Famous Banks Poems by Famous Poets

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

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266. Song—The Banks of Nith

by Robert Burns
 THE THAMES flows proudly to the sea,
 Where royal cities stately stand;
But sweeter flows the Nith to me,
 Where Comyns ance had high command.
When shall I see that honour’d land,
 That winding stream I love so dear!
Must wayward Fortune’s adverse hand
 For ever, ever keep me here!


How lovely, Nith, thy fruitful vales,
 Where bounding hawthorns gaily bloom;
And sweetly spread...Read more of this...

Blue Bell The

by Emily Brontë
 The blue bell is the sweetest flower
That waves in summer air;
Its blossoms have the mightiest power
To soothe my spirit's care. 

There is a spell in purple heath
Too wildly, sadly dear;
The violet has a fragrant breath
But fragrance will not cheer. 

The trees are bare, the sun is cold;
And seldom, seldom seen;
The heavens have lost their zone of gold
The earth its...Read more of this...

The Heart has narrow Banks

by Emily Dickinson
 The Heart has narrow Banks
It measures like the Sea
In mighty -- unremitting Bass
And Blue Monotony

Till Hurricane bisect
And as itself discerns
Its insufficient Area
The Heart convulsive learns

That Calm is but a Wall
Of unattempted Gauze
An instant's Push demolishes
A Questioning -- dissolves....Read more of this...

On Banks the Usurer

by Ben Jonson
XXXI. ? ON BANKS THE USURER.     BANKS feel no lameness in his knotty gout, His monies travel for him in and out. And though the soundest legs go every day, He toils to be at hell, as soon as they....Read more of this...

Inscription 07 - For A Tablet On The Banks Of A Stream

by Robert Southey
 Stranger! awhile upon this mossy bank
Recline thee. If the Sun rides high, the breeze,
That loves to ripple o'er the rivulet,
Will play around thy brow, and the cool sound
Of running waters soothe thee. Mark how clear
It sparkles o'er the shallows, and behold
Where o'er its surface wheels with restless speed
Yon glossy insect, on the sand below
How the swift shadow flies. The...Read more of this...

54. Man was made to Mourn: A Dirge

by Robert Burns
 WHEN chill November’s surly blast
 Made fields and forests bare,
One ev’ning, as I wander’d forth
 Along the banks of Ayr,
I spied a man, whose aged step
 Seem’d weary, worn with care;
His face furrow’d o’er with years,
 And hoary was his hair.


“Young stranger, whither wand’rest thou?”
 Began the rev’rend sage;
“Does thirst of wealth thy step constrain,
 Or youthful pleasure’s rage?
Or...Read more of this...

A Song of Peach-Blossom River

by Wang Wei
 A fisherman is drifting, enjoying the spring mountains, 
And the peach-trees on both banks lead him to an ancient source. 
Watching the fresh-coloured trees, he never thinks of distance 
Till he comes to the end of the blue stream and suddenly- strange men! 
It's a cave-with a mouth so narrow that he has to crawl through; 
But then it...Read more of this...

449. Song—The Flowery banks of Cree

by Robert Burns
 HERE is the glen, and here the bower
 All underneath the birchen shade;
The village-bell has told the hour,
 O what can stay my lovely maid?


’Tis not Maria’s whispering call;
 ’Tis but the balmy breathing gale,
Mixt with some warbler’s dying fall,
 The dewy star of eve to hail.


It is Maria’s voice I hear;
 So calls the woodlark in the grove,
His...Read more of this...

Irene

by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick
The years are slowly creeping on
  Beneath the summer sun;
Yet, still in silent love and peace
  Our lives serenely run.
Beyond the mist that veils the coming years
I see no gathering clouds, nor falling tears.
Beside life's river we have stood
  And lingered side by side;
Where royal roses bloomed and blushed
  And gleamed the lily's pride,
And happily there...Read more of this...

12. Song—The Lass of Cessnock Banks

by Robert Burns
 ON Cessnock banks a lassie dwells;
 Could I describe her shape and mein;
Our lasses a’ she far excels,
 An’ she has twa sparkling roguish een.


She’s sweeter than the morning dawn,
 When rising Phoebus first is seen,
And dew-drops twinkle o’er the lawn;
 An’ she has twa sparkling roguish een.


She’s stately like yon youthful ash,
 That grows the cowslip braes between,
And...Read more of this...

137. Song—Farewell to the Banks of Ayr

by Robert Burns
 THE GLOOMY night is gath’ring fast,
Loud roars the wild, inconstant blast,
Yon murky cloud is foul with rain,
I see it driving o’er the plain;
The hunter now has left the moor.
The scatt’red coveys meet secure;
While here I wander, prest with care,
Along the lonely banks of Ayr.


The Autumn mourns her rip’ning corn
By early Winter’s ravage torn;
Across her placid, azure sky,
She sees the...Read more of this...

557. Song—Fairest Maid on Devon's Banks

by Robert Burns
 Chorus—Fairest maid on Devon banks,
 Crystal Devon, winding Devon,
Wilt thou lay that frown aside,
 And smile as thou wert wont to do?


FULL well thou know’st I love thee dear,
Couldst thou to malice lend an ear!
O did not Love exclaim: “Forbear,
 Nor use a faithful lover so.”
 Fairest maid, &c.


Then come, thou fairest of the fair,
Those wonted smiles, O let...Read more of this...

