Poetry Books

CANTO I. I.It was the time of year when cockneys flyFrom town to country, and from there to town.I am not sure, but think it was July;I would not swear it was, nor bet a crown,When, as I told you, cockneys hurry downIn two hours' railway journey far away,And rush to places of immense renown,Bright with the thoughts of coming holiday,Full well determined to enjoy it while they may. II.They were the... more...

BED IN SUMMERIN winter I get up at nightAnd dress by yellow candle-light.In summer, quite the other way,I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and seeThe birds still hopping on the tree,Or hear the grown-up people's feetStill going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you,When all the sky is clear and blue,And I should like so much to play,To have to go to bed by day? IIIT... more...

CANTO XXVI While singly thus along the rim we walk'd,Oft the good master warn'd me: "Look thou well.Avail it that I caution thee."  The sunNow all the western clime irradiate chang'dFrom azure tinct to white; and, as I pass'd,My passing shadow made the umber'd flameBurn ruddier.  At so strange a sight I mark'dThat many a spirit marvel'd on his way. This bred... more...

INTRODUCTION TO THE OCCASIONAL PIECES (POEMS 1809-1813; POEMS 1814-1816). The Poems afterwards entitled "Occasional Pieces," which were included in the several editions of the Collected Works issued by Murray, 1819-1831, numbered fifty-seven in all. They may be described as the aggregate of the shorter poems written between the years 1809-1818, which the author thought worthy of a permanent... more...

I Out of the little chapel I burst  Into the fresh night-air again.Five minutes full, I waited first  In the doorway, to escape the rainThat drove in gusts down the common's centre  At the edge of which the chapel stands,Before I plucked up heart to enter.  Heaven knows how many sorts of handsReached past me, groping for the latchOf the inner door that hung on catchMore obstinate the more... more...

Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas brings presentsFor little girls and boys;Saint Nicholas brings dozensOf all the nicest toys. Hang out your biggest stockingBefore you go to sleep;But if you hear him coming,You mustn't even peep. Saint Nicholas. The Sea-side Doll. There's one doll for winter,When ice comes and snow;Another for spring time,When primroses grow. A dolly for dark nights,To take into... more...

PART I.HRO' scented meadows, where do grazeThe meek-eyed kine on summer days,At early morn swept Daisy Dare,—Sparkling, graceful, passing fair.Sparkling as the dew-drops gleamingOn her path, or sunlight streamingThrough her tresses—graceful, fair,As naught on earth save Daisy Dare! Wondrous tresses! sunshine fadesMid floating curls and sumptuous braids,—A crown of light that glorifiesWhite... more...

ON THE LIFE AND POETIC GENIUS OF EDWARD YOUNG. Between the period of George Herbert, and that of Edward Young, some singular changes had taken place in British poetry as well as in British manners, politics, and religion. There had passed over the land the thunderstorm of the Puritanic Revolt, which had first clouded and then cleared, for a season, the intellectual and moral horizon. The effect of this... more...

JACKY DANDY.This is little Jacky DandyHe loves cake and sugar-candy,He bought some at the grocer’s shop,And pleased away went hop, hop, hop. He hopp’d to the fair,And saw a show there.The first was the Lion,That never would yield;Behold how he ranger,The King of the field. He next saw the Wolf, a cruel and savage beast.This is the Wolf,That prouls thro’ the wood,Who preys upon lambs,And drinks of... more...

THE DIARY OF AN OLD SOUL. 1. LORD, what I once had done with youthful might,Had I been from the first true to the truth,Grant me, now old, to do—with better sight,And humbler heart, if not the brain of youth;So wilt thou, in thy gentleness and ruth,Lead back thy old soul, by the path of pain,Round to his best—young eyes and heart and brain. 2. A dim aurora rises in my east,Beyond the line of jagged... more...