Famous Horrified Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

Crow Sickene

by Ted Hughes
His illness was something could not vomit him up. 

Unwinding the world like a ball of wool
Found the last end tied round his own finger. 

Decided to get death, but whatever
Walked into his ambush
Was always his own body. 

Where is this somebody who has me under? 

He dived, he journeyed, challenging, he climbed and with a glare
Of hair on end...Read more of this...

Deceptions

by Philip Larkin
 "Of course I was drugged, and so heavily I did not regain
consciousness until the next morning. I was horrified to
discover that I had been ruined, and for some days I was inconsolable,
and cried like a child to be killed or sent back to my aunt."

 --Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor

Even so distant, I can taste the grief,
Bitter...Read more of this...

The Tombstone-Maker

by Siegfried Sassoon
 He primmed his loose red mouth and leaned his head 
Against a sorrowing angel’s breast, and said: 
‘You’d think so much bereavement would have made 
‘Unusual big demands upon my trade. 
‘The War comes cruel hard on some poor folk;
‘Unless the fighting stops I’ll soon be broke.’ 

He eyed the Cemetery across the road. 
‘There’s scores of bodies out...Read more of this...

The Story Of Our Lives

by Mark Strand
 1
We are reading the story of our lives
which takes place in a room.
The room looks out on a street.
There is no one there,
no sound of anything.
The tress are heavy with leaves,
the parked cars never move.
We keep turning the pages, hoping for something,
something like mercy or change,
a black line that would bind us
or keep us apart.
The way it is, it...Read more of this...

The Bells

by Edgar Allan Poe
 I

Hear the sledges with the bells-
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
From the jingling and...Read more of this...

Madam La Maquise

by Robert William Service
 Said Hongray de la Glaciere unto his proud Papa:
"I want to take a wife mon Père," The Marquis laughed: "Ha! Ha!
And whose, my son?" he slyly said; but Hongray with a frown
Cried, "Fi! Papa, I mean - to wed, I want to settle down."
The Marquis de la Glaciere responded with a smile;
"You're young my boy; I much prefer that...Read more of this...

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Horrified poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace