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”
Category Archives: poetry
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”
Armies in the Fire
by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850‐1894) The lamps now glitter down the street; Faintly sound the falling feet; And the blue even slowly falls About the garden trees and walls. Now in the falling of the gloom The red fire paints the empty room: And warmly on the roof it looks, And flickers on the backContinue reading “Armies in the Fire”
Ocean of Memories
by Leila Kay When one day missing you becomes unbearable I will seek you out from deep within the ocean of my memories Walk on the sands of time till it leads me to your sun-kissed shores Where our journey ended and love will once again be reborn Here I will await your loving heartContinue reading “Ocean of Memories”
A Ballad of Nursery Rhyme
by Robert Graves (1895‐1985) Strawberries that in gardens grow Are plump and juicy fine, But sweeter far as wise men know Spring from the woodland vine. No need for bowl or silver spoon, Sugar or spice or cream, Has the wild berry plucked in June Beside the trickling stream. One such to melt at theContinue reading “A Ballad of Nursery Rhyme”
A Broadway Pageant
by Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Over the western sea, hither from Niphon come, Courteous, the swart-cheek’d two-sworded envoys, Leaning back in their open barouches, bare-headed, impassive, Ride to-day through Manhattan. Libertad! I do not know whether others behold what I behold, In the procession, along with the nobles of Asia, the errand-bearers, Bringing up the rear,Continue reading “A Broadway Pageant”
Divine Image
by William Blake (1757‐1827) To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love, All play in their distress, And to these virtues of delight Return their thankfulness. For Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love, Is God our Father dear, And Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love, Is man his child and care. For Mercy has a human heart Pity, aContinue reading “Divine Image”
Robin's Nest 