereign counter-charms.

And Love, our light at night and shade at noon,
Lulls us to rest with songs, and turns away
All shafts of shelterless tumultuous day.
Like the moon's growth, his face gleams through his tune;
And as soft waters warble to the moon,
Our answering spirits chime one roundelay.

To Be With You – Max Ehrmann – Poem

Poem 83 - 100 days of Poetry

To be with you this evening, rarest of the evenings all,
And listen to the whispering leaves and to the night bird s call,
The silvery moonlight on your face
To be with you in some still place. Continue reading "To Be With You – Max Ehrmann – Poem"

Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 – William Wordsworth

Poem 82 - 100 days of poetry

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – S. T. Coleridge

Poem 81 - 100 days of poetry
==This recording is temporarily unavailable==
PART THE FIRST.

It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
"By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me? Continue reading "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – S. T. Coleridge"