Famous Halter Poems by Famous Poets

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

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169. Address to Wm. Tytler Esq. of Woodhouselee

...s ground;
 Who knows how the fashions may alter?
The doctrine, to-day, that is loyalty sound,
 To-morrow may bring us a halter!


I send you a trifle, a head of a bard,
 A trifle scarce worthy your care;
But accept it, good Sir, as a mark of regard,
 Sincere as a saint’s dying prayer.


Now life’s chilly evening dim shades on your eye,
 And ushers the long dreary night:
But you, like the star that athwart gilds the sky,
 Your course to the latest is bright....Read more of this...
by Burns, Robert


52. Epitaph on John Rankine

...denomination,
And thieves of every rank and station,
From him that wears the star and garter,
To him that wintles in a halter:
Ashamed himself to see the wretches,
He mutters, glowrin at the bitches,
“By G—d I’ll not be seen behint them,
Nor ’mang the sp’ritual core present them,
Without, at least, ae honest man,
To grace this d—d infernal clan!”
By Adamhill a glance he threw,
“L—d G—d!” quoth he, “I have it now;
There’s just the man I want, i’ faith!”
And quickly stoppit Ra...Read more of this...
by Burns, Robert

Additions

...ed.

Over piggeries, and mixens, and apples, and hay,
They lumpered straight into the night;
And finding bylong where a halter-path lay,
At dawn reached Tim's house, on'y seen on their way
By a naibor or two who were up wi' the day;
But they gathered no clue to the sight.

Then tender Tim Tankens he searched here and there
For some garment to clothe her fair skin;
But though he had breeches and waistcoats to spare,
He had nothing quite seemly for Barbree to wear,
Who, half sh...Read more of this...
by Hardy, Thomas

MFingal - Canto I

...rove it, if you tried,
That e'er one Whig was edified.
Have ye not heard from Parson Walter
Much dire presage of many a halter?
What warnings had ye of your duty,
From our old rev'rend Sam. Auchmuty;
From priests of all degrees and metres,
T' our ***-end man, poor Parson Peters?
Have not our Cooper and our Seabury
Sung hymns, like Barak and old Deborah;
Proved all intrigues to set you free
Rebellion 'gainst the Pow'rs that be;
Brought over many a scripture text,
That used to ...Read more of this...
by Trumbull, John

MFingal - Canto III

...our poor Philadelphian, Galloway,
Your Congress, when the loyal ribald
Belied, berated and bescribbled?
What ropes and halters did you send,
Terrific emblems of his end,
Till, least he'd hang in more than effigy,
Fled in a fog the trembling refugee?
Now rising in progression fatal,
Have you not ventured to give battle?
When Treason chaced our heroes troubled,
With rusty gun, and leathern doublet;
Turn'd all stone-walls and groves and bushes,
To batteries arm'd with blunderbu...Read more of this...
by Trumbull, John


Playing At Priests

...me;

We knew that a sonorous ring

Was here a most important thing;
But Fortune to our rescue came,
For on the ground a halter lay;

We were delighted, and at once

Made it a bellrope for the nonce,
And kept it moving all the day;

In turns each sister and each brother

Acted as sexton to another;
All help'd to swell the joyous throng;

The whole proceeded swimmingly,

And since no actual bell had we,
We all in chorus sang, Ding dong!


 * * * * *

Our guileless child's-sport...Read more of this...
by von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang

The Appointment

...Flamingo silk. New ruff, 
the ivory ghost 
of a halter. Chestnut curls,

*

commas behind the ear.
"Taller, by half a head, 
than my Lord Walsingham."

*

His Devon-cream brogue,
malt eyes. New cloak 
mussed in her mud.

*

The Queen leans forward,
a rosy envelope of civet.
A cleavage

*

whispering seed pearls.
Her own sleeve 
rubs that speck of dirt

*

on his cheek. Three thousand 
ornamental fruit bas...Read more of this...
by Padel, Ruth

The Debate Between Villon And His Heart

...man—
You're thirty, for a mule that's a lifetime
You call that childhood?—No—Madness
Must have hold of you—By what, the halter?—
You don't know a thing—Yes I do—What?—Flies in milk
One's white, one's black, they're opposites—
That's all?—How can I say it better?
If that doesn't suit you I'll start over—
You're lost—Well I'll go down fighting—
I've nothing more to tell you—I'll survive without it—

I get the heartache, you the injury and pain
If you were just some poor crazy i...Read more of this...
by Villon, Francois

The Fire At Tranter Sweatleys

...

Over piggeries, and mixens, and apples, and hay, 
 They lumpered straight into the night; 
And finding bylong where a halter-path lay, 
At dawn reached Tim's house, on'y seen on their way 
By a naibor or two who were up wi' the day; 
 But they gathered no clue to the sight. 

Then tender Tim Tankens he searched here and there 
 For some garment to clothe her fair skin; 
But though he had breeches and waistcoats to spare, 
He had nothing quite seemly for Barbree to wear, 
Wh...Read more of this...
by Hardy, Thomas

The Light o the Moon

...
And taste that supper sweet. 

Men feed me straw and scanty grain 
And beat me till I'm sore. 
Some day I'll break the halter-rope 
And smash the stable-door, 

Run down the street and mount the hill 
Just as the corn appears. 
I've seen it rise at certain times 
For years and years and years. 


What the Hyena Said

The moon is but a golden skull, 
She mounts the heavens now, 
And Moon-Worms, mighty Moon-Worms 
Are wreathed around her brow. 

The Moon-Worms are a doughty ra...Read more of this...
by Lindsay, Vachel

The White Horse

...The youth walks up to the white horse, to put its halter on
and the horse looks at him in silence.
They are so silent, they are in another world....Read more of this...
by Lawrence, D. H.

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