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Famous Lieutenant Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry
...teenie! 10 Wi’people that ken ye nae better.


Jamie Goose! Jamie Goose, ye made but toom roose,
 In hunting the wicked Lieutenant;
But the Doctor’s your mark, for the Lord’s holy ark,
 He has cooper’d an’ ca’d a wrang pin in’t,
Jamie Goose! 11 He has cooper’d an’ ca’d a wrang pin in’t.


Davie Bluster! Davie Bluster, for a saint ye do muster,
 The core is no nice o’ recruits;
Yet to worth let’s be just, royal blood ye might boast,
 If the Ass were the king o’ the brutes,
Dav...Read more of this...
by Burns, Robert



...n Mogan” to skulk?
Poor Keith’s gane to hell to be fuel,
 The auld rotten wreck of a Hulk.
And where is our King’s Lord Lieutenant,
 Sae fam’d for his gratefu’ return?
The birkie is gettin’ his Questions
 To say in Saint Stephen’s the morn.


But mark ye! there’s trusty Kerroughtree,
 Whose honor was ever his law;
If the Virtues were pack’d in a parcel,
 His worth might be sample for a’;
And strang an’ respectfu’s his backing,
 The maist o’ the lairds wi’ him stand;
Nae gipsy...Read more of this...
by Burns, Robert
...andishments paternal of the old;
But kept his gravest warnings for (hereby the ditty hangs)
That snowy-haired Lothario, Lieutenant-General Bangs.

'Twas General Bangs, with Aide and Staff, who tittupped on the way,
When they beheld a heliograph tempestuously at play.
They thought of Border risings, and of stations sacked and burnt --
So stopped to take the message down -- and this is whay they learnt --

"Dash dot dot, dot, dot dash, dot dash dot" twice. The General swore.
"W...Read more of this...
by Kipling, Rudyard
...re conversing
excitedly
as they do during disasters when their involvement is
peripheral.
'What did he look like? ' the lieutenant is asking.
'I don't know, ' says the witness. 'He was naked.'
There is talk of dogs-this is no ordinary case
of indecent exposure, the man has been seen
a dozen times since the milkman spotted him and now
the sky is turning purple and voices
carry a long way and the children
have gone a little crazy as they often do at dusk
and cars are arriving
f...Read more of this...
by Nowlan, Alden
...that boat hook!
Watch out! Oh! It has caught Miss Breen's

skirt! There! Miss Breen is about seventy, 
a retired police lieutenant, six feet tall, 
with beautiful bright blue eyes and a kind expression.
Her home, when she is at home, is in Glens Fall

s, New York. There. We are settled. 
The customs officials will speak English, we hope, 
and leave us our bourbon and cigarettes.
Ports are necessities, like postage stamps, or soap,

but they seldom seem to care what impression...Read more of this...
by Bishop, Elizabeth



...to long since, through my long-battred eyes,
Whole armies of thy beauties entred in?
And there, long since, Loue, thy lieutenant, lies;
My forces razde, thy banners raisd within:
Of conquest, do not these effects suffice,
But wilt new warre vpon thine own begin?
With so sweet voice, and by sweet Nature so
In sweetest stratagems sweete Art can show,
That not my soul, which at thy foot did fall
Long since, forc'd by thy beams, but stone nor tree,
By Sences priviledge,...Read more of this...
by Sidney, Sir Philip
...h was not life at all,
(But that, she had not lived enough to know)
Between the vicar and the country squires,
The lord-lieutenant looking down sometimes
From the empyrean to assure their souls
Against chance-vulgarisms, and, in the abyss
The apothecary, looked on once a year
To prove their soundness of humility.
The poor-club exercised her Christian gifts
Of knitting stockings, stitching petticoats,
Because we are of one flesh after all
And need one flannel (with a proper se...Read more of this...
by Browning, Elizabeth Barrett
...rehead, and he fell dead with a groan,
And for the death of Captain Ward the sailors did cry and moan. 

Then the first lieutenant, who was standing by,
Loudly to the men did cry:
Come men, and carry your noble commander to his cabin below,
But there is one consolation, we have beaten the foe. 

And thus fell Captain Ward in the prime of his life,
And I hope he is now in the better land, free from strife:
But, alas! 'tis sad to think he was buried in the mighty deep,
Where to...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...egan. 

But the news spread throughout America, far and near,
And filled many of the inhabitants' hearts with fear;
But Lieutenant Maynard with his sloops of war directly steered,
And left James River on the 17th November in quest of Black Beard,
And on the evening of the 21st came in sight of the pirate;
And when Black Beard spied his sloops he felt elate. 

When he saw the sloops sent to apprehend him,
He didn't lose his courage, but fiendishly did grin;
And told his men to...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...praise 
In vain, for always he commands that pays. 
Then the procurers under Progers filed-- 
Gentlest of men-- and his lieutenant mild, 
Brounker--Love's squire--through all the field arrayed, 
No troop was better clad, nor so well paid. 
Then marched the troop of Clarendon, all full 
Haters of fowl, to teal preferring bull: 
Gross bodies, grosser minds, and grossest cheats, 
And bloated Wren conducts them to their seats. 
Charlton advances next, whose coif does awe 
The Mit...Read more of this...
by Marvell, Andrew
...taffian man,
Comes cracking jokes of civil war
As though to die by gunshot were
The finest play under the sun.

A brown Lieutenant and his men,
Half dressed in national uniform,
Stand at my door, and I complain
Of the foul weather, hail and rain,
A pear-tree broken by the storm.

I count those feathered balls of soot
The moor-hen guides upon the stream.
To silence the envy in my thought;
And turn towards my chamber, caught
In the cold snows of a dream.


 VI. The Stare's Nest...Read more of this...
by Yeats, William Butler
...XII. ? ON LIEUTENANT SHIFT.       SHIFT, here in town, not meanest among squires, That haunt Pickt-hatch, Marsh-Lambeth, and White-friars, Keeps himself, with half a man, and defrays The charge of that state, with this charm, god pays. By that one spell he lives, eats, drinks, arrays Himself :  his whole revenue is, god pays. The quarter-day is come ; the hostess says...Read more of this...
by Jonson, Ben
...race,
For when sergeant had looked down the barrel
A sparrow flew out in his face.

The sergeant reported the matter
To Lieutenant Bird then and there.
Said Lieutenant 'How very disgusting'
The Duke must be told of this 'ere.'

The Duke were upset when he heard
He said, 'I'm astonished, I am.
I must make a most drastic example
There'll be no Christmas pudding for Sam.'

When Sam were informed of his sentence
Surprise, rooted him to the spot.
'Twas much worse than he had expec...Read more of this...
by Edgar, Marriott
...y along the valley with tact and courage bold,
Proceeded by a 6 pounder gun, between the right of the guards,
But brave Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart quickly their progress retards. 

Then Colonel Stewart cried to the right wing,
Forward! My lads, and make the valley ring,
And charge them with your bayonets and capture their gun,
And before very long they will be glad to run. 

Then loudly grew the din of battle, like to rend the skies,
As Major Stirling's left wing faced, and c...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...the procession with their pipe band,
Then followed a detachment of the 42nd Righlanders so grand,
Under the command of Lieutenant McCleod,
Whose duty if was to represent the regiment of which he felt proud. 

The pipe band of the Glasgow Highlanders also were there,
And Taymouth Brass Band, which discoursed sweet music I do declare;
Also military officers and the magistrates of Aberfeldy,
While in the rear came the members of Committee. 

There were also Freemasons, Forester...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...ll;
And they rushed to their boats, the only refuge they could find,
Leaving a trail of dead and wounded behind. 

Then Lieutenant Forbes, at the head of his men,
Swept round the ramparts driving all before them;
And with levelled bayonets they drove them to and fro,
Then the British flag was hoisted over the bastions of Moro. 

Then the Governor of the castle fell fighting sword in hand,
While rallying his men around the flagstaff the scene was grand;
And the Spaniards fough...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...most fit
Then passed through the course of training with the greatest credit. 

In a short time he obtained the rank of lieutenant,
Then to her Majesty's ship Galatea he was sent;
Which was under the command of the Duke of Edinburgh,
And during his service there he felt but little sorrow. 

And from that he was promoted to be commander of the Britannia,
And was well liked by the men, for what he said was law;
And by him Prince Albert Victor and Prince George received a naval ...Read more of this...
by McGonagall, William Topaz
...the day was beginning to fall.

They buried the boy by the river,
 A blanket over his face --
They wept for their dead Lieutenant,
 The men of an alien race --
They made a samadh in his honor,
 A mark for his resting-place.

For they swore by the Holy Water,
 They swore by the salt they ate,
That the soul of Lieutenant Eshmitt Sahib
 Should go to his God in state;
With fifty file of Burman
 To open him Heaven's gate.

The men of the First Shikaris
 Marched till the break of ...Read more of this...
by Kipling, Rudyard
...ther English faces-all 
Part of the pattern of English life—
General Sir Charles, and his pretty wife, 
Admirals, Lords-Lieutenant of Shires, 
Men who were served by these footmen's sires 
At their great parties-none of them knowing 
How soon or late they would all be going 
In plainer dress to a sterner strife- 
Another pattern of English life.

I went up the stairs between them all,
Strange and frightened and shy and small,
And as I entered the ballroom door,
Saw something ...Read more of this...
by Miller, Alice Duer
...All-Conquering Death! by thy resistless pow'r,
Hope's tow'ring plumage falls to rise no more!
Of scenes terrestrial how the glories fly,
Forget their splendors, and submit to die!
Who ere escap'd thee, but the saint of old
Beyond the flood in sacred annals told,
And the great sage, whom fiery coursers drew
To heav'n's bright portals from Elisha's view;
Won...Read more of this...
by Wheatley, Phillis

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