Famous Man Of War Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Soldier an Sailor Too

by Rudyard Kipling
 As I was spittin' into the Ditch aboard o' the Crocodile,
I seed a man on a man-o'-war got up in the Reg'lars' style.
'E was scrapin' the paint from off of 'er plates, an' I sez to 'im, "'Oo are you?"
Sez 'e, "I'm a Jolly -- 'Er Majesty's Jolly -- soldier an' sailor too!"
Now 'is work begins by Gawd knows...Read more of this...

To the Man-of-War-Bird

by Walt Whitman
 THOU who hast slept all night upon the storm, 
Waking renew’d on thy prodigious pinions, 
(Burst the wild storm? above it thou ascended’st, 
And rested on the sky, thy slave that cradled thee,) 
Now a blue point, far, far in heaven floating,
As to the light emerging here on deck I watch thee, 
(Myself a speck, a point on the...Read more of this...

The Ballad of Persse OReilly

by James Joyce
 Have you heard of one Humpty Dumpty
How he fell with a roll and a rumble
And curled up like Lord Olofa Crumple
By the butt of the Magazine Wall,
 (Chorus) Of the Magazine Wall,
 Hump, helmet and all?

He was one time our King of the Castle
Now he's kicked about like a rotten old parsnip.
And from Green street he'll be sent by...Read more of this...

The Bight

by Elizabeth Bishop
 [On my birthday]


At low tide like this how sheer the water is.
White, crumbling ribs of marl protrude and glare
and the boats are dry, the pilings dry as matches.
Absorbing, rather than being absorbed,
the water in the bight doesn't wet anything,
the color of the gas flame turned as low as possible.
One can smell it turning to gas; if one were Baudelaire
one...Read more of this...

Discipline

by George Herbert
 Throw away thy rod,
Throw away thy wrath:
O my God,
Take the gentle path.

For my heart's desire
Unto thine is bent:
I aspire
To a full consent.

Not a word or look
I affect to own,
But by book,
And thy book alone.

Though I fail, I weep:
Though I halt in pace,
Yet I creep
To the throne of grace.

Then let wrath remove:
Love will do the deed;
For with love
Stony hearts will...Read more of this...

Paul Revere's Ride

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Listen, my children, and you shall hear 
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, 
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: 
Hardly a man is now alive 
Who remembers that famous day and year. 

He said to his friend, "If the British march 
By land or sea from the town to-night, 
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch 
Of the...Read more of this...

The Landlords Tale; Paul Reveres Ride

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal...Read more of this...

Story Of Isaac

by Leonard Cohen
 The door it opened slowly, 
my father he came in, 
I was nine years old. 
And he stood so tall above me, 
his blue eyes they were shining 
and his voice was very cold. 
He said, "I've had a vision 
and you know I'm strong and holy, 
I must do what I've been told." 
So he started up the...Read more of this...

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