Famous Lai Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Autumn Meditations (5)

... Peng lai palace imperial palace face south hill Receive dew gold stem sky amid West gaze jade pond descend Queen Mother of the West East come purple vapour fill Han pass Cloud shift pheasant tail open palace door Sun surround dragon scales recognise holy face One lie cold river startle year late Number times blue chain shine morning group

Inferno (Italian)

...i?, di s? li mena;

nulla speranza li conforta mai,

non che di posa, ma di minor pena.

 E come i gru van cantando lor lai,

faccendo in aere di s? lunga riga,

cos? vid'io venir, traendo guai,

 ombre portate da la detta briga;

per ch'i' dissi: «Maestro, chi son quelle

genti che l'aura nera s? gastiga?».

 «La prima di color di cui novelle

tu vuo' saper», mi disse quelli allotta,

«fu imperadrice di molte favelle.

 A vizio di lussuria fu s? rotta,

che libito f? licito ...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Prisoners

...tch them
out into space. I think
some must be laughing
under their dust-colored hoods,
knowing rockets are aimed
at Chu Lai—that the water's
evaporating & soon the nail
will make contact with metal.
How can anyone anywhere love
these half-broken figures
bent under the sky's brightness?
The weight they carry
is the soil we tread night & day.
Who can cry for them?
I've heard the old ones
are the hardest to break.
An arm twist, a combat boot
against the skull, a .45
jabbed into ...Read more of this...
by Komunyakaa, Yusef

Purgatorio (Italian)

...uel d'Adamo,
vinto dal sonno, in su l'erba inchinai
là 've già tutti e cinque sedavamo.
 Ne l'ora che comincia i tristi lai
la rondinella presso a la mattina,
forse a memoria de' suo' primi guai,
 e che la mente nostra, peregrina
più da la carne e men da' pensier presa,
a le sue vision quasi è divina,
 in sogno mi parea veder sospesa
un'aguglia nel ciel con penne d'oro,
con l'ali aperte e a calare intesa;
 ed esser mi parea là dove fuoro
abbandonati i suoi da Ganimede,
quando...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

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