by Jonathan Swift Corinna, Pride of Drury-Lane, For whom no Shepherd sighs in vain; Never did Covent Garden boast So bright a batter’d, strolling Toast; No drunken Rake to pick her up, No Cellar where on Tick to sup; Returning at the Midnight Hour; Four Stories climbing to her Bow’r; Then, seated on a three-legg’dContinue reading “A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed”
Author Archives: Robin
Love Sonnet XI
by P Neruda I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair. Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets. Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day. I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps. I hunger for your sweet laugh, Your hands the color of a savage harvest, Hunger for theContinue reading “Love Sonnet XI”
First Love
by Brian Patten Falling in love was like falling down the stairs Each stair had her name on it And he went bouncing down each one like a tongue-tied lunatic One day of loving her was an ordinary year He transformed her into what he wanted And the scent from her Was the best scentContinue reading “First Love”
Just a Social Girl
by Pam Ayres I’m normally a social girl I love to meet my mates But lately with the virus here We can’t go out the gates. You see, we are the ‘oldies’ now We need to stay inside If they haven’t seen us for a while They’ll think we’ve upped and died. They’ll never knowContinue reading “Just a Social Girl”
Misogyny
by Gwyneth Lewis I see you, great literary men, holding a party Just beyond me. You are loving and greeting Each other while I’m caught in the junk room Of your misogynies: mahogany furniture Shipped from crises on older continents, Is blocking my way. Massive and polished, They shine in the gloom, recalcitrant. Grand LyricalContinue reading “Misogyny”
London
by William Blake I wander thro’ each charter’d street, Near where the charter’d Thames does flow. And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe. In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice: in every ban, The mind-forg’d manacles I hear. How the Chimney-sweepersContinue reading “London”
1969 – a year of great happenings
A lot of things happened in 1969: The Beatles made their last live appearance — on a rooftop; They also released their 11th studio album — Abbey Road; Brian Jones quit the Rolling Stones and less than a month later was found dead in his swimming pool; Michael Caine starred in the British film TheContinue reading “1969 – a year of great happenings”
The Song of the Classes
by Ernest Jones Chartist leader and poet, 1819-1869; sentenced in 1848 to two years’ imprisonment. We plow and sow — we’re so very, very low That we delve in the dirty clay, ‘Till we bless the plain — with the golden grain, And the vale with the fragrant hay. Our place we know — we’reContinue reading “The Song of the Classes”
September 1, 1939
by WH Auden I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And the darkened lands of the earth, Obsessing our private lives; The unmentionable odour of death Offends the September night.Continue reading “September 1, 1939”
Candy Man
by Roald Dahl Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two The candy man, the candy man can The candy man can ’cause he mixes it with love And makes the world taste good Who can take a rainbow, wrap it in a sigh SoakContinue reading “Candy Man”
Robin's Nest 