It is commonly asserted and accepted that Paradise Lost is among the two or three greatest English poems; it may justly be taken as the type of supreme poetic achievement in our literature.
quote by John Drinkwater
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Oh The Poems
OH THE POEMS AND THE POEMS AND THE POEMS
Oh the poems and the poems and the poems
Oh the love of Literature
Oh all that stuff
I have given my life to-
Words and meanings and feelings
Pages and pages and pages –
What it is all this literary life for?
When out the window out the door
With our eyes we see in an instant other worlds other dreams?
I don’t know and I will never know
And Literature is certainly far more than I can say it is-
Oh the poems and this poem and this day turning grey
And all my life old and old and more old and more old-
Oh why oh why oh why
And always back to God
My last rescue and refuge and escape
I who have read so much Great Literature
And can only write this-
Oh the why and the oh oh oh and the words
And the whole world of Literature
I would belong to and do not.
Oh the words oh the world oh the Literature
Oh God help me please can’t you please help me a little or not?
poem by Shalom Freedman
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It is no exaggeration to say that the English Bible is, next to Shakespeare, the greatest work in English literature, and that it will have much more influence than even Shakespeare upon the written and spoken language of the English race.
quote by Lafcadio Hearn
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Arguably John Clare
In the English language the greatest poet of Nature is arguably John Clare
Many of his bird and animal and insect poems are gems beyond compare
Yet he died in Northampton mental asylum where he had lived for many years
He penned such marvellous poetry though his life was full of tears.
His Nature poems of the nineteenth century are relevant to today
The Badger and The Landrail, The Fox and Clock a Clay
The Pettichap, The Cuckoo and The Thrush's Nest
When Writing about Nature Clare was at his best.
In death the poor shepherd poet from Helpston has come into his own
His poems poetic classics around the World are known
The greatest Nature poet of England as many would agree
A poet for the ages from a life of poverty.
As a boy amongst Nature in the fields of Helpston he knew of happiness
But sad to think one like him in life did not know of success
With any English Nature poet he favourably does compare
The legendary one of Helpston the reamarkable John Clare.
poem by Francis Duggan
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These Are The Poems That Only I Am
THESE ARE THE POEMS THAT ONLY I AM
These are the poems that only I am
They are not the greatest poems
But they are the poems that only I am
I would have them be more than they are
But they are not-
They are what I have
What I can give
Not the best
Not the greatest
Not the ones which will give greatest delight and greatest insight and greatest beauty and greatest- anything
They are what I am -
How modest of me to be so disappointed with what I am
And all I am not.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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English dramatic literature is, of course, dominated by Shakespeare; and it is almost inevitable that an English reader should measure the value of other poetic drama by the standards which Shakespeare has already implanted in his mind.
quote by Lytton Strachey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I would say my greatest achievement in life right now - my greatest achievement period is - and I'm still trying to achieve it - is to be a wonderful father to my kids.
quote by Bo Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Poems Have Lost Their Way
THE POEMS HAVE LOST THEIR WAY
The poems have lost their way-
They have become simple statements of feeling,
Flat and plain
Dull and one- dimensional.
The poems have become non- poetic,
And yet I write them still.
For what do I have now in writing
But my poetry?
And who knows if they do not
In their simple way
Say something to others
Meaningful to them?
poem by Shalom Freedman
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The Greatest Poem
Good poems don't rhyme
Great poems don't have rhythm
The greatest poem is not one on paper but said out loud
Good poems are about flowers and puppies
Great poems are about peace and happiness
The greatest poems are about change
What should change.
how it should change.
And who should change.
Most of all the greatest poem is not one about the life you wanted to live
But the one you are living.
poem by Getasew Shumet
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Cropped From a Harvest
I have come to admire,
Those labelled as insane.
At least they are not the ones considered 'normal'.
And one day they've lost their mind and brains.
Like those who commit horrific and horrendous crimes.
The kind known and respected,
To represent those accepted as being just fine.
Before their backgrounds are studied in prime time.
Those who seem to have been called crazed...
Have also been pioneers in their 'day'.
And they are the ones who have paved the way...
To allow the laziness of madness,
To become so commonly displayed....
Today.
Without one hint of this being connected to the status quo.
