Famous Grimly Poems by Famous Poets

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

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A Ballad of John Silver

...d lissome hull, 
And we flew the pretty colours of the crossbones and the skull; 
We'd a big black Jolly Roger flapping grimly at the fore, 
And we sailed the Spanish Water in the happy days of yore. 

We'd a long brass gun amidships, like a well-conducted ship, 
We had each a brace of pistols and a cutlass at the hip; 
It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored, 
But we chased the goodly merchant-men and laid their ships aboard. 

Then the dead men fouled...Read more of this...
by Masefield, John


Battle Of Brunanburgh

...y of war. 

We the West-Saxons,
Long as the daylight
Lasted, in companies
Troubled the track of the host that we hated;
Grimly with swords that were sharp from the grindstone
Fiercely we hack'd at the flyers before us. 

Mighty the Mercian,
Hard was his hand-play,
Sparing not any of
Those that with Anlaf,
Warriors over the
Weltering waters
Borne in the bark's-bosom,
Drew to this island:
Doom'd to the death. 

Five young kings put asleep by the sword-stroke,
Seven strong earls...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Beowulf (Modern English)

...“Nor must just some of this be melted away
with the mindful king, but there is a hoard of treasure,
uncountable gold, grimly purchased,
and now at the very end, he bought these rings
with his own life. At this moment, the torch
must devour it all, the flames enfold it—
and not at all must the nobleman wear these treasures
as remembrance, nor the radiant maiden bear them
about her neck, in ringed ornaments,
but miserable-minded, he must, bereaved by gold,
tread a for...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,

Beowulf (Old English)

...he must win a home
elsewhere far, as must all men, leaving
this lapsing life! -- Not long it was
ere those champions grimly closed again.
The hoard-guard was heartened; high heaved his breast
once more; and by peril was pressed again,
enfolded in flames, the folk-commander!
Nor yet about him his band of comrades,
sons of athelings, armed stood
with warlike front: to the woods they bent them,
their lives to save. But the soul of one
with care was cumbered. Kinship t...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,

California Plush

...face of 
 my father,

again, for two weeks, as twice a year,
 I was back.

 The waitress asked us if we wanted a drink.
Grimly, I waited until he said no...



Before the tribunal of the world I submit the following
document:

 Nancy showed it to us,
in her apartment at the model,
as she waited month by month
for the property settlement, her children grown
and working for their father,
at fifty-three now alone, 
a drink in her hand:

 as my father said,
"They keep a drink in ...Read more of this...
by Bidart, Frank


Gareth And Lynette

...eck; 
And under this wan water many of them 
Lie rotting, but at night let go the stone, 
And rise, and flickering in a grimly light 
Dance on the mere. Good now, ye have saved a life 
Worth somewhat as the cleanser of this wood. 
And fain would I reward thee worshipfully. 
What guerdon will ye?' 
Gareth sharply spake, 
'None! for the deed's sake have I done the deed, 
In uttermost obedience to the King. 
But wilt thou yield this damsel harbourage?' 

Whereat the Baron saying...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Hymn to Demeter by Homer

...n her fragrant temple, dwelling in the rocky hold of Eleusis."

So he said. And Aidoneus, ruler over the dead, smiled grimly and obeyed the behest of Zeus the king. For he straightway urged wise Persephone, saying:

[Line 360] "Go now, Persephone, to your dark-robed mother, go, and feel kindly in your heart towards me: be not so exceedingly cast down; for I shall be no unfitting husband for you among the deathless gods, that am own brother to father Zeus. And while you ar...Read more of this...
by Homer,

Lion and Honeycomb

...wn flat feet to keep out windy time
And the worm, something that might simply be,
Not as the monument in the smoky rain
Grimly endures, but that would be
Only a moment's inviolable presence,
The moment before disaster, before the storm,
In its peculiar silence, an integer
Fixed in the middle of the fall of things,
Perfected and casual as to a child's eye
Soap bubbles are, and skipping stones....Read more of this...
by Nemerov, Howard

Longevity

...and clown, I might with parrot eyes
Blink blandly when excited men are moulding Paradise.
New Christs might die, while grimly I would croak and carry on,
Till gnarled and old I should behold the year TWO THOUSAND dawn.

But what a fate! How I should hate upon my perch to sit,
And nothing do to make anew a world for angels fit.
No, better far, though feeble are my lyric notes and flat,
Be dead and done than anyone who lives a life like that.
Though critic-scarred a humble bar...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

Lui Et Elle

...ding down, catching his opportunity,
Parting his steel-trap face, so suddenly, and seizing her scaly ankle,
And hanging grimly on,
Letting go at last as she drags away,
And closing his steel-trap face.

His steel-trap, stoic, ageless, handsome face.
Alas, what a fool he looks in this scuffle.

And how he feels it!
The lonely rambler, the stoic, dignified stalker through chaos,
The immune, the animate,
Enveloped in isolation,
Fore-runner.
Now look at him!

Alas, the spear is t...Read more of this...
by Lawrence, D. H.

Massachusetts To Virginia

...ng-smacks of Marblehead, the sea-boats of Cape Ann.

