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Famous Gotta Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Silverstein, Shel
...there looking at me and I saw him smile.

And he said, "Son, this world is rough and if
a man's gonna make it, he's gotta be tough
and I knew I wouldn't be there to help you along.
So I gave you that name and I said 'Goodbye'.
I knew you'd have to get tough or die. And it's
that name that helped to make you strong."

Yeah, he said, "Now you have just fought one
helluva fight, and I know you hate me and you've
got the right to kill me now and I wouldn't bla...Read more of this...



by Giovanni, Nikki
...All I Gotta Doall i gotta do  is sit and wait  sit and wait  and it's gonna find  me  all i gotta do  is sit and wait  if i can learn how    what i need to do  is sit and wait  cause i'm a woman  sit and wait  what i gotta do  is sit and wait  cause i'm a woman  it'll find me    you...Read more of this...

by Williams, William Carlos (WCW)
...I gotta
buy me a new
girdle.
(I'll buy
you one) O.K.
(I wish

you'd wig-
gle that way
for me,

I'd be
a happy man)
I GOTTA

wig-
gle for this.
(You pig)...Read more of this...

by Berryman, John
...where I livin, where I rake
my leaves and cop my promise, this' where we
cry oursel's awake.

Wishin was dyin but I gotta make
it all this way to that bed on these feet
where peoples said to meet.
Maybe but even if I see my son
forever never, get back on the take,
free, black & forty-one....Read more of this...

by Service, Robert William
...omen, too, the pretty dears;
Plenty of 'em in it.

Heaven! that's another tale.
Mightn't let me chew there.
Gotta have me pot of ale;
Would I like the brew there?
Maybe I'd get slack and stale -
No more chores to do there.

Here I weed the garden plot,
Scare the crows from pillage;
Simmer in the sun a lot,
Talk about the tillage.
Yarn of battles I have fought,
Greybeard of the village.

Heaven's mighty fine, I know . . . .
Still, it ain...Read more of this...



by Service, Robert William
...aid Montreal Maree. 

Then up spoke One-eyed Mike: "What can't with us let her abide;
For her dear Mother's sake we gotta send that kid outside.
Ye know this camp's a den o' sin, ye know that Dud's no dice -
Let's stake her to a convent school, an' have her brought up nice."
An' so them bearded sourdoughs crowded round an' on an' all,
Dug down an' flung upon the bar their nuggets great and small.
"I guess we got a thousand bucks," exulted One-eyed Mike;
"You b...Read more of this...

by Gunn, Thom
...The blue jay scuffling in the bushes follows 
Some hidden purpose, and the gush of birds 
That spurts across the field, the wheeling swallows, 
Have nested in the trees and undergrowth. 
Seeking their instinct, or their pose, or both, 
One moves with an uncertain violence 
Under the dust thrown by a baffled sense 
Or the dull thunder of approximate wor...Read more of this...

by Service, Robert William
...ow did the cuss get in?
Musta' busted the door.

God, I'm an ol' black coon,
But You ain't conscious o' race.
I gotta be goin' soon,
I'll be meetin' You face to face.
I'se been sinful, dice an' hooch,
But Lordy, before I die
I'se a-prayin': "Be good to ma pooch" . . .
That's all - little mutt, good-bye....Read more of this...

by Estep, Maggie
...t's a POLITICAL thing
I don't actually have SEX, no
I'm too busy taking care of
important SEX GODDESS BUSINESS,
yeah,
I gotta go on The Charlie Rose Show
and MTV and become a parody
of myself and make
buckets full of money off my own inane brand
of self-righteous POP PSYCHOLOGY
because my pain is different
because I am a SEX GODDESS
and when I talk,
people listen 
why ?
Because, you guessed it,
I AM THE SEX GODDESS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
and you're not....Read more of this...

by Sandburg, Carl
...big Junk Man drives
his wagon
Up to the house and puts his arms around the clock and
says:
"You don't belong here,
You gotta come
Along with me,"
How glad the clock is then, when it feels the arms of the
Junk Man close around it and carry it away....Read more of this...

by Service, Robert William
...ark,
Have to be a-startin'.
Feeble is the spark,
Pitiful the partin'.
Family an' all,
Thanks for joy I owe you;
Gotta take my call;
Been sweet to know you.

Sky's a-mighty black,
Close my heart's to breakin'.
Lonesome is the track
I must now be takin'.
Lordy, be You nigh,
Now's my time to prove you . . .
Life, good-bye, good-bye,--
Been grand to love you!...Read more of this...

by Service, Robert William
...s darin' inundation he held one upon each knee.
"Say, boys, ain't they a purty sight, as like's a pair o' pins--
We gotta hold a christinin' wi' Father Tim McGee."
"I aim to be their Godpa," bellowed Black Moran from Nome.
"The guy wot don't love childer is a blasted S.O.B.:
So long as I can tot a gun them kids won't lack a home."
"I sink zey creep into my heart," said Montreal Maree.

'Twas hectic in the Nugget Bar, the hooch was flowin' free,...Read more of this...

by Service, Robert William
...fool, you say! Maybe you're right.
 I'll 'ave no peace unless I fight.
 I've ceased to think; I only know
 I've gotta go, Bill, gotta go....Read more of this...

by Sandburg, Carl
...y more money
on pay day and even if it's fierce to be out of a job,
Jesus'll fix that up all right, all right--all they gotta
do is take Jesus the way you say.
I'm telling you Jesus wouldn't stand for the stuff you're
handing out. Jesus played it different. The bankers
and lawyers of Jerusalem got their sluggers and
murderers to go after Jesus just because Jesus
wouldn't play their game. He didn't sit in with
the big thieves.

I don't want a lot of gab fro...Read more of this...

by Angelou, Maya
...The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I've got shirts to press
The tots to dress
The can to be cut
I gotta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.

Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
'Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight....Read more of this...

by Service, Robert William
...fated from the start;
For you never yet saw an eel with hips, so she died of a broken heart. 

 Chorus:
 Oh you've gotta hand it out to Love, to Love you can't can Love
 You'll find it from the bottom of the briny deep to the blue above.
 From the Belgin hare to the Polar Bear, and the turtle dove, 
 You can look where you please, But from elephant to fleas,
 You'll never put the lid on Love. 

 You can look where you choose, But from crabs to kangaroos,
 You'll ...Read more of this...

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