Famous Inflict Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Gangrene

...es of cracked 
blood." None of them was asked 

anything. The clerks, the police, 
the booted ones, seemed content 
 to inflict pain, 
to make, they said, each instant 
memorable and exquisite, 
 reform the brain 
through the senses. "Kiss my boot 
and learn the taste of French ****." 

Reader, does the heart demand 
that you bend to the live wound 
 as you would bend 
to the familiar body 
of your beloved, to kiss 
 the green flower 
which blooms always from the ground 
huma...Read more of this...
by Levine, Philip


Hymn 44

...aid her stores of vengeance there.

[Eternal plagues, and heavy chains,
Tormenting racks, and fiery coals,
And darts t' inflict immortal pains,
Dyed in the blood of damned souls.]

[There Satan, the first sinner, lies,
And roars, and bites his iron bands;
In vain the rebel strives to rise,
Crushed with the weight of both thy hands.]

There guilty ghosts of Adam's race
Shriek out, and howl beneath thy rod
Once they could scorn a Savior's grace,
But they incensed a dreadful God...Read more of this...
by Watts, Isaac

I Said To Love

...re of thee than then;
We were but weak in judgment when,
With hearts abrim,
We clamoured thee that thou would'st please
Inflict on us thine agonies,"
I said to him.

I said to Love,
"Thou art not young, thou art not fair,
No elfin darts, no cherub air,
Nor swan, nor dove
Are thine; but features pitiless,
And iron daggers of distress,"
I said to Love.

"Depart then, Love!
Man's race shall perish, threatenest thou,
WIthout thy kindling coupling-vow?
The age to come the man of n...Read more of this...
by Hardy, Thomas

I Said to Love

...thee than then; 
We were but weak in judgment when, 
 With hearts abrim, 
We clamoured thee that thou would'st please 
Inflict on us thine agonies," 
 I said to him. 

 I said to Love, 
"Thou art not young, thou art not fair, 
No faery darts, no cherub air, 
 Nor swan, nor dove 
Are thine; but features pitiless, 
And iron daggers of distress," 
 I said to Love. 

 "Depart then, Love! . . . 
- Man's race shall end, dost threaten thou? 
The age to come the man of now 
 Know no...Read more of this...
by Hardy, Thomas

Paradise Lost: Book 01

...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 changed in outward lustre, that fixed mind, 
And high disdain from sense of injured merit, 
That with the Mightiest raised me to contend, 
And to the fierce contentions brought along 
Innumerable force of Spirits armed, 
That durst dislike his reign, and, me preferring, 
His utmost power with adverse power opposed 
In...Read more of this...
by Milton, John


Paradise Lost: Book 10

...tence pass 
On his transgression,--death denounced that day? 
Which he presumes already vain and void, 
Because not yet inflicted, as he feared, 
By some immediate stroke; but soon shall find 
Forbearance no acquittance, ere day end. 
Justice shall not return as bounty scorned. 
But whom send I to judge them? whom but thee, 
Vicegerent Son? To thee I have transferred 
All judgement, whether in Heaven, or Earth, or Hell. 
Easy it may be seen that I intend 
Mercy colleague with...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Samson Agonistes

...
About thy ransom: well they may by this
Have satisfi'd thir utmost of revenge
By pains and slaveries, worse then death inflicted
On thee, who now no more canst do them harm.

Sam: Spare that proposal, Father, spare the trouble
Of that sollicitation; let me here,
As I deserve, pay on my punishment;
And expiate, if possible, my crime, 
Shameful garrulity. To have reveal'd
Secrets of men, the secrets of a friend,
How hainous had the fact been, how deserving
Contempt, and scorn ...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

The Emigrants: Book II

...hom the sword has spar'd, is thine; and thine
The Widow's anguish and the Orphan's tears!--
Woes such as these does Man inflict on Man;
And by the closet murderers, whom we style
Wise Politicians; are the schemes prepar'd,
Which, to keep Europe's wavering balance even,
Depopulate her kingdoms, and consign
To tears and anguish half a bleeding world!--
Oh! could the time return, when thoughts like these
Spoil'd not that gay delight, which vernal Suns,
Illuminating hills, and wo...Read more of this...
by Turner Smith, Charlotte

The Poor Mans Lamb

...Life, for which thou must not once repine; 
But with submissive Grief his Fate deplore, 
And bless the Hand, that does inflict no more. 

Shall I then pay but Part, and owe the Whole? 
My Body's Fruit, for my offending Soul? 
Shall I no more endure (the King demands) 
And 'scape thus lightly his offended Hands? 
Oh! let him All resume, my Crown, my Fame; 
Reduce me to the Nothing, whence I came; 
Call back his Favours, faster than he gave; 
And, if but Pardon'd, strip me to ...Read more of this...
by Finch, Anne Kingsmill

To Heaven

...h horror fall,
And destin'd unto judgment, after all.
I feel my griefs too, and there scarce is ground
Upon my flesh t' inflict another wound.
Yet dare I not complain, or wish for death
With holy Paul, lest it be thought the breath
Of discontent; or that these prayers be
For weariness of life, not love of thee....Read more of this...
by Herrick, Robert

We should tell no secrets to the vilely indiscreet; from

...secrets to the vilely indiscreet; from
the nightingale, even, should we conceal them. Consider,
then, the torment you inflict on human souls by forcing
them to disrobe thus before the gaze of all....Read more of this...
by Khayyam, Omar

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