Famous Mai Poems by Famous Poets

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

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A Dirge

..."Mein Herz, mein Herz ist traurig
Doch lustig leuchtet der Mai"


There's May amid the meadows,
There's May amid the trees;
Her May-time note the cuckoo
Sends forth upon the breeze.

Above the rippling river
May swallows skim and dart;
November and December
Keep watch within my heart.

The spring breathes in the breezes,
The woods with wood-notes ring,
And all the budding hedgerows
Are fragrant of the spring.

In se...Read more of this...
by Levy, Amy


Canzone XI.(R)

...CANZONE XI.[R] Mai non vo' più cantar, com' io soleva. ENIGMAS.  Never more shall I sing, as I have sung:For still she heeded not; and I was scorn'd:So e'en in loveliest spots is trouble found.Unceasingly to sigh is n...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

Canzone XIX

...CANZONE XIX. S' il dissi mai, ch' i' venga in odio a quella. HE VEHEMENTLY REBUTS THE CHARGE OF LOVING ANOTHER.  Perdie! I said it not,Nor never thought to do:As well as I, ye wotI have no power thereto.An...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

Inferno (Italian)

...cqua perigliosa e guata,

 cos? l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva,

si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo

che non lasci? gi? mai persona viva.

 Poi ch'?i posato un poco il corpo lasso,

ripresi via per la piaggia diserta,

s? che 'l pi? fermo sempre era 'l pi? basso.

 Ed ecco, quasi al cominciar de l'erta,

una lonza leggera e presta molto,

che di pel macolato era coverta;

 e non mi si partia dinanzi al volto,

anzi 'mpediva tanto il mio cammino,

ch'i' fui per ritornar pi? vo...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Inferno Canto 01

...gerous waters he has quit,


cos? l'animo mio, ch'ancor fuggiva,
si volse a retro a rimirar lo passo
che non lasci? gi? mai persona viva .

so did my spirit, still a fugitive,
turn back to look intently at the pass
that never has let any man survive.


Poi ch'?i posato un poco il corpo lasso,
ripresi via per la piaggia diserta,
s? che 'l pi? fermo sempre era 'l pi? basso .

I let my tired body rest awhile.
Moving again, I tried the lonely slope-
my firm foot always was the on...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante


Inferno Canto02

...Lo giorno se n'andava, e l'aere bruno 
toglieva li animai che sono in terra 
da le fatiche loro; e io sol uno 

The day was now departing; the dark air 
released the living beings of the earth 
from work and weariness; and I myself 


m'apparecchiava a sostener la guerra 
s? del cammino e s? de la pietate, 
che ritrarr? la mente che non erra . 

alone prepared to undergo the battle 
both of the journeying and o...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Inferno Canto03

...hidden things. 


Quivi sospiri, pianti e alti guai 
risonavan per l'aere sanza stelle, 
per ch'io al cominciar ne lagrimai . 

Here sighs and lamentations and loud cries 
were echoing across the starless air, 
so that, as soon as I set out, I wept. 


Diverse lingue, orribili favelle, 
parole di dolore, accenti d'ira, 
voci alte e fioche, e suon di man con elle 

Strange utterances, horrible pronouncements, 
accents of anger, words of suffering, 
and voices shrill and faint,...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Paradiso (Italian)

...ggia o fiume
lago non fece alcun tanto disteso.
 La novit? del suono e 'l grande lume
di lor cagion m'accesero un disio
mai non sentito di cotanto acume.
 Ond'ella, che vedea me s? com'io,
a quietarmi l'animo commosso,
pria ch'io a dimandar, la bocca aprio,
 e cominci?: «Tu stesso ti fai grosso
col falso imaginar, s? che non vedi
ci? che vedresti se l'avessi scosso.
 Tu non se' in terra, s? come tu credi;
ma folgore, fuggendo il proprio sito,
non corse come tu ch'ad esso ried...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Purgatorio (Italian)

...LA DIVINA COMMEDIA
di Dante Alighieri
PURGATORIO



Purgatorio: Canto I

 Per correr miglior acque alza le vele
omai la navicella del mio ingegno,
che lascia dietro a sé mar sì crudele;
 e canterò di quel secondo regno
dove l'umano spirito si purga
e di salire al ciel diventa degno.
 Ma qui la morta poesì resurga,
o sante Muse, poi che vostro sono;
e qui Caliopè alquanto surga,
 seguitando il mio canto con quel suono
di cui le Piche misere sentiro
lo colpo tal, che dis...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Sonnet 03

