Famous Gracious Poems by Famous Poets

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

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A poem on divine revelation

...combin'd 
Had set her gates on fire: The Hellespont 
And all th' Egean sea shone to the blaze. 


But now more west the gracious day serene 
On Athens rising, throws a dark eclipse 
On that high learning by her sages taught, 
In each high school of philosophic fame; 
Vain wisdom, useless sophistry condemn'd, 
As ignorance and foolishness of men. 
Let her philosophers debate no more 
In the Lyceum, or the Stoics porch, 
Holding high converse, but in error lost 
Of pain, and ha...Read more of this...
by Brackenridge, Hugh Henry


An A.b.c

...of all flowers flow'r,
To thee I flee, confounded in errour!
Help and relieve, almighty debonair,*                  *gracious, gentle
Have mercy of my perilous languour!
Vanquish'd me hath my cruel adversair.

                               B.

Bounty* so fix'd hath in thy heart his tent,          *goodness, charity
That well I wot thou wilt my succour be;
Thou canst not *warne that* with good intent             *refuse he who*
Asketh thy help, thy heart is ay so ...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

Beowulf (Modern English)

...
as Scyld’s son, throughout all the northern lands. (ll. 12-19)

So ought a young man to make good his disposition,
gracious payments from the start, even in the lap of his father,
so that loyal companions should linger with him
in old age, when war comes soon,
the people should follow him. By these praiseful deeds
one ought to flourish in every tribe everywhere. (ll. 20-25)

Then Scyld turned himself away at his given hour—
faring full of greatness—into the covena...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,

Beowulf (Old English)

...en-souled thane
must be skilled to sever and sunder duly
words and works, if he well intends.
I gather, this band is graciously bent
to the Scyldings’ master. March, then, bearing
weapons and weeds the way I show you.
I will bid my men your boat meanwhile
to guard for fear lest foemen come, --
your new-tarred ship by shore of ocean
faithfully watching till once again
it waft o’er the waters those well-loved thanes,
-- winding-neck’d wood, -- to Weders’ bounds,
her...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,

Essay on Man

...Seas roll to waft me, suns to light me rise; 
My foot-stool earth, my canopy the skies." 
But errs not Nature from this gracious end, 
From burning suns when livid deaths descend, 
When earthquakes swallow, or when tempests sweep 
Towns to one grave, whole nations to the deep? 
"No ('tis reply'd) the first Almighty Cause 
Acts not by partial, but by gen'ral laws; 
Th' exceptions few; some change since all began, 
And what created perfect?" -- Why then Man? 
If the great end b...Read more of this...
by Pope, Alexander


Humanitad

...mouth of his own century!

Speak ye Rydalian laurels! where is he
Whose gentle head ye sheltered, that pure soul
Whose gracious days of uncrowned majesty
Through lowliest conduct touched the lofty goal
Where love and duty mingle! Him at least
The most high Laws were glad of, he had sat at Wisdom's feast;

But we are Learning's changelings, know by rote
The clarion watchword of each Grecian school
And follow none, the flawless sword which smote
The pagan Hydra is an effete to...Read more of this...
by Wilde, Oscar

Hymn to Demeter by Homer

...land of sweet Eleusis and sea-girt Paros and rocky Antron, lady, giver of good gifts, bringer of seasons, queen Deo, be gracious, you and your daughter all beauteous Persephone, and for my song grant me heart-cheering substance. And now I will remember you and another song also. ...Read more of this...
by Homer,

I Know I Am But Summer To Your Heart

...full four seasons of the year;
And you must welcome from another part
Such noble moods as are not mine, my dear.
No gracious weight of golden fruits to sell
Have I, nor any wise and wintry thing;
And I have loved you all too long and well
To carry still the high sweet breast of Spring.
Wherefore I say: O love, as summer goes,
I must be gone, steal forth with silent drums,
That you may hail anew the bird and rose
When I come back to you, as summer comes.
Else will ...Read more of this...
by St. Vincent Millay, Edna

Inferno (English)

...ldst,' she said, 'I briefly tell. 
 There is no fear nor any hurt in Hell, 
 Except that it be powerful. God in me 
 Is gracious, that the piteous sights I see 
 I share not, nor myself can shrink to feel 
 The flame of all this burning. One there is 
 In height among the Holiest placed, and she 
 - Mercy her name - among God's mysteries 
 Dwells in the midst, and hath the power to see 
 His judgments, and to break them. This sharp 
 I tell thee, when she saw, she called, tha...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Isabella or The Pot of Basil

...intry cold,
"Lady! thou leadest me to summer clime,
"And I must taste the blossoms that unfold
"In its ripe warmth this gracious morning time."
So said, his erewhile timid lips grew bold,
And poesied with hers in dewy rhyme:
Great bliss was with them, and great happiness
Grew, like a lusty flower in June's caress.

X.
Parting they seem'd to tread upon the air,
Twin roses by the zephyr blown apart
Only to meet again more close, and share
The inward fragrance of each other's he...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

Ode To Silence

...osts of them that flee before all things.
Oblivion is the name of this abode: and she is there."

