Famous Good For Nothing Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Good For Nothing poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous good for nothing poems. These examples illustrate what a famous good for nothing poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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Application For A Driving License

...Two birds loved
in a flurry of red feathers
like a burst cottonball,
continuing while I drove over them.
I am a good driver, nothing shocks me....Read more of this...
by Ondaatje, Michael


Dave Lilly

...There's a brook on the side of Greylock that used 
to be full of trout,
But there's nothing there now but minnows; they say it is all fished 
out.
I fished there many a Summer day some twenty years ago,
And I never quit without getting a mess of a dozen or so.
There was a man, Dave Lilly, who lived on the North 
Adams road,
And he spent all his time fishin...Read more of this...
by Kilmer, Joyce

Elegy II: The Anagram

...Marry, and love thy Flavia, for she
Hath all things whereby others beautious be,
For, though her eyes be small, her mouth is great,
Though they be ivory, yet her teeth be jet,
Though they be dim, yet she is light enough,
And though her harsh hair fall, her skin is rough;
What though her cheeks be yellow, her hair's red;
Give her thine, and she hath a maide...Read more of this...
by Donne, John

I Sleep a Lot

...d coffee, I drove myself
On cigarettes and coffee.
I was courageous. Industrious. Nearly a model of virtue.
But that is good for nothing.

I feel a pain.
not here. Even I don't know.
many islands and continents,
words, bazaars, wooden flutes,
Or too much drinking to the mirror, without beauty,
Though one was to be a kind of archangel
Or a Saint George, over there, on St. George Street.
Please, Doctor,
Not here. No,
Maybe it's too
Unpronounced

Please, Medicine Man, I feel a p...Read more of this...
by Milosz, Czeslaw

In memory of that excellent person Mrs. Mary Lloyd of Bodidrist in Denbigh-shire

...I CANNOT hold, for though to write were rude, 
Yet to be silent were Ingratitude, 
And Folly too; for if Posterity 
Should never hear of such a one as thee, 
And onely know this Age's brutish fame, 
They would think Vertue nothing but a Name. 
And though far abler Pens must her define, 
Yet her Adoption hath engaged mine: 
And I must own where Merit shines...Read more of this...
by Philips, Katherine


Samson Agonistes

...thine eyes, and fetter'd send thee 
Into the common Prison, there to grind
Among the Slaves and Asses thy comrades,
As good for nothing else, no better service
With those, thy boyst'rous locks, no worthy match
For valour to assail, nor by the sword
Of noble Warriour, so to stain his honour,
But by the Barbers razor best subdu'd.

Sam: All these indignities, for such they are
From thine, these evils I deserve and more,
Acknowledge them from God inflicted on me 
Justly, yet de...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

The Blind Girl

...Kind Christians, pray list to me,
And I'll relate a sad story,
Concerning a little blind girl, only nine years of age,
Who lived with her father in a lonely cottage. 

Poor girl, she had never seen the blessed light of day,
Nor the beautiful fields of corn and hay,
Nor the sparrows, that lifted their heads at early morn
To bright Sol that does the hills ad...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz

The Disabled Debauchee

...-like, I'll saucily impose,
And safe from danger valiantly advise,
Sheltered in impotence, urge you to blows,
And being good for nothing else, be wise....Read more of this...
by Wilmot, John

The Sprig of Moss

...the stars which shone on the water blue,
He cried, I will drown myself, and bid this harsh world adieu. 

Besides, I'm good for nothing, to himself he said,
And will only become a burden to my mother, I'm afraid
And there, at the bottom of that water, said he,
From all my misfortunes death will set me free. 

But, happily for Alois, more pious thoughts rushed into his mind,
And courage enough to drown himself he couldn't find,
So he resolved to go home again whatever did bet...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz

The Wife of Baths Tale

...THE PROLOGUE. 1


Experience, though none authority* *authoritative texts
Were in this world, is right enough for me
To speak of woe that is in marriage:
For, lordings, since I twelve year was of age,
(Thanked be God that *is etern on live),* *lives eternally*
Husbands at the church door have I had five,2
For I so often have y-wedded be,
And all were worth...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

Twenty-First. Night. Monday

...Twenty-first. Night. Monday.
Silhouette of the capitol in darkness.
Some good-for-nothing -- who knows why --
made up the tale that love exists on earth.

People believe it, maybe from laziness
or boredom, and live accordingly:
they wait eagerly for meetings, fear parting,
and when they sing, they sing about love.

But the secret reveals itself to some,
an...Read more of this...
by Akhmatova, Anna

Unwanted

...The poster with my picture on it
Is hanging on the bulletin board in the Post Office.

I stand by it hoping to be recognized
Posing first full face and then profile

But everybody passes by and I have to admit
The photograph was taken some years ago.

I was unwanted then and I'm unwanted now
Ah guess ah'll go up echo mountain and crah.

I wish someone woul...Read more of this...
by Field, Edward

Wheres the Poker?

...don't find it in the morning, 
I'll surely give my master warning. 
He'd better far shut up his doors, 
Than keep such good for nothing whores; 
For wheresoe'er their trade they drive, 
We vartuous bodies cannot thrive." 
Well may poor Susan grunt and groan; 
Misfortunes never come alone, 
But tread each other's heels in throngs, 
For the next day she lost the tongs; 
The salt box, colander, and pot 
Soon shar'd the same untimely lot. 
In vain she vails and wages spent 
On n...Read more of this...
by Smart, Christopher

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