Famous Epigram Poems by Famous Poets

• Best Epigram Poems by Famous Poets
• Epigram Poems by Members
• Best Epigram Poems by Members
• Epigram Quotes

---

As Broad As Its Long

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 MODEST men must needs endure,

And the bold must humbly bow;
Thus thy fate's the same, be sure,

Whether bold or modest thou.

 1815.*...Read more of this...

---

Whats The Use?

by Ogden Nash

 Sure, deck your limbs in pants,
Yours are the limbs, my sweeting.
You look divine as you advance . . .
Have you seen yourself retreating?...Read more of this...

---

On Torture: A Public Singer

by Hilaire Belloc

 Torture will give a dozen pence or more 
To keep a drab from bawling at his door. 
The public taste is quite a different thing- 
Torture is positively paid to sing....Read more of this...

---

I would drink so much wine that the odor should come

by Omar Khayyam

I would drink so much wine that the odor should come
out of the earth when I have been returned to it, and
that drinkers who wish to visit my tomb may fall
senseless from the sole effect of this odor....Read more of this...

---

Ideals are the Fairly Oil

by Emily Dickinson

 Ideals are the Fairly Oil
With which we help the Wheel
But when the Vital Axle turns
The Eye rejects the Oil....Read more of this...

---

Superfluous Advice

by Dorothy Parker

 Should they whisper false of you.
Never trouble to deny;
Should the words they say be true,
Weep and storm and swear they lie....Read more of this...

---

Grandpa Is Ashamed

by Ogden Nash

 A child need not be very clever
To learn that "Later, dear" means "Never."...Read more of this...

---

Pettiness

by Ehsan Sehgal

Those who treat others with contempt display their own pettiness.

Ehsan Sehgal...Read more of this...

---

Autumn

by Stevie Smith

 He told his life story to Mrs. Courtly
Who was a widow. 'Let us get married shortly',
He said. 'I am no longer passionate,
But we can have some conversation before it is too late.'...Read more of this...

---

Truth And Error

by Robert Herrick

 Twixt truth and error, there's this difference known
Error is fruitful, truth is only one....Read more of this...

---

Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness

by Alexander Pope

 I am his Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?...Read more of this...

---

The Squab

by Ogden Nash

 Toward a better world I contribute my modest smidgin;
I eat the squab, lest it become a pigeon....Read more of this...

---

Veto

by Ehsan Sehgal

Had God not granted veto to Satan, this world
would have become heaven.
Ehsan Sehgal...Read more of this...

---

If your own satisfaction consists in casting grief into a

by Omar Khayyam

If your own satisfaction consists in casting grief into a
heart free from all care, you could, friend, make mourning
with your wisdom during your whole life. Go, be
unhappy, then, for you are a person strangely ignorant....Read more of this...

---

Am I a wine-bibber? What if I am?

by Omar Khayyam

Am I a wine-bibber? What if I am?
Gueber or infidel? Suppose I am?
Each sect miscalls me, but I heed them not,
I am my own, and, what I am, I am....Read more of this...

---

How is it that of all the leafy tribe,

by Omar Khayyam

How is it that of all the leafy tribe,
Cypress and lily men as «free» describe?
This has a dozen tongues, yet holds her peace,
That has a hundred hands which take no bribe....Read more of this...

---

Gold breeds not wit, but to wit lacking bread

by Omar Khayyam

Gold breeds not wit, but to wit lacking bread
Earth's flowery carpet seems a dungeon bed;
'Tis his full purse that makes the rose to smile,
While empty-handed violets hang the head....Read more of this...

---

This Is The First Thing

by Philip Larkin

 This is the first thing
I have understood:
Time is the echo of an axe
Within a wood....Read more of this...

---

The Forum Of Woman

by Friedrich von Schiller

 Woman, never judge man by his individual actions;
But upon man as a whole, pass thy decisive decree....Read more of this...

---

The Pacifist

by Hilaire Belloc

 Pale Ebenezer thought it wrong to fight,
But Roaring Bill (who killed him) thought it right....Read more of this...

---

Soft hearts

by Ehsan Sehgal

"Unsympathy ful and stone hearts are the place of evils, angels only stay in the hearts that are soft and sympathy ful."
Ehsan Sehgal...Read more of this...

---

A Problem

by Friedrich von Schiller

 Let none resemble another; let each resemble the highest!
How can that happen? let each be all complete in itself....Read more of this...

---

To wise and worthy men your life devote,

by Omar Khayyam

To wise and worthy men your life devote,
But from the worthless keep your walk remote;
Dare to take poison from a sage's hand,
But from a fool refuse an antidote....Read more of this...

---

Reflection On The Fallibility Of Nemesis

by Ogden Nash

 He who is ridden by a conscience
Worries about a lot of nonscience;
He without benefit of scruples
His fun and income soon quadruples....Read more of this...

---

Envoys From Alexandria

by Constantine P Cavafy

 They had not seen, for ages, such beautiful gifts in Delphi
as these that had been sent by the two brothers,
the rival Ptolemaic kings. After they had received them
however, the priests were uneasy about the oracle. They will need
all their experience to compose it with astuteness,
which of the two, which of such two will be displeased.
And they hold secret councils...Read more of this...

---

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Epigram poems.