Famous Betide Poems by Famous Poets

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

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A Rolling Stone

...tes of the rich;
To eat my crust as a rover must
 With the rough-neck down in the ditch.
To trudge by his side whate'er betide;
 To share his fire at night;
To call him friend to the long trail-end,
 And to read his heart aright.

To scorn all strife, and to view all life
 With the curious eyes of a child;
From the plangent sea to the prairie,
 From the slum to the heart of the Wild.
From the red-rimmed star to the speck of sand,
 From the vast to the greatly small;
For I kno...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William


Endymion: Book IV

...irst
To meet oblivion."--As her heart would burst
The maiden sobb'd awhile, and then replied:
"Why must such desolation betide
As that thou speakest of? Are not these green nooks
Empty of all misfortune? Do the brooks
Utter a gorgon voice? Does yonder thrush,
Schooling its half-fledg'd little ones to brush
About the dewy forest, whisper tales?--
Speak not of grief, young stranger, or cold snails
Will slime the rose to night. Though if thou wilt,
Methinks 'twould be a guilt--a...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

In Snow

...ow 
Hugging your baby closer when outside 
You see the silent, soft, and cruel snow 
Falling again, and think what ills betide 
Unshelter'd creatures,--your sad thoughts may go 
Where War and Winter now, two spectre-wolves, 
Hunt in the freezing vapour that involves 
Those Asian peaks of ice and gulfs below. 
Does this young Soldier heed the snow that fills 
His mouth and open eyes? or mind, in truth, 
To-night, his mother's parting syllables? 
Ha! is't a red coat?--Merely bl...Read more of this...
by Allingham, William

Isabella or The Pot of Basil

...ng round the champaign wide,
Shows her a knife.--"What feverous hectic flame
"Burns in thee, child?--What good can thee betide,
"That thou should'st smile again?"--The evening came,
And they had found Lorenzo's earthy bed;
The flint was there, the berries at his head.

XLV.
Who hath not loiter'd in a green church-yard,
And let his spirit, like a demon-mole,
Work through the clayey soil and gravel hard,
To see skull, coffin'd bones, and funeral stole;
Pitying each form that hu...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

La Belle Dame sans Merci

...here I shut her wild wild eyes 
With kisses four. 

'And there she lull¨¨d me asleep  
And there I dream'd¡ªAh! woe betide! 
The latest dream I ever dream'd 35 
On the cold hill's side. 

'I saw pale kings and princes too  
Pale warriors death-pale were they all; 
They cried¡ª"La belle Dame sans Merci 
Hath thee in thrall!" 40 

'I saw their starved lips in the gloam 
With horrid warning gap¨¨d wide  
And I awoke and found me here  
On the cold hill's side. 
...Read more of this...
by Keats, John


Mazeppa

...alus and thou:
All Scythia's fame to thine should yield
For pricking on o'er flood and field.'
Mazeppa answered - " Ill betide
The school wherein I learned to ride!
Quoth Charles -'Old Hetman, wherefore so,
Since thou hast learned the art so well?
Mazeppa said - "Twere long to tell;
And we have many a league to go,
With every now and then a blow,
And ten to one at least the foe,
Before our steeds may graze at ease,
Beyond the swift Borysthenes:
And, sire, your limbs have need...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

Paradise Lost: Book 12

...to Men 
From God, and over wrath grace shall abound. 
But say, if our Deliverer up to Heaven 
Must re-ascend, what will betide the few 
His faithful, left among the unfaithful herd, 
The enemies of truth? Who then shall guide 
His people, who defend? Will they not deal 
Worse with his followers than with him they dealt? 
Be sure they will, said the Angel; but from Heaven 
He to his own a Comforter will send, 
The promise of the Father, who shall dwell 
His Spirit within them;...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Song of the Indian Maid

..., and gentler fate?'¡ª 
'We follow Bacchus! Bacchus on the wing, 
A-conquering! 
Bacchus, young Bacchus! good or ill betide, 
We dance before him thorough kingdoms wide:¡ª 80 
Come hither, lady fair, and join¨¨d be 
To our wild minstrelsy!' 

'Whence came ye, jolly Satyrs! whence came ye, 
So many, and so many, and such glee? 
Why have ye left your forest haunts, why left 85 
Your nuts in oak-tree cleft?'¡ª 
'For wine, for wine we left our kernel tree; 
For wine ...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

Song of the Indian Maid from Endymion

...es, and gentler fate?'-- 
'We follow Bacchus! Bacchus on the wing, 
 A-conquering! 
Bacchus, young Bacchus! good or ill betide, 
We dance before him thorough kingdoms wide:-- 
Come hither, lady fair, and joined be 
 To our wild minstrelsy!' 

'Whence came ye, jolly Satyrs! whence came ye, 
So many, and so many, and such glee? 
Why have ye left your forest haunts, why left 
 Your nuts in oak-tree cleft?'-- 
'For wine, for wine we left our kernel tree; 
For wine we left our hea...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

The Call Of The Wild

...ir teaching --
 But can't you hear the Wild? -- it's calling you.
Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us;
 Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star agleam to guide us,
 And the Wild is calling, calling . . . let us go....Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

The Earthly Paradise: The Lady of the Land

...in her temple had I lived and died
And all would long ago have passed away,
But ere that time came, did strange things betide,
Whereby I am alive unto this day;
Alas, the bitter words that I must say!
Ah! can I bring my wretched tongue to tell
How I was brought unto this fearful hell.


"A queen I was, what Gods I knew I loved,
And nothing evil was there in my thought,
And yet by love my wretched heart was moved
Until to utter ruin I was brought!
Alas! thou sayest our gods w...Read more of this...
by Morris, William

The Eve Of St. Agnes

...burning Porphyro;
 So woful, and of such deep sorrowing,
 That Angela gives promise she will do
Whatever he shall wish, betide her weal or woe.

 Which was, to lead him, in close secrecy,
 Even to Madeline's chamber, and there hide
 Him in a closet, of such privacy
 That he might see her beauty unespy'd,
 And win perhaps that night a peerless bride,
 While legion'd faeries pac'd the coverlet,
 And pale enchantment held her sleepy-ey'd.
 Never on such a night have lovers met,
...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

The Friars Tale

...
For I will holde company with thee,
Till it be so that thou forsake me."
"Nay," quoth this Sompnour, "that shall ne'er betide.
I am a yeoman, that is known full wide;
My trothe will I hold, as in this case;
For though thou wert the devil Satanas,
My trothe will I hold to thee, my brother,
As I have sworn, and each of us to other,
For to be true brethren in this case,
And both we go *abouten our purchase.* *seeking what we
Take thou thy part, what that men will thee give, may...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Idiot Boy

...A woodman in the distant vale;  There's none to help poor Susan Gale,  What must be done? what will betide?   And Betty from the lane has fetched  Her pony, that is mild and good,  Whether he be in joy or pain,  Feeding at will along the lane,  Or bringing faggots from the wood.   And he is all in travelling trim,  And by the moonlight, Betty Foy  Has up upon the ...Read more of this...
by Wordsworth, William

The Lady of the Lake

...deer.—
     I am alone;—my bugle-strain
     May call some straggler of the train;
     Or, fall the worst that may betide,
     Ere now this falchion has been tried.'
     XVII.

     But scarce again his horn he wound,
     When lo! forth starting at the sound,
     From underneath an aged oak
     That slanted from the islet rock,
     A damsel guider of its way,
     A little skiff shot to the bay,
     That round the promontory steep
     Led its deep line...Read more of this...
by Scott, Sir Walter

The Man of Laws Tale

...shall rather out of my body start,
Than Mahomet's law go out of mine heart.

"What should us tiden* of this newe law, *betide, befall
But thraldom to our bodies, and penance,
And afterward in hell to be y-draw,
For we *renied Mahound our creance?* *denied Mahomet our belief*
But, lordes, will ye maken assurance,
As I shall say, assenting to my lore*? *advice
And I shall make us safe for evermore."

They sworen and assented every man
To live with her and die, and by her stand...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Millers Tale

...ssen him* began, *bless, cross himself*
And said: "Now help us, Sainte Frideswide.
A man wot* little what shall him betide. *knows
This man is fall'n with his astronomy
Into some woodness* or some agony. *madness
I thought aye well how that it shoulde be.
Men should know nought of Godde's privity*. *secrets
Yea, blessed be alway a lewed* man, *unlearned
That *nought but only his believe can*. *knows no more
So far'd another clerk with astronomy: than his "credo."*
He walk...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Scapegoat

...e band" -- 
And handed the Government over to Joshua. 

But Moses told 'em before he died, 
"Wherever you are, whatever betide, 
Every year as the time draws near 
By lot or by rote choose you a goat, 
And let the high priest confess on the beast 
The sins of the people the worst and the least, 
Lay your sins on the goat! Sure the plan ought to suit yer. 
Because all your sins are 'his troubles' in future. 
Then lead him away to the wilderness black 
To die with the weight of...Read more of this...
by Paterson, Andrew Barton

The Sprig of Moss

...ushed into his mind,
And courage enough to drown himself he couldn't find,
So he resolved to go home again whatever did betide,
And he asked forgiveness of his Creator by the river side. 

And as he knelt, a few incoherent words escaped him,
And the thought of drowning himself he considered a great sin,
And the more he thought of it, he felt his flesh creep,
But in a few minutes he fell fast asleep. 

And he slept soundly, for the stillness wasn't broke,
And the day was begin...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz

The Vision of Judgment

...be amiss 
To grow a whole one on the other side 
Of Charon's ferry; you forget that his 
Reign is concluded; whatso'er betide, 
He won't be sovereign more: you've lost your labor, 
For at the best he will be but your neighbour. 

LXXIII 

'However, I knew what to think of it, 
When I beheld you in your jesting way, 
Flitting and whispering round about the spit 
Where Belial, upon duty for the day, 
With Fox's lard was basting William Pitt, 
His pupil; I knew what to think, I...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

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