Famous Dos Poems by Famous Poets

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

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El Nudo (The Knot)

by Delmira Agustini
Spanish    Su idilio fue una larga sonrisa a cuatro labios…En el regazo cálido de rubia primaveraAmáronse talmente que entre sus dedos sabiosPalpitó la divina forma de la Quimera.    En los palacios fúlgidos de las tardes en calmaHablábanse un lenguaje sentido como un lloro,Y se besaban hondo hasta morderse el alma!…Las horas deshojáronse como flores de oro,    Y el Destino interpuso sus dos manos...Read more of this...

Nocturnos De La Ventana

by Federico García Lorca
 1 

Alta va la luna.
Bajo corre el viento. 

(Mis largas miradas,
exploran el cielo.) 

Luna sobre el agua,
Luna bajo el viento. 

(Mis cortas miradas,
exploran el suelo.) 

Las voces de dos ni?as
ven?an. Sin el esfuerzo,
de la luna del agua,
me fu? a la del cielo. 


2 

Un brazo de la noche
entra por mi ventana. 

Un gran brazo moreno
con pulseras de agua. 

Sobre...Read more of this...

Moral Song

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 Would we attain the happiest State, 
That is design'd us here; 
No Joy a Rapture must create, 
No Grief beget Despair. 
No Injury fierce Anger raise, 
No Honour tempt to Pride; 
No vain Desires of empty Praise 
Must in the Soul abide. 
No Charms of Youth, or Beauty move 
The constant, settl'd Breast: 
Who leaves a Passage free to...Read more of this...

The Lyon And The Gnat

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 To the still Covert of a Wood 
About the prime of Day, 
A Lyon, satiated with Food, 
With stately Pace, and sullen Mood, 
Now took his lazy way. 

To Rest he there himself compos'd, 
And in his Mind revolv'd, 
How Great a Person it enclos'd, 
How free from Danger he repos'd, 
Though now in Ease dissolv'd! 

Who Guard, nor...Read more of this...

The Equipage

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 Since the Road of Life's so ill; 
I, to pass it, use this Skill, 
My frail Carriage driving home 
To its latest Stage, the Tomb. 
Justice first, in Harness strong, 
Marches stedfastly along: 
Charity, to smooth the Pace, 
Fills the next adjoining Trace: 
Independance leads the Way, 
Whom no heavy Curb do's sway; 
Truth an equal Part sustains, 
All...Read more of this...

Three Songs

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 LOVE, thou art best of Human Joys, 
Our chiefest Happiness below;
All other Pleasures are but Toys,
Musick without Thee is but Noise, 
And Beauty but an empty Show. 
Heav'n, who knew best what Man wou'd move, 
And raise his Thoughts above the Brute;
Said, Let him Be, and let him Love;
That must alone his Soul improve, 
Howe'er Philosophers dispute. 


II

Quickly, Delia,...Read more of this...

The King and the Shepherd

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 Through ev'ry Age some Tyrant Passion reigns: 
Now Love prevails, and now Ambition gains 
Reason's lost Throne, and sov'reign Rule maintains. 
Tho' beyond Love's, Ambition's Empire goes; 
For who feels Love, Ambition also knows, 
And proudly still aspires to be possest 
Of Her, he thinks superior to the rest. 

As cou'd be prov'd, but that our plainer Task 
Do's...Read more of this...

Mi Musa Triste (My Sad Muse)

by Delmira Agustini
SpanishVagos preludios. En la noche espléndidaSu voz de perlas una fuente calla,Cuelgan las brisas sus celestes pifanosEn el follaje. Las cabezas pardasDe los búhos acechan.Las flores se abren más, como asombradas.Los cisnes de marfil tienden los cuellosEn las lagunas pálidas.Selene mira del azul. Las frondasTiemblan… y todo! hasta el silencio, calla…Es que ella pasa con su boca tristeY el gran...Read more of this...

Alcidor

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 While Monarchs in stern Battle strove 
For proud Imperial Sway; 
Abandon'd to his milder Love, 
Within a silent peaceful Grove, 
Alcidor careless lay. 

Some term'd it cold, unmanly Fear; 
Some, Nicety of Sense, 
That Drums and Trumpets cou'd not hear, 
The sullying Blasts of Powder bear, 
Or with foul Camps dispense. 

A patient Martyr to their Scorn, 
And each...Read more of this...

The Spleen

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 What art thou, SPLEEN, which ev'ry thing dost ape?
Thou Proteus to abus'd Mankind,
Who never yet thy real Cause cou'd find,
Or fix thee to remain in one continued Shape.
Still varying thy perplexing Form,
Now a Dead Sea thou'lt represent,
A Calm of stupid Discontent,
Then, dashing on the Rocks wilt rage into a Storm. 
Trembling sometimes thou dost appear,
Dissolv'd into a Panick Fear;
On...Read more of this...

Tu Boca (Your Mouth)

by Delmira Agustini
Spanish   Yo hacía una divina labor, sobre la rocaCreciente del Orgullo. De la vida lejana,Algún pétalo vívido me voló en la mañana,Algún beso en la noche. Tenaz como una loca,Sequía mi divina labor sobre la roca.   Cuando tu voz que funde como sacra campanaEn la nota celeste la vibración humana,Tendió su lazo do oro al borde de tu boca;  —Maravilloso nido...Read more of this...

A Pastoral Dialogue Between Two Shepherdesses

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 [Silvia] Pretty Nymph! within this Shade, 
Whilst the Flocks to rest are laid,
Whilst the World dissolves in Heat,
Take this cool, and flow'ry Seat: 
And with pleasing Talk awhile
Let us two the Time beguile; 
Tho' thou here no Shepherd see, 
To encline his humble Knee, 
Or with melancholy Lays 
Sing thy dangerous Beauty's Praise. 


