Famous Matrons Poems by Famous Poets

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

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A Voice from the Town

...That swing to the strains of the band, 
And the ladies all give me the Lancers, 
No waltzes -- I quite understand. 
For matrons intent upon matching 
Their daughters with infinite push, 
Would scarce think him worthy the catching, 
The broken-down man from the bush. 
New partners have come and new faces, 
And I, of the bygone brigade, 
Sharply feel that oblivion my place is -- 
I must lie with the rest in the shade. 
And the youngsters, fresh-featured and pleasant, 
They live...Read more of this...
by Paterson, Andrew Barton


An Epitaph On The Marchioness Of Winchester

...ut with a scarce-wel-lighted flame; 
And in his Garland as he stood,
Ye might discern a Cipress bud.
Once had the early Matrons run
To greet her of a lovely son,
And now with second hope she goes,
And calls Lucina to her throws;
But whether by mischance or blame
Atropos for Lucina came;
And with remorsles cruelty,
Spoil'd at once both fruit and tree: 
The haples Babe before his birth
Had burial, yet not laid in earth,
And the languisht Mothers Womb
Was not long a living Tomb....Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

...tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly the sunset
Lighted the village street and gilded the vanes on the chimneys,
Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in kirtles
Scarlet and blue and green, with distaffs spinning the golden
Flax for the gossiping looms, whose noisy shuttles within doors
Mingled their sound with the whir of the wheels and the songs of the maidens,
Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, and the children
Paused in their play to kiss the...Read more of this...
by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

How Many Paltry Foolish Painted Things

...emaineth of these days,
And queens hereafter shall be glad to live
Upon the alms of thy superfluous praise.
Virgins and matrons, reading these my rhymes,
Shall be so much delighted with thy story
That they shall grieve they lived not in these times,
To have seen thee, their sex's only glory:
So shalt thou fly above the vulgar throng,
Still to survive in my immortal song....Read more of this...
by Drayton, Michael

MFingal - Canto I

...urches,
Infallibility to purchase;
Set wide for Popery the door,
Made friends with Babel's scarlet whore,
Till both the matrons join'd in clan;
No sisters made a better span.


"What wonder then, ere this was over,
That she should make her children suffer?
She first without pretence or reason,
Claim'd right whate'er we had to seize on;
And with determin'd resolution
To put her claims in execution,
Sent fire and sword, and call'd it Lenity;
Starv'd us, and christen'd it Humani...Read more of this...
by Trumbull, John


Song of Myself

...r you;)
The President, holding a cabinet council, is surrounded by the Great
 Secretaries; 
On the piazza walk three matrons stately and friendly with twined arms; 
The crew of the fish-smack pack repeated layers of halibut in the hold; 
The Missourian crosses the plains, toting his wares and his cattle; 
As the fare-collector goes through the train, he gives notice by the jingling of
 loose change;
The floor-men are laying the floor—the tinners are tinning the
 roof...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

Song of the Exposition

...precious benefits to both—glory to all, 
To thee, America—and thee, Eternal Muse. 

And here shall ye inhabit, Powerful Matrons! 
In your vast state, vaster than all the old; 
Echoed through long, long centuries to come,
To sound of different, prouder songs, with stronger themes, 
Practical, peaceful life—the people’s life—the People themselves, 
Lifted, illumin’d, bathed in peace—elate, secure in peace. 

8
Away with themes of war! away with War itself! 
Hence from my shudde...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

Sonnet CXLIII

...little hide from me;E'en here her form, nor hers alone, I see,But maids and matrons in each beech and fir:Methinks I hear her when the bird's soft moan,The sighing leaves I hear, or through the dellWhere its bright lapse some murmuring rill pursues.Rarely of shadowing wood the silence lone,The solitary horror pleased so well...Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

Sonnet VI: How Many Paltry Things

...ineth of these days, 
And Queens hereafter shall be glad to live 
Upon the alms of thy superfluous praise. 
Virgins and matrons, reading these my rhymes, 
Shall be so much delighted with thy story 
That they shall grieve they liv'd not in these times, 
To have seen thee, their sex's only glory. 
So shalt thou fly above the vulgar throng, 
Still to survive in my immortal song....Read more of this...
by Drayton, Michael

The Destruction Of Magdeburg

...R's History of the Thirty 
Years' War.]

OH, Magdeberg the town!
Fair maids thy beauty crown,
Thy charms fair maids and matrons crown;
Oh, Magdeburg the town!

Where all so blooming stands,
Advance fierce Tilly's bands;
O'er gardens and o'er well--till'd lands
Advance fierce Tilly's bands.

Now Tilly's at the gate.
Our homes who'll liberate?
Go, loved one, hasten to the gate,
And dare the combat straight!

There is no need as yet,
However fierce his threat;
Thy rosy cheeks I'...Read more of this...
by von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang

The Iliad: Book VI (excerpt)

...'d,
Stood in the gates, and ask'd what way she bent
Her parting steps; if to the fane she went,
Where late the mourning matrons made resort,
Or sought her sisters in the Trojan court.
"Not to the court" replied th' attendant train,
"Nor, mixed with matrons, to Minerva's fane;
To Ilion's steepy tow'r she bent her way,
To mark the fortunes of the doubtful day.
Troy fled, she heard, before the Grecian sword;
She heard, and trembled for her absent lord.
Distracted with surprise, ...Read more of this...
by Pope, Alexander

The Lady of the Lake

...all know;
     Far o'er its roof the volumed flame
     Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim,
     While maids and matrons on his name
     Shall call down wretchedness and shame,
          And infamy and woe.'
     Then rose the cry of females, shrill
     As goshawk's whistle on the hill,
     Denouncing misery and ill,
     Mingled with childhood's babbling trill
          Of curses stammered slow;
     Answering with imprecation dread,
     'Sunk be his home...Read more of this...
by Scott, Sir Walter

The Rape of the Lock: Canto 4

...maintains.
But oh! if e'er thy gnome could spoil a grace,
Or raise a pimple on a beauteous face,
Like citron waters matrons' cheeks inflame,
Or change complexions at a losing game;
If e'er with airy horns I planted heads,
Or rumpled petticoats, or tumbled beds,
Or caus'd suspicion when no soul was rude,
Or discompos'd the head-dress of a prude,
Or e'er to costive lap-dog gave disease,
Which not the tears of brightest eyes could ease:
Hear me, and touch Belinda wit...Read more of this...
by Pope, Alexander

The Siege of Corinth

...er smiled 
On the sweet sleep of her child, 
Little deem'd she such a day 
Would rend those tender limbs away. 
Not the matrons that them bore 
Could discern their offspring more; 
That one moment left no trace 
More of human form or face 
Save a scatter'd scalp or bone: 
And down came blazing rafters, strown 
Around, and many a falling stone, 
Deeply dinted in the clay, 
All blacken'd there and reeking lay. 
All the living things that heard 
That deadly earth-shock disappear...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

The Sunset Years of Samuel Shy

...Some smugly settled and some at loose ends,
Sad girls, serene girls,
Girls breathless and turbulent,
Debs cosmopolitan, matrons suburbulent,
All of them amiable,
All of them cordial,
Innocent rousers of instincts primordial,
But even though health and wealth
Hadn't yet missed me,
None of them,
Not even Jenny,
Once kissed me.

These very same girls
Who with me have grown older
Now freely relax with a head on my shoulder,
And now come the kisses,
A flood in full spate,
The mean...Read more of this...
by Nash, Ogden

The Widows Tears; Or Dirge Of Dorcas

...and weep
Our eyes out all together,

For Tabitha; who dead lies here,
Clean wash'd, and laid out for the bier.
O modest matrons, weep and wail!
For now the corn and wine must fail;
The basket and the bin of bread,
Wherewith so many souls were fed,
CHOR. Stand empty here for ever;
And ah! the poor,
At thy worn door,
Shall be relieved never.

Woe worth the time, woe worth the day,
That reft us of thee, Tabitha!
For we have lost, with thee, the meal,
The bits, the morsels, and t...Read more of this...
by Herrick, Robert

To A Lady

...to forget thee.

Yet all this giddy waste of years,
This tiresome round of palling pleasures;
These varied loves, these matrons' fears,
These thoughtless strains to Passion's measures---

If thou wert mine, had all been hush'd:---
This cheek, now pale from early riot,
With Passion's hectic ne'er had flush'd,
But bloom'd in calm domestic quiet.

Yes, once the rural Scene was sweet,
For Nature seem'd to smile before thee;
And once my Breast abhorr'd deceit,---
For then it beat ...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

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