Famous Grieve Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Lines Inscribed on The Wall of a Dungeon in The Southern P of I

by Anne Bronte
 Though not a breath can enter here,
I know the wind blows fresh and free;
I know the sun is shining clear,
Though not a gleam can visit me. 
They thought while I in darkness lay,
'Twere pity that I should not know
How all the earth is smiling gay;
How fresh the vernal breezes blow.

They knew, such tidings to impart
Would pierce my weary spirit...Read more of this...

Whate'er thou doest, never grieve thy brother,

by Omar Khayyam
Whate'er thou doest, never grieve thy brother,
Nor kindle fumes of wrath his peace to smother;
Dost thou desire to taste eternal bliss,
Vex thine own heart, but never vex another!...Read more of this...

Summer Time

by Anonymous
I love to hear the little birdsThat carol on the trees;I love the gentle, murmuring stream;I love the evening breeze.I love to hear the busy humOf honey-making bee,And learn a lesson,—hard to learn,—Of patient industry.I love to think of Him who madeThose pleasant things for me,Who gave me life, and health, and strength,And eyes, that I might see.The child who...Read more of this...

Grieve not at coming ill, you can't defeat it,

by Omar Khayyam
Grieve not at coming ill, you can't defeat it,
And what far-sighted person goes to meet it?
Cheer up! bear not about a world of grief,
Your fate is fixed, and grieving will not cheat it....Read more of this...

The Homicide

by Robert William Service
 They say she speeded wanton wild
 When she was warm with wine;
And so she killed a little child,
 (Could have been yours or mine).
The Judge's verdict was not mild,
 And heavy was the fine.

And yet I see her driving still,
 But maybe with more care . . .
Oh I should hate a child to kill
 With vine leaves in...Read more of this...

How long will lack of success in thy enterprises grieve

by Omar Khayyam
How long will lack of success in thy enterprises grieve
thee? Torment is the portion of those who think of the
future. Live then, in joy, grieve not thy heart with the
cares of this world, and know that wine increases not at
all the bitterness of pain....Read more of this...

Thy words are torture to me, that scarce grieve thee--

by Fernando Pessoa
Thy words are torture to me, that scarce grieve thee--

That entire death shall null my entire thought;

And I feel torture, not that I believe thee,

But that I cannot disbelieve thee not.

Shall that of me that now contains the stars

Be by the very contained stars survived?

Thus were Fate all unjust. Yet what truth bars

An all unjust Fate's truth from being believed?

Conjecture...Read more of this...

May

by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick
The world is full of gems to-day,
  The world is full of love;
The earth is strewn with star-gemmed flowers
  That fall from skies above.
The sunshine is a stream of gold
  That flows from flower to flower;
The shadows are but passing thoughts
  That mark each shining hour.
The pansy nods her purple head,
  And sings a silent...Read more of this...

The Ballad Of Father Gilligan

by William Butler Yeats
 The old priest Peter Gilligan
Was weary night and day;
For half his flock were in their beds,
Or under green sods lay.

Once, while he nodded on a chair,
At the moth-hour of eve,
Another poor man sent for him,
And he began to grieve.

'I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace,
For people die and die';
And after cried he, 'God forgive!
My body spake, not I!'

He...Read more of this...

A Prayer

by Anne Bronte
 My God (oh, let me call Thee mine,
Weak, wretched sinner though I be),
My trembling soul would fain be Thine;
My feeble faith still clings to Thee.

Not only for the Past I grieve,
The Future fills me with dismay;
Unless Thou hasten to relieve,
Thy suppliant is a castaway.

I cannot say my faith is strong,
I dare not hope my love is great;
But strength and...Read more of this...

Courage

by Robert William Service
 In the shadow of the grave
 I will be brave;
I'll smile,--I know I will
 E'er I be still;
Because I will not smile
 So long a while.

But I'll be sad, I fear,
 And shed a tear,
For those I love and leave
 My loss to grieve:
'Tis just their grief I'll grieve,
 Believe, believe.

Not for myself I care
 As forth I fare;
But...Read more of this...

The Complaint Of A Forsaken Indian Woman

by William Wordsworth
[When a Northern Indian, from sickness, is unable to continue his journey with his companions; he is left behind, covered over with Deer-skins, and is supplied with water, food, and fuel if the situation of the place will afford it. He is informed of the track which his companions intend to pursue, and if he is unable to follow, or...Read more of this...

Modern Love XLIV: They Say That Pity

by George Meredith
 They say, that Pity in Love's service dwells, 
A porter at the rosy temple's gate. 
I missed him going: but it is my fate 
To come upon him now beside his wells; 
Whereby I know that I Love's temple leave, 
And that the purple doors have closed behind. 
Poor soul! if in those early days unkind, 
Thy power to...Read more of this...

