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Famous Martha Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Field, Eugene
...romp by day!
Though forty pounds was once my weight,
I'm shy of thirty now;
I pine, I wither and I fade
Through love of Martha Clow.

As she rolled by this morning
I heard the nurse girl say:
"She weighs just twenty-seven pounds
And she's one year old to-day."
I threw a kiss that nestled
In the curls upon her brow,
But she never turned to thank me--
That bouncing Martha Clow!

She ought to know I love her,
For I've told her that I do;
And I've brought her nuts and app...Read more of this...



by Taylor, Ann
...Poor Martha is old, and her hair is turn'd grey, 
And her hearing has left her for many a year; 
Ten to one if she knows what it is that you say, 
Though she puts her poor wither'd hand close to her ear. 

I've seen naughty children run after her fast, 
And cry, "Martha, run, there's a bullock so bold;" 
And when she was frighten'd, ­laugh at her at last, 
Be...Read more of this...

by Robinson, Edwin Arlington
...r the world’s sake was hidden. “Better the tomb 
For Lazarus than life, if this be life,” 
She thought; and then to Martha, “No, my dear,” 
She said aloud; “not as it was before.
Nothing is ever as it was before, 
Where Time has been. Here there is more than Time; 
And we that are so lonely and so far 
From home, since he is with us here again, 
Are farther now from him and from ourselves
Than we are from the stars. He will not speak 
Until the spirit that is ...Read more of this...

by Collins, Martha
...Draw a line. Write a line. There.
Stay in line, hold the line, a glance
between the lines is fine but don't
turn corners, cross, cut in, go over
or out, between two points of no
return's a line of flight, between
two points of view's a line of vision.
But a line of thought is rarely
straight, an open line's no party
line, however fine your ...Read more of this...

by Hecht, Anthony
...e
In the set of the jaw, a fierce pulse in the throat
Working away like Jack Doyle's after he'd run the mile.

Aunt Martha had an unfair prejudice
 Against them (as well as being cold
Toward bats.) She was pretty inflexible in this,
 Being a spinster and all, and old.
So we used to slip them into her knitting box.
 In the evening she'd bring in things to mend
And a nice surprise would slide out from under the socks.
It broadened her life, as Joe said. ...Read more of this...



by Holmes, Oliver Wendell
...SEXTON! Martha's dead and gone;
Toll the bell! toll the bell!
Her weary hands their labor cease;
Good night, poor Martha,-- sleep in peace!
Toll the bell!

Sexton! Martha 's dead and gone;
Toll the bell! toll the bell!
For many a year has Martha said,
"I'm old and poor,-- would I were dead!"
Toll the bell!

Sexton! Martha's dead and gone;
Toll the bell! toll the bel...Read more of this...

by de la Mare, Walter
..."Once...Once upon a time..." 
Over and over again, 
Martha would tell us her stories, 
In the hazel glen. 

Hers were those clear gray eyes 
You watch, and the story seems 
Told by their beautifulness 
Tranquil as dreams. 

She'd sit with her two slim hands 
Clasped round her bended knees; 
While we on our elbows lolled, 
And stared at ease. 

Her voice and her narrow chin, 
Her grave small lovely...Read more of this...

by Lanier, Sidney
...Written for the "Martha Washington Court Journal".



Down cold snow-stretches of our bitter time,
When windy shams and the rain-mocking sleet
Of Trade have cased us in such icy rime
That hearts are scarcely hot enough to beat,
Thy fame, O Lady of the lofty eyes,
Doth fall along the age, like as a lane
Of Spring, in whose most generous boundaries
Full many a frozen virtu...Read more of this...

by Lowell, Amy
...Mr. Spruggins heard was "S-s-s-s-s --"
Dying away down the street.
He dropped the curtain and got into bed.
Martha had been in the last thing with the warming-pan;
The bed was warm,
And Mr. Spruggins sank into feathers,
With the familiar ticking of his watch just under his head.
Mr. Spruggins dozed.
He had forgotten to put out the candle,
But it did not make much difference as the fire was so bright . 
. .
Too bright!
The red and yellow...Read more of this...

by Austen, Jane
...vain your Consort's care. 

But yet a nobler Duty calls
You now towards the North.
Arise ennobled--as Escort
Of Martha Lloyd stand forth. 

She wants your aid--she honours you
With a distinguished call.
Stand forth to be the friend of her
Who is the friend of all.-- 

Take her, and wonder at your luck,
In having such a Trust.
Her converse sensible and sweet
Will banish heat and dust.-- 

So short she'll make the journey seem
You'll bid the Chaise s...Read more of this...

by Lindsay, Vachel
...A Recitation for Martha Wakefield, Three Years Old


There was a little turtle.
He lived in a box.
He swam in a puddle.
He climbed on the rocks.

He snapped at a mosquito.
He snapped at a flea.
He snapped at a minnow.
And he snapped at me.

He caught the mosquito.
He caught the flea.
He caught the minnow.
But he didn't catch me.Read more of this...

by Laurence Dunbar, Paul
...Out in de night a sad bird moans,
An', oh, but hit 's moughty lonely;
Times I kin sing, but mos' I groans,
Fu' oh, but hit 's moughty lonely!
Is you sleepin' well dis evenin', Marfy, deah?
W'en I calls you fom de cabin, kin you hyeah?
'T ain't de same ol' place to me,
[Pg 195]Nuffin' 's lak hit used...Read more of this...

by Sassoon, Siegfried
...horses fresh,
Sniffing the air I’ll never breathe again. 

. . . . 
You’ve brought the lamp, then, Martha? I’ve no mind 
For newspaper to-night, nor bread and cheese. 
Give me the candle, and I’ll get to bed....Read more of this...

by Kipling, Rudyard
...The Sons of Mary seldom bother, for they have inherited that good part;
But the Sons of Martha favour their Mother of the careful soul and the troubled heart.
And because she lost her temper once, and because she was rude to the Lord her Guest,
Her Sons must wait upon Mary's Sons, world without end, reprieve, or rest.

It is their care in all the ages to take the buffet and cushion the shock.
It is their care that the gear engages; ...Read more of this...

by Wordsworth, William
...nbsp;I'll tell you all I know.  'Tis now some two and twenty years,  Since she (her name is Martha Ray)  Gave with a maiden's true good will  Her company to Stephen Hill;  And she was blithe and gay,  And she was happy, happy still  Whene'er she thought of Stephen Hill. XII.   And they had fix'd the wedding-day,  The morning that mu...Read more of this...

by Akhmatova, Anna
...r wind tore leaves birch off
Through branches tossed and screamed with hate
And city recollects its fate:
Here ruled Martha and Arackcheyev.



July 1914

I

Smells like burning. For four weeks now
The dry ground on the swamplands bakes.
Today even birds did not sing songs
And the aspen-tree does not shake.

Sun has stopped in divine displeasure
Easter rain did not pelt fields hard.
A one-legged passerby came here
And alone said in the...Read more of this...

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