Famous Afflictions Poems by Famous Poets
These are examples of famous Afflictions poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous afflictions poems. These examples illustrate what a famous afflictions poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).
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...eace invade;
He saw with Mercy's Eyes.
How shall we celebrate his Name,
Who groan'd beneath a Life of shame
In all Afflictions tried!
The Soul is raptured to concieve
A Truth, which Being must believe,
The God Eternal died.
My Soul exert thy Powers, adore,
Upon Devotion's plumage sar
To celebrate the Day;
The God from whom Creation sprung
Shall animate my grateful Tongue;
From him I'll catch the Lay!...Read more of this...
by
Chatterton, Thomas
...Oh how I love Thy holy Word,
Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!
It guides me in the peaceful way;
I think upon it all the day.
What are the mines of shining wealth,
The strength of youth, the bloom of health!
What are all joys compared with those
Thine everlasting Word bestows!
Long unafflicted, undismay'd,
In pleasure's path secure I stray'd;
Thou mad'st me...Read more of this...
by
Cowper, William
...wise many a wise men
had mourned in earlier seasons over his rash forays—
they had looked to him as comfort for their afflictions,
that the son of their prince ought to prosper,
take up his patrimony, keep watch over the people,
their treasures, and their sheltering city,
the realm of heroes, where the Scyldings roam.
He become more endearing to all his allies,
to the kindred of men, that was the kinsman of Hygelac—
but his crimes carried Heremod away. (ll. 898-915)
...Read more of this...
by
Anonymous,
...for precious is the rest,
In that narrow house the sleep is calm;
There, with rapture sorrow leaves the breast,--
Man's afflictions there no longer harm.
Slander now may wildly rave o'er thee,
And temptation vomit poison fell,
O'er the wrangle on the Pharisee,
Murderous bigots banish thee to hell!
Rogues beneath apostle-masks may leer,
And the bastard child of justice play,
As it were with dice, with mankind here,
And so on, until the judgment day!
O'er thee fortune still ma...Read more of this...
by
Schiller, Friedrich von
...Afflictions and death under Providence.
Job 5:6-8.
Not from the dust affliction grows,
Nor troubles rise by chance;
Yet we are born to cares and woes;
A sad inheritance!
As sparks break out from burning coals,
And still are upwards borne
So grief is rooted in our souls,
And man grows up to mourn.
Yet with my God I leave my cause,
And trust his promised ...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...ldren and widows are never deserted of the Lord.
For I pray God be gracious to the house of Stuart and consider their afflictions.
For I pray God be gracious to the seed of Virgil to Mr GOODMAN SMITH of King's and Joseph STUD.
For I give God the glory that I am a son of ABRAHAM a PRINCE of the house of my fathers.
For my brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks that pass away.
For I bless God for my retreat at CANBURY, as it was the pl...Read more of this...
by
Smart, Christopher
...-appear'd,
I did but pluck the Rose-bud and it fell,
A sorrow unforeseen and scarcely fear'd,
For ill can mortals their afflictions spell.
And now (sweet Babe) what can my trembling heart
Suggest to right my doleful fate or thee,
Tears are my Muse and sorrow all my Art,
So piercing groans must be thy Elogy.
Thus whilst no eye is witness of my mone,
I grieve thy loss ( Ah boy too dear to live)
And let the unconcerned World alone,
Who neither will, nor can refreshment give.
...Read more of this...
by
Philips, Katherine
...and to a sign
Spoken against—that through my very soul
A sword shall pierce. This is my favoured lot,
My exaltation to afflictions high!
Afflicted I may be, it seems, and blest!
I will not argue that, nor will repine.
But where delays he now? Some great intent
Conceals him. When twelve years he scarce had seen,
I lost him, but so found as well I saw
He could not lose himself, but went about
His Father's business. What he meant I mused—
Since understand; much more his absence...Read more of this...
by
Milton, John
...ss of Africa,
And thou art fall'n to give me life in regions of dark death.
On my American plains I feel the struggling afflictions
Endur'd by roots that writhe their arms into the nether deep.
I see a Serpent in Canada who courts me to his love,
In Mexico an Eagle, and a Lion in Peru;
I see a Whale in the south-sea, drinking my soul away.
O what limb-rending pains I feel! thy fire and my frost
Mingle in howling pains, in furrows by thy lightnings rent.
This is eternal death,...Read more of this...
by
Blake, William
...Benefit of afflictions, and support under them.
ver. 153,81,82
Consider all my sorrows, Lord,
And thy deliv'rance send;
My soul for thy salvation faints
When will my troubles end?
ver. 71
Yet I have found 'tis good for me
To bear my Father's rod;
Afflictions make me learn thy law,
And live upon my God.
ver. 50
This is the comfort I enjoy
When new distress begi...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...nce of thy grace
To speed me in thy way,
Lest I should loiter in my race,
Or turn my feet astray.
ver. 107
When sore afflictions press me down,
I need thy quick'ning powers;
Thy word that I have rested on
Shall help my heaviest hours.
ver. 156,40
Are not thy mercies sovereign still,
And thou a faithful God?
Wilt thou not grant me warmer zeal
To run the heav'nly road?
ver. 159,40
Does not my heart thy precepts love,
And long to see thy face?
And yet how slow my spirit...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...Sanctified afflictions; or, Delight in the word of God.
ver. 67,59
Father, I bless thy gentle hand;
How kind was thy chastising rod,
That forced my conscience to a stand,
And brought my wand'ring soul to God!
Foolish and vain, I went astray
Ere I had felt thy scourges, Lord;
I left my guide, and lost my way;
But now I love and keep thy word.
ver. 71
'Tis good fo...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...v.1,2,7-14
C. M.
Saints chastised, and sinners destroyed; or, Instructive afflictions.
O God, to whom revenge belongs,
"Proclaim thy wrath aloud;
Let sovereign power redress our wrongs,
Let justice smite the proud.
They say, "The Lord nor sees nor hears:"
When will the fools be wise?
Can he be deaf who formed their ears?
Or blind, who made their eyes?
He knows their impious thoughts are vain,
And they shall feel his power;
His ...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...r the dead;
The heart of Rachel for her children crying
Will not be comforted!
Let us be patient! These severe afflictions
Not from the ground arise 10
But oftentimes celestial benedictions
Assume this dark disguise.
We see but dimly through the mists and vapors;
Amid these earthly damps
What seem to us but sad funereal tapers 15
May be heaven's distant lamps.
There is no Death! What seems so is transition;
This life of mortal breath
Is but a ...Read more of this...
by
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
...Heaven will send relief.
Let patience have her perfect work:
Lo, strength and wisdom spring from grief,
And joys behind afflictions lurk!
It asked for light, and it is heard;
God grants that struggling soul repose
And, guided by His holy word,
It wiser than its teachers grows.
It gains the upward path at length,
And passes on from strength to strength,
Leaning on Heaven the while:
Night's shades departing one by one,
It sees at last the rising sun,
And feels his cheering smi...Read more of this...
by
Bronte, Anne
...rs
Deliver us to laws;—they send us bound
To rules of reason, holy messengers,
Pulpits and Sundays, sorrow dogging sin,
Afflictions sorted, anguish of all sizes,
Fine nets and stratagems to catch us in,
Bibles laid open, millions of surprises,
Blessings beforehand, ties of gratefulness,
The sound of glory ringing in our ears;
Without, our shame; within, our consciences;
Angels and grace, eternal hopes and fears:
Yet all these fences and their whole array
One cunning bosom-sin...Read more of this...
by
Herbert, George
...e things which I have ordained thee.
66. And by the healing of your soul, you wilt deliver it from all evils, from all afflictions.
67. But you should abstain from the meats, which we have forbidden in the purifications and in the deliverance of the soul;
68. Make a just distinction of them, and examine all things well.
69. Leave yourself always to be guided and directed by the understanding that comes from above, and that ought to hold the reins.
70. And when, after hav...Read more of this...
by
Pythagoras,
...peed, in thought profoundI stood, and long bewail'd my wasted hours,My vain afflictions, and my squander'd powers:When, in deliberate march, a train was seenIn silent order moving o'er the green;A band that seem'd to hold in high disdainThe desolating power of Time's resistless reign:Their names were hallow'd in the Muse's s...Read more of this...
by
Petrarch, Francesco
...;
Behind him the bushes
Are closing together,
The grass springs up again,
The desert engulphs him.
Ah, who'll heal his afflictions,
To whom balsam was poison,
Who, from love's fullness,
Drank in misanthropy only?
First despised, and now a despiser,
He, in secret, wasteth
All that he is worth,
In a selfishness vain.
If there be, on thy psaltery,
Father of Love, but one tone
That to his ear may be pleasing,
Oh, then, quicken his heart!
Clear his cloud-enveloped eyes
Over the t...Read more of this...
by
von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang
...hat was once esteem'd for pleasant musique,
Am banisht now among the monstrous mountaines
Of huge despaire, and foule afflictions vallies,
Am growne a shrich-owle to my selfe each morning.
Klaius.
I that was once delighted euery morning,
Hunting the wilde inhabiters of forrests,
I that was once the musique of these vallies,
So darkened am, that all my day is euening,
Hart-broken so, that molehilles seeme high mountaines,
And fill the vales with cries in steed of m...Read more of this...
by
Sidney, Sir Philip
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