The cold north light and wintry sun glare on their icy forms,
Bent grimly o'er their straining lines or wrestling with the storms;
Free as the winds they drive before, rough as the waves they roam,
They laugh to scorn the slaver's threat against their rocky home.

What means the Old Dominion? Hath she forgot the day
When o'er her conquered valleys swept the Briton's steel array?
How, side by side with sons of hers, the Mass...Read more of this...
by Whittier, John Greenleaf

The Ballad Of Lenins Tomb

...is face, so weary yet so firm;
For years a score they've laboured sore to save him from the worm.
The Kremlin walls are grimly grey, but Lenin's Tomb is red,
And pilgrims from the Sour Lands say: "He sleeps and is not dead."
Before their eyes in peace he lies, a symbol and a sign,
And as they pass that dome of glass they see - a God Divine.
So Doctors plug him full of dope, for if he drops to dust,
So will collapse their faith and hope, the whole combine will bust.
But say, T...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

The Ballad Of The Black Fox Skin

...s fleet, her fear was as a spur;
She laughed with glee, she did not see him rise and follow her.

The bluffs uprear and grimly peer far over Dawson town;
They see its lights a blaze o' nights and harshly they look down;
They mock the plan and plot of man with grim, ironic frown.

The trail was steep; 'twas at the time when swiftly sinks the snow;
All honey-combed, the river ice was rotting down below;
The river chafed beneath its rind with many a mighty throe.

And up the swi...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

The Ballad of the Kings Mercy

...abul spoke: "My King, hast thou no fear?
Thou knowest -- thou hast heard," -- his speech died at his master's face.
And grimly said the Afghan King: "I rule the Afghan race.
My path is mine -- see thou to thine -- to-night upon thy bed
Think who there be in Kabul now that clamour for thy head."

That night when all the gates were shut to City and to throne,
Within a little garden-house the King lay down alone.
Before the sinking of the moon, which is the Night of Night,
Yar K...Read more of this...
by Kipling, Rudyard

The Infanticide

...ason, soul, sunk under--
The deed was done!

Francis, O Francis! league on league shall chase thee
The shadows hurrying grimly on thy flight--
Still with their icy arms they shall embrace thee,
And mutter thunder in thy dream's delight!

Down from the soft stars, in their tranquil glory,
Shall look thy dead child with a ghastly stare;
That shape shall haunt thee in its cerements gory,
And scourge thee back from heaven--its home is there!

Lifeless--how lifeless!--see, oh see,...Read more of this...
by Schiller, Friedrich von

The Lady of the Lake

...hand Fitz-James must strain
     Ere he can win his blade again.
     Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye,
     He grimly smiled to see him die,
     Then slower wended back his way,
     Where the poor maiden bleeding lay.
     XXVII.

     She sat beneath the birchen tree,
     Her elbow resting on her knee;
     She had withdrawn the fatal shaft,
     And gazed on it, and feebly laughed;
     Her wreath of broom and feathers gray,
     Daggled with blood, be...Read more of this...
by Scott, Sir Walter

The Palace of Art

...e a seraph strong,
Beside him Shakespeare bland and mild;
And there the world-worn Dante grasp'd his song,
And somewhat grimly smiled.


And there the Ionian father of the rest;
A million wrinkles carved his skin;
A hundred winters snow'd upon his breast,
From cheek and throat and chin.


Above, the fair hall-ceiling stately-set
Many an arch high up did lift,
And angels rising and descending met
With interchange of gift.


Below was all mosaic choicely plann'd
With cycles of ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Princess (part 4)

...nter rued 
His rash intrusion, manlike, but his brows 
Had sprouted, and the branches thereupon 
Spread out at top, and grimly spiked the gates. 

A little space was left between the horns, 
Through which I clambered o'er at top with pain, 
Dropt on the sward, and up the linden walks, 
And, tost on thoughts that changed from hue to hue, 
Now poring on the glowworm, now the star, 
I paced the terrace, till the Bear had wheeled 
Through a great arc his seven slow suns. 
A step ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Siege of Corinth

...he is safe." — "Where? where?" — "In heaven; 
From whence thy traitor soul is driven — 
Far from thee, and undefiled." 
Grimly then Minotti smiled, 
As he saw Alp staggering bow 
Before his words, as with a blow. 

"O God! when died she?" — "Yesternight — 
Nor weep I for her spirit's flight: 
None of my pure race shall be 
Slaves to Mohammed and thee — 
Come on!" That challenge is in vain — 
Alp's already with the slain! 

While Minotti's words were wreaking 
More revenge in ...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

The Three Voices

...sky
Scorched in his head each haggard eye,
Then keenest rose his weary cry. 

And when at Eve the unpitying sun
Smiled grimly on the solemn fun,
"Alack," he sighed, "what HAVE I done?" 

But saddest, darkest was the sight,
When the cold grasp of leaden Night
Dashed him to earth, and held him tight. 

Tortured, unaided, and alone,
Thunders were silence to his groan,
Bagpipes sweet music to its tone: 

"What? Ever thus, in dismal round,
Shall Pain and Mystery profound
Pursue m...Read more of this...
by Carroll, Lewis

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