Oh, radiant Song! Oh, gracious Memory!
Be long upon this height
I shall not climb again!
I know the way you mean,—the little night,
And the long empty day,—never to see
Again the angry light,
Or hear the hungry noises cry my brain!
Ah, but she,
Your other sister and my other soul,
She shall again be mine;
And I shall drink her from a silver bowl,
A chilly thin green wine,
Not bit...Read more of this...
by St. Vincent Millay, Edna

Paradise Lost: Book 05

...h her hair; 
Two other precious drops that ready stood, 
Each in their crystal sluice, he ere they fell 
Kissed, as the gracious signs of sweet remorse 
And pious awe, that feared to have offended. 
So all was cleared, and to the field they haste. 
But first, from under shady arborous roof 
Soon as they forth were come to open sight 
Of day-spring, and the sun, who, scarce up-risen, 
With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean-brim, 
Shot parallel to the earth his dewy ray, 
Disc...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 10

...long, thus answered brief. 
I heard thee in the garden, and of thy voice 
Afraid, being naked, hid myself. To whom 
The gracious Judge without revile replied. 
My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not feared, 
But still rejoiced; how is it now become 
So dreadful to thee? That thou art naked, who 
Hath told thee? Hast thou eaten of the tree, 
Whereof I gave thee charge thou shouldst not eat? 
To whom thus Adam sore beset replied. 
O Heaven! in evil strait this day I stand 
...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Samson Agonistes

...nowledge them from God inflicted on me 
Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon
Whose ear is ever open; and his eye
Gracious to re-admit the suppliant;
In confidence whereof I once again
Defie thee to the trial of mortal fight,
By combat to decide whose god is God,
Thine or whom I with Israel's Sons adore.

Har: Fair honour that thou dost thy God, in trusting
He will accept thee to defend his cause,
A Murtherer, a Revolter, and a Robber. 

Sam: Tongue-doubtie Giant, how d...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Snowbound a Winter Idyl

...ho, lonely, homeless, not the less 
Found peace in love's unselfishness, 
And welcome wheresoe'er she went, 
A calm and gracious element, 
Whose presence seemed the sweet income 
And womanly atmosphere of home, -- 
Called up her girlhood memories, 
The huskings and the apple-bees, 
The sleigh-rides and the summer sails, 
Weaving through all the poor details 
And homespuun warp of circumstance 
A golden woof-thread of romance. 
For well she kept her genial mood 
And simple fai...Read more of this...
by Whittier, John Greenleaf

The Growth of Love

...ch'd desire and due. 

10
Winter was not unkind because uncouth;
His prison'd time made me a closer guest,
And gave thy graciousness a warmer zest,
Biting all else with keen and angry tooth
And bravelier the triumphant blood of youth
Mantling thy cheek its happy home possest,
And sterner sport by day put strength to test,
And custom's feast at night gave tongue to truth 
Or say hath flaunting summer a device
To match our midnight revelry, that rang
With steel and flame along ...Read more of this...
by Bridges, Robert Seymour

The Holy Grail

...ore: ye think I show myself 
Too dark a prophet: come now, let us meet 
The morrow morn once more in one full field 
Of gracious pastime, that once more the King, 
Before ye leave him for this Quest, may count 
The yet-unbroken strength of all his knights, 
Rejoicing in that Order which he made." 

`So when the sun broke next from under ground, 
All the great table of our Arthur closed 
And clashed in such a tourney and so full, 
So many lances broken--never yet 
Had Camelot ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Last Tournament

...
My dole of beauty trebled?' and he said, 
`Her beauty is her beauty, and thine thine, 
And thine is more to me--soft, gracious, kind-- 
Save when thy Mark is kindled on thy lips 
Most gracious; but she, haughty, even to him, 
Lancelot; for I have seen him wan enow 
To make one doubt if ever the great Queen 
Have yielded him her love.' 

To whom Isolt, 
`Ah then, false hunter and false harper, thou 
Who brakest through the scruple of my bond, 
Calling me thy white hind, and ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Millers Tale

...e,
To smelle sweet, ere he had combed his hair.
Under his tongue a true love  he bare,
For thereby thought he to be gracious.

Then came he to the carpentere's house,
And still he stood under the shot window;
Unto his breast it raught*, it was so low; *reached
And soft he coughed with a semisoun'.* *low tone
"What do ye, honeycomb, sweet Alisoun?
My faire bird, my sweet cinamome*, *cinnamon, sweet spice
Awaken, leman* mine, and speak to me. *mistress
Full little thinke ye...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Vision of Judgment

...George the Third! See also how personal Savage becometh, when he hath a mind. The following is his portrait of our late gracious sovereign: 

(Prince Gebir having descended into the infernal regions, the shades of his royal ancestors are, at his request, called up to his view; and he exclaims to
his ghostly guide) — 

'Aroar, what wretch that nearest us? what wretch 
Is that with eyebrows white and slanting brow? 
Listen! him yonder who, bound down supine, 
Shrinks yelling fr...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

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