Famous My Song Poems by Famous Poets

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

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529. Song—How cruel are the parents

by Robert Burns
 HOW cruel are the parents
 Who riches only prize,
And to the wealthy booby
 Poor Woman sacrifice!
Meanwhile, the hapless Daughter
 Has but a choice of strife;
To shun a tyrant Father’s hate—
 Become a wretched Wife.


The ravening hawk pursuing,
 The trembling dove thus flies,
To shun impelling ruin,
 Awhile her pinions tries;
Till, of escape despairing,
 No shelter or retreat,
She trusts the ruthless...Read more of this...

275. Song—The Laddie's dear sel'

by Robert Burns
 THERE’S a youth in this city, it were a great pity
 That he from our lassies should wander awa’;
For he’s bonie and braw, weel-favor’d witha’,
 An’ his hair has a natural buckle an’ a’.


His coat is the hue o’ his bonnet sae blue,
 His fecket is white as the new-driven snaw;
His hose they are blae, and his shoon like...Read more of this...

Dream Song 128: A hemorrhage of his left ear of Good Friday

by John Berryman
 A hemorrhage of his left ear of Good Friday-”
so help me Jesus-”then made funny too
the other, further one.
There must have been a bit. Sheets scrubbed away 
soon all but three nails. Doctors in this city O
will not (his wife cried) come.

Perhaps he's for it. IF that Filipino doc
had diagnosed ah here in Washington
that ear-infection ha
he'd have been grounded, so...Read more of this...

A Banjo Song

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Oh, dere 's lots o' keer an' trouble
In dis world to swaller down;
An' ol' Sorrer 's purty lively
In her way o' gittin' roun'.
Yet dere's times when I furgit em,—
Aches an' pains an' troubles all,—
An' it's when I tek at ebenin'
My ol' banjo f'om de wall.
'Bout de time dat night is fallin'
An' my daily wu'k is done,
An' above de shady hilltops
I...Read more of this...

Archys Song from Charles the First

by Percy Bysshe Shelley
 Heigho! the lark and the owl! 
One flies the morning, and one lulls the night:
Only the nightingale, poor fond soul,
Sings like the fool through darkness and light.

"A widow bird sate mourning for her love
Upon a wintry bough;
The frozen wind crept on above,
The freezing stream below.

"There was no leaf upon the forest bare,
No flower upon the ground,
And little motion in...Read more of this...

Dream Song 52: Silent Song

by John Berryman
 Bright-eyed & bushy tailed woke not Henry up.
Bright though upon his workshop shone a vise
central, moved in
while he was doing time down hospital
and growing wise.
He gave it the worst look he had left.

Alone. They all abandoned Henry-”wonder! all,
when most he-”under the sun.
That was all right.
He can't work well with it here, or think.
A bilocation, yellow like catastrophe.
The name of...Read more of this...

Song IX: Ho Ye Who Seek Saving

by William Morris
 Love is enough: ho ye who seek saving,
Go no further; come hither; there have been who have found it,
And these know the House of Fulfilment of Craving;
These know the Cup with the roses around it;
These know the World's Wound and the balm that hath bound it:
Cry out, the World heedeth not, 'Love, lead us home!' 

He leadeth, He hearkeneth,...Read more of this...

Song of Callicles The

by Matthew Arnold
 Through the black, rushing smoke-bursts,
Thick breaks the red flame.
All Etna heaves fiercely
Her forest-clothed frame.

Not here, O Apollo!
Are haunts meet for thee.
But, where Helicon breaks down
In cliff to the sea.

Where the moon-silver'd inlets
Send far their light voice
Up the still vale of Thisbe,
O speed, and rejoice!

On the sward at the cliff-top,
Lie strewn the white flocks;
On the cliff-side, the pigeons
Roost deep in...Read more of this...

233. Song—O were I on Parnassus Hill

by Robert Burns
 O, WERE I on Parnassus hill,
Or had o’ Helicon my fill,
That I might catch poetic skill,
 To sing how dear I love thee!
But Nith maun be my Muse’s well,
My Muse maun be thy bonie sel’,
On Corsincon I’ll glowr and spell,
 And write how dear I love thee.


Then come, sweet Muse, inspire my lay!
For a’ the lee-lang simmer’s day
I couldna...Read more of this...

Dream Song 7: The Prisoner of Shark Island with Paul Muni

by John Berryman
 Henry is old, old; for Henry remembers
Mr Deeds' tuba, & the Cameo,
& the race in Ben Hur,-”The Lost World, with sound,
& The Man from Blankey's, which he did not dig,
nor did he understand one caption of,
bewildered Henry, while the Big Ones laughed.

Now Henry is unmistakably a Big One.
Fúnnee; he don't féel so.
He just stuck around.
The German & the Russian...Read more of this...

Love Song

by Elinor Wylie
 I lie here thinking of you:—

the stain of love
is upon the world!
Yellow, yellow, yellow
it eats into the leaves,
smears with saffron
the horned branched the lean
heavily
against a smooth purple sky!
There is no light
only a honey-thick stain
that drips from leaf to leaf
and limb to limb
spoiling the colors
of the whole world—

you far off there under
the wine-red selvage of the west!...Read more of this...

