Famous Merchant Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

403. The Soldier's Return: A Ballad

...t me gowd,
 A mailen plenish’d fairly;
And come, my faithfu’ sodger lad,
 Thou’rt welcome to it dearly!”


For gold the merchant ploughs the main,
 The farmer ploughs the manor;
But glory is the sodger’s prize,
 The sodger’s wealth is honor:
The brave poor sodger ne’er despise,
 Nor count him as a stranger;
Remember he’s his country’s stay,
 In day and hour of danger....Read more of this...
by Burns, Robert


A Ballad of John Silver

...ls and a cutlass at the hip; 
It's a point which tells against us, and a fact to be deplored, 
But we chased the goodly merchant-men and laid their ships aboard. 

Then the dead men fouled the scuppers and the wounded filled the chains, 
And the paint-work all was spatter dashed with other peoples brains, 
She was boarded, she was looted, she was scuttled till she sank. 
And the pale survivors left us by the medium of the plank. 

O! then it was (while standing by the taffrai...Read more of this...
by Masefield, John

A Broadway Pageant

...places—the temples, with idols ranged along the sides, or at the
 end—bonze,
 brahmin, and lama;
The mandarin, farmer, merchant, mechanic, and fisherman; 
The singing-girl and the dancing-girl—the ecstatic person—the secluded Emperors, 
Confucius himself—the great poets and heroes—the warriors, the castes, all, 
Trooping up, crowding from all directions—from the Altay mountains, 
From Thibet—from the four winding and far-flowing rivers of China,
From the Southern peninsulas,...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

A Tale of Two Cities

...the sober-colored cultivator smiles
 On his byles;
Where the cholera, the cyclone, and the crow
 Come and go;
Where the merchant deals in indigo and tea,
 Hides and ghi;
Where the Babu drops inflammatory hints
 In his prints;
Stands a City -- Charnock chose it -- packed away
 Near a Bay --
By the Sewage rendered fetid, by the sewer
 Made impure,
By the Sunderbunds unwholesome, by the swamp
 Moist and damp;
And the City and the Viceroy, as we see,
 Don't agree.
Once, two hunde...Read more of this...
by Kipling, Rudyard

Carol of Occupations

...nt and poor, boys apprenticed to trades,
Young fellows working on farms, and old fellows working on farms, 
Sailor-men, merchant-men, coasters, immigrants, 
All these I see—but nigher and farther the same I see; 
None shall escape me, and none shall wish to escape me. 

I bring what you much need, yet always have,
Not money, amours, dress, eating, but as good; 
I send no agent or medium, offer no representative of value, but offer the value itself. 

There is something that c...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt


Four Quartets 2: East Coker

...
O dark dark dark. They all go into the dark,
The vacant interstellar spaces, the vacant into the vacant,
The captains, merchant bankers, eminent men of letters,
The generous patrons of art, the statesmen and the rulers,
Distinguished civil servants, chairmen of many committees,
Industrial lords and petty contractors, all go into the dark,
And dark the Sun and Moon, and the Almanach de Gotha
And the Stock Exchange Gazette, the Directory of Directors,
And cold the sense and lo...Read more of this...
by Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)

Goblin Market

...d harm us."
She thrust a dimpled finger
In each ear, shut eyes and ran:
Curious Laura chose to linger
Wondering at each merchant man.
One had a cat's face,
One whisked a tail,
One tramped at a rat's pace,
One crawled like a snail,
One like a wombat prowled obtuse and furry,
One like a ratel tumbled hurry-scurry.
Lizzie heard a voice like voice of doves
Cooing all together:
They sounded kind and full of loves
In the pleasant weather.

Laura stretched her gleaming neck
Like a r...Read more of this...
by Rossetti, Christina

Song of Solomon

...wilderness like pillars of
           smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders
           of the merchant?

22:003:007 Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are
           about it, of the valiant of Israel.

22:003:008 They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his
           sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

22:003:009 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

22:003:01...Read more of this...
by Bible, The

Street Cries

...Oft seems the Time a market-town
Where many merchant-spirits meet
Who up and down and up and down
Cry out along the street

Their needs, as wares; one THUS, one SO:
Till all the ways are full of sound:
-- But still come rain, and sun, and snow,
And still the world goes round.



I. Remonstrance.


"Opinion, let me alone: I am not thine.
Prim Creed, with categoric point, forbear
To feature me my Lord b...Read more of this...
by Lanier, Sidney

The Earthly Paradise: The Lady of the Land

...a long year of great delight,
And many years of misery and pain?
Or worse, and this poor hour for all my gain?
A sorry merchant am I on this day,
E'en as thou willest so must I obey."


She said, "What brave words! nought divine am I,
But an unhappy and unheard-of maid
Compelled by evil fate and destiny
To live, who long ago should have been laid
Under the earth within the cypress shade.
Hearken awhile, and quickly shalt thou know
What deed I pray thee to accomplish now.


"...Read more of this...
by Morris, William

The Everlasting Gospel

...ls, and louder still 
His voice was heard from Zion’s Hill, 
And in His hand the scourge shone bright; 
He scourg’d the merchant Canaanite 
From out the Temple of His Mind, 
And in his body tight does bind 
Satan and all his hellish crew; 
And thus with wrath He did subdue 
The serpent bulk of Nature’s dross, 
Till He had nail’d it to the Cross. 
He took on sin in the Virgin’s womb 
And put it off on the Cross and tomb 
To be worshipp’d by the Church of Rome. 

Was Jesus humb...Read more of this...
by Blake, William

The General Prologue

...twinkled in his head aright, *eyes
As do the starres in a frosty night.
This worthy limitour  was call'd Huberd.

A MERCHANT was there with a forked beard,
In motley, and high on his horse he sat,
Upon his head a Flandrish beaver hat.
His bootes clasped fair and fetisly*. *neatly
His reasons aye spake he full solemnly,
Sounding alway th' increase of his winning.
He would the sea were kept  for any thing
Betwixte Middleburg and Orewell
Well could he in exchange shi...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Giaour

...in the fountain rill,
Whose welcome waters, cool and clear,
Draw blessings from the mountaineer:
Here may the loitering merchant Greek 
Find that repose 'twere vain to seek
In cities lodged too near his lord,
And trembling for his secret hoard -
Here may he rest where none can see,
In crowds a slave, in deserts free;
And with forbidden wine may stain
The bowl a Moslem must not drain.


The foremost Tartar's in the gap,
Conspicuous by his yellow cap;
The rest in lengthening li...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

The Jacquerie A Fragment

...the ground, and plant his seed,
A farmer foisoning a huge crop of grief.
Your Life shall chaffer in the market-place,
A merchant trading in the goods of grief.
Your Life shall go to battle with his bow,
A soldier fighting in defence of grief.
By every rudder that divides the seas,
Tall Grief shall stand, the helmsman of the ship.
By every wain that jolts along the roads,
Stout Grief shall walk, the driver of the team.
Midst every herd of cattle on the hills,
Dull Grief shall ...Read more of this...
by Lanier, Sidney

The Man of Laws Tale

...me to that prick*. *point

If thou be poor, thy brother hateth thee,
And all thy friendes flee from thee, alas!
O riche merchants, full of wealth be ye,
O noble, prudent folk, as in this case,
Your bagges be not fill'd with *ambes ace,* *two aces*
But with *six-cinque*, that runneth for your chance; *six-five*
At Christenmass well merry may ye dance.

Ye seeke land and sea for your winnings,
As wise folk ye knowen all th' estate
Of regnes*; ye be fathers of tidings, *kingd...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Mary Gloster

...Gloster, dying, a baronite:
For I lunched with his Royal 'Ighness -- what was it the papers had?
"Not the least of our merchant-princes." Dickie, that's me, your dad!
I didn't begin with askings. I took my job and I stuck;
I took the chances they wouldn't, an' now they're calling it luck.
Lord, what boats I've handled -- rotten and leaky and old --
Ran 'em, or -- opened the bilge-cock, precisely as I was told.
Grub that 'ud bind you crazy, and crews that 'ud turn you grey,
A...Read more of this...
by Kipling, Rudyard

The Phases Of The Moon

...world.

Robartes. Because you are forgotten, half out of life,
And never wrote a book, your thought is clear.
Reformer, merchant, statesman, learned man,
Dutiful husband, honest wife by turn,
Cradle upon cradle, and all in flight and all
Deformed because there is no deformity
But saves us from a dream.

Aherne. And what of those
That the last servile crescent has set free?

Robartes. Because all dark, like those that are all light,
They are cast beyond the verge, and in a clo...Read more of this...
by Yeats, William Butler

The Rape of the Lock

...iquely shoots his burning Ray; 
The hungry Judges soon the Sentence sign,
And Wretches hang that Jury-men may Dine;
The Merchant from th'exchange returns in Peace,
And the long Labours of the Toilette cease ----
Belinda now, whom Thirst of Fame invites,
Burns to encounter two adventrous Knights,
At Ombre singly to decide their Doom;
And swells her Breast with Conquests yet to come.
Strait the three Bands prepare in Arms to join,
Each Band the number of the Sacred Nine. 
Soon ...Read more of this...
by Pope, Alexander

The Walk

...ming!
Strange confusion of tongues sounds in the wondering ear.
On to the pile the wealth of the earth is heaped by the merchant,
All that the sun's scorching rays bring forth on Africa's soil,
All that Arabia prepares, that the uttermost Thule produces,
High with heart-gladdening stores fills Amalthea her horn.
Fortune wedded to talent gives birth there to children immortal,
Suckled in liberty's arms, flourish the arts there of joy.
With the image of life the eyes by the scu...Read more of this...
by Schiller, Friedrich von

The Waste Land

...of the Rocks,
The lady of situations. 
Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel,
And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card,
Which is blank, is something he carries on his back,
Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find
The Hanged Man. Fear death by water.
I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring.
Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone,
Tell her I bring the horoscope myself:
One must be so careful these days.
 Unreal City, 
Under the brown fog of...Read more of this...
by Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Merchant poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter
Hide Ad