Famous Die Away Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Dulcis Memoria

by Henry Van Dyke
 Long, long ago I heard a little song,
(Ah, was it long ago, or yesterday?)
So lowly, slowly wound the tune along,
That far into my heart it found the way:
A melody consoling and endearing;
And still, in silent hours, I'm often hearing
The small, sweet song that does not die away.

Long, long ago I saw a little flower,--
(Ah, was it long ago, or...Read more of this...

Fragment of an Ode to Maia

by John Keats
 MOTHER of Hermes! and still youthful Maia! 
 May I sing to thee 
As thou wast hymned on the shores of Baiae? 
 Or may I woo thee 
In earlier Sicilian? or thy smiles 
Seek as they once were sought, in Grecian isles, 
By bards who died content on pleasant sward, 
 Leaving great verse unto a little clan?...Read more of this...

Dedication

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 The morn arrived; his footstep quickly scared

The gentle sleep that round my senses clung,
And I, awak'ning, from my cottage fared,

And up the mountain side with light heart sprung;
At every step I felt my gaze ensnared

By new-born flow'rs that full of dew-drops hung;
The youthful day awoke with ecstacy,
And all things quicken'd were, to quicken me.

And as I mounted, from the...Read more of this...

The Tied Maverick

by Badger Clark
  Lay on the iron! the tie holds fast
    And my wild record closes.
  This maverick is down at last
    Just roped and tied with roses.
  And one small girl's to blame for it,
  Yet I don't fight with shame for it--
  Lay on the iron; I'm game for...Read more of this...

Morning Midday And Evening Sacrifice

by Gerard Manley Hopkins
 The dappled die-away
Cheek and wimpled lip,
The gold-wisp, the airy-grey
Eye, all in fellowship—
This, all this beauty blooming,
This, all this freshness fuming,
Give God while worth consuming. 

Both thought and thew now bolder
And told by Nature: Tower;
Head, heart, hand, heel, and shoulder
That beat and breathe in power—
This pride of prime's enjoyment
Take as for tool, not toy meant
And hold at Christ's employment. 

The...Read more of this...

Oh! let the passing hand knock

by Emile Verhaeren
Oh! let the passing hand knock with its futile fingers on the door; our hour is so unique, and the rest—what matters the rest with its futile fingers?
Let dismal, tiresome joy keep to the road and pass on with its rattles in its hand.
Let laughter swell and clatter and die away; let the crowd pass with its thousands of voices.
The...Read more of this...

Lines Written at Thorp Green

by Anne Bronte
 That summer sun, whose genial glow
Now cheers my drooping spirit so
Must cold and distant be,
And only light our northern clime
With feeble ray, before the time
I long so much to see. 
And this soft whispering breeze that now
So gently cools my fevered brow,
This too, alas, must turn --
To a wild blast whose icy dart
Pierces and chills me to the heart,
Before...Read more of this...

Alone in Crowds to Wander On

by Thomas Moore
 Alone in crowds to wander on, 
And feel that all the charm is gone 
Which voices dear and eyes beloved 
Shed round us once, where'er we roved -- 
This, this the doom must be 
Of all who've loved, and loved to see 
The few bright things they thought would stay 
For ever near them, die away. 

Though fairer forms...Read more of this...

The Castaway

by William Cowper
 Obscurest night involv'd the sky,
Th' Atlantic billows roar'd,
When such a destin'd wretch as I,
Wash'd headlong from on board,
Of friends, of hope, of all bereft,
His floating home for ever left.

No braver chief could Albion boast
Than he with whom he went,
Nor ever ship left Albion's coast,
With warmer wishes sent.
He lov'd them both, but both in vain,
Nor him beheld, nor her again.

Not...Read more of this...

The Warning

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 WHEN sounds the trumpet at the Judgment Day,

And when forever all things earthly die,

We must a full and true account supply
Of ev'ry useless word we dropp'd in play.

But what effect will all the words convey

Wherein with eager zeal and lovingly,

That I might win thy favour, labour'd I,
If on thine ear alone they die away?

Therefore, sweet love, thy conscience bear...Read more of this...

Homer Clapp

by Edgar Lee Masters
 Often Aner Clute at the gate
Refused me the parting kiss,
Saying we should be engaged before that;
And just with a distant clasp of the hand
She bade me good-night, as I brought her home
From the skating rink or the revival.
No sooner did my departing footsteps die away
Than Lucius Atherton,
(So I learned when Aner went to Peoria)
Stole in at her window, or...Read more of this...

Twas One of Those Dreams

by Thomas Moore
 'TWAS one of those dreams, that by music are brought, 
Like a bright summer haze, o'er the poet's warm thought -- 
When, lost in the future, his soul wanders on, 
And all of this life, but its sweetness, is gone. 

The wild notes he heard o'er the water were those 
He had taught to sing Erin's dark bondage and...Read more of this...

The Parting

by Anne Bronte
 1 

The chestnut steed stood by the gate
His noble master's will to wait,
The woody park so green and bright
Was glowing in the morning light,
The young leaves of the aspen trees
Were dancing in the morning breeze.
The palace door was open wide,
Its lord was standing there,
And his sweet lady by his side
With soft dark eyes and raven hair.
He smiling took her...Read more of this...

Sing Sweet Harp

by Thomas Moore
 Sing, sweet Harp, oh sing to me 
Some song of ancient days, 
Whose sounds, in this sad memory, 
Long-buried dreams shall raise; -- 
Some lay that tells of vanish'd fame, 
Whose light once round us shone, 
Of noble pride, now turn'd to shame, 
And hopes for ever gone. 
Sing, sad Harp, thus sing to me; 
Alike our doom is...Read more of this...

She Sung of Love

by Thomas Moore
 She sung of Love, while o'er her lyre 
The rosy rays of evening fell, 
As if to feed with their soft fire 
The soul within that trembling shell. 
The same rich light hung o'er her cheek, 
And play'd around those lips that sung 
And spoke, as flowers would sing and speak, 
If Love could lend their leaves a tongue....Read more of this...

The House Of Dust: Part 03: 01: As evening falls

by Conrad Aiken
 As evening falls,
And the yellow lights leap one by one
Along high walls;
And along black streets that glisten as if with rain,
The muted city seems
Like one in a restless sleep, who lies and dreams
Of vague desires, and memories, and half-forgotten pain . . .
Along dark veins, like lights the quick dreams run,
Flash, are extinguished, flash again,
To mingle and glow at...Read more of this...

Beyond

by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick
Beyond yon dim old mountain's shadowy height,
  The restless sun droops low his grand old face;
While downward sweeps the trembling veil of night,
  To hide the earth; the frost king's filmy lace
Rests on the mountain's hoary snow-crowned head,
  And adds to it a softened grace; the light
Which dies afar in faint and fading red
  In purple...Read more of this...

The Complaint Of A Forsaken Indian Woman

by William Wordsworth
[When a Northern Indian, from sickness, is unable to continue his journey with his companions; he is left behind, covered over with Deer-skins, and is supplied with water, food, and fuel if the situation of the place will afford it. He is informed of the track which his companions intend to pursue, and if he is unable to follow, or...Read more of this...

Helen all Alone

by Rudyard Kipling
 "In the Same Boat"--A Diversity of Creatures
 There was darkness under Heaven
 For an hour's space--
 Darkness that we knew was given
 Us for special grace.
 Sun and noon and stars were hid,
 God had left His Throne,
 When Helen came to me, she did,
 Helen all alone!

 Side by side (because our fate
 Damned us ere our birth)
...Read more of this...

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