Famous Derisive Poems by Famous Poets

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

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A New Years Resolution to Leave Dundee

...oes my heart sadly grieve.
Every morning when I go out
The ignorant rabble they do shout
'There goes Mad McGonagall'
In derisive shouts as loud as they can bawl,
And lifts stones and snowballs, throws them at me;
And such actions are shameful to be heard in the city of Dundee.
And I'm ashamed, kind Christians, to confess
That from the Magistrates I can get no redress.
Therefore I have made up my mind in the year of 1893
To leave the ancient City of Dundee,
Because the citizen...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz


Factory Windows are Always Broken

...indows are always broken. 
Other windows are let alone. 
No one throws through the chapel-window 
The bitter, snarling, derisive stone. 

Factory windows are always broken. 
Something or other is going wrong. 
Something is rotten--I think, in Denmark. 
End of factory-window song....Read more of this...
by Lindsay, Vachel

Inferno (English)

...ned 
 Against him, leapt upon him, before, behind, 
 Dragged in their fury, and rent, and tore him through, 
 Screaming derisive, "Philip! whose horse-hooves shine 
 With silver," and the rageful Florentine 
 Turned on himself his gnashing teeth and tore. 

 But he deserveth, and I speak, no more. 

 Now, as we neared the further beach, I heard 
 The lamentable and unceasing wail 
 By which the air of all the hells is stirred 
 Increasing ever, which caused mine eyes unveil 
...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Senlin: His Futile Preoccupations

...he star on which my shadow falls is frightened,— 
It does not move; my trowel taps a stone, 
The sweet note wavers amid derisive music; 
And I, in horror of sunlight, stand alone.

Do not recall my weakness, savage music! 
Let the knives rest! 
Impersonal, harsh, the music revolves and glitters, 
And the notes like poniards pierce my breast. 
And I remember the shadows of webs on stones, 
And the sound or rain on withered grass, 
And a sorrowful face that looked without illus...Read more of this...
by Aiken, Conrad

Tears In Sleep

...ing.
I would not wake at your word, I had tears to say.
I clung to the bars of the dream and they were said,
And pain's derisive hand had given me rest
From the night giving off flames, and the dark renewing....Read more of this...
by Bogan, Louise


The House Of Dust: Part 04: 02: Death: And A Derisive Chorus

...The door is shut. She leaves the curtained office,
And down the grey-walled stairs comes trembling slowly
Towards the dazzling street.
Her withered hand clings tightly to the railing.
The long stairs rise and fall beneath her feet.

Here in the brilliant sun we jostle, waiting
To tear her secret out . . . We laugh, we hurry,
We go our way, revolving, sinis...Read more of this...
by Aiken, Conrad

The Legend of Mirth

...t:
Occasions where Confusion smiting swift
Piles jest on jest as snow-slides pile the drift
Whence, one by one, beneath derisive skies,
The victims' bare, bewildered heads arise--
Tales of the passing of the spirit, graced
With humour blinding as the doom it faced--
Stark tales of ribaldy that broke aside
To tears, by laughter swallowed ere they dried-
Tales to which neither grace nor gain accrue,
But Only (Allah be exalted!) true,
And only, as the Seraph showed that night,
D...Read more of this...
by Kipling, Rudyard

The Receptionist

...when a pub I seek each night,
 To my profound vexation
On form they hand me I've to write
 My occupation.

So once in a derisive mood
 My pen I nibbled;
And though I know I never should:
 'Gangster' I scribbled.
But as the clerk with startled face
 Looked stark suspicion,
I blurred it out and in its place
 Put 'Politician.'

Then suddenly dissolved his frown;
 His face fused to a grin,
As humorously he set down
 The form I handed in.
His shrug was eloquent to view.
 Quoth he:...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

The Summary History of Sir William Wallace

...ou were sold for English gold,
And brought like a sheep from the fold,
To die upon a shameful scaffold high,
Amidst the derisive shouts of your enemies standing by. 

But you met your doom like a warrior bold,
Bidding defiance to them that had you sold,
And bared your neck for the headsman's stroke;
And cried, 'Marion, dear, my heart is broke;
My lovely dear I come to thee,
Oh! I am longing thee to see!'
But the headsman was as stolid as the rock,
And the axe fell heavily on ...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz

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