Famous In Turn Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

Danny Deever

by Rudyard Kipling
 "What are the bugles blowin' for?" said Files-on-Parade.
"To turn you out, to turn you out", the Colour-Sergeant said.
"What makes you look so white, so white?" said Files-on-Parade.
"I'm dreadin' what I've got to watch", the Colour-Sergeant said.
 For they're hangin' Danny Deever, you can hear the Dead March play,
 The regiment's in 'ollow square -- they're hangin' him to-day;
 They've...Read more of this...

In A Year

by Robert Browning
 Never any more,
While I live,
Need I hope to see his face
As before.
Once his love grown chill,
Mine may strive:
Bitterly we re-embrace,
Single still.

II.

Was it something said,
Something done,
Vexed him? was it touch of hand,
Turn of head?
Strange! that very way
Love begun:
I as little understand
Love's decay.

III.

When I sewed or drew,
I recall
How he looked as if I sung,
---Sweetly too.
If I spoke a word,
First of all
Up...Read more of this...

Melancholy -- To Laura

by Friedrich von Schiller
 Laura! a sunrise seems to break
Where'er thy happy looks may glow.
Joy sheds its roses o'er thy cheek,
Thy tears themselves do but bespeak
The rapture whence they flow;
Blest youth to whom those tears are given--
The tears that change his earth to heaven;
His best reward those melting eyes--
For him new suns are in the skies!

Thy soul--a crystal river passing,
Silver-clear, and sunbeam-glassing,
Mays into...Read more of this...

From learning to the cup your bridle turn;

by Omar Khayyam
From learning to the cup your bridle turn;
All lore of world to come, save Kausar, spurn;
Your turban pawn for wine, or keep a shred
To bind your brow, and all the remnant burn....Read more of this...

Turn O Libertad

by Walt Whitman
 TURN, O Libertad, for the war is over, 
(From it and all henceforth expanding, doubting no more, resolute, sweeping the world,) 
Turn from lands retrospective, recording proofs of the past; 
From the singers that sing the trailing glories of the past; 
From the chants of the feudal world—the triumphs of kings, slavery, caste;
Turn to the world, the triumphs reserv’d...Read more of this...

Phases of the Moon

by Elinor Wylie
 Once upon a time I heard 
That the flying moon was a Phoenix bird; 
Thus she sails through windy skies, 
Thus in the willow's arms she lies; 
Turn to the East or turn to the West 
In many trees she makes her nest. 
When she's but a pearly thread 
Look among birch leaves overhead; 
When she dies in yellow...Read more of this...

The Vagabonds

by Bliss Carman
 We are the vagabonds of time, 
And rove the yellow autumn days, 
When all the roads are gray with rime 
And all the valleys blue with haze. 
We came unlooked for as the wind 
Trooping across the April hills, 
When the brown waking earth had dreams 
Of summer in the Wander Kills. 
How far afield we joyed to fare,...Read more of this...

Behold, where'er we turn our ravished eyes,

by Omar Khayyam
Behold, where'er we turn our ravished eyes,
Sweet verdure springs, and crystal Kausars rise;
And plains, once bare as hell, now smile as heaven:
Enjoy this heaven with maids of Paradise!...Read more of this...

Lament not fortune's want of constancy,

by Omar Khayyam
Lament not fortune's want of constancy,
But up! and seize her favours ere they flee;
If fortune always cleaved to other men,
How could a turn of luck have come to thee?...Read more of this...

To Brooklyn Bridge

by Hart Crane
 How many dawns, chill from his rippling rest
The seagull's wings shall dip and pivot him,
Shedding white rings of tumult, building high
Over the chained bay waters Liberty--

Then, with inviolate curve, forsake our eyes
As apparitional as sails that cross
Some page of figures to be filed away;
--Till elevators drop us from our day . . .

I think of cinemas, panoramic sleights
With multitudes...Read more of this...

Forget! The lady with the Amulet

by Emily Dickinson
 Forget! The lady with the Amulet
Forget she wore it at her Heart
Because she breathed against
Was Treason twixt?

Deny! Did Rose her Bee --
For Privilege of Play
Or Wile of Butterfly
Or Opportunity -- Her Lord away?

The lady with the Amulet -- will face --
The Bee -- in Mausoleum laid --
Discard his Bride --
But longer than the little Rill --
That cooled the Forehead...Read more of this...

Axe Handles

by Gary Snyder
 One afternoon the last week in April
Showing Kai how to throw a hatchet
One-half turn and it sticks in a stump.
He recalls the hatchet-head
Without a handle, in the shop
And go gets it, and wants it for his own.
A broken-off axe handle behind the door
Is long enough for a hatchet,
We cut it to length and take it
With the hatchet head
And working...Read more of this...

Rome Unvisited

by Oscar Wilde
 I.


The corn has turned from grey to red,
Since first my spirit wandered forth
From the drear cities of the north,
And to Italia's mountains fled.

And here I set my face towards home,
For all my pilgrimage is done,
Although, methinks, yon blood-red sun
Marshals the way to Holy Rome.

O Blessed Lady, who dost hold
Upon the seven hills thy reign!
O Mother without blot or stain,
Crowned...Read more of this...

Since to-day is my turn for youth, I intend to pass it

by Omar Khayyam
Since to-day is my turn for youth, I intend to pass it
in drinking wine, for that is my pleasure. Begin not to
talk of its bitterness, to speak ill of this delicious juice,
for it is agreeable, and is only bitter because it enforces
the bitterness of my life.
285...Read more of this...

Old Ed

by Robert William Service
 Our cowman, old Ed, hadn't much in his head,
And lots of folks though him a witling;
But he wasn't a fool, for he always kept cool,
And his sole recreation was whittling.
When I'd spill him my woes (ifantile, I suppose),
He'd harken and whittle and whittle;
then when I had done, turn his quid and say: "Son,
Ye're a-drownin' yerself in yer spittle."

He's gone...Read more of this...

Sonnet LI: Calling to Mind

by Michael Drayton
 Calling to mind, since first my love begun, 
Th'uncertain times oft varying in their course, 
How things still unexpectedly have run, 
As it please the Fates, by their resistless force. 
Lastly mine eyes amazedly have seen 
Essex' great fall, Tyrone his peace to gain; 
The quiet end of that long-living Queen; 
This King's fair entrance; and our peace with...Read more of this...

With fancies, as with wine, our heads we turn,

by Omar Khayyam
With fancies, as with wine, our heads we turn,
Aspire to heaven, and earth's low trammels spurn;
But, when we drop this fleshly clog, 'tis seen
From dust we came, and back to dust return....Read more of this...

Sonnet III: Turn to Yon Vale Beneath

by Mary Darby Robinson
 Turn to yon vale beneath, whose tangled shade
Excludes the blazing torch of noon-day light,
Where sportive Fawns, and dimpled Loves invite,
The bow'r of Pleasure opens to the glade:
Lull'd by soft flutes, on leaves of violets laid,
There witching beauty greets the ravish'd sight,
More gentle than the arbitress of night
In all her silv'ry panoply array'd!
The birds breathe bliss! light zephyrs kiss the...Read more of this...

Insomnia

by Robert William Service
 Heigh ho! to sleep I vainly try;
Since twelve I haven't closed an eye,
And now it's three, and as I lie,
From Notre Dame to St. Denis
The bells of Paris chime to me;
"You're young," they say, "and strong and free."

I do not turn with sighs and groans
To ease my limbs, to rest my bones,
As if my bed were stuffed with stones,
No...Read more of this...

Her Sweet turn to leave the Homestead

by Emily Dickinson
 Her Sweet turn to leave the Homestead
Came the Darker Way --
Carriages -- Be Sure -- and Guests -- too --
But for Holiday

'Tis more pitiful Endeavor
Than did Loaded Sea
O'er the Curls attempt to caper
It had cast away --

Never Bride had such Assembling --
Never kinsmen kneeled
To salute so fair a Forehead --
Garland be indeed --

Fitter Feet -- of Her before us...Read more of this...

It came his turn to beg --

by Emily Dickinson
 It came his turn to beg --
The begging for the life
Is different from another Alms
'Tis Penury in Chief --

I scanned his narrow realm
I gave him leave to live
Lest Gratitude revive the snake
Though smuggled his reprieve...Read more of this...

Smoke-Rings

by Robert Graves
 BOY 

Most venerable and learned sir, 
Tall and true Philosopher, 
These rings of smoke you blow all day 
With such deep thought, what sense have they? 

PHILOSOPHER 

Small friend, with prayer and meditation 
I make an image of Creation. 
And if your mind is working nimble 
Straightway you’ll recognize a symbol 
Of the endless and eternal ring 
Of God,...Read more of this...

O turn away those roguish eyes of thine!

by Omar Khayyam
O turn away those roguish eyes of thine!
Be still! seek not my peace to undermine!
Thou say'st, «Look not.» I might as well essay
To slant my goblet, and not spill my wine....Read more of this...

My turn of existence has slipped around in a few days

by Omar Khayyam
My turn of existence has slipped around in a few days.
It has passed as passes the wind over the desert. Then,
while remains to me a breath of life, two days shall
be for which I never need be troubled, the day which
has not come and that which now has passed....Read more of this...

Unto my Books -- so good to turn --

by Emily Dickinson
 Unto my Books -- so good to turn --
Far ends of tired Days --
It half endears the Abstinence --
And Pain -- is missed -- in Praise --

As Flavors -- cheer Retarded Guests
With Banquettings to be --
So Spices -- stimulate the time
Till my small Library --

It may be Wilderness -- without --
Far feet of failing Men --
But Holiday -- excludes...Read more of this...

Dont forget to view our wonderful member In Turn 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