Famous Fairest Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

Sonnet LXXI: Who Will in Fairest Book

by Sir Philip Sidney
 Who will in fairest book of nature know
How virtue may best lodg'd in beauty be,
Let him but learn of love to read in thee,
Stella, those fair lines which true goodness show.
There shall he find all vices' overthrow,
Not by rude force, but sweetest sovereignty
Of reason, from whose light those night-birds fly;
That inward sun in thine eyes shineth so.
And, not content...Read more of this...

557. Song—Fairest Maid on Devon's Banks

by Robert Burns
 Chorus—Fairest maid on Devon banks,
 Crystal Devon, winding Devon,
Wilt thou lay that frown aside,
 And smile as thou wert wont to do?


FULL well thou know’st I love thee dear,
Couldst thou to malice lend an ear!
O did not Love exclaim: “Forbear,
 Nor use a faithful lover so.”
 Fairest maid, &c.


Then come, thou fairest of the fair,
Those wonted smiles, O let...Read more of this...

The Philanderer

by Robert William Service
 Oh, have you forgotten those afternoons
With riot of roses and amber skies,
When we thrilled to the joy of a million Junes,
And I sought for your soul in the deeps of your eyes?
I would love you, I promised, forever and aye,
And I meant it too; yet, oh, isn't it odd?
When we met in the Underground to-day
I addressed you as Mary...Read more of this...

To Ellen At The South

by Ralph Waldo Emerson
 The green grass is growing,
The morning wind is in it,
'Tis a tune worth the knowing,
Though it change every minute.

'Tis a tune of the spring,
Every year plays it over,
To the robin on the wing,
To the pausing lover.

O'er ten thousand thousand acres
Goes light the nimble zephyr,
The flowers, tiny feet of shakers,
Worship him ever.

Hark to the winning sound!
They summon thee, dearest,
Saying; "We...Read more of this...

An EPISTLE From A Gentleman To Madam Deshouliers

by Anne Kingsmill Finch
 URANIA, whom the Town admires, 
Whose Wit and Beauty share our Praise; 
This fair URANIA who inspires 
A thousand Joys a thousand ways, 
She, who cou'd with a Glance convey 
Favours, that had my Hopes outdone, 
Has lent me Money on that Day, 
Which our Acquaintance first begun. 

Nor with the Happiness I taste, 
Let any jealous Doubts contend:...Read more of this...

The Fairest Apparition

by Friedrich von Schiller
 If thou never hast gazed upon beauty in moments of sorrow,
Thou canst with truth never boast that thou true beauty hast seen.
If thou never hast gazed upon gladness in beauteous features,
Thou canst with truth never boast that thou true gladness hast seen....Read more of this...

Lines to the memory of Richard Boyle Esq

by Mary Darby Robinson
 "Fate snatch'd him early to the pitying sky."

- POPE. 


IF WORTH, too early to the grave consign'd,
Can claim the pitying tear, or touch the mind ?
If manly sentiments unstain'd by art,
Could waken FRIENDSHIP, or delight the heart ?
Ill-fated youth ! to THEE the MUSE shall pay
The last sad tribute of a mournful lay;
On thy lone grave shall MAY'S soft...Read more of this...

After While

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I think that though the clouds be dark,
That though the waves dash o'er the bark,
Yet after while the light will come,
And in calm waters safe at home
The bark will anchor.
Weep not, my sad-eyed, gray-robed maid,
Because your fairest blossoms fade,
That sorrow still o'erruns your cup,
And even though you root them up,
The weeds grow ranker.
For after while your tears shall cease,
And sorrow...Read more of this...

A Madrigal

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Dream days of fond delight and hours
[Pg 288]As rosy-hued as dawn, are mine.
Love's drowsy wine,
Brewed from the heart of Passion flowers,
Flows softly o'er my lips
And save thee, all the world is in eclipse.
There were no light if thou wert not;
The sun would be too sad to shine,
And all the line
Of hours from dawn would be a blot;
And Night...Read more of this...

On Mr. G. Herberts Book Entitled the Temple of Sacred Poe

by Richard Crashaw
 Know you fair, on what you look;
Divinest love lies in this book,
Expecting fire from your eyes,
To kindle this his sacrifice.
When your hands untie these strings,
Think you'have an angel by th' wings.
One that gladly will be nigh,
To wait upon each morning sigh.
To flutter in the balmy air
Of your well-perfumed prayer.
These white plumes of his he'll lend you,
Which every day to...Read more of this...

Effects At A Distance

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 THE queen in the lofty hall takes her place,

The tapers around her are flaming;
She speaks to the page: "With a nimble pace

Go, fetch me my purse for gaming.

'Tis lying, I'll pledge,

On my table's edge."
Each nerve the nimble boy straineth,
And the end of the castle soon gaineth.

The fairest of maidens was sipping sherbet

Beside the queen that minute;
Near her mouth broke...Read more of this...

The Skeleton in Armor

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"SPEAK! speak! thou fearful guest! 
Who, with thy hollow breast 
Still in rude armor drest, 
Comest to daunt me! 
Wrapt not in Eastern balms, 5 
But with thy fleshless palms 
Stretched, as if asking alms, 
Why dost thou haunt me?" 

