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Famous Hazard Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Burns, Robert
...ly indulge it;
But never tempt th’ illicit rove,
 Tho’ naething should divulge it:
I waive the quantum o’ the sin,
 The hazard of concealing;
But, Och! it hardens a’ within,
 And petrifies the feeling!


To catch dame Fortune’s golden smile,
 Assiduous wait upon her;
And gather gear by ev’ry wile
 That’s justified by honour;
Not for to hide it in a hedge,
 Nor for a train attendant;
But for the glorious privilege
 Of being independent.


The fear o’ hell’s a hangman’s whi...Read more of this...



by Byron, George (Lord)
...e, would lay her lover low, 
Sunk in the lap of luxury will shame — 
Away suspicion! — not Zuleika's name! 
But life is hazard at the best; and here 
No more remains to win, and much to fear: 
Yes, fear! — the doubt, the dread of losing thee, 
By Osman's power, and Giaffir's stern decree. 
That dread shall vanish with the favouring gale, 
Which Love to-night hath promised to my sail: 
No danger daunts the pair his smile hath blest, 
Their steps till roving, but their hear...Read more of this...

by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
...orts and pastimes, 
In the merry dance of snow-shoes, 
In the play of quoits and ball-play; 
Skilled was he in games of hazard, 
In all games of skill and hazard, 
Pugasaing, the Bowl and Counters, 
Kuntassoo, the Game of Plum-stones. 
Though the warriors called him Faint-Heart, 
Called him coward, Shaugodaya, 
Idler, gambler, Yenadizze,
Little heeded he their jesting, 
Little cared he for their insults, 
For the women and the maidens 
Loved the handsome Pau-Puk-Keewis.Read more of this...

by Byron, George (Lord)
...r host and haughtier name;
A greater wreck, a deeper fall,
A shock to one - a thunderbolt to all.

II

Such was the hazard Of the die;
The wounded Charles was taught to fly
By day and night through field and flood,
Stained with his own and subjects' blood;
For thousands fell that flight to aid:
And not a voice was heard to upbraid
Ambition in his humbled hour,
When truth had nought to dread from power,
His horse was slain, and Gieta gave
His own - and died the Russians’ s...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...ness, didst outshine 
Myriads, though bright!--if he whom mutual league, 
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope 
And hazard in the glorious enterprise 
Joined with me once, now misery hath joined 
In equal ruin; into what pit thou seest 
From what height fallen: so much the stronger proved 
He with his thunder; and till then who knew 
The force of those dire arms? Yet not for those, 
Nor what the potent Victor in his rage 
Can else inflict, do I repent, or change, 
Though ...Read more of this...



by Milton, John
...tempting. Wherefore do I assume 
These royalties, and not refuse to reign, 
Refusing to accept as great a share 
Of hazard as of honour, due alike 
To him who reigns, and so much to him due 
Of hazard more as he above the rest 
High honoured sits? Go, therefore, mighty Powers, 
Terror of Heaven, though fallen; intend at home, 
While here shall be our home, what best may ease 
The present misery, and render Hell 
More tolerable; if there be cure or charm 
To respite, or de...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...om, as before, 
Argue thy inexperience what behoves 
From hard assays and ill successes past 
A faithful leader, not to hazard all 
Through ways of danger by himself untried: 
I, therefore, I alone first undertook 
To wing the desolate abyss, and spy 
This new created world, whereof in Hell 
Fame is not silent, here in hope to find 
Better abode, and my afflicted Powers 
To settle here on earth, or in mid air; 
Though for possession put to try once more 
What thou and thy gay...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...Nor so content, hath in his thought to try 
In battle, what our power is, or our right. 
Let us advise, and to this hazard draw 
With speed what force is left, and all employ 
In our defence; lest unawares we lose 
This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill. 
To whom the Son with calm aspect and clear, 
Lightning divine, ineffable, serene, 
Made answer. Mighty Father, thou thy foes 
Justly hast in derision, and, secure, 
Laughest at their vain designs and tumult...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...laughter! hath given up 
Both his beloved Man, and all his world, 
To Sin and Death a prey, and so to us, 
Without our hazard, labour, or alarm; 
To range in, and to dwell, and over Man 
To rule, as over all he should have ruled. 
True is, me also he hath judged, or rather 
Me not, but the brute serpent in whose shape 
Man I deceived: that which to me belongs, 
Is enmity which he will put between 
Me and mankind; I am to bruise his heel; 
His seed, when is not set, shall...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...is lineaments, though in his face
The glimpses of his Father's glory shine.
Ye see our danger on the utmost edge
Of hazard, which admits no long debate,
But must with something sudden be opposed
(Not force, but well-couched fraud, well-woven snares),
Ere in the head of nations he appear,
Their king, their leader, and supreme on Earth.
I, when no other durst, sole undertook 
The dismal expedition to find out
And ruin Adam, and the exploit performed
Successfully: a calm...Read more of this...

by Dryden, John
...pected still,
(For no man's faith depends upon his will;)
'Tis some relief, that points not clearly known,
Without much hazard may be let alone:
And, after hearing what our Church can say,
If still our reason runs another way,
That private reason 'tis more just to curb,
Than by disputes the public peace disturb:
For points obscure are of small use to learn:
But common quiet is mankind's concern.

