Famous Askance Poems by Famous Poets

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

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An Appeal

...s that had slain their France,
And thee would slay as they slew -
"Down with her walls that enclose
Freemen that eye us askance,
Fugitives, men that are true!"



This was thy praise or thy blame
From bondsman or freeman--to be
Pure from pollution of slaves,
Clean of their sins, and thy name
Bloodless, innocent, free;
Now if thou be not, thy waves
Wash not from off thee thy shame.



Freeman he is not, but slave,
Whoso in fear for the State
Cries for surety of blood,
Help of ...Read more of this...
by Swinburne, Algernon Charles


Bride of Abydos The

...ed: 
That eye return'd him glance for glance, 
And proudly to his sire's was raised, 
Till Giaffir's quail'd and shrunk askance — 
And why — he felt, but durst not tell. 
"Much I misdoubt this wayward boy 
Will one day work me more annoy: 
I never loved him from his birth, 
And — but his arm is little worth, 
And scarcely in the chase could cope 
With timid fawn or antelope, 
Far less would venture into strife 
Where man contends for fame and life — 
I would not trust that lo...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came

...My first thought was, he lied in every word,
That hoary cripple, with malicious eye
Askance to watch the working of his lie
On mine, and mouth scarce able to afford
Suppression of the glee, that pursed and scored
Its edge, at one more victim gained thereby.

What else should he be set for, with his staff?
What, save to waylay with his lies, ensnare
All travellers who might find him posted there,
And ask the road? I guessed what skul...Read more of this...
by Browning, Robert

Christabel

...'er her right arm fell again;
And folded her arms across her chest,
And couched her head upon her breast,
And looked askance at Christabel-
Jesu, Maria, shield her well!

A snake's small eye blinks dull and shy,
And the lady's eyes they shrunk in her head,
Each shrunk up to a serpent's eye,
And with somewhat of malice, and more of dread,
At Christabel she looked askance!-
One moment- and the sight was fled!
But Christabel in dizzy trance
Stumbling on the unsteady...Read more of this...
by Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

Erasmus

...lled it heresy. 

And when he made so perilously bold 
As to be scattered forth in black and white,
Good fathers looked askance at him and rolled 
Their inward eyes in anguish and affright; 
There were some of them did shake at what was told, 
And they shook best who knew that he was right....Read more of this...
by Robinson, Edwin Arlington


Lyric of Love to Leah

...ss -Virgin -Whore.

Afric sands ensorcel us,
Afric seas & skies entrance
Velvet, lewd & luminous
Night surveys our soul askance!
Come my love, & let us dance
To the Moon and Sirius!...Read more of this...
by Crowley, Aleister

Ode to Envy

...Thy meagre limbs with deathless scorpions bound. 
Thy black associates, torpid IGNORANCE, 
And pining JEALOUSY­with eye askance,
With savage rapture execute thy will, 
And strew the paths of life with every torturing ill 

Nor can the sainted dead escape thy rage; 
Thy vengeance haunts the silent grave, 
Thy taunts insult the ashes of the brave; 
While proud AMBITION weeps thy rancour to assuage. 
The laurels round the POET's bust, 
Twin'd by the liberal hand of Taste, 
By th...Read more of this...
by Robinson, Mary Darby

Of the Mean and Sure Estate

...mids this joy befell a sorry chance,
That, well away! the stranger bought full dear

The fare she had, for, as she look askance,
Under a stool she spied two steaming eyes
In a round head with sharp ears. In France

Was never mouse so fear'd, for the unwise
Had not i-seen such a beast before,
Yet had nature taught her after her guise

To know her foe and dread him evermore.
The towny mouse fled, she know whither to go;
Th' other had no shift, but wonders sore

Feard of her lif...Read more of this...
by Wyatt, Sir Thomas

Paradise Lost: Book 04

...and pressed her matron lip 
With kisses pure: Aside the Devil turned 
For envy; yet with jealous leer malign 
Eyed them askance, and to himself thus plained. 
Sight hateful, sight tormenting! thus these two, 
Imparadised in one another's arms, 
The happier Eden, shall enjoy their fill 
Of bliss on bliss; while I to Hell am thrust, 
Where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire, 
Among our other torments not the least, 
Still unfulfilled with pain of longing pines. 
Yet let me...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 06

...t thou seest;now learn too late 
How few sometimes may know, when thousands err. 
Whom the grand foe, with scornful eye askance, 
Thus answered. Ill for thee, but in wished hour 
Of my revenge, first sought for, thou returnest 
From flight, seditious Angel! to receive 
Thy merited reward, the first assay 
Of this right hand provoked, since first that tongue, 
Inspired with contradiction, durst oppose 
A third part of the Gods, in synod met 
Their deities to assert; who, while...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Primitive

...side by side, to eat, 
the long pancakes dangling and spilling, 
fragrant sauce dripping out, 
and glance at each other askance, wordless, 
the corners of our eyes clear as spear points 
laid along the sill to show 
a friend sits with a friend here....Read more of this...
by Olds, Sharon

Rosalind and Helen: a Modern Eclogue

...e,
To whom next came their patrimony, 
A sallow lawyer, cruel and cold,
Aye watched me, as the will was read,
With eyes askance, which sought to see
The secrets of my agony;
And with close lips and anxious brow
Stood canvassing still to and fro
The chance of my resolve, and all
The dead man's caution just did call;
For in that killing lie 't was said--
'She is adulterous, and doth hold 
In secret that the Christian creed
Is false, and therefore is much need
That I should have...Read more of this...
by Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Satire II:The Country Mouse and the Town Mouse

...this joy there fell a sorry chance, 
That, wellaway, the stranger bought full dear 
The fare she had. For as she looks, askance, 
Under a stool she spied two steaming eyes 
In a round head with sharp ears. In France 
was never mouse so feared, for though the unwise [afraid] 
Had not yseen such a beast before, 
Yet had nature taught her after her guise 
To know her foe and dread him evermore. 
The town mouse fled; she knew whither to go. 
The other had no shift, but wondrous s...Read more of this...
by Wyatt, Sir Thomas

Sohrab and Rustum

...said:-- 

"O, by thy father's head! by thine own soul!
Art thou not Rustum? speak! art thou not he?" 

But Rustum eyed askance the kneeling youth,
And turn'd away, and spake to his own soul:-- 

"Ah me, I muse what this young fox may mean!
False, wily, boastful, are these Tartar boys.
For if I now confess this thing he asks,
And hide it not, but say: Rustum is here!
He will not yield indeed, nor quit our foes,
But he will find some pretext not to fight,
And praise my fame, a...Read more of this...
by Arnold, Matthew

The Bride of Abydos

...ed: 
That eye return'd him glance for glance, 
And proudly to his sire's was raised, 
Till Giaffir's quail'd and shrunk askance — 
And why — he felt, but durst not tell. 
"Much I misdoubt this wayward boy 
Will one day work me more annoy: 
I never loved him from his birth, 
And — but his arm is little worth, 
And scarcely in the chase could cope 
With timid fawn or antelope, 
Far less would venture into strife 
Where man contends for fame and life — 
I would not trust that lo...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

The Lady of the Lake

...d broken arms and disarray
          Marked the fell havoc of the day.
     XX.

     'Viewing the mountain's ridge askance,
     The Saxons stood in sullen trance,
     Till Moray pointed with his lance,
          And cried: "Behold yon isle!—
     See! none are left to guard its strand
     But women weak, that wring the hand:
     'Tis there of yore the robber band
          Their booty wont to pile;—
     My purse, with bonnet-pieces store,
     To him will s...Read more of this...
by Scott, Sir Walter

The Lobster Quadrille

...hey take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!"
But the snail replied, "Too far, too far!" and gave a look askance--
Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.
Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance. 

"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.
"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side.
The further off from Eng...Read more of this...
by Carroll, Lewis

The Mistletoe (A Christmas Tale)

...The talisman of Destiny;
Beneath its ample boughs we're told
Full many a timid Swain grew bold;
Full many a roguish eye askance
Beheld it with impatient glance,
And many a ruddy cheek confest,
The triumphs of the beating breast;
And many a rustic rover sigh'd
Who ask'd the kiss, and was denied.

First MARG'RY smil'd and gave her Lover
A Kiss; then thank'd her stars, 'twas over! 
Next, KATE, with a reluctant pace,
Was tempted to the mystic place;
Then SUE, a merry laughing jad...Read more of this...
by Robinson, Mary Darby

The Peasants Confession

...prized!
O Saints, why such false witness had I borne 
When late I’d sympathized!… 

So, now, being old, my children eye askance 
My slowly dwindling store, 
And crave my mite; till, worn with tarriance,
I care for life no more. 

To Almighty God henceforth I stand confessed, 
And Virgin-Saint Marie; 
O Michael, John, and Holy Ones in rest, 
Entreat the Lord for me!...Read more of this...
by Hardy, Thomas

The Princess (part 6)

...mankind, 
And blocked them out; but these men came to woo 
Your Highness--verily I think to win.' 

So she, and turned askance a wintry eye: 
But Ida with a voice, that like a bell 
Tolled by an earthquake in a trembling tower, 
Rang ruin, answered full of grief and scorn. 

'Fling our doors wide! all, all, not one, but all, 
Not only he, but by my mother's soul, 
Whatever man lies wounded, friend or foe, 
Shall enter, if he will. Let our girls flit, 
Till the storm die! but...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

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