[Dorinda] Nymph! with thee I here...Read more of this...

The Batchelors Song

by Thomas Flatman
 Like a Dog with a bottle, fast ti'd to his tail,
Like Vermin in a trap, or a Thief in a Jail,
 Or like a Tory in a Bog,
 Or an Ape with a Clog:
Such is the man, who when he might go free,
 Does his liberty loose,
 For a Matrimony noose,
 And sels himself into Captivity;
The Dog he do's...Read more of this...

Mans Injustice Towards Providence

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 A Thriving Merchant, who no Loss sustained, 
In little time a mighty Fortune gain'd. 
No Pyrate seiz'd his still returning Freight; 
Nor foundring Vessel sunk with its own Weight: 
No Ruin enter'd through dissever'd Planks; 
No Wreck at Sea, nor in the Publick Banks. 
Aloft he sails, above the Reach of Chance, 
And do's in Pride, as fast as...Read more of this...

Once

by Philip Levine
 Hungry and cold, I stood in a doorway
on Delancey Street in 1946
as the rain came down. The worst part is this
is not from a bad movie. I'd read Dos Passos'
USA and thought, "Before the night ends
my life will change." A stranger would stop
to ask for my help, a single stranger
more needy than I, if such a woman
were possible. I...Read more of this...

The Critick and the Writer of Fables

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 Weary, at last, of the Pindarick way, 
Thro' which advent'rously the Muse wou'd stray; 
To Fable I descend with soft Delight, 
Pleas'd to Translate, or easily Endite: 
Whilst aery Fictions hastily repair 
To fill my Page, and rid my Thoughts of Care, 
As they to Birds and Beasts new Gifts impart, 
And Teach, as Poets shou'd, whilst they Divert....Read more of this...

The Building

by Philip Larkin
 Higher than the handsomest hotel
The lucent comb shows up for miles, but see,
All round it close-ribbed streets rise and fall
Like a great sigh out of the last century.
The porters are scruffy; what keep drawing up
At the entrance are not taxis; and in the hall
As well as creepers hangs a frightening smell.

There are paperbacks, and tea at so much a...Read more of this...

Romance Son?mbulo

by Federico García Lorca
 Green, how I want you green.
Green wind. Green branches.
The ship out on the sea
and the horse on the mountain. 
With the shade around her waist 
she dreams on her balcony, 
green flesh, her hair green, 
with eyes of cold silver. 
Green, how I want you green. 
Under the gypsy moon, 
all things are watching her 
and she cannot see...Read more of this...

Cupid And Folly

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 CUPID, ere depriv'd of Sight, 
Young and apt for all Delight, 
Met with Folly on the way, 
As Idle and as fond of Play. 
In gay Sports the time they pass; 
Now run, now wrestle on the Grass; 
Their painted Wings then nimbly ply, 
And ev'ry way for Mast'ry try: 
'Till a Contest do's arise, 
Who has won th'...Read more of this...

Lifes Progress

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 How gayly is at first begun 
Our Life's uncertain Race! 
Whilst yet that sprightly Morning Sun, 
With which we just set out to run 
Enlightens all the Place. 

How smiling the World's Prospect lies 
How tempting to go through ! 
Not Canaan to the Prophet's Eyes, 
From Pisgah with a sweet Surprize, 
Did more inviting shew. 

How promising's the...Read more of this...

My Job

by Robert William Service
 I've got a little job on 'and, the time is drawin' nigh;
 At seven by the Captain's watch I'm due to go and do it;
I wants to 'ave it nice and neat, and pleasin' to the eye,
 And I 'opes the God of soldier men will see me safely through it.
Because, you see, it's somethin' I 'ave never done...Read more of this...

Lune de Miel

by T S (Thomas Stearns) Eliot
 ILS ont vu les Pays-Bas, ils rentrent à Terre Haute;
Mais une nuit d’été, les voici à Ravenne,
A l’aise entre deux draps, chez deux centaines de punaises;
La sueur aestivale, et une forte odeur de chienne.
Ils restent sur le dos écartant les genoux
De quatre jambes molles tout gonflées de morsures.
On relève le drap pour mieux égratigner.
Moins d’une lieue d’ici est Saint...Read more of this...

Jealousy

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 VAIN Love, why do'st thou boast of Wings, 
That cannot help thee to retire! 
When such quick Flames Suspicion brings, 
As do the Heart about thee fire. 
Still Swift to come, but when to go 
Thou shou'd'st be more–Alas! how Slow. 

Lord of the World must surely be 
But thy bare Title at the most; 
Since Jealousy is Lord...Read more of this...

The Tradesman and the Scholar

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 A Citizen of mighty Pelf, 
But much a Blockhead, in himself 
Disdain'd a Man of shining Parts, 
Master of Sciences and Arts, 
Who left his Book scarce once a day 
For sober Coffee, Smoak, or Tea; 
Nor spent more Money in the Town 
Than bought, when need requir'd, a Gown; 
Which way of Living much offends 
The Alderman, who...Read more of this...

The Man And His Horse

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 Within a Meadow, on the way, 
A sordid Churl resolv'd to stay, 
And give his Horse a Bite; 
Purloining so his Neighbours Hay, 
That at the Inn he might not pay 
For Forage all the Night. 

With Heart's content th' unloaded Steed 
Began to neigh, and frisk, and feed; 
For nothing more he car'd, 
Since none of all his...Read more of this...

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