Famous Brightest Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

A Song To David

...seven, 
Which stand from earth to topmost heav'n; 
 His wisdom drew the plan; 
His WORD accomplish'd the design, 
From brightest gem to deepest mine, 
 From CHRIST enthron'd to man. 

 XXXI 
Alpha, the cause of causes, first 
In station, fountain, whence the burst 
 Of light, and blaze of day; 
Whence bold attempt, and brave advance, 
Have motion, life, and ordinance 
 And heav'n itself its stay. 

 XXXII 
Gamma supports the glorious arch 
On which angelic legions march, 
 A...Read more of this...
by Smart, Christopher


Beowulf (Modern English)

...
the old work of giants, the cups and dishes
loading up his bosom at his own discretion.
The standard also was taken, brightest of beacons.
The sword of his elder lord had already injured,
iron-edged, the one who had been the protector
of those treasures for a very long while,
who carried forth a lighted terror,
hot before the hoard, a deadly welling
at midnight, until he was killed in the assault. (ll. 2767-82)

The messenger was in haste, eager to return,
advanci...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,

Beowulf (Old English)

...ar or far, which now thou hast.

Men say to me, as son thou wishest
yon hero to hold. Thy Heorot purged,
jewel-hall brightest, enjoy while thou canst,
with many a largess; and leave to thy kin
folk and realm when forth thou goest
to greet thy doom. For gracious I deem
my Hrothulf, {17b} willing to hold and rule
nobly our youths, if thou yield up first,
prince of Scyldings, thy part in the world.
I ween with good he will well requite
offspring of ours, when all he ...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,

Charmides

...hou would'st come
To rid me of this pallid chastity,
Thou fairest flower of the flowerless foam
Of all the wide AEgean, brightest star
Of ocean's azure heavens where the mirrored planets are!

I knew that thou would'st come, for when at first
The dry wood burgeoned, and the sap of spring
Swelled in my green and tender bark or burst
To myriad multitudinous blossoming
Which mocked the midnight with its mimic moons
That did not dread the dawn, and first the thrushes' rapturous
t...Read more of this...
by Wilde, Oscar

Comus

...orce and through the wile
Of unblessed enchanter vile.
 SABR. Shepherd, 't is my office best
To help ensnared chastity.
Brightest Lady, look on me.
Thus I sprinkle on thy breast
Drops that from my fountain pure
I have kept of precious cure;
Thrice upon thy finger's tip,
Thrice upon thy rubied lip:
Next this marble venomed seat,
Smeared with gums of glutinous heat,
I touch with chaste palms moist and cold.
Now the spell hath lost his hold;
And I must haste ere morning hour
To ...Read more of this...
by Milton, John


Custer

...hunted look of fear gives place to peace, 
And in their eyes at thought of home appears
That rainbow light of joy which brightest shines through tears.



XLVII.
About the leader thick the warriors crowd; 
Late loud in censure, now in praises loud, 
They laud the tactics, and the skill extol
Which gained a bloodless yet a glorious goal.
Alone and lonely in the path of right
Full many a brave soul walks. When gods requite
And crown his actions as their worth demands, 
Among ad...Read more of this...
by Wilcox, Ella Wheeler

Endymion: Book IV

...es the bloom
Of health by due; where silence dreariest
Is most articulate; where hopes infest;
Where those eyes are the brightest far that keep
Their lids shut longest in a dreamless sleep.
O happy spirit-home! O wondrous soul!
Pregnant with such a den to save the whole
In thine own depth. Hail, gentle Carian!
For, never since thy griefs and woes began,
Hast thou felt so content: a grievous feud
Hath let thee to this Cave of Quietude.
Aye, his lull'd soul was there, although ...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

Four Quartets 4: Little Gidding

...own season
Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,
Suspended in time, between pole and tropic.
When the short day is brightest, with frost and fire,
The brief sun flames the ice, on pond and ditches,
In windless cold that is the heart's heat,
Reflecting in a watery mirror
A glare that is blindness in the early afternoon.
And glow more intense than blaze of branch, or brazier,
Stirs the dumb spirit: no wind, but pentecostal fire
In the dark time of the year. Between melting...Read more of this...
by Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)

Hyperion

...down on him with pity, and the voice
Of Coelus, from the universal space,
Thus whisper'd low and solemn in his ear:
"O brightest of my children dear, earth-born
And sky-engendered, son of mysteries
All unrevealed even to the powers
Which met at thy creating; at whose joys
And palpitations sweet, and pleasures soft,
I, Coelus, wonder, how they came and whence;
And at the fruits thereof what shapes they be,
Distinct, and visible; symbols divine,
Manifestations of that beauteou...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

Paradise Lost: Book 04

...sung; 
Silence was pleased: Now glowed the firmament 
With living sapphires: Hesperus, that led 
The starry host, rode brightest, till the moon, 
Rising in clouded majesty, at length 
Apparent queen unveiled her peerless light, 
And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw. 
When Adam thus to Eve. Fair Consort, the hour 
Of night, and all things now retired to rest, 
Mind us of like repose; since God hath set 
Labour and rest, as day and night, to men 
Successive; and the timel...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 05

...when ambrosial night with clouds exhaled 
From that high mount of God, whence light and shade 
Spring both, the face of brightest Heaven had changed 
To grateful twilight, (for night comes not there 
In darker veil,) and roseat dews disposed 
All but the unsleeping eyes of God to rest; 
Wide over all the plain, and wider far 
Than all this globous earth in plain outspread, 
(Such are the courts of God) the angelick throng, 
Dispersed in bands and files, their camp extend 
By ...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

The Deserted Village

...rayed,
In these, ere triflers half their wish obtain,
The toiling pleasure sickens into pain;
And, even while fashion's brightest arts decoy,
The heart distrusting asks, if this be joy.