On Chuffe, Banks the Usurer's Kinsman

by Ben Jonson
XLIV. ? ON CHUFFE, BANKS THE USURER'S KINSMAN.     CHUFFE, lately rich in name, in chattels, goods,     And rich in issue to inherit all,     Ere blacks were bought for his own funeral, Saw all his race approach the blacker floods :     He meant they thither should make swift repair,     When he made him executor, might be heir....Read more of this...

two crocodiles gossip by the banks of the thames at abingdon

by Rg Gregory
 two old lazy crocodiles are basking by the water
they get round to talk about the macdonalds' daughter

gemini gemini
have you ever set eyes on young stephanie

jiminy jiminy
who lives here in abingdon - the one who is two

gemini gemini
everyone knows she's a smart one that stephanie

jiminy jiminy
oh ever so smart - there's just nothing she can't do

gemini gemini
so smart - she...Read more of this...

316. Song—The Banks o' Doon (First Version)

by Robert Burns
 SWEET are the banks—the banks o’ Doon,
 The spreading flowers are fair,
And everything is blythe and glad,
 But I am fu’ o’ care.
Thou’ll break my heart, thou bonie bird,
 That sings upon the bough;
Thou minds me o’ the happy days
 When my fause Luve was true:
Thou’ll break my heart, thou bonie bird,
 That sings beside thy mate;
For sae I...Read more of this...

Brignall Banks

by Sir Walter Scott
 O, Brignall banks are wild and fair, 
And Greta woods are green, 
And you may gather garlands there, 
Would grace a summer queen: 
And as I rode by Dalton Hall, 
Beneath the turrets high, 
A Maiden on the castle wall 
Was singing merrily:— 

'O, Brignall banks are fresh and fair, 
And Greta woods are green! 
I'd rather rove with...Read more of this...

Death Of A Naturalist

by Seamus Heaney
 All year the flax-dam festered in the heart
Of the townland; green and heavy headed
Flax had rotted there, weighted down by huge sods.
Daily it sweltered in the punishing sun.
Bubbles gargled delicately, bluebottles
Wove a strong gauze of sound around the smell.
There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies,
But best of all was the warm thick slobber
Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water
In the shade...Read more of this...

Spring in Town

by William Cullen Bryant
 The country ever has a lagging Spring,
Waiting for May to call its violets forth,
And June its roses--showers and sunshine bring,
Slowly, the deepening verdure o'er the earth;
To put their foliage out, the woods are slack,
And one by one the singing-birds come back.

Within the city's bounds the time of flowers
Comes earlier. Let a mild and sunny day,
Such as full often, for...Read more of this...

197. Song—The Banks of the Devon

by Robert Burns
 HOW pleasant the banks of the clear winding Devon,
 With green spreading bushes and flow’rs blooming fair!
But the boniest flow’r on the banks of the Devon
 Was once a sweet bud on the braes of the Ayr.
Mild be the sun on this sweet blushing flower,
 In the gay rosy morn, as it bathes in the dew;
And gentle the fall...Read more of this...

Ye Banks And Braes OBonnie Doon

by Robert Burns
 Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fair!
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae fu' o' care!

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird
That sings upon the bough;
Thou minds me o' the happy days
When my fause Luve was true.

Thou'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird
That sings beside thy mate;
For sae I sat, and sae...Read more of this...

High waving heather neath stormy blasts bending

by Emily Brontë
 High waving heather 'neath stormy blasts bending, 
Midnight and moonlight and bright shining stars, 
Darkness and glory rejoicingly blending, 
Earth rising to heaven and heaven descending, 
Man's spirit away from its drear dungeon sending, 
Bursting the fetters and breaking the bars.

All down the mountain sides wild forests lending 
One mighty voice to the life-giving wind, 
Rivers their banks in...Read more of this...

318. Song—The Banks o' Doon (Third Version)

by Robert Burns
 YE banks and braes o’ bonie Doon,
 How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
 And I sae weary fu’ o’ care!
Thou’ll break my heart, thou warbling bird,
 That wantons thro’ the flowering thorn:
Thou minds me o’ departed joys,
 Departed never to return.


Aft hae I rov’d by Bonie Doon,
 To see the rose...Read more of this...

American Feuillage

by Walt Whitman
 AMERICA always! 
Always our own feuillage! 
Always Florida’s green peninsula! Always the priceless delta of Louisiana! Always the
 cotton-fields of Alabama and Texas! 
Always California’s golden hills and hollows—and the silver mountains of New
 Mexico!
 Always soft-breath’d Cuba! 
Always the vast slope drain’d by the Southern Sea—inseparable with the slopes
 drain’d
 by the Eastern and Western Seas;
The area the...Read more of this...

Weekend Glory

by Maya Angelou
 Some clichty folks
don't know the facts,
posin' and preenin'
and puttin' on acts,
stretchin' their backs.

They move into condos
up over the ranks,
pawn their souls
to the local banks.
Buying big cars
they can't afford,
ridin' around town
actin' bored.

If they want to learn how to live life right
they ought to study me on Saturday night.

My job at the plant
ain't the biggest bet,
but I pay my bills
and stay...Read more of this...

317. Song—The Banks o' Doon (Second Version)

by Robert Burns
 YE flowery banks o’ bonie Doon,
 How can ye blume sae fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
 And I sae fu’ o care!
Thou’ll break my heart, thou bonie bird,
 That sings upon the bough!
Thou minds me o’ the happy days
 When my fause Luve was true.
Thou’ll break my heart, thou bonie bird,
 That sings beside thy mate;
For sae...Read more of this...

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