by Carol Anne Duffy “Item I gyve unto my wief my second best bed . . .” from Shakespeare’s will The bed we loved in was a spinning world of forests, castles, torchlight, cliff-tops, seas where he would dive for pearls. My lover’s words were shooting stars, which fell to earth as kisses on theseContinue reading “Anne Hathaway”
Category Archives: poetry
We are seven
by William Wordsworth A simple Child, That lightly drew its breath, And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death? I met a little Cottage Girl: She was eight years old she said; Her hair was thick with many a curl That clustered round her head. She had a rustic, woodlandContinue reading “We are seven”
O Captain! My Captain!
by Walt Whitman O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleedingContinue reading “O Captain! My Captain!”
The Rainy Day
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The day is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary; The vine still clings to the mouldering wall, But at every gust the dead leaves fall, And the day is dark and dreary. My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains and theContinue reading “The Rainy Day”
The Garden
by Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) How vainly men themselves amaze To win the palm, the oak, or bays; And their uncessant labors see Crowned from some single herb or tree, Whose short and narrow-vergèd shade Does prudently their toils upbraid; While all the flowers and trees do close To weave the garlands of repose. Fair Quiet,Continue reading “The Garden”
How do I love thee?
Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s, Most quiet need,Continue reading “How do I love thee?”
I felt a Funeral, in my Brain
by Emily Dickinson I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, And Mourners to and fro Kept treading – treading – till it seemed That Sense was Breaking Through – And when they all were seated A Service like a Drum – Kept beating – beating – till I thought My Mind was going numb –Continue reading “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain”
Their Lonely Betters
by WH Auden As I listened from a beach-chair in the shade To all the noises that my garden made, It seemed to me only proper that words Should be withheld from vegetables and birds. A robin with no Christian name ran through The Robin-Anthem which was all it knew, And rustling flowers for domeContinue reading “Their Lonely Betters”
Business Girls
by John Betjeman From the geyser ventilators Autumn winds are blowing down On a thousand business women Having baths in Camden Town. Waste pipes chuckle into runnels, Steam’s escaping here and there, Morning trains through Camden cutting Shake the Crescent and the Square. Early nip of changeful autumn, Dahlias glimpsed through garden doors, At theContinue reading “Business Girls”
The Flea
by John Donne Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which deniest me is; It sucked me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be; Thou knows’t that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead, Yet this enjoys before itContinue reading “The Flea”
Robin's Nest 