Thus have I made my own opinions clear:
Yet neither praise expect, nor censu...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...w'd bed;
Here I should still enjoy thee day and night
Mine and Loves prisoner, not the Philistines,
Whole to my self, unhazarded abroad,
Fearless at home of partners in my love. 
These reasons in Loves law have past for good,
Though fond and reasonless to some perhaps:
And Love hath oft, well meaning, wrought much wo,
Yet always pity or pardon hath obtain'd.
Be not unlike all others, not austere
As thou art strong, inflexible as steel.
If thou in strength all mort...Read more of this...

by Whitman, Walt
...g back a while, sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,) 
I harbor, for good or bad—I permit to speak, at every hazard, 
Nature now without check, with original energy. 

5Take my leaves, America! take them, South, and take them, North! 
Make welcome for them everywhere, for they are your own offspring;
Surround them, East and West! for they would surround you; 
And you precedents! connect lovingly with them, for they connect lovingly with
 you. 

I conn’d old...Read more of this...

by Rich, Adrienne
...r,
How far dare we throw off the daily ruse,
Official treacheries of face and name,
Have out our true identity? I could hazard
An answer now, if you are asking still.
We are a small and lonely human race
Showing no sign of mastering solitude
Out on this stony planet that we farm.
The most that we can do for one another
Is let our blunders and our blind mischances
Argue a certain brusque abrupt compassion.
We might as well be truthful. I should say
They're luck...Read more of this...

by Schiller, Friedrich von
...Never forget to prize the hand
That found the weeping orphan child
Deserted on life's barren strand,
And left a prey to hazard wild,--
That, ere thy spirit-honor saw the day,
Thy youthful heart watched over silently,
And from thy tender bosom turned away
Each thought that might have stained its purity;
That kind one ne'er forget who, as in sport,
Thy youth to noble aspirations trained,
And who to thee in easy riddles taught
The secret how each virtue might be gained;
Who, to ...Read more of this...

by Byron, George (Lord)
...e, would lay her lover low, 
Sunk in the lap of luxury will shame — 
Away suspicion! — not Zuleika's name! 
But life is hazard at the best; and here 
No more remains to win, and much to fear: 
Yes, fear! — the doubt, the dread of losing thee, 
By Osman's power, and Giaffir's stern decree. 
That dread shall vanish with the favouring gale, 
Which Love to-night hath promised to my sail: 
No danger daunts the pair his smile hath blest, 
Their steps till roving, but their hear...Read more of this...

by Wordsworth, William
...P>  I lived upon the mercy of the fields  And oft of cruelty the sky accused;  On hazard, or what general bounty yields.  Now coldly given, now utterly refused,  The fields I for my bed have often used:  But, what afflicts my peace with keenest ruth  Is, that I have my inner self abused,  Foregone the home delight of constant truth,  And clear and open sou...Read more of this...

by Scott, Sir Walter
...d by every noble peer,
     Even the rude refuge we have here?
     Alas, this wild marauding
     Chief Alone might hazard our relief,
     And now thy maiden charms expand,
     Looks for his guerdon in thy hand;
     Full soon may dispensation sought,
     To back his suit, from Rome be brought.
     Then, though an exile on the hill,
     Thy father, as the Douglas, still
     Be held in reverence and fear;
     And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear
     That...Read more of this...

by Chaucer, Geoffrey
...tu Mundi" ("On the contempt of the world") by Pope
Innocent.)

2. Transcriber' note: This refers to the game of hazard, a dice
game like craps, in which two ("ambes ace") won, and eleven
("six-cinque") lost.

3. Purpose: discourse, tale: French "propos".

4. "Peace" rhymed with "lese" and "chese", the old forms of
"lose" and "choose".

5. According to Middle Age writers there were two motions of
the first heaven; one everything always from east...Read more of this...

by Whitman, Walt
...lory of none, not God, sooner than I sing the songs of the glory
 of
 you. 

Whoever you are! claim your own at any hazard! 
These shows of the east and west are tame, compared to you;
These immense meadows—these interminable rivers—you are immense and interminable
 as
 they; 
These furies, elements, storms, motions of Nature, throes of apparent dissolution—you
 are
 he or she who is master or mistress over them, 
Master or mistress in your own right over Nature, elements...Read more of this...

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Book: Shattered Sighs