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Famous Gainsay Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Browning, Elizabeth Barrett
...eart is sore
For my own land's sins: for little feet
Of children bleeding along the street:

'For parked-up honors that gainsay
The right of way:
For almsgiving through a door that is
Not open enough for two friends to kiss:

'For love of freedom which abates
Beyond the Straits:
For patriot virtue starved to vice on
Self-praise, self-interest, and suspicion:

'For an oligarchic parliament,
And bribes well-meant.
What curse to another land assign,
When heavy-souled for the...Read more of this...



by McGonagall, William Topaz
...rous wherever you go,
Always gaining fresh friends, but never a foe,
Because you are good and a very clever man,
And to gainsay it there's few people can....Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...but true simple lays,
Regarding some of your beauties of the present day
And virtually speaking, there's none can them gainsay;
There's no other town I know of with you can compare
For spinning mills and lasses fair,
And for stately buildings there's none can excel
The beautiful Albert Institute or the Queen's Hotel,
For it is most handsome to be seen,
Where accommodation can be had for Duke, Lord or Queen,
And the four pillars of the front are made of Aberdeen granite, very...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...ugh to make the stranger's heart throb with dismay. 

Then there's Mr Spurgeon, a great preacher, which no one dare gainsay
I went to hear him preach on the Sabbath-day.
And he made my heart feel light and gay
When I heard him preach and pray. 

And the Tabernacle was crowded from ceiling to floor,
And many were standing outside the door;
He is an eloquent preacher, I solemnly declare,
And I was struck with admiration as I on him did stare. 

Then there's Pett...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...y,
Beautiful city of Edinburgh! the truth to express,
Your beauties are matchless I must confess,
And which no one dare gainsay,
But that you are the grandest city in Scotland at the present day!...Read more of this...



by Byron, George (Lord)
...wild as these, accusers like to thee, 
I list no further; those with whom they weigh 
May hear the rest, nor venture to gainsay 
The wondrous tale no doubt thy tongue can tell, 
Which thus begins courteously and well. 
Let Otho cherish here his polish'd guest, 
To him my thanks and thoughts shall be express'd." 
And here their wondering host hath interposed — 
"Whate'er there be between you undisclosed, 
This is no time nor fitting place to mar 
The mirthful meeting w...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...Success to Mr J. Graham Henderson, who is a good man,
And to gainsay it there's few people can,
I say so from my own experience,
And experience is a great defence. 

He is a good man, I venture to say,
Which I declare to the world without dismay,
Because he's given me a suit of Tweeds, magnificent to see,
So good that it cannot be surpassed in Dundee. 

The suit is the best of Tweed cloth in every way,
And wil...Read more of this...

by Yeats, William Butler
...ack and white
That rule because a strong right arm
Puts all men in a fright,
And drunk or sober live at ease
Where none gainsay their right,
And keep their lovers waiting,
 Keep their lovers waiting.

The Muse is mute when public men
Applaud a modern throne:
Those cheers that can be bought or sold,
That office fools have run,
That waxen seal, that signature.
For things like these what decent man
Would keep his lover waiting,
 Keep his lover waiting?...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...head, 
Command me absolutely not to go, 
Going into such danger, as thou saidst? 
Too facile then, thou didst not much gainsay; 
Nay, didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss. 
Hadst thou been firm and fixed in thy dissent, 
Neither had I transgressed, nor thou with me. 
To whom, then first incensed, Adam replied. 
Is this the love, is this the recompence 
Of mine to thee, ingrateful Eve! expressed 
Immutable, when thou wert lost, not I; 
Who might have lived, and...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...Richard Pigott, the forger, was a very bad man,
And to gainsay it there's nobody can,
Because for fifty years he pursued a career of deceit,
And as a forger few men with him could compete. 

For by forged letters he tried to accuse Parnell
For the Phoenix Park murders, but mark what befell.
When his conscience smote him he confessed to the fraud,
And the thought thereof no doubt drove him mad. 

Then...Read more of this...

by Browning, Elizabeth Barrett
...Oh, yes! they love through all this world of ours!
I will not gainsay love, called love forsooth.
I have heard love talked in my early youth,
And since, not so long back but that the flowers
Then gathered, smell still. Mussulmans and Giaours
Throw kerchiefs at a smile, and have no ruth
For any weeping. Polypheme's white tooth
Slips on the nut if, after frequent showers,
The shell is over-smooth,—and not so ...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...e now do sigh and moan
For the loss of Wm. Ewart Gladstone,
Who was a very great politician and a moral man,
And to gainsay it there's few people can. 

'Twas in the year of 1898, and on the 19th of May,
When his soul took its flight for ever and aye,
And his body was interred in Westminster Abbey;
But I hope his soul has gone to that Heavenly shore,
Where all trials and troubles cease for evermore. 

He was a man of great intellect and genius bright,
And ever fai...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...
Beautiful City of Perth, along the river Tay,
I must conclude ms lay,
And to write in praise of thee my heart does not gainsay,
To tell the world fearlessly, without the least dismay -
With your stately mansions and the beautiful river Tay,
You're one of the fairest Cities of the present day....Read more of this...

by Wordsworth, William
..., or stray  Through pastures not his own, the master took;  My Father dared his greedy wish gainsay;  He loved his old hereditary nook,  And ill could I the thought of such sad parting brook.   But when he had refused the proffered gold,  To cruel injuries he became a prey,  Sore traversed in whate'er he bought and sold:  His troubles grew upon him day by day...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...among these were the Asylum Board and the Royal Infirmary;
In every respect he was a God-fearing true gentleman,
And to gainsay it there's nobody can.
He lived as a Christian gentleman in his time,
And he now lies buried in the family vault in Strathmartine;
But I hope his soul has gone aloft where all troubles cease,
Amongst the blessed saints where all is joy and peace.
To the people around Baldovan he will be a great loss,
Because he was a kind-hearted man and a So...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
...Success to James Scrymgeour,
He's a very good man,
And to gainsay it,
There's few people can; 

Because he makes the hearts
Of the poor o'erjoyed
By trying to find work for them
When they're unemployed. 

And to their complaints
He has always an attentive ear,
And ever ready to help them
When unto him they draw near. 

And no matter what your occupation is.
Or what is your creed.
He will try to help...Read more of this...

by McGonagall, William Topaz
..., I hope will come true,
And if it does, I'll make it known to you;
And you must come to the marriage, which you musn't gainsay,
And dance and rejoice with us on the marriage-day. 

When we arrived in Dundee she bade me good-bye,
Then I told her where I lived, while she said with a sigh,
Kind sir, I will long remember that morning in May,
When I met you by chance on the banks o' the Tay. 

When three months were past her sailor lad came home,
And she called to see me ...Read more of this...

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