Famous Armistice Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Armistice poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous armistice poems. These examples illustrate what a famous armistice poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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Armistice Day (1953)

...Don't jeer because we celebrate
 Armistice Day,
Though thirty years of sorry fate
 Have passed away.
Though still we gaurd the Sacred Flame,
 And fly the Flag,
That World War Two with grief and shame
 Revealed--a rag.

For France cannot defend to-day
 Her native land;
And she is far to proud to pray
 For helping hand.
Aye, though she stands amid the Free,
 In love with life,
No more her soi...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William


Salts And Oils

...reads. It rained in October, rained
so hard I couldn't walk and smoke, so I
chewed pepsin chewing gum. The rain
spoiled Armistice Day in Lancaster, Pa.
The open cars overflowed, girls cried,
the tubas and trombones went dumb,
the floral displays shredded, the gutters
clogged with petals. Afterwards had ham
on buttered whole-wheat bread, ham
and butter for the first time
on the same day in Zanesville with snow
forecast, snow, high winds, closed roads,
solid darkness before 5 p...Read more of this...
by Levine, Philip

The Battle

...other;
And though her onions odious were,
 My garlic was a smother;
Till loth I said: 'If we would kiss
 Let's call an armistice.

'Now we have proved that we are true
 To our opinions,
My garlic I'll give up if you
 Give up your onions.'
And so next day with honey sips
 How sweet her lips!...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

The Player Piano

...from home.
No, not Pasadena, Fatty Arbuckle.
Who's that? Oh, something that we had in common
Like -- like -- the false armistice. Piano rolls.
She told me her house was the first Pancake House

East of the Mississippi, and I showed her
A picture of my grandson. Going home --
Home to the hotel -- I began to hum,
"Smile a while, I bid you sad adieu,
When the clouds roll back I'll come to you."

Let's brush our hair before we go to bed,
I say to the old friend who lives in my m...Read more of this...
by Jarrell, Randall

The Twelve-Forty-Five

...own as we pass by.
Why, even strident Paterson
Rests quietly as any nun.
Her foolish warring children keep
The grateful armistice of sleep.
For what tremendous errand's sake
Are we so blatantly awake?
What precious secret is our freight?
What king must be abroad so late?
Perhaps Death roams the hills to-night
And we rush forth to give him fight.
Or else, perhaps, we speed his way
To some remote unthinking prey.
Perhaps a woman writhes in pain
And listens -- listens for the tr...Read more of this...
by Kilmer, Joyce


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