Famous Devotion Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Psalm 134

by Isaac Watts
 Daily and nightly devotion.

Ye that obey th' immortal King,
Attend his holy place;
Bow to the glories of his power,
And bless his wondrous grace.

Lift up your hands by morning light,
And send your souls on high;
Raise your admiring thoughts by night
Above the starry sky.

The God of Zion cheers our hearts
With rays of quick'ning grace;
The God that spread the heav'ns abroad,
And rules the...Read more of this...

218. Song—Talk of him that's Far Awa

by Robert Burns
 MUSING on the roaring ocean,
 Which divides my love and me;
Wearying heav’n in warm devotion,
 For his weal where’er he be.


Hope and Fear’s alternate billow
 Yielding late to Nature’s law,
Whispering spirits round my pillow,
 Talk of him that’s far awa.


Ye whom sorrow never wounded,
 Ye who never shed a tear,
Care-untroubled, joy-surrounded,
 Gaudy day to you is dear.


Gentle night, do...Read more of this...

Devotion

by Robert Frost
 The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to the ocean--
Holding the curve of one position,
Counting an endless repetition....Read more of this...

Psalm 119 part 2

by Isaac Watts
 Secret devotion and spiritual-mindedness.

ver. 147,55 

To thee, before the dawning light
My gracious God, I pray;
I meditate thy name by night,
And keep thy law by day.

ver. 81 

My spirit faints to see thy grace,
Thy promise bears me up;
And while salvation long delays,
Thy word supports my hope.

ver. 164 

Seven times a day I lift my hands,
And pay my thanks to thee;
Thy...Read more of this...

Now is the time to drink the morning wine; the noise

by Omar Khayyam
Now is the time to drink the morning wine; the noise
makes itself heard, O cupbearer! Now we are ready, O
cupbearer! here is the wine, behold the tavern. Could a
moment like this be for prayer? Silence, O cupbearer!
Leave thy discourse upon tradition and upon devotion;
drink, O cupbearer!...Read more of this...

The Lie

by Sir Walter Raleigh
 Go, Soul, the body's guest,
Upon a thankless errand;
Fear not to touch the best;
The truth shall be thy warrant:
Go, since I needs must die,
And give the world the lie.

Say to the court, it glows
And shines like rotten wood;
Say to the church, it shows
What's good, and doth no good:
If church and court reply,
Then give them both the lie.

Tell potentates, they live
Acting...Read more of this...

The Ballad Of Caseys Billy-Goat

by Robert William Service
 You've heard of "Casey at The Bat,"
 And "Casey's Tabble Dote";
 But now it's time
 To write a rhyme
 Of "Casey's Billy-goat."

Pat Casey had a billy-goat he gave the name of Shamus,
Because it was (the neighbours said) a national disgrace.
And sure enough that animal was eminently famous
For masticating every rag of laundry round the place.
For shirts to skirts prodigiously...Read more of this...

The Need to Love

by Alan Seeger
 The need to love that all the stars obey
Entered my heart and banished all beside.
Bare were the gardens where I used to stray;
Faded the flowers that one time satisfied.

Before the beauty of the west on fire,
The moonlit hills from cloister-casements viewed
Cloud-like arose the image of desire,
And cast out peace and maddened solitude.

I sought the City and the hopes it...Read more of this...

Ode For Memorial Day

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Done are the toils and the wearisome marches,
Done is the summons of bugle and drum.
Softly and sweetly the sky over-arches,
Shelt'ring a land where Rebellion is dumb.
Dark were the days of the country's derangement,
Sad were the hours when the conflict was on,
But through the gloom of fraternal estrangement
God sent his light, and we welcome the dawn.
O'er the expanse of our mighty...Read more of this...

99. To a Louse

by Robert Burns
 HA! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
 Owre gauze and lace;
Tho’, faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
 On sic a place.


Ye ugly, creepin, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunn’d by saunt an’ sinner,
How daur ye set your fit upon her—
 Sae fine a lady?
Gae somewhere else and seek your dinner
 On...Read more of this...

To Qiwu Qian Bound Home After Failing In An Examination

by Wang Wei
In a happy reign there should be no hermits; 
The wise and able should consult together.... 
So you, a man of the eastern mountains, 
Gave up your life of picking herbs 
And came all the way to the Gate of Gold -- 
But you found your devotion unavailing. 
...To spend the Day of No Fire on one of the southern...Read more of this...

On The Death Of Rev. Mr. George Whitefield

by Phillis Wheatley
 HAIL, happy saint, on thine immortal throne,
Possest of glory, life, and bliss unknown;
We hear no more the music of thy tongue,
Thy wonted auditories cease to throng.
Thy sermons in unequall'd accents flow'd,
And ev'ry bosom with devotion glow'd;
Thou didst in strains of eloquence refin'd
Inflame the heart, and captivate the mind.
Unhappy we the setting sun deplore,
So glorious once, but ah! it shines...Read more of this...