Or the reason for its accepted hidden sickness,
Growing as if cropped from a harvest to be solicited.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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John Masefield Was Much More Than A Poet Laureate
John Masefield was much more than a poet laureate he was indeed a verse maker supreme
His longer poems are surely masterpieces and will live for centuries or so it would seem
From his prolific pen the rhymes kept flowing he kept on penning till the day he died
No doubt about it born to be a wordsmith and greatness of him cannot be denied
John Masefield wrote the poetry of the masses and in his lifetime was famed Worldwide
His 'Reynard The Fox' the greatest hunting poem ever of the hunting people of the English countryside
His other famed longer poems 'The Daffodil Fields' and 'The Everlasting Mercy' and 'Dauber' the boy artsist who died at sea
As well as others are true masterpieces to rhyme to him seemed to come easily
His descriptive powers to say the least amazing it must be true that poets are born not made
For sixty years he was a major poet a literary icon of the wordsmith trade
John Masefield he was Ledbury's greatest poet one might say a manufacturer of rhyme
For many years he was Britain's Poet Laureate until he too lost out to father time
He truly was the poet of the people and poets of his stature as always are rare
He died an old man in his eighty ninth year with England's best he surely does compare.
poem by Francis Duggan
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An Infinite Number Of Monkeys
After all the Shakespeare, the book
of poems they type is the saddest
in history.
But before they can finish it,
they have to wait for that Someone
who is always
looking to look away. Only then
can they strike the million
keys that spell
humiliation and grief, which are
the great subjects of Monkey
Literature
and not, as some people still
believe, the banana
and the tire.
poem by Ronald Koertge
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A Quiet Rap for Poetry Teachers
Words, they ‘mean’ – just, what they do;
and a poem means – just what it does;
if it doesn’t do a single thing for you –
that’s it, for now; let’s cut the fuzz…
it may be called ‘the greatest’ poem;
it may be utterly true;
but if it doesn’t do one little thing for you -
just put it aside for another time;
and let's all rap'n'clap this memorable rhyme:
'poems ‘ mean’ – simply – what they DO…
(1,2,3, and...) ...for ME..(5,6..) ......for YOU! '....
and that’s the end of my poetic beef –
I hope you find that some relief..
so rap it with me, all of you:
“ POEMS MEAN – JUST WHAT THEY DO! ! “
poem by Michael Shepherd
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For this reason, to study English literature without some general knowledge of the relation of the Bible to that literature would be to leave one's literary education very incomplete.
quote by Lafcadio Hearn
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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What Type Of Man
What kind of a man goes after a married woman
What kind of a man does it and proclaims his faith in GOD
What kind of man does the things that he shouldn't
Does that type of man think that he will never be caught.
What type of man leaves his children and his wife
What type of man puts his needs and his wants first
What type of a man is scared to fight his own fights
Does that type of man cares whose soul that he hurts.
What type of man talks behind other peoples backs
What type of man lies to make himself look tall in front of others
What type of man is scared to admit the guilt that he has done
Does that type of man think that we are his brothers.
What type of man will not work for a living
What type of man wants others to take care of him
What type of man thinks he is something but he's not
Does that type of man thinks that manhood is his friend.
What type of man cannot be used as an example
What type of man does not keep promises that he's made
What type of man should not be father to any child
Does that type of man know the price that a real man has paid.
What type of man thinks but he cannot think
What type of man looks but he truly does not see
What type of man hears but he does not listen
Does that type of man know that he could never be me.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
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The History Poems Have Not Been Written
The history poems have not been written
The poems after Milosz
The Wallace Stevens poems will never be written
I can’t come close
I have tried the Blake poems
But of course I am not near them either
I would like to the ironic intellectual poems
I might be able to do them
I could do a kind of surrealistic association mind poem a prose poem
But I don’t like that very much
The poems of Jerusalem have not been good enough
Poems of propaganda are awkward and unacceptable
The small poems that tell of my life
They are for me the chance at real poetry
And I will continue as best I can with them
The American poems I have not yet found the idiom for
I can be epigrammatic in Emerson Thoreau fashion
But not with the hard New England observing eye
Borges poems I love
And the stories of mind and literature
Making the drama of a life of a storyteller
Interest me
But I doubt I could truly do them well
Imitation can only take one so far
And through it one may lose one’s way entirely
I can really do only what I am
Not the Dickinson poems nor the Hopkins poems nor the Wordsworth poems nor the Keats poems nor the Amichai poems nor the poems of many others whose poetry I love
The Biblical poems have been tried
The poems of cosmic and scientific reflection
I could try to improve them
There are too many different kinds of poems to write
And I cannot write almost all of them
This is another poem about poems and poetry
I have written many for a long time now
Perhaps I need to go elsewhere and write in a new way
A way I have not dreamed or even remotely understood possible before.
