Famous Cleanliness Poems by Famous Poets
These are examples of famous Cleanliness poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous cleanliness poems. These examples illustrate what a famous cleanliness poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).
See also:
by
Whitman, Walt
...r himself or herself,
Nature and the Soul expressed—America and freedom expressed—In it the finest
art,
In it pride, cleanliness, sympathy, to have their chance,
In it physique, intellect, faith—in it just as much as to manage an army or a city,
or to
write a book—perhaps more,
The youth, the laboring person, the poor person, rivalling all the rest—perhaps
outdoing
the rest,
The effects of the universe no greater than its;
For there is nothing in the whole universe ...Read more of this...
by
Robinson, Edwin Arlington
...e day, the man
Whom we had known before.
The broken voice, the withered neck,
The coat worn out with care,
The cleanliness of indigence,
The brilliance of despair,
The fond imponderable dreams
Of affluence,--all were there.
Poor Finzer, with his dreams and schemes,
Fares hard now in the race,
With heart and eye that have a task
When he looks in the eye
Of one who might so easily
Have been in Finzer's place.
He comes unfailing for the loan
We give...Read more of this...
by
Trethewey, Natasha
...le, the whole house
dancing. She raises the shades,
washes the rooms in light,
buckets of water, Octagon soap.
Cleanliness is next to godliness ...
Windows and doors flung wide,
curtains two-stepping
forward and back, neck bones
bumping in the pot, a choir
of clothes clapping on the line.
Nearer my God to Thee ...
She beats time on the rugs,
blows dust from the broom
like dandelion spores, each one
a wish for something better....Read more of this...
by
Service, Robert William
......
And that was how it all began,
Through horror of muck and mess,
Even in prehistoric Man,
LAW, ORDER and CLEANLINESS'.
And that is why I never kill
A fly, no matter how obscene;
For I believe in God's good will:
He gave us vermin to make us clean....Read more of this...
by
Gibran, Kahlil
...not my contrition, my blamer.
Let me walk, for the path is rich
With roses and mint, and the air
Is scented with cleanliness.
Relate not the tales of wealth and
Greatness, for my soul is rich
With bounty and great with God's glory.
Speak not of peoples and laws and
Kingdoms, for the whole earth is
My birthplace and all humans are
My brothers.
Go from me, for you are taking away
Life - giving repentance and bringing
Needless words....Read more of this...
by
Herbert, George
...united are our navigation;
Distinguishèd, our habitation;
Below, our drink; above, our meat;
Both are our cleanliness. Hath one such beauty?
Then how are all things neat?
More servants wait on Man
Than he'll take notice of: in every path
He treads down that which doth befriend him
When sickness makes him pale and wan.
O mighty love! Man is one world, and hath
Another to attend him.
Sinc...Read more of this...
by
Brautigan, Richard
...y:
Waters united are our navigation;
Distinguished, our habitation;
Below, our drink; above, our meat;
Both are our cleanliness.
Hath one such beauty?
Then how are all things neat?
More servants wait on Man,
Than he'll take notice of: in ev'ry path
He treads down that which doth befriend him,
When sickness makes him pale and wan.
Oh mighty love! Man is one world, and hath
Another to attend him.
Since then, my God, thou hast
So brave a palace built; ...Read more of this...
by
Williams, William Carlos (WCW)
...Flowers through the window
lavender and yellow
changed by white curtains—
Smell of cleanliness—
Sunshine of late afternoon—
On the glass tray
a glass pitcher, the tumbler
turned down, by which
a key is lying— And the
immaculate white bed...Read more of this...
by
Larkin, Philip
...Groping back to bed after a piss
I part the thick curtains, and am startled by
The rapid clouds, the moon's cleanliness.
Four o'clock: wedge-shaped gardens lie
Under a cavernous, a wind-pierced sky.
There's something laughable about this,
The way the moon dashes through the clouds that blow
Loosely as cannon-smoke to stand apart
(Stone-coloured light sharpening the roofs below)
High and preposterous and separate--
Lozenge of love! Medallion of art!
O wo...Read more of this...
by
Stojanovic, Dejan
...t and tighten sentences
Is the secret of mastery.
To keep the air fresh among words
Is the secret of verbal cleanliness.
To write good poems
Is the secret of brevity.
To go against the grain
Is the secret of bravery.
To risk life to save a smile on a face of a woman or a child
Is the secret of chivalry.
To go where no one else has ever gone before
Is the secret of heroism.
To expect to be kissed having bad breath
I...Read more of this...
by
Whitman, Walt
...assembly and take places the same as the men;
Where the city of the faithfulest friends stands;
Where the city of the cleanliness of the sexes stands;
Where the city of the healthiest fathers stands;
Where the city of the best-bodied mothers stands,
There the great city stands.
6
How beggarly appear arguments before a defiant deed!
How the floridness of the materials of cities shrivels before a man’s or woman’s look!
All waits, or goes by default, till a strong b...Read more of this...
by
Finch, Anne Kingsmill
...shade!
Courteous Fate! afford me there
A table spread, without my care,
With what the neighb'ring fields impart,
Whose cleanliness be all its art.
When of old the calf was drest
(Though to make an angel's feast)
In the plain unstudied sauce
Nor truffle nor morillia was;
Nor could the mighty patriarchs' board
One far-fetch'd ortolan afford.
Courteous Fate! then give me there
Only plain and wholesome fare;
Fruits indeed (would heaven bestow)
All that did in Eden grow,
...Read more of this...
Dont forget to view our wonderful member Cleanliness poems.