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Famous Lapis Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Clampitt, Amy
...w which to salvage. Instead
I keep a lookout for beach glass—
amber of Budweiser, chrysoprase
of Almadén and Gallo, lapis
by way of (no getting around it,
I'm afraid) Phillips'
Milk of Magnesia, with now and then a rare
translucent turquoise or blurred amethyst
of no known origin.
 The process
goes on forever: they came from sand,
they go back to gravel, 
along with treasuries
of Murano, the buttressed
astonishments of Chartres,
which even now are readying
for being t...Read more of this...



by Tebb, Barry
...sun;

There is abundant clay for potters’ wheels

With haptic stone for sculptors’ hands

And the surrounding water is lapis lazuli and ochre.



The steps to the moorings have been carved

Out of indigenous rock and the bridge itself,

Arch by arch, was made of Hunslet iron and brought

On drays two hundred yards from the foundry where

They forged it and it was laid, cantilever by cantilever

By local men hammering home the bolts

From the Hunslet Nail Works.

They...Read more of this...

by Symons, Arthur
...the corn in sheaves, and the harvestmen, 
And the cows coming down to the water one by one. 
Dragon-flies mailed in lapis and malachite 
Flash through the bending reeds and blaze on the pool; 
Sea-ward, where trees cluster, the shadow is cool; 
I hear a singing, where the sea is, out of sight; 
It is noontide, and the fishes leap in the pool....Read more of this...

by Smart, Christopher
...eros Opal -- God be gracious to Mrs Hind, that lived at Canbury. 

Let Tyrrel, house of Tyrrel rejoice with Sardius Lapis an Onyx of a black colour. God speed Hawke's Fleet. 

Let Moss, house of Moss rejoice with the Pearl-Oyster behold how God has consider'd for him that lacketh. 

Let Ross, house of Ross rejoice with the Great Flabber Dabber Flat Clapping Fish with hands. Vide Anson's Voyage and Psalm 98th ix. 

Let Fisher, house of Fisher rejoice wi...Read more of this...

by Yeats, William Butler
...all and are built again,
And those that build them again are gay.

Two Chinamen, behind them a third,
Are carved in lapis lazuli,
Over them flies a long-legged bird,
A symbol of longevity;
The third, doubtless a serving-man,
Carries a musical instmment.

Every discoloration of the stone,
Every accidental crack or dent,
Seems a water-course or an avalanche,
Or lofty slope where it still snows
Though doubtless plum or cherry-branch
Sweetens the little half-way house
Tho...Read more of this...



by Yeats, William Butler
...In tombs of gold and lapis lazuli
Bodies of holy men and women exude
Miraculous oil, odour of violet.

But under heavy loads of trampled clay
Lie bodies of the vampires full of blood;
Their shrouds are bloody and their lips are wet....Read more of this...

by Browning, Robert
...know not, I! --
Bedded in store of rotten fig-leaves soft,
And corded up in a tight olive-frail,
Some lump, ah God, of lapis lazuli,
Big as a Jew's head cut off at the nape,
Blue as a vein o'er the Madonna's breast
Sons, all have I bequeathed you, villas, all,
That brave Frascati villa with its bath,
So, let the blue lump poise between my knees,
Like God the Father's globe on both his hands
Ye worship in the Jesu Church so gay,
For Gandolf shall not choose but see and burst!...Read more of this...

by Benet, Stephen Vincent
...he fisherman 
Stoops, tearing at the cords that bind the seal. 
Shall pearls roll out, lustrous and white and wan? 
Lapis? carnelian? 
Unheard-of stones that make the sick mind reel 

With wonder of their beauty? Rubies, then? 
Green emeralds, glittering like the eyes of beasts? 
Poisonous opals, good to madden men? 
Gold bezants, ten and ten? 
Hard, regal diamonds, like kingly feasts? 

He tugged; the seal gave way. A little smoke 
Curled like a feather in the darken...Read more of this...

by Seeger, Alan
...flowery isles.

And there were verdurous courts that scalloped arches wreathed,
Where fountains plashed in bowls of lapis lazuli.
Through enigmatic doors voluptuous accents breathed,
And having Youth I had their Open Sesame.

I paused where shadowy walls were hung with cloths of gold,
And tinted twilight streamed through storied panes above.
In lamplit alcoves deep as flowers when they unfold
Soft cushions called to rest and fragrant fumes to love.

I hung...Read more of this...

by Crowley, Aleister
...s light-riven, 
From the lift there shot and fell 
An admirable miracle. 
Carved minute and clean, a key 
Of purest lapis-lazuli 
More blue than the blind sky that aches 
(Wreathed with the stars, her torturing snakes), 
For the dead god's kiss that never wakes; 
Shot with golden specks of fire 
Like a virgin with desire. 
Look, the levers! fern-frail fronds 
Of fantastic diamonds, 
Glimmering with ethereal azure 
In each exquisite embrasure. 
On the shaft the let...Read more of this...

by Padel, Ruth
...is love is love to death.
*
"I knew you anyway. I loved you, I'm afraid,
In my sleep. Your eyes, that denim-lapis, grey-sea- 
Grey-green blue, that Chinese fold of skin
At the inner corner, that shot look 
Bleeping "vulnerable" under the screensaver charm, 
Kept me alive. Every cell, every last gold atom
Of your body, was engraved in me 
Already. Don't tell me that was dream! When you came in, 
Staring round in your stripey coat and brocade 
Vest, I nearly...Read more of this...

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