poems

A noiseless patient spider,  I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,  Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,  It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,  Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.  And you O my soul where you stand,  Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,  Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,  Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,  Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

You Can't Be That by Brian Patten I told them When I grow up I'm not going to be a scientist Or someone who reads the news on TV No, a million birds will fly through me. I AM GOING TO BE A TREE! They said, You can't be that. No, you can't be that. I told them When I grow up I'm not going to be an airline pilot, A dancer, a lawyer or an MC. No, huge whales will swim in me. I AM GOING TO BE AN OCEAN! They said, You can't be that. No, you can't be that. I told them: I am not going to be a DJ, A computer programmer, a musician or a beautician . No, streams will flow through me, I'll be the home of the eagles; I'll be full of nooks, crannies, valleys and fountains. I AM GOING TO BE A RANGE OF MOUNTAINS! They said, You can't be that. No, you can't be that. I asked them: Just what do you think I am? Just a child,  they said, And children always become At least one of the things We want them to be. They do not understand me. I'll be a sta...

You cannot rob us of the rights we cherish, Nor turn our thoughts away From the bright picture of a "Woman's Mission" Our hearts portray. We claim to dwell, in quiet and seclusion, Beneath the household roof,-- From the great world's harsh strife, and jarring voices, To stand aloof;-- Not in a dreamy and inane abstraction To sleep our life away, But, gathering up the brightness of home sunshine, To deck our way. As humble plants by country hedgerows growing, That treasure up the rain, And yield in odours, ere the day's declining, The gift again; So let us, unobtrusive and unnoticed, But happy none the less, Be privileged to fill the air around us With happiness; To live, unknown beyond the cherished circle, Which we can bless and aid; To die, and not a heart that does not love us Know where we're laid.  Annie Louisa Walker

Using Anaphora Anaphora  is a technique where several phrases (or verses in a poem) begin with the same word or words. Examples are: I came, I saw, I conquered - Julius Caesar Mad world! Mad kings! Mad composition! -  King John II,  William Shakespeare It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness -  A Tale of Two Cities , Charles Dickens With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right - Abraham Lincoln We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end... we shall never surrender - Winston Churchill Using Alliteration Alliteration  is the repetition of the beginning sounds of neighboring words. Examples are: She sells seashells. Walter wondered where Winnie was. Blue baby bonnets Nick needed new notebooks. Fred fried frogs. Using Simile Simile  is a comparison between two unlike things using the word...

Piano BY  D. H. LAWRENCE Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;  Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see  A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings  And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.  In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song  Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong  To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside  And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.  So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour  With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour  Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast  Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

Is Life but A Dream? :   A Boat, beneath a sunny sky Lingering onward dreamily In an evening of July –  Children three that nestle near,  Eager eye and willing ear,  Pleased a simple tale to hear –  Long has paled that sunny sky:  Echoes fade and memories die:  Autumn frosts have slain July.  Still she haunts me, phantomwise.  Alice moving under skies Never seen by waking eyes.  Children yet, the tale to hear,  Eager eye and willing ear,  Lovingly shall nestle near.  In a Wonderland they lie,  Dreaming as the days go by,  Dreaming as the summers die:  Ever drifting down the stream – Lingering in the golden gleam – Life, what is it but a dream?  Is all our Life, then, but a dream?  Seen faintly in the golden gleam Athwart Time’s dark resistless stream?  Bowed to the earth with bitter woe,  Or laughing at some raree-show,  We flutter idly to and fro.  Man’s little Day in haste we...

Today the world is a little more my own. No need to remember the pain A blue-frocked woman caused, throwing Words at me like pots and pans, to drain That honey-coloured day of peace. ‘Why don't you join the others, what A peculiar child you are! ' On the lawn, in clusters, sat my schoolmates sipping Sugarcane, they turned and laughed;  Children are funny things, they laugh In mirth at others' tears, I buried My face in the sun-warmed hedge And smelt the flowers and the pain. The words are muffled now, the laughing Faces only a blur. The years have Sped along, stopping briefly At beloved halts and moving Sadly on. My mind has found An adult peace. No need to remember That picnic day when I lay hidden By a hedge, watching the steel-white sun Standing lonely in the sky. 

The present seems all dreary The future very grim, Your problems are perplexing, Your chances rather slim, You’re sick and tired of trying, And your hope is fading, There’s only one solution – It’s “keep your spirits high”. The way ahead is puzzling, And clouds obstruct your view, If this is how you’re feeling, There’s just one thing to do; Don’t prove yourself a quitter Though you’re feeling sad and bitter, But grit your teeth and bear it And keep your spirits high! Good luck is round the corner So have a smiling face: For soon your fears will vanish, And joy will take their place, Look forward to tomorrow There will be an end to sorrow, Because you have the courage, To keep your spirits high.