The poems of the unknown poetry await me
I will go on but I am not sure now I know in which wa
poem by Shalom Freedman
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We Need New Poems
WE NEED NEW POEMS
We need new Poems-
So many great Poems
Have already been written.
Perhaps the Greatest poems
Have already been written.
But we need new poems.
We need our Poems
We need the poems only we can write
We need the poems we must write.
We need new poems
My poems
Your poems
Our poems.
We need new poems.
Let us write them.
poem by Shalom Freedman
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I'm the type of girl
Im the type of girl that will hang on.
And never let go.
I'm the type of girl whose always hyper.
The one you wanna know.
Im the type of girl you wont wanna date.
But would love to be just friends.
I'm the type of girl who knows the killer.
Long before it ends.
I'm the type of girl whose rooms a mess.
But whose desk is always neat.
I'm the type of girl who is slightly weird.
But you really wanna meet.
I'm the type of girl that holds her tounge.
But never says whats right.
I'm the type of girl who loves to sleep.
But reads all through the night.
I'm the type of girls who fails at sports.
But wins at every game.
I'm the type of girl that always cries.
But covers all the pain.
I'm the type of girl that falls inlove.
With all the wrong guys.
I'm the type of girl thats ready to believe.
In all your pathetic lies.
I'm the type of girl that hates Taylor Lautner.
And all those other teens.
I'm the type of girl who sits alone.
But chases every dream.
I'm the type of girl you can't forget.
Or get out of your head.
I'm the type of girl who'll stick by your side.
Even when your dead.
I'm the type of girl who says what she feels.
And means every single words.
I'm the type of girl that falls up stairs.
And sings songs you've never heard.
I'm the type of girl who spends her life.
Writing depressing poems.
I'm the type of girl who loves to walk.
'Cause she likes to be alone.
I'm the type of girl that begs for love.
But is too afraid to fall.
I'm the type of girl who feels so short.
Even though shes tall.
I'm the type of girl that's to unique to fit in.
But doesn't mind either way.
I'm the type of girl that will love her ex.
Until the feelings fade.
I'm the type of girl you'll never know.
But would have to just meet.
I'm the type of girl who can never decide.
On what she wants to eat.
I'm the type of girl who can rhyme in a second.
But is always slow to catch on.
I'm the type of girl whose had her heart broken.
And wonders what went wrong?
I'm the type of girl you can't understand.
For I'm a type too rare to know.
I'm the type of girl who keeps hanging on.
Long after you've letten go.
I'm the type of girl who writes for hours.
And dreams of what she'll never be.
I'm the type of girl who can only be defined.
As different, complicated, and unique.
poem by Silence Dogood
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Understand My Religion
Understand my religion of triumph,
This way and that is the line in front;
An apology asserted, we are heinous sometimes,
Upon a time we asserted the truth,
And that truth promises everything.
Open the doors to faith, the door is wide,
For the seasons of four relax us
And better the prospects and success.
Often, some of us wonder and search
For the truth, yet truth comes knocking
On the door, with no guilt we let it in.
Comprehend the faith and know it,
So that further promise is asserted.
poem by Naveed Akram
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Almost Poetic
It's almost poetic
The way you speak
It's almost poetic
The way you think
The way you sleep and dream
It's almost poetic
The way I feel for you
It's almost poetic
The way we argue
It's almost poetic
When we say goodbye
Not knowing the next time
We'll see each other
You are the curved line
And I am the dot
That creates the question mark..
And it's almost poetic
If it were not so pathetic.
poem by Jeremy Rascon
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The Supreme Soul
In awakeness,
I was there,
My mind was there,
My body was there,
In my dreams,
I was there,
My mind was there,
But my body was lost.
In my deep sleep,
I was there,
But I lost the mind,
So do I lost my body.
In my state beyond,
In the depth of my sleep,
I never sleep,
Nor did I awake,
It was a state,
Of no movement,
No dreams,
And no thinking!
I was without knowledge,
But I was the knowledge,
I was the illumination,
Of the supreme soul,
With whom I parted
On my birth.
I lost my memory,
Of my parent soul
But for the active
Five senses
Of my body,
The gift of the supreme soul!
I attained him,
When I lost the senses,
When I lost the earthly bond
When I lost the turbulations,
Of the earthly passions!
In union with him
The supreme soul
I lost my self,
And my soul,
Melted and immersed
With the supreme soul!
poem by Vadakkumpurath Ramesan
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