In Memory of Anyone Unknown to Me

by Elizabeth Jennings
 At this particular time I have no one
Particular person to grieve for, though there must
Be many, many unknown ones going to dust
Slowly, not remembered for what they have done
Or left undone. For these, then, I will grieve
Being impartial, unable to deceive.

How they lived, or died, is quite unknown,
And, by that fact gives my grief purity--
An important person quite apart...Read more of this...

Threnody

by Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Lilacs blossom just as sweet
Now my heart is shattered.
If I bowled it down the street,
Who's to say it mattered?
If there's one that rode away
What would I be missing?
Lips that taste of tears, they say,
Are the best for kissing.

Eyes that watch the morning star
Seem a little brighter;
Arms held out to darkness are
Usually whiter.
Shall I bar the strolling guest,
Bind my brow...Read more of this...

Sonnet XXVI

by Francesco Petrarch
SONNET XXVI. Già fiammeggiava l' amorosa stella. LAURA, WHO IS ILL, APPEARS TO HIM IN A DREAM, AND ASSURES HIM THAT SHE STILL LIVES.  Throughout the orient now began to flameThe star of love; while o'er the northern skyThat, which has oft raised Juno's jealousy,Pour'd forth its beauteous scintillating beam:Beside her...Read more of this...

Two Pictures

by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick
A beautiful form and a beautiful face,
A winsome bride and a woman's grace,
So fair and sweet it were heaven indeed
For man to follow where she would lead.
A web of lace and a jeweled hand,
And life is changed by a golden band;
A dream of love and a wealth of gold—
The old new story once more is told.
A wealth of flowers and...Read more of this...

Beppo

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
 Why are thou sad, my Beppo? But last eve,
Here at my feet, thy dear head on my breast,
I heard thee say thy heart would no more grieve
Or feel the olden ennui and unrest.

What troubles thee? Am I not all thine own –
I, so long sought, so sighed for and so dear?
And do I not live but for thee alone?
“Thou...Read more of this...

36. Epitaph on James Grieve

by Robert Burns
 HERE lies Boghead amang the dead
 In hopes to get salvation;
But if such as he in Heav’n may be,
 Then welcome, hail! damnation....Read more of this...

The Mistress

by John Wilmot
 An age in her embraces passed
Would seem a winter's day;
When life and light, with envious haste,
Are torn and snatched away.

But, oh! how slowly minutes roll.
When absent from her eyes
That feed my love, which is my soul,
It languishes and dies.

For then no more a soul but shade
It mournfully does move
And haunts my breast, by absence made
The living tomb of love.

You...Read more of this...

The Task: Book VI The Winter Walk at Noon (excerpts)

by William Cowper
 Thus heav'nward all things tend. For all were once
Perfect, and all must be at length restor'd.
So God has greatly purpos'd; who would else
In his dishonour'd works himself endure
Dishonour, and be wrong'd without redress.
Haste then, and wheel away a shatter'd world,
Ye slow-revolving seasons! We would see
(A sight to which our eyes are strangers yet)
A world that does not dread and...Read more of this...

The Other

by Sylvia Plath
 You come in late, wiping your lips.
What did I leave untouched on the doorstep---

White Nike,
Streaming between my walls?

Smilingly, blue lightning
Assumes, like a meathook, the burden of his parts.

The police love you, you confess everything.
Bright hair, shoe-black, old plastic,

Is my life so intriguing?
Is it for this you widen your eye-rings?

Is it for this the air motes depart?
They rae not air...Read more of this...

Sonnet LXXXV

by Francesco Petrarch
SONNET LXXXV. Tennemi Amor anni ventuno ardendo. HE CONFESSES AND REGRETS HIS SINS, AND PRAYS GOD TO SAVE HIM FROM ETERNAL DEATH.  Love held me one and twenty years enchain'd,His flame was joy—for hope was in my grief!For ten more years I wept without relief,When Laura with my heart, to heaven attain'd.Read more of this...

Remember

by Christina Rossetti
 Remember me when I am gone away,
 Gone far away into the silent land;
 When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Remember me when no more day by day
 You tell me of our future that you plann'd:
 Only remember me; you understand
It will be late to counsel then...Read more of this...

Sonnet LXXVIII

by Francesco Petrarch
SONNET LXXVIII. Poi che voi ed io più volte abbiam provato. TO A FRIEND, COUNSELLING HIM TO ABANDON EARTHLY PLEASURES.  Still has it been our bitter lot to proveHow hope, or e'er it reach fruition, flies!Up then to that high good, which never dies,Lift we the heart—to heaven's pure bliss above.Read more of this...

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