Famous Couldst Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Astrophel and Stella

...;
Thou whom to me such good turnes should bind,
As I may well recount, but none can prize:
For when, nak'd Boy, thou couldst no harbour finde
In this old world, growne now so too, too wise,
I lodgd thee in my heart, and being blind
By nature borne, I gaue to thee mine eyes;
Mine eyes! my light, my heart, my life, alas!
If so great seruices may scorned be,
Yet let this thought thy Tygrish courage passe,
That I perhaps am somewhat kinne to thee;
Since in thine armes,...Read more of this...
by Sidney, Sir Philip


Balin and Balan

...l, thine axe!' he cried, 
Descended, and disjointed it at a blow: 
To whom the woodman uttered wonderingly 
'Lord, thou couldst lay the Devil of these woods 
If arm of flesh could lay him.' Balin cried 
'Him, or the viler devil who plays his part, 
To lay that devil would lay the Devil in me.' 
'Nay' said the churl, 'our devil is a truth, 
I saw the flash of him but yestereven. 
And some DO say that our Sir Garlon too 
Hath learned black magic, and to ride unseen. 
Look to th...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Beowulf (Old English)

...Beowulf,
when thy yearnings suddenly swept thee yonder
battle to seek o’er the briny sea,
combat in Heorot? Hrothgar couldst thou
aid at all, the honored chief,
in his wide-known woes? With waves of care
my sad heart seethed; I sore mistrusted
my loved one’s venture: long I begged thee
by no means to seek that slaughtering monster,
but suffer the South-Danes to settle their feud
themselves with Grendel. Now God be thanked
that safe and sound I can see thee now!”
B...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,

Bride of Abydos The

...the cave 
Thy heart grew chill: 
He was thy hope — thy joy — thy love — thine all — 
And that last thought on him thou couldst not save 
Sufficed to kill; 

Burst forth in one wild cry — and all was still. 
Peace to thy broken heart, and virgin grave! 
Ah! happy! but of life to lose the worst! 
That grief — though deep — though fatal — was thy first! 
Thrice happy! ne'er to feel nor fear the force 
Of absence, shame, pride, hate, revenge, remorse! 
And, oh! that pang where m...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

Cleon

...ime? 
If, in the morning of philosophy, 
Ere aught had been recorded, nay perceived, 
Thou, with the light now in thee, couldst have looked 
On all earth's tenantry, from worm to bird, 
Ere man, her last, appeared upon the stage-- 
Thou wouldst have seen them perfect, and deduced 
The perfectness of others yet unseen. 
Conceding which,--had Zeus then questioned thee, 
"Shall I go on a step, improve on this, 
Do more for visible creatures than is done?" 
Thou wouldst have answ...Read more of this...
by Browning, Robert


Comus

...swain? Hath any ram
Slipped from the fold, or young kid lost his dam,
Or straggling wether the pent flock forsook?
How couldst thou find this dark sequestered nook?
 SPIR. O my loved master's heir, and his next joy,
I came not here on such a trivial toy
As a strayed ewe, or to pursue the stealth
Of pilfering wolf; not all the fleecy wealth
That doth enrich these downs is worth a thought
To this my errand, and the care it brought.
But, oh ! my virgin Lady, where is she?
How c...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Endymion: Book II

...se-pillow'd every summer night.
Doff all sad fears, thou white deliciousness,
And let us be thus comforted; unless
Thou couldst rejoice to see my hopeless stream
Hurry distracted from Sol's temperate beam,
And pour to death along some hungry sands."--
"What can I do, Alpheus? Dian stands
Severe before me: persecuting fate!
Unhappy Arethusa! thou wast late
A huntress free in"--At this, sudden fell
Those two sad streams adown a fearful dell.
The Latmian listen'd, but he heard n...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

First Anniversary

...ies, so one were ten. 
What thy misfortune, they the spirit call, 
And their religion only is to fall. 
Oh Mahomet! now couldst thou rise again, 
Thy falling-sickness should have made thee reign, 
While Feake and Simpson would in many a tome, 
Have writ the comments of thy sacred foam: 
For soon thou mightst have passed among their rant 
Were't but for thine unmov?d tulipant; 
As thou must needs have owned them of thy band 
For prophecies fit to be Alcoraned. 

Accurs?d locus...Read more of this...
by Marvell, Andrew

Guinevere

...d.' 
She answered, `Lancelot, wilt thou hold me so? 
Nay, friend, for we have taken our farewells. 
Would God that thou couldst hide me from myself! 
Mine is the shame, for I was wife, and thou 
Unwedded: yet rise now, and let us fly, 
For I will draw me into sanctuary, 
And bide my doom.' So Lancelot got her horse, 
Set her thereon, and mounted on his own, 
And then they rode to the divided way, 
There kissed, and parted weeping: for he past, 
Love-loyal to the least wish of...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Inferno (English)

...his dark realm were told 
 Vainly. But show me why the Heavens unclose 
 To loose thee from them, and thyself content 
 Couldst thus continue in such strange descent 
 From that most Spacious Place for which ye burn, 
 And while ye further left, would fain return.' 

 " 'That which thou wouldst,' she said, 'I briefly tell. 
 There is no fear nor any hurt in Hell, 
 Except that it be powerful. God in me 
 Is gracious, that the piteous sights I see 
 I share not, nor myself can...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Last Instructions to a Painter

...yed, 
And now first wished she e'er had been a maid. 
Great Love, how dost thou triumph and how reign, 
That to a groom couldst humble her disdain! 
Stripped to her skin, see how she stooping stands, 
Nor scorns to rub him down with those fair hands, 
And washing (lest the scent her crime disclose) 
His sweaty hooves, tickles him 'twixt the toes. 
But envious Fame, too soon, began to note 
More gold in's Fob, more lace upon his coat; 
And he, unwary, and of tongue too fleet, ...Read more of this...
by Marvell, Andrew

Paradise Lost: Book 04

...t unsay, pretending first 
Wise to fly pain, professing next the spy, 
Argues no leader but a liear traced, 
Satan, and couldst thou faithful add? O name, 
O sacred name of faithfulness profaned! 
Faithful to whom? to thy rebellious crew? 
Army of Fiends, fit body to fit head. 
Was this your discipline and faith engaged, 
Your military obedience, to dissolve 
Allegiance to the acknowledged Power supreme? 
And thou, sly hypocrite, who now wouldst seem 
Patron of liberty, who m...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 05

...hsafed 
To enter, and these earthly fruits to taste, 
Food not of Angels, yet accepted so, 
As that more willingly thou couldst not seem 
At Heaven's high feasts to have fed: yet what compare 
To whom the winged Hierarch replied. 
O Adam, One Almighty is, from whom 
All things proceed, and up to him return, 
If not depraved from good, created all 
Such to perfection, one first matter all, 
Endued with various forms, various degrees 
Of substance, and, in things that live, of ...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 09

...But might as ill have happened thou being by, 
Or to thyself perhaps? Hadst thou been there, 
Or here the attempt, thou couldst not have discerned 
Fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake; 
No ground of enmity between us known, 
Why he should mean me ill, or seek to harm. 
Was I to have never parted from thy side? 
As good have grown there still a lifeless rib. 
Being as I am, why didst not thou, the head, 
Command me absolutely not to go, 
Going into such danger, as thou ...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 10

...
On me, me only, as the source and spring 
Of all corruption, all the blame lights due; 
So might the wrath! Fond wish!couldst thou support 
That burden, heavier than the earth to bear; 
Than all the world much heavier, though divided 
With that bad Woman? Thus, what thou desirest, 
And what thou fearest, alike destroys all hope 
Of refuge, and concludes thee miserable 
Beyond all past example and future; 
To Satan only like both crime and doom. 
O Conscience! into what abys...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Samson Agonistes

...isarm'd among my enemies. 

Chor. Desire of wine and all delicious drinks,
Which many a famous Warriour overturns,
Thou couldst repress, nor did the dancing Rubie
Sparkling; out-pow'rd, the flavor, or the smell,
Or taste that cheers the heart of Gods and men,
Allure thee from the cool Crystalline stream.

Sam. Where ever fountain or fresh current flow'd
Against the Eastern ray, translucent, pure,
With touch aetherial of Heav'ns fiery rod
I drank, from the clear milkie juice a...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Self Communion

...ove a surer guide
Than those sweet instincts of our youth.
Thou that hast known such anguish sore
In weeping where thou couldst not bless,
Canst thou that softness so deplore -­
That suffering, shrinking tenderness?
Thou that hast felt what cankering care
A loving heart is doomed to bear,
Say, how canst thou regret
That fires unfed must fall away,
Long droughts can dry the softest clay,
And cold will cold beget?' 

'Nay, but 'tis hard to feel that chill
Come creeping o'er the...Read more of this...
by Bronte, Anne

The Bride of Abydos

...the cave 
Thy heart grew chill: 
He was thy hope — thy joy — thy love — thine all — 
And that last thought on him thou couldst not save 
Sufficed to kill; 

Burst forth in one wild cry — and all was still. 
Peace to thy broken heart, and virgin grave! 
Ah! happy! but of life to lose the worst! 
That grief — though deep — though fatal — was thy first! 
Thrice happy! ne'er to feel nor fear the force 
Of absence, shame, pride, hate, revenge, remorse! 
And, oh! that pang where m...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

The Lady of the Lake

...on
     Will see them here for battle boune.'
     'Then shall it see a meeting stern!
     But, for the place,—say, couldst thou learn
     Nought of the friendly clans of Earn?
     Strengthened by them, we well might bide
     The battle on Benledi's side.
     Thou couldst not?—well! Clan-Alpine's men
     Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen;
     Within Loch Katrine's gorge we'll fight,
     All in our maids' and matrons' sight,
     Each for his hearth and ho...Read more of this...
by Scott, Sir Walter

The Vanity of Human Wishes (excerpts)

...tive mirth,
51 See motley life in modern trappings dress'd,
52 And feed with varied fools th' eternal jest:
53 Thou who couldst laugh where want enchain'd caprice,
54 Toil crush'd conceit, and man was of a piece;
55 Where wealth unlov'd without a mourner died;
56 And scarce a sycophant was fed by pride;
57 Where ne'er was known the form of mock debate,
58 Or seen a new-made mayor's unwieldy state;
59 Where change of fav'rites made no change of laws,
60 And senates heard befor...Read more of this...
by Johnson, Samuel

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