I fear thy kisses gentle maiden

by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I FEAR thy kisses gentle maiden; 
Thou needest not fear mine; 
My spirit is too deeply laden 
Ever to burthen thine. 

I fear thy mien thy tones thy motion; 5 
Thou needest not fear mine; 
Innocent is the heart's devotion 
With which I worship thine. ...Read more of this...

Sunday Morning

by Wallace Stevens
1
Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.
She dreams a little, and she feels the dark
Encroachment of that old catastrophe,
As a calm darkens among water-lights.
The pungent oranges and bright, green wings
Seem things in some procession of the dead,
Winding across wide...Read more of this...

For thee, that which is best is to flee from the seeking

by Omar Khayyam
For thee, that which is best is to flee from the seeking
of knowledge and devotion; to finger the tresses of
thy ravishing friend; to pour into the cup the blood
of the vine ere time has spilled thine own....Read more of this...

The Slave Singing At Midnight

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 Loud he sang the psalm of David!
He, a ***** and enslaved,
Sang of Israel's victory,
Sang of Zion, bright and free.

In that hour, when night is calmest,
Sang he from the Hebrew Psalmist,
In a voice so sweet and clear
That I could not choose but hear,

Songs of triumph, and ascriptions,
Such as reached the swart Egyptians,
When upon the Red Sea coast
Perished Pharaoh and his...Read more of this...

How a Little Girl Danced

by Vachel Lindsay
 DEDICATED TO LUCY BATES

(Being a reminiscence of certain private theatricals.)


Oh, cabaret dancer, I know a dancer,
Whose eyes have not looked on the feasts that are vain.
I know a dancer, I know a dancer,
Whose soul has no bond with the beasts of the plain:
Judith the dancer, Judith the dancer,
With foot like the snow, and with step like the rain.

Oh, thrice-painted...Read more of this...

To The Pious Memory Of The Accomplished Young Lady Mrs. Anne Killigrew

by John Dryden
 Thou youngest virgin-daughter of the skies,
 Made in the last promotion of the Blest;
Whose palms, new pluck'd from Paradise,
In spreading branches more sublimely rise,
Rich with immortal green above the rest:
Whether, adopted to some neighbouring star,
Thou roll'st above us, in thy wand'ring race,
 Or, in procession fix'd and regular,
 Mov'd with the Heavens' majestic pace:
 Or, call'd to more superior...Read more of this...

Rowing

by Anne Sexton
 A story, a story!
(Let it go. Let it come.)
I was stamped out like a Plymouth fender
into this world.
First came the crib
with its glacial bars.
Then dolls
and the devotion to their plactic mouths.
Then there was school,
the little straight rows of chairs,
blotting my name over and over,
but undersea all the time,
a stranger whose elbows wouldn't work.
Then there was life
with its cruel houses
and...Read more of this...

My Dog

by Robert William Service
 'Twas in a pub just off the Strand
When I was in my cups,
There passed a bloke with in his hand
Two tiny puling pups;
And one was on me with a bound,
Seeking to lick my face,
And so I bought him for a pound
And took him to my place.

Three acres by the shore I own,
A hut, a pint wood;
And there for fifteen...Read more of this...

Yes, it is beautiful to enjoy good fame; it is shameful

by Omar Khayyam
Yes, it is beautiful to enjoy good fame; it is shameful
to complain of the injustice of heaven; it is better to
become drunk with the juice of the grape, than to be
puffed up with false devotion....Read more of this...

Ballad of the Ancient Cypress

by Du Fu
 Kong ming temple before be old cypress Branch like green bronze root like stone Frost bark slippery rain 40 spans Black colour meet sky 2000 feet Emperor and minister already with time end meet Tree tree still be man devotion Cloud come air meet Wu gorge long Moon out cold with snow mountain white Remember old road...Read more of this...

Freedom on the Wallaby

by Henry Lawson
 Australia's a big country 
An' Freedom's humping bluey, 
An' Freedom's on the wallaby 
Oh! don't you hear 'er cooey? 
She's just begun to boomerang, 
She'll knock the tyrants silly, 
She's goin' to light another fire 
And boil another billy. 

Our fathers toiled for bitter bread 
While loafers thrived beside 'em, 
But food to eat and clothes to wear, 
Their...Read more of this...

Fools Money Bags

by Amy Lowell
 Outside the long window,
With his head on the stone sill,
The dog is lying,
Gazing at his Beloved.
His eyes are wet and urgent,
And his body is taut and shaking.
It is cold on the terrace;
A pale wind licks along the stone slabs,
But the dog gazes through the glass
And is content.
The Beloved is writing a letter.
Occasionally she speaks to the dog,
But she is...Read more of this...

Devotion to Duty

by Siegfried Sassoon
 I was near the King that day. I saw him snatch 
And briskly scan the G.H.Q. dispatch. 
Thick-voiced, he read it out. (His face was grave.) 
‘This officer advanced with the first wave, 

‘And when our first objective had been gained,
‘(Though wounded twice), reorganized the line: 
‘The spirit of the troops was by his fine 
‘Example most effectively sustained.’...Read more of this...

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