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Famous Frown Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Milton, John
...brinded lioness
And spotted mountain-pard, but set at nought
The frivolous bolt of Cupid; gods and men
Feared her stern frown, and she was queen o' the woods.
What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield
That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin,
Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone,
But rigid looks of chaste austerity,
And noble grace that dashed brute violence
With sudden adoration and blank awe?
So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity
That, when a soul is found...Read more of this...



by Walker, Alice
...and hair
Your grandfather's lifted chin
And lynched woman's elbow
What you've tried to forget
Of your grandmother's frown.


Each one, pull one back into the sun


We who have stood over
So many graves
Know that no matter what they do
All of us must live
Or none. ...Read more of this...

by Keats, John
..., who, for very sport of heart, would race
With my own steed from Araby; pluck down
A vulture from his towery perching; frown
A lion into growling, loth retire--
To lose, at once, all my toil breeding fire,
And sink thus low! but I will ease my breast
Of secret grief, here in this bowery nest.

 "This river does not see the naked sky,
Till it begins to progress silverly
Around the western border of the wood,
Whence, from a certain spot, its winding flood
Seems at the dist...Read more of this...

by Shakespeare, William
...t gone, and ta'en thy wages; 
Golden lads and girls all must, 
As chimney sweepers come to dust. 

Fear no more the frown of the great, 
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke: 
Care no more to clothe and eat; 
To thee the reed is as the oak: 
The sceptre, learning, physic, must 
All follow this, and come to dust. 

Fear no more the lightning-flash, 
Nor the all-dread thunder-stone; 
Fear not slander, censure rash; 
Thou hast finished joy and moan; 
All lovers young, all l...Read more of this...

by Bryant, William Cullen
...Oh! could I hope the wise and pure in heart
Might hear my song without a frown, nor deem
My voice unworthy of the theme it tries,--
I would take up the hymn to Death, and say
To the grim power, The world hath slandered thee
And mocked thee. On thy dim and shadowy brow
They place an iron crown, and call thee king
Of terrors, and the spoiler of the world,
Deadly assassin, that strik'st down the fair,
The loved, the good--that b...Read more of this...



by Keats, John
...the fair Existences of heaven
Carne open-eyed to guess what we would speak:---
That was before our brows were taught to frown,
Before our lips knew else but solemn sounds;
That was before we knew the winged thing,
Victory, might be lost, or might be won.
And be ye mindful that Hyperion,
Our brightest brother, still is undisgraced---
Hyperion, lo! his radiance is here!"

 All eyes were on Enceladus's face,
And they beheld, while still Hyperion's name
Flew from his lips up ...Read more of this...

by Byron, George (Lord)
...'d attendants said, 
Through night's long hours would sound his hurried tread 
O'er the dark gallery, where his fathers frown'd 
In rude but antique portraiture around. 
They heard, but whisper'd — "/that/ must not be known — 
The sound of words less earthly than his own. 
Yes, they who chose might smile, but some had seen 
They scarce knew what, but more than should have been. 
Why gazed he so upon the ghastly head 
Which hands profane had gather'd from the dead,...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...etual inroads to alarm, 
Though inaccessible, his fatal throne: 
Which, if not victory, is yet revenge." 
 He ended frowning, and his look denounced 
Desperate revenge, and battle dangerous 
To less than gods. On th' other side up rose 
Belial, in act more graceful and humane. 
A fairer person lost not Heaven; he seemed 
For dignity composed, and high exploit. 
But all was false and hollow; though his tongue 
Dropped manna, and could make the worse appear 
The...Read more of this...

by Bronte, Anne
...at once my strength renewing,
Though Despair had crushed me down,
I can burst his bonds asunder,
And defy his deadliest frown.

When, from nights of restless tossing,
Days of gloom and pining care,
Pain and weakness, still increasing,
Seem to whisper 'Death is near,'

And I almost bid him welcome,
Knowing he would bring release,
Weary of this restless struggle --
Longing to repose in peace,

Then a glance of fond reproval
Bids such selfish longings flee
And a voice of mat...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...hy will
In perfet thraldom, how again betray me,
Bearing my words and doings to the Lords
To gloss upon, and censuring, frown or smile?
This Gaol I count the house of Liberty
To thine whose doors my feet shall never enter. 

Dal: Let me approach at least, and touch thy hand.

Sam: Not for thy life, lest fierce remembrance wake
My sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint.
At distance I forgive thee, go with that;
Bewail thy falshood, and the pious works
It hath brou...Read more of this...

by Chesterton, G K
...ds were then,
Gods of unbearable beauty,
That broke the hearts of men.

And whether in seat or saddle,
Whether with frown or smile,
Whether at feast or fight was he,
He heard the noise of a nameless sea
On an undiscovered isle.

Lifting the great green ivy
And the great spear lowering,
One said, "I am Alfred of Wessex,
And I am a conquered king."

And the man of the cave made answer,
And his eyes were stars of scorn,
"And better kings were conquered
Or ever your s...Read more of this...

by Byron, George (Lord)
...thou shouldst chide 
My sister, or her sable guide, 
Know — for the fault, if fault there be, 
Was mine — then fall thy frowns on me — 
So lovelily the morning shone, 
That — let the old and weary sleep — 
I could not; and to view alone 
The fairest scenes of land and deep, 
With none to listen and reply 
To thoughts with which my heart beat high 
Were irksome — for whate'er my mood, 
In sooth I love not solitude; 
I on Zuleika's slumber broke, 
And as thou knowest that for m...Read more of this...

by Bradstreet, Anne
...to discharge.
5.15 It's not my goodly house, nor bed of down,
5.16 That can refresh, or ease, if Conscience frown;
5.17 Nor from alliance now can I have hope,
5.18 But what I have done well, that is my prop.
5.19 He that in youth is godly, wise, and sage
5.20 Provides a staff for to support his age.
5.21 Great mutations, some joyful, and some sad,
5.22 In this short Pilgrimage I oft have had.
5.23 Sometimes the Heavens with ...Read more of this...

by Scott, Sir Walter
...trace
     A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace,
     Of finer form or lovelier face!
     What though the sun, with ardent frown,
     Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown,—
     The sportive toil, which, short and light
     Had dyed her glowing hue so bright,
     Served too in hastier swell to show
     Short glimpses of a breast of snow:
     What though no rule of courtly grace
     To measured mood had trained her pace,—
     A foot more light, a step more true...Read more of this...

by Robinson, Edwin Arlington
...en 
Is entered as a thing not quite worth while. 
He may have been so great
That satraps would have shivered at his frown, 
And all he prized alive may rule a state 
No larger than a grave that holds a clown; 
He may have been a master of his fate, 
And of his atoms,—ready as another
In his emergence to exonerate 
His father and his mother; 
He may have been a captain of a host, 
Self-eloquent and ripe for prodigies, 
Doomed here to swell by dangerous degrees,
And then gi...Read more of this...

by Pope, Alexander
...yes may roll;
Charms strike the Sight, but Merit wins the Soul.

So spake the Dame, but no Applause ensu'd;
Belinda frown'd, Thalestris call'd her Prude.
To Arms, to Arms! the fierce Virago cries,
And swift as Lightning to the Combate flies.
All side in Parties, and begin th' Attack;
Fans clap, Silks russle, and tough Whalebones crack;
Heroes and Heroins Shouts confus'dly rise,
And base, and treble Voices strike the Skies.
No common Weapons in their Hands are ...Read more of this...

by Herbert, George
...al thy self, Physician; now come down.
Alas! I did so, when I left my crown
And father's smile for you, to feel his frown: 
Was ever grief like mine? 

In healing not my self, there doth consist
All that salvation, which ye now resist; 
Your safety in my sickness doth subsist: 
Was ever grief like mine? 

Betwixt two thieves I spend my utmost breath, 
As he that for some robbery suffereth.
Alas! what have I stolen from you? death: 
Was ever grief like mine? 

A king m...Read more of this...

by Lowell, Amy
...reen
Has slid so cunningly in between
The blue and the yellow. Oh, please look down!"
Then, with a pitiful, puzzled frown,
He would get up slowly from his play
And walk round the room, feeling his way
From table to chair, from chair to door,
Stepping over the cracks in the floor,
Till reaching the table again, her face
Would bring recollection, and no solace
Could balm his hurt till unconsciousness
Stifled him and his great distress.

One morning he threw the street d...Read more of this...

by Petrarch, Francesco
...ight,Retiring, left the world immersed in night;The Phantom, with a frown that chill'd the heart,Seem'd with his gloomy pageant to depart,[Pg 382]Exulting in his formidable arms,And proud of conquest o'er seraphic charms.When, turning round, I saw the Power advanc...Read more of this...

by Swift, Jonathan
...ror, grief, despair, the Dean
Beheld the dire destructive scene:
His friends in exile, or the tower,
Himself within the frown of power,
Pursued by base envenomed pens,
Far to the land of slaves and fens;
A servile race in folly nursed,
Who truckle most when treated worst.
By innocence and resolution,
He bore continual persecution;
While numbers to preferment rose,
Whose merits were, to be his foes;
When ev'n his own familiar friends,
Intent upon their private ends,
Like r...Read more of this...

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Book: Reflection on the Important Things