Famous Time Poems by Famous Poets
These are examples of famous Time poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous time poems. These examples illustrate what a famous time poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).
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by
Robert Herrick
Time was upon
The wing, to fly away;
And I call'd on
Him but awhile to stay;
But he'd be gone,
For aught that I could say.
He held out then
A writing, as he went,
And ask'd me, when
False man would be content
To pay again
What God and Nature lent.
An hour-glass,
In which were sands but few,
As he did pass,
He shew'd,--and told me too
Mine end near was;--
And so...Read more of this...
by
John Donne
ABSENCE hear thou my protestation
Against thy strength
Distance and length:
Do what thou canst for alteration
For hearts of truest mettle 5
Absence doth join and Time doth settle.
Who loves a mistress of such quality
His mind hath found
Affection's ground
Beyond time place and all mortality. 10
To hearts that cannot vary
Absence is...Read more of this...
by
George (Lord) Byron
There was a time, I need not name,
Since it will ne'er forgotten be,
When all our feelings were the same
As still my soul hath been to thee.
And from that hour when first thy tongue
Confess'd a love which equall'd mine,
Though many a grief my heart hath wrung,
Unknown, and thus unfelt, by thine,
None, none hath sunk so deep as this---
To think how...Read more of this...
by
Robert Herrick
Gather ye rose-buds while ye may:
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles to-day,
To-morrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,
The higher he's a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best, which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times, still succeed the...Read more of this...
by
Omer Tarin
It has been some time, since we spoke in rhyme
my love;
And tonight I behold you anew
Burning with your adored endlessness
As reckless as the morning dew,
caressing the rose in its repose
Rising with the sun,
to be one,
descending with the rain,
Reborn in pain
torn in twain
driven insane;
Somewhere, out there,
within your vast domain,
when we unite
there is no day or night.
(from ''Burnt Offerings'',...Read more of this...
by
Omar Khayyam
What time, my cup in hand, its draughts I drain,
And with rapt heart unconsciousness attain,
Behold what wondrous miracles are wrought,
Songs flow as water from my burning brain....Read more of this...
by
Robinson Jeffers
The best is, in war or faction or ordinary vindictive
life, not to take sides.
Leave it for children, and the emotional rabble of the
streets, to back their horse or support a brawler.
But if you are forced into it: remember that good and
evil are as common as air, and like air shared
By the panting belligerents; the moral indignation...Read more of this...
by
Thomas Hood
It was not in the Winter
Our loving lot was cast;
It was the time of roses—
We pluck'd them as we pass'd!
That churlish season never frown'd
On early lovers yet:
O no—the world was newly crown'd
With flowers when first we met!
'Twas twilight, and I bade you go,
But still you held me fast;
It was...Read more of this...
by
Robert Burns
THE LAST time I came o’er the moor,
And left Maria’s dwelling,
What throes, what tortures passing cure,
Were in my bosom swelling:
Condemn’d to see my rival’s reign,
While I in secret languish;
To feel a fire in every vein,
Yet dare not speak my anguish.
Love’s veriest wretch, despairing, I
Fain, fain, my crime would cover;
Th’ unweeting groan, the bursting sigh,
...Read more of this...
by
William Shakespeare
Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws,
And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,
And burn the long-liv'd Phoenix in her blood;
Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,
And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,
To the wide world and all her fading sweets;
But I forbid thee one more heinous crime:
O, carve...Read more of this...
by
Kobayashi Issa
Last time, I think,
I'll brush the flies
from my father's face....Read more of this...
by
Emily Dickinson
Too happy Time dissolves itself
And leaves no remnant by --
'Tis Anguish not a Feather hath
Or too much weight to fly --...Read more of this...
by
Thomas Moore
The time I've lost in wooing,
In watching and pursuing
The light that lies
In woman's eyes,
Has been my heart's undoing.
Tho' Wisdom oft has sought me,
I scorn'd the lore she brought me,
My only books
Were women's looks,
And folly's all they taught me.
Her smile when Beauty granted,
I hung with gaze enchanted,
Like him...Read more of this...
by
Mary Darby Robinson
CAPRICIOUS foe to human joy,
Still varying with the fleeting day;
With thee the purest raptures cloy,
The fairest prospects fade away;
Nor worth, nor pow'r thy wings can bind,
All earthly pleasures fly with THEE;
Inconstant as the wav'ring wind
That plays upon the summer sea.
I court thee not, ungentle guest,
For I have e'er been doom'd to find
Life's gayest hours but idly drest,
With sweets...Read more of this...
by
Walt Whitman
1
TO think of time—of all that retrospection!
To think of to-day, and the ages continued henceforward!
Have you guess’d you yourself would not continue?
Have you dreaded these earth-beetles?
Have you fear’d the future would be nothing to you?
Is to-day nothing? Is the beginningless past nothing?
If the future is nothing, they are just as surely nothing.
To think...Read more of this...
by
Delmore Schwartz
Some who are uncertain compel me. They fear
The Ace of Spades. They fear
Loves offered suddenly, turning from the mantelpiece,
Sweet with decision. And they distrust
The fireworks by the lakeside, first the spuft,
Then the colored lights, rising.
Tentative, hesitant, doubtful, they consume
Greedily Caesar at the prow returning,
Locked in the stone of his act and office.
While the brass band brightly bursts over the...Read more of this...
by
Nizar Qabbani
Every time I kiss you
After a long separation
I feel
I am putting a hurried love letter
In a red mailbox....Read more of this...
by
Emily Dickinson
They say that "Time assuages" --
Time never did assuage --
An actual suffering strengthens
As Sinews do, with age --
Time is a Test of Trouble --
But not a Remedy --
If such it prove, it prove too
There was no Malady --...Read more of this...
by
Anonymous
I love to hear the little birdsThat carol on the trees;I love the gentle, murmuring stream;I love the evening breeze.I love to hear the busy humOf honey-making bee,And learn a lesson,—hard to learn,—Of patient industry.I love to think of Him who madeThose pleasant things for me,Who gave me life, and health, and strength,And eyes, that I might see.The child who...Read more of this...
by
Emily Dickinson
I had no time to Hate --
Because
The Grave would hinder Me --
And Life was not so
Ample I
Could finish -- Enmity --
Nor had I time to Love --
But since
Some Industry must be --
The little Toil of Love --
I thought
Be large enough for Me --...Read more of this...
by
William Cowper
Oh happy shades--to me unblest!
Friendly to peace, but not to me!
How ill the scene that offers rest,
And heart that cannot rest, agree!
This glassy stream, that spreading pine,
Those alders quiv'ring to the breeze,
Might sooth a soul less hurt than mine,
And please, if any thing could please.
But fix'd unalterable care
Foregoes not what she feels within,
Shows the same sadness ev'rywhere,
And slights the...Read more of this...
by
Robert Graves
It doesn’t matter what’s the cause,
What wrong they say we’re righting,
A curse for treaties, bonds and laws,
When we’re to do the fighting!
And since we lads are proud and true,
What else remains to do?
Lucasta, when to France your man
Returns his fourth time, hating war,
Yet laughs as calmly as he can
And flings an...Read more of this...
by
Emily Dickinson
Time does go on --
I tell it gay to those who suffer now --
They shall survive --
There is a sun --
They don't believe it now --...Read more of this...
by
Robert Herrick
Wrinkles no more are, or no less,
Than beauty turn'd to sourness....Read more of this...
by
Michael Drayton
To Time
Stay, speedy Time, behold, before thou pass,
From age to age what thou hast sought to see,
One in whom all the excellencies be,
In whom Heav'n looks itself as in a glass.
Time, look thyself in this tralucent glass,
And thy youth past in this pure mirror see,
As the world's beauty in his infancy,
What is...Read more of this...
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