Then, from those cavernous eyes 
Pale flashes seemed to rise, 10 
As when the Northern skies 
Gleam in December; 
And,...Read more of this...

Sonnet XXVII

by Francesco Petrarch
SONNET XXVII. Soleano i miei pensier soavemente. HE COMFORTS HIMSELF WITH THE HOPE THAT SHE HEARS HIM.  My thoughts in fair alliance and arrayHold converse on the theme which most endears:Pity approaches and repents delay:E'en now she speaks of us, or hopes, or fears.Since the last day, the terrible hour when...Read more of this...

A Plan The Muses Entertained

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 A PLAN the Muses entertain'd

Methodically to impart

To Psyche the poetic art;
Prosaic-pure her soul remain'd.
No wondrous sounds escaped her lyre

E'en in the fairest Summer night;
But Amor came with glance of fire,--

The lesson soon was learn'd aright.

 1827.*...Read more of this...

The fairest Home I ever knew

by Emily Dickinson
 The fairest Home I ever knew
Was founded in an Hour
By Parties also that I knew
A spider and a Flower --
A manse of mechlin and of Floes --...Read more of this...

Sonnet XLII

by Francesco Petrarch
SONNET XLII. Zefiro torna, e 'l bel tempo rimena. RETURNING SPRING BRINGS TO HIM ONLY INCREASE OF GRIEF.  Zephyr returns; and in his jocund trainBrings verdure, flowers, and days serenely clear;Brings Progne's twitter, Philomel's lorn strain,With every bloom that paints the vernal year;Cloudless the skies, and smiling every plain;With joyance...Read more of this...

Absence

by Robert Seymour Bridges
 When my love was away, 
Full three days were not sped, 
I caught my fancy astray 
Thinking if she were dead, 

And I alone, alone: 
It seem'd in my misery 
In all the world was none 
Ever so lone as I. 

I wept; but it did not shame 
Nor comfort my heart: away 
I rode as I might, and...Read more of this...

Sonnet X

by Francesco Petrarch
[Pg 243] SONNET X. Nell' età sua più bella e più fiorita. HE DESIRES TO DIE, THAT HIS SOUL MAY BE WITH HER, AS HIS THOUGHTS ALREADY ARE.  E'en in youth's fairest flower, when Love's dear swayIs wont with strongest power our hearts to bind,Leaving on earth her fleshly veil...Read more of this...

To His Noble Friend Mr. Richard Lovelace Upon His Poems

by Andrew Marvell
 Sir, 
Our times are much degenerate from those 
Which your sweet muse with your fair fortune chose, 
And as complexions alter with the climes, 
Our wits have drawn the infection of our times. 
That candid age no other way could tell 
To be ingenious, but by speaking well. 
Who best could praise had then the greatest praise, 
'Twas more...Read more of this...

Fairest! Put on a While

by Thomas Moore
 Fairest! put on a while 
These pinions of light I bring thee, 
And o'er thy own green isle 
In fancy let me wing thee. 
Never did Ariel's plume, 
At golden sunset, hover 
O'er scenes so full of bloom 
As I shall waft thee over. 

Fields, where the Spring delays 
And fearlessly meets the ardour 
Of the warm Summer's gaze,...Read more of this...

Sonnet I: From Fairest Creatures We Desire Increase

by William Shakespeare
 From fairest creatures we desire increase, 
That thereby beauty's rose might never die, 
But as the riper should by time decease, 
His tender heir might bear his memory: 
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, 
Feed'st thy light'st flame with self-substantial fuel, 
Making a famine where abundance lies, 
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel. 
Thou...Read more of this...

Summons To Love

by William Drummond
 Phoebus, arise!
And paint the sable skies
With azure, white, and red:
Rouse Memnon's mother from her Tithon's bed
That she may thy career with roses spread:
The nightingales thy coming each-where sing:
Make an eternal spring!
Give life to this dark world which lieth dead;
Spread forth thy golden hair
In larger locks than thou wast wont before,
And emperor-like decore
With diadem of pearl thy temples fair:
Chase hence...Read more of this...

Sonnet 154: The little Love-god lying once asleep

by William Shakespeare
 The little love god lying once asleep
Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand,
Whilst many nymphs that vowed chaste life to keep
Came tripping by; but in her maiden hand,
The fairest votary took up that fire
Which many legions of true hearts had warmed,
And so the general of hot desire
Was sleeping by a virgin hand disarmed.
This brand she quenched in a cool...Read more of this...

Sonnet 1: From fairest creatures we desire increase

by William Shakespeare
 From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty's rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory;
But thou contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world's fresh ornament,
And only...Read more of this...

The Road to Gundagai

by Andrew Barton Paterson
 The mountain road goes up and down 
From Gundagai to Tumut Town 
And, branching off, there runs a track 
Across the foothills grim and black, 

Across the plains and ranges grey 
To Sydney city far away. 

It came by chance one day that I 
From Tumut rode to Gundagai, 

And reached about the evening tide 
The crossing where the...Read more of this...

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Fairest 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