...mio buon popol non inteso
E'l bel Tamigi cangio col bel Arno 
Amor lo volse, ed io a l'altrui peso
Seppi ch' Amor cosa mai volse indarno.
Deh! foss' il mio cuor lento e'l duro seno
A chi pianta dal ciel si buon terreno....Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Sonnet 03: Canzone

...rche scrivi,
Perche tu scrivi in lingua ignota e strana
Verseggiando d'amor, e conie t'osi ?
Dinne, se la tua speme sia mai vana
E de pensieri lo miglior t' arrivi;
Cosi mi van burlando, altri rivi
Altri lidi t' aspettan, & altre onde
Nelle cui verdi sponde
Spuntati ad hor, ad hor a la tua chioma 
L'immortal guiderdon d 'eterne frondi
Perche alle spalle tue soverchia soma?
Canzon dirotti, e tu per me rispondi
Dice mia Donna, e'l suo dir, e il mio cuore
Questa e lingua di cui ...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Sonnet CXC

...SONNET CXC Passer mai solitario in alcun tetto. FAR FROM HIS BELOVED, LIFE IS MISERABLE BY NIGHT AS BY DAY.  Never was bird, spoil'd of its young, more sad,Or wild beast in his lair more lone than me,[Pg 202]...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

Sonnet CXVII

...SONNET CXVII. Che fai, alma? che pensi? avrem mai pace? DIALOGUE OF THE POET WITH HIS HEART.  P.        What actions fire thee, and what musings fill?Soul! is it peace, or truce, or war eterne? H. ...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

Sonnet LIV

...SONNET LIV. Mai non vedranno le mie luci asciutte. TO THE MEMORY OF GIACOMO COLONNA, WHO DIED BEFORE PETRARCH COULD REPLY TO A LETTER OF HIS.  Ne'er shall I see again with eyes unwet,Or with the sure powers of a tranquil mind,Those char...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

Sonnet XII

...SONNET XII. Mai non fu' in parte ove sì chiar' vedessi. VAUCLUSE.  Nowhere before could I so well have seenHer whom my soul most craves since lost to view;Nowhere in so great freedom could have beenBreathing my amo...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

Sonnet XVII

...SONNET XVII. Nè mai pietosa madre al caro figlio. HER COUNSEL ALONE AFFORDS HIM RELIEF.  Ne'er did fond mother to her darling son,Or zealous spouse to her belovèd mate,Sage counsel give, in perilous estate,With such ki...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

Sonnet XXX

...SONNET ***. Orso, e' non furon mai fiumi nè stagni. HE COMPLAINS OF THE VEIL AND HAND OF LAURA, THAT THEY DEPRIVE HIM OF THE SIGHT OF HER EYES.  Orso, my friend, was never stream, nor lake,Nor sea in whose broad lap all rivers fall,Nor shadow of high hill...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

The Alarm

...m,
And Durnover Great-Field and Fort, the soldier clear advising--
Prompted he wist by Whom.

Then on he panted
By grim Mai-Don, and slanted
Up the steep Ridge-way, hearkening betwixt whiles,
Till, nearing coast and harbor, he beheld the shore-line planted
With Foot and Horse for miles.

Mistrusting not the omen,
He gained the beach, where Yeomen,
Militia, Fencibles, and Pikemen bold,
With Regulars in thousands, were enmassed to meet the Foemen,
Whose fleet had not yet shoale...Read more of this...
by Hardy, Thomas

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

...S’io credesse che mia risposta fosse
A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.
Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo
Non torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero,
Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo.


Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats...Read more of this...
by Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)

The Waste Land

...e spectre en plein jour raccroche le
passant."
63. Cf. Inferno, iii. 55-7.

"si lunga tratta
 di gente, ch'io non avrei mai creduto
 che morte tanta n'avesse disfatta."
64. Cf. Inferno, iv. 25-7:
 "Quivi, secondo che per ascoltare,
 "non avea pianto, ma' che di sospiri,
 "che l'aura eterna facevan tremare."
68. A phenomenon which I have often noticed.
74. Cf. the Dirge in Webster's White Devil .
76. V. Baudelaire, Preface to Fleurs du Mal.
II. A GAME OF CHESS
77. Cf. Antony a...Read more of this...
by Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)

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