by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Not that I love thy children, whose dull eyes See nothing save their own unlovely woe, Whose minds know nothing, nothing care to know, — But that the roar of thy Democracies, Thy reigns of Terror, thy great Anarchies, Mirror my wildest passions like the sea, — And give my rageContinue reading “Sonnet To Liberty”
Author Archives: Robin
On Liberty and Slavery
by George Moses Horton (1797-1884/Northampton, North Carolina) Alas! and am I born for this, To wear this slavish chain? Deprived of all created bliss, Through hardship, toil and pain! How long in bondage have I lain, And languished to be free! Alas! and must I still complain – Deprived of liberty. Oh, Heaven! and isContinue reading “On Liberty and Slavery”
Accurs’d be he that first invented war
Christopher Marlowe (1564‐1593) Accurs’d be he that first invented war! They knew not, ah, they knew not, simple men, How those were hit by pelting cannonshot Stand staggering like a quivering aspen-leaf Fearing the force of Boreas’s boisterous blasts! In what a lamentable case where I, If nature had not given me wisdom’s lore! ForContinue reading “Accurs’d be he that first invented war”
A Ballad Maker
by Padraic Colum (1881 – 1972) Once I loved a maiden fair, Over the hills and far away, Land she had and lovers to spare, Over the hills and far away. And I was stooped and troubled sore, And my face was pale, and the coat I wore Was thin as my supper the nightContinue reading “A Ballad Maker”
A Gentle Touch
by Kairul Ahsan When you touch me, I can say it’s you Even if my eyes are closed. For your palms are like text books That I’ve read so many times over And so they appear so familiar. When your breath falls on my back, I can say it’s you, without turning around, For myContinue reading “A Gentle Touch”
Blackberry Picking
by Seamus Heaney (13 April 1939-30 August 2013) Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer’s blood wasContinue reading “Blackberry Picking”
Nature Trail
by Benjamin Zephaniah (b. 1958) At the bottom of my garden There’s a hedgehog and a frog And a lot of creepy-crawlies Living underneath a log, There’s a baby daddy long legs And an easy-going snail And a family of wood lice, All are on my nature trail. There are caterpillars waiting For their timeContinue reading “Nature Trail”
A Soldier
by Robert Frost (1871‐1963) He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled, That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust, But still lies pointed as it plowed the dust. If we who sight along it round the world, See nothing worthy to have been its mark, It is because like men we look tooContinue reading “A Soldier”
Little Nell’s Funeral
by Charles Dickens (1812-1870) And now the bell, — the bell She had so often heard by night and day And listened to with solemn pleasure E’en as a living voice, — Rung its remorseless toll for her, So young, so beautiful, so good. Decrepit age, and vigorous life, And blooming youth, and helpless infancy,Continue reading “Little Nell’s Funeral”
Kubla Khan
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girded round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed manyContinue reading “Kubla Khan”
Robin's Nest 