Famous Erred Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

The Contretemps

by Thomas Hardy
 A forward rush by the lamp in the gloom,
And we clasped, and almost kissed;
But she was not the woman whom
I had promised to meet in the thawing brume
On that harbour-bridge; nor was I he of her tryst. 

So loosening from me swift she said:
"O why, why feign to be
The one I had meant - to whom I have sped
To...Read more of this...

Did Not

by Thomas Moore
 'Twas a new feeling - something more
Than we had dared to own before,
Which then we hid not;
We saw it in each other's eye,
And wished, in every half-breathed sigh,
To speak, but did not.

She felt my lips' impassioned touch - 
'Twas the first time I dared so much,
And yet she chid not;
But whispered o'er my burning brow,
'Oh, do you doubt I...Read more of this...

Do You Remember Once . .

by Alan Seeger
 Do you remember once, in Paris of glad faces, 
The night we wandered off under the third moon's rays 
And, leaving far behind bright streets and busy places, 
Stood where the Seine flowed down between its quiet quais? 


The city's voice was hushed; the placid, lustrous waters 
Mirrored the walls across where orange windows burned. 
Out of the starry...Read more of this...

Sonnet CXXXVII

by William Shakespeare
 Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes,
That they behold, and see not what they see?
They know what beauty is, see where it lies,
Yet what the best is take the worst to be.
If eyes corrupt by over-partial looks
Be anchor'd in the bay where all men ride,
Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forged hooks,
Whereto the judgment of my...Read more of this...

Sonnet 137: Thou blind fool Love what dost thou to mine eyes

by William Shakespeare
 Thou blind fool, Love, what dost thou to mine eyes
That they behold and see not what they see?
They know what beauty is, see where it lies,
Yet what the best is, take the worst to be.
If eyes corrupt by overpartial looks,
Be anchored in the bay where all men ride,
Why of eyes' falsehood hast thou forgèd hooks,
Whereto the judgment of my...Read more of this...

The Under-Dogs

by Robert William Service
 What have we done, Oh Lord, that we
 Are evil starred?
How have we erred and sinned to be
 So scourged and scarred?
Lash us, Oh Lord, with scorpion whips,
 We can but run;
But harken to our piteous lips:
 What have we done?

How have we sinned to rouse your wrath,
 To earn your scorn?
Stony and steep has been our path
 Since...Read more of this...

Sweet -- You forgot -- but I remembered

by Emily Dickinson
 Sweet -- You forgot -- but I remembered
Every time -- for Two --
So that the Sum be never hindered
Through Decay of You --

Say if I erred? Accuse my Farthings --
Blame the little Hand
Happy it be for You -- a Beggar's --
Seeking More -- to spend --

Just to be Rich -- to waste my Guineas
On so Best a Heart --
Just...Read more of this...

The Old Lowe House Staten Island

by Alan Seeger
 Another prospect pleased the builder's eye, 
And Fashion tenanted (where Fashion wanes) 
Here in the sorrowful suburban lanes 
When first these gables rose against the sky. 
Relic of a romantic taste gone by, 
This stately monument alone remains, 
Vacant, with lichened walls and window-panes 
Blank as the windows of a skull. But I, 
On evenings when autumnal winds have...Read more of this...

Without Disguise

by Henry Van Dyke
 If I have erred in showing all my heart, 
And lost your favour by a lack of pride;
If standing like a beggar at your side 
With naked feet, I have forgot the art
Of those who bargain well in passion's mart,
And win the thing they want by what they hide;
Be mine the fault as mine the hope denied, 
Be mine...Read more of this...

a clowns smirk in the skull of a baboon

by Edward Estlin (E E) Cummings
a clown's smirk in the skull of a baboon
(where once good lips stalked or eyes firmly stir
red)
my mirror gives me on this afternoon;
i am a shape that can but eat and turd
ere with the dirt death shall him vastly gird 
a coward waiting clumsily to cease
whom every perfect thing meanwhile doth miss;
a hand's impression in an empty glove 
a soon...Read more of this...

Sonnet 31 - Thou comest! all is said without a word

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
 Thou comest! all is said without a word.
I sit beneath thy looks, as children do
In the noon-sun, with souls that tremble through
Their happy eyelids from an unaverred
Yet prodigal inward joy. Behold, I erred
In that last doubt! and yet I cannot rue
The sin most, but the occasion—that we two
Should for a moment stand unministered
By a mutual presence. Ah, keep near...Read more of this...

The Miner

by Henrik Ibsen
 BEETLING rock, with roar and smoke 
Break before my hammer-stroke! 
Deeper I must thrust and lower 
Till I hear the ring of ore. 

From the mountain's unplumbed night, 
Deep amid the gold-veins bright, 
Diamonds lure me, rubies beckon, 
Treasure-hoard that none may reckon. 

There is peace within the deep-- 
Peace and immemorial sleep; 
Heavy hammer, burst as bidden, 
To...Read more of this...

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Erred poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace