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Famous Illumes Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Nash, Ogden
...old midtown hotel;
I name no name, but its sordid fame
Is table talk in hell.
I name no name, but hell's own flame
Illumes the lobby garish,
A gilded snare just off Times Square
For the maidens of the parish.

The revolving door swept the grimy floor
Like a crinoline grotesque,
And a lowly bum from an ancient slum
Crept furtively past the desk.
His footsteps sift into the lift
As a knife in the sheath is slipped,
Stealthy and swift into the lift
As a vampire into...Read more of this...



by Bridges, Robert Seymour
...hat I feel,
Forbids the sigh to heave, the tear to flow; 
For ah ! no vulgar passion fills my mind, 
Calm REASON's hand illumes the flame refin'd, 
ALL the pure feelings FRIENDSHIP can impart, 
Live in the centre of my aching heart. 

When at the still and solemn hour of night,
I press my lonely couch to find repose; 
Joyless I watch the pale moon's chilling light,
Where thro' the mould'ring tow'r the north-wind blows; 
My fev'rish lids no balmy slumbers own, 
Still my sa...Read more of this...

by Hardy, Thomas
...of the effulgent thought
Whence that high singer's rapture came.
--When now I turn the leaf the same
Immortal light illumes the lay
But from the letters of her name
The radiance has died away....Read more of this...

by Southey, Robert
...ankind
Flies far away with spirit speed, and tastes
The untainted air, that with the lively hue
Of health and happiness illumes the cheek
Of mountain LIBERTY. My willing soul
All eager follows on thy faery flights
FANCY! best friend; whose blessed witcheries
With loveliest prospects cheat the traveller
O'er the long wearying desart of the world.
Nor dost thou FANCY with such magic mock
My heart, as, demon-born, old Merlin knew,
Or Alquif, or Zarzafiel's sister sage,
W...Read more of this...

by Robinson, Mary Darby
...this ungrateful isle;
When the wan queen of night, with languid eye,
Peeps o'er the mountain's head, or thro' the vale
Illumes the glassy brook,
Or dew-besprinkled heath,
Or with her crystal lamp, directs the feet
Of the benighted TRAV'LLER, cold, and sad,
Thro' the long forest drear,
And pathless labyrinth,
To the poor PEASANT's hospitable cot,
For ever open to the wretch forlorn;
O, then I'll think on THEE,
And iterate thy strain, 
And chaunt thy matchless numbers o'er and...Read more of this...



by Robinson, Mary Darby
...teals forth unseen; 
With true-love wreaths, of deathless green, 
Her Lover's grave to strew; 
Her downcast Eye, no joy illumes, 
Nor on her Cheek, the soft Rose blooms; 
Her mourning Heart, the victim of thy pow'r, 
Shrinks from the glare of Mirth, and hails the MURKY HOUR. 

O, say what FIEND first gave thee birth, 
In what fell Desart, wert thou born; 
Why does thy hollow voice, forlorn, 
So fascinate the Sons of Earth; 
That once encircled in thy icy arms, 
They court...Read more of this...

by Southey, Robert
...lence.

Mortal! whilst Fortune with benignant hand
Fills to the brim thy cup of happiness,
Whilst her unclouded sun
Illumes thy summer day,

Canst thou rejoice--rejoice that Time flies fast?
That Night shall shadow soon thy summer sun?
That swift the stream of Years
Rolls to Eternity?

If thou hast wealth to gratify each wish,
If Power be thine, remember what thou art--
Remember thou art Man,
And Death thine heritage!

Hast thou known Love? does Beauty's better sun
Cheer ...Read more of this...

by Petrarch, Francesco
...sleep:Nor they alone rejoice—earth's bosom deep(Though not one beam illumes her night of rest)Responsive smiles, and from her fruitful breastGives forth her treasures for her sons to reap.Thus she, who dwells amid her sex a sun,Shedding upon my soul her eyes' full light,Each thought creates, each ...Read more of this...

by Robinson, Mary Darby
...fires
O'er the cold bosom of the em'rald glade,
While bath'd in tears, the virgin orb retires. 

Thy glowing verse illumes my path of care,
And warms each torpid fibre of my heart,
And tho' my MUSE exults thy smiles to share,
She feels the force of thy superior art;
YET, shall she proudly own her timid lays,
The cherish'd darlings of thy ENVIED PRAISE....Read more of this...

by Brooke, Rupert
...mud. No ray of sun,
But glow to glow fades down the deep
(As dream to unknown dream in sleep);
Shaken translucency illumes
The hyaline of drifting glooms;
The strange soft-handed depth subdues
Drowned colour there, but black to hues,
As death to living, decomposes— 
Red darkness of the heart of roses,
Blue brilliant from dead starless skies,
And gold that lies behind the eyes,
The unknown unnameable sightless white
That is the essential flame of night,
Lustreless purple,...Read more of this...

by Thoreau, Henry David
...else repairs. 
In vain I look for change abroad, 
And can no difference find, 
Till some new ray of peace uncalled 
Illumes my inmost mind. 

What is it gilds the trees and clouds, 
And paints the heavens so gay, 
But yonder fast-abiding light 
With its unchanging ray? 

Lo, when the sun streams through the wood, 
Upon a winter's morn, 
Where'er his silent beams intrude, 
The murky night is gone. 

How could the patient pine have known 
The morning breeze would co...Read more of this...

by Schiller, Friedrich von
...er's fangs of terror;
And still the dreadliest of the dread,
Is man himself in error!
No torch, though lit from heaven, illumes
The blind!--Why place it in his hand?
It lights not him--it but consumes
The city and the land!

Rejoice and laud the prospering skies!
The kernel bursts its husk--behold
From the dull clay the metal rise,
Pure-shining, as a star of gold!
Neck and lip, but as one beam,
It laughs like a sunbeam.
And even the scutcheon, clear-graven, shall tell
Tha...Read more of this...

by Schiller, Friedrich von
...eavens shine
With hues more radiant, more divine,
And turns dull earth to heaven!

.....

'Tis love illumes the realms of night,
For Orcus dark obeys his might,
And bows before his magic spell
All-kindly looks the king of hell
At Ceres' daughter's smile so bright,--
Yes--love illumes the realms of night!

In hell were heard, with heavenly sound,
Holding in chains its warder bound,
Thy lays, O Thracian one!
A gentler doom dread Minos passed,
While down his ...Read more of this...

by Seeger, Alan
...lative splendors are,

That veiled divinity whose beams transpire 
From every pore of universal space,
As the fair soul illumes the lovely face---
That was his guest, his passion, his desire.

His heart the love of Beauty held as hides 
One gem most pure a casket of pure gold. 
It was too rich a lesser thing to bold;
It was not large enough for aught besides....Read more of this...

by Trumbull, John
...act be seen.
Virtue alone with lasting grace,
Embalms the beauties of the face,
Instructs the speaking eye to glow,
Illumes the cheek and smooths the brow,
Bids every look the heart engage,
Nor fears the wane of wasting age.


Nor think these charms of face and air,
The eye so bright, the form so fair,
This light that on the surface plays,
Each coxcomb fluttering round its blaze,
Whose spell enchants the wits of beaux,
The only charms, that heaven bestows.
Within ...Read more of this...

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