Ye friends to truth, ye statesmen, who survey
The rich man's joys increase, the poor's decay,
'Tis yours to judge how wide the limits stand
Between a splendid and a happy land.
Proud swells the tide with loads of freighted ore,
And shouting Folly hails them from her shore;
Hoards even beyond ...Read more of this...
by Goldsmith, Oliver

The Four Winds

...g, 
He it was whose silver arrows 
Chased the dark o'er hill and valley; 
He it was whose cheeks were painted 
With the brightest streaks of crimson, 
And whose voice awoke the village, 
Called the deer, and called the hunter.
Lonely in the sky was Wabun; 
Though the birds sang gayly to him, 
Though the wild-flowers of the meadow 
Filled the air with odors for him; 
Though the forests and the rivers 
Sang and shouted at his coming, 
Still his heart was sad within him, 
For he...Read more of this...
by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

The Garden Of Eros

...not half so sweet
As thou thyself, my soul's idolatry!
And when thou art a-wearied at thy feet
Shall oxlips weave their brightest tapestry,
For thee the woodbine shall forget its pride
And veil its tangled whorls, and thou shalt walk on daisies pied.

And I will cut a reed by yonder spring
And make the wood-gods jealous, and old Pan
Wonder what young intruder dares to sing
In these still haunts, where never foot of man
Should tread at evening, lest he chance to spy
The marble...Read more of this...
by Wilde, Oscar

The Lady of the Lake

...she made;
     And after, oft the knight would say,
     That not when prize of festal day
     Was dealt him by the brightest fair
     Who e'er wore jewel in her hair,
     So highly did his bosom swell
     As at that simple mute farewell.
     Now with a trusty mountain-guide,
     And his dark stag-hounds by his side,
     He parts,—the maid, unconscious still,
     Watched him wind slowly round the hill;
     But when his stately form was hid,
     The guard...Read more of this...
by Scott, Sir Walter

The Rape of the Lock

...irs;
Nay oft, in Dreams, Invention we bestow,
To change a Flounce, or add a Furbelo. 

This Day, black Omens threat the brightest Fair
That e'er deserv'd a watchful Spirit's Care;
Some dire Disaster, or by Force, or Slight,
But what, or where, the Fates have wrapt in Night.
Whether the Nymph shall break Diana's Law,
Or some frail China Jar receive a Flaw,
Or stain her Honour, or her new Brocade,
Forget her Pray'rs, or miss a Masquerade,
Or lose her Heart, or Necklace, at a Ba...Read more of this...
by Pope, Alexander

The Shadow

...before him his array
Of stones and metals, and when the morning
Struck the stones to their best adorning,
He chose the brightest, and this new watch
Was so light and thin it seemed to catch
The sunlight's nothingness, and its gleam.
Topazes ran in a foamy stream
Over the cover, the hands were studded
With garnets, and seemed red roses, budded.
The face was of crystal, and engraved
Upon it the figures flashed and waved
With zircons, and beryls, and amethysts.
It took a week t...Read more of this...
by Lowell, Amy

The Vanity of Human Wishes (excerpts)

...soul indulge the gen'rous heat,
142 Till captive Science yields her last retreat;
143 Should Reason guide thee with her brightest ray,
144 And pour on misty Doubt resistless day;
145 Should no false Kindness lure to loose delight,
146 Nor Praise relax, nor Difficulty fright;
147 Should tempting Novelty thy cell refrain,
148 And Sloth effuse her opiate fumes in vain;
149 Should Beauty blunt on fops her fatal dart,
150 Nor claim the triumph of a letter'd heart;
151 Should no di...Read more of this...
by Johnson, Samuel

The White Cliffs

...hat we receive 
 At birth, and that we render back again. 
That drop of godhood, like a precious stone, 
 May shine the brightest in the tiniest flake. 
Lavished on saints, to sinners not unknown; 
 In harlot, nun, philanthropist, and rake, 
It shines for those who love; none else discern 
 Evil from good; Men's fall did not bestow 
That threatened wisdom; blindly still we yearn 
 After a virtue that we do not know, 
Until our thirst and longing rise above 
The barriers of re...Read more of this...
by Miller, Alice Duer

To A Young Lady

...o'er the wave it hung in air,
Survey'd its glittering glories there,
And fancied, dress'd in gorgeous show,
Itself the brightest thing below:
For clouds could raise the vaunting strain,
And not the fair alone were vain.


Yet well it knew, howe'er array'd,
That beauty, e'en in clouds, might fade,
That nothing sure its charms could boast
Above the loveliest earthly toast;
And so, like them, in early dawn
Resolved its picture should be drawn,
That when old age with length'ning...Read more of this...
by Trumbull, John

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Brightest poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter