Poetry Books

THE MAN OF UZ. A joyous festival.— The gathering back Of scattered flowrets to the household wreath. Brothers and sisters from their sever'd homes Meeting with ardent smile, to renovate The love that sprang from cradle memories And childhood's sports, and whose perennial stream Still threw fresh crystals o'er the sands of life. —Each bore some treasured picture of the past, Some... more...

Book I THE GODS IN COUNCIL—MINERVA'S VISIT TO ITHACA—THE CHALLENGE FROM TELEMACHUS TO THE SUITORS. Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his... more...

AXEL THORDSON AND FAIR VALBORG. At the wide board at tables play,   With pleasure and with glee aboundingThe ladies twain in fair array,   The game they play is most astounding. How fly about the dies so small,   Such sudden turnings are they making;And so does Fortune’s wheel withal,   We scarcely know the route ’tis taking. Dame Julli grand, and Malfred Queen,   At tables were their... more...

SIGNELIL The Lady her handmaid to questioning took:“Why dost thou so sickly and colourless look?”   But sorrow gnaws so sorely! “’Tis little wonder if sickly I’m growing,   Malfred my lady!So much am I busied with cutting and sewing.” “Erewhile was thy cheek as the blooming rose red,But now thou art pale, even pale as the dead.” “To conceal the truth longer ’tis vain to essay,My... more...

McLOUGHLIN BRO'S 30 BEEKMAN StThere was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile,And he found a crooked six-pence against a crooked stile;He bought a crooked hat, which caught a crooked mouse,And they all lived together in a little crooked house.Go to bed Tom, go to bed Tom—Merry or sober, go to bed Tom.Little Tommy Grace,Had a pain in his face,So that he could not learn a letter;When in came... more...

Men who compare themselves with their nearest neighbours are almost invariably conceited, speak boastingly of themselves, and disrespectfully of others. But if a man extend his survey, if he mingle largely with people whose feelings and opinions have been modified by quite different circumstances, the result is generally beneficial. The very act of accommodating his mind to foreign modes of thought... more...

CHAPTER I. Mistress O’Hara lives down by the sea, A skittish and beautiful widow is she; She has black shiny tresses, and curly buff toes, And a heavenly tilt to the tip of her nose! She has three little children, the eldest is four (Nurse says he is naughty enough to be more); The Twins are dear dumplings, and they and their brother Are always in scrapes—Of one kind, or another.   This morning... more...

I. THE WEST Beyond the moor and the mountain crest—Comrade, look not on the west—The sun is down and drinks awayFrom air and land the lees of day. The long cloud and the single pineSentinel the ending line,And out beyond it, clear and wan,Reach the gulfs of evening on. The son of woman turns his browWest from forty countries now,And, as the edge of heaven he eyes,Thinks eternal thoughts, and sighs.... more...

Simple Simon met a pieman,Going to the fair.Says Simple Simon to the pieman“Let me taste your ware.” Says the pieman to Simple Simon,“Show me first your penny.”Says Simple Simon to the pieman,“Indeed, I have not any.” Simon Looking for Plums.Simple Simon went to lookIf plums grew on a thistle,He pricked his fingers very much,Which made poor Simon whistle. Simon Fishing.Simple Simon went... more...

Pope’s life as a writer falls into three periods, answering fairly enough to the three reigns in which he worked.  Under Queen Anne he was an original poet, but made little money by his verses; under George I. he was chiefly a translator, and made much money by satisfying the French-classical taste with versions of the “Iliad” and “Odyssey.”  Under George I. he also edited Shakespeare, but... more...