Twilight Song

by Edwin Arlington Robinson
 Through the shine, through the rain 
We have shared the day’s load; 
To the old march again 
We have tramped the long road; 
We have laughed, we have cried,
And we’ve tossed the King’s crown; 
We have fought, we have died, 
And we’ve trod the day down. 
So it’s lift the old song 
Ere the night flies again,
Where the road...Read more of this...

385. Song—Auld Rob Morris

by Robert Burns
 THERE’S Auld Rob Morris that wons in yon glen,
He’s the King o’ gude fellows, and wale o’ auld men;
He has gowd in his coffers, he has owsen and kine,
And ae bonie lass, his dautie and mine.


She’s fresh as the morning, the fairest in May;
She’s sweet as the ev’ning amang the new hay;
As blythe and as artless as the lambs...Read more of this...

A Boy ScoutsPatrol Song

by Rudyard Kipling
  1913
These are our regulations-- 
 There's just one law for the Scout 
And the first and the last, and the present and the past,
 And the future and the perfect is "Look out!"
 I, thou and he, look out!
 We, ye and they, look out!
 Though you didn't or you wouldn't
 Or you hadn't or you couldn't;
 You...Read more of this...

A Song of an Autumn Night

by Wang Wei
 Under the crescent moon a light autumn dew 
Has chilled the robe she will not change -- 
And she touches a silver lute all night, 
Afraid to go back to her empty room....Read more of this...

383. Song—My Wife's a winsome wee thing

by Robert Burns
 Chorus.—She is a winsome wee thing,
She is a handsome wee thing,
She is a lo’esome wee thing,
 This dear wee wife o’ mine.


I NEVER saw a fairer,
I never lo’ed a dearer,
And neist my heart I’ll wear her,
 For fear my jewel tine,
 She is a winsome, &c.


The warld’s wrack we share o’t;
The warstle and the care o’t;
Wi’ her I’ll blythely...Read more of this...

An Evening Song

by Sidney Lanier
 Look off, dear Love, across the sallow sands,
And mark yon meeting of the sun and sea,
How long they kiss in sight of all the lands.
Ah! longer, longer, we.

Now in the sea's red vintage melts the sun,
As Egypt's pearl dissolved in rosy wine,
And Cleopatra night drinks all. 'Tis done,
Love, lay thine hand in mine.

Come forth, sweet stars, and comfort heaven's...Read more of this...

The Chimney-Sweepers Song

by William Strode
 Hath Christmas furr'd your Chimneys,
Or have the maides neglected,
Doe Fire-balls droppe from your Chimney's toppe,
The Pidgin is respected,
Looke up with feare and horror,
O how my mistresse wonders!
The streete doth crie, the newes doth flie,
The boyes they thinke it thunders.


Then up I rush with my pole and brush,
I scowre the chimney's Jacket,
I make it shine as bright as mine,
When I...Read more of this...

A Song

by Laurence Binyon
 Persuade me not, there is a Grace 
Proceeds from Silvia's Voice or Lute, 
Against Miranda's charming Face 
To make her hold the least Dispute. 
Musick, which tunes the Soul for Love, 
And stirs up all our soft Desires, 
Do's but the glowing Flame improve, 
Which pow'rful Beauty first inspires. 

Thus, whilst with Art she plays, and sings 
I to...Read more of this...

Dream Song 114: Henry in trouble whirped out lonely whines

by John Berryman
 Henry in trouble whirped out lonely whines.
When ich when was ever not in trouble?
But did he whip out whines
afore? And when check in wif ales & lifelines
anyone earlier O?-”Some, now, Mr Bones,
many.-”I am fleeing double:

Mr Past being no friends of mine,
all them around: Sir Future Dubious,
calamitous & grand:
I can no foothold here; wherefore I pines
for Dr Present, who won't...Read more of this...

The Strange Love Song of T. S. Eliot

by Dejan Stojanovic
At twenty-six, I was inexperienced; 
Still, I knew much about love 
In the waste land, reasoning, 
It's not important when you start 
Practicing, rather when you start searching; 
And I committed myself to finding 
It before others even knew it existed, 'breeding 

Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing' 
My thoughts, my longings, my love 
For something that didn't need...Read more of this...

417. Song—Blythe hae I been on yon hill

by Robert Burns
 BLYTHE hae I been on yon hill,
 As the lambs before me;
Careless ilka thought and free,
 As the breeze flew o’er me;
Now nae langer sport and play,
 Mirth or sang can please me;
LESLEY is sae fair and coy,
 Care and anguish seize me.


Heavy, heavy is the task,
 Hopeless love declaring;
Trembling, I dow nocht but glow’r,
 Sighing, dumb despairing!
If she...Read more of this...

Song To Celia - I

by Ben Jonson
 Come, my Celia, let us prove
While we may the sports of love;
Time will not be ours forever,
He at length our good will sever.

Spend not then his gifts in vain;
Suns that set may rise again,
But if once we lose this light,
'Tis with us perpetual night.

Why should we defer our joys?
Fame and rumour are but toys.
Cannot we delude the eyes
Of a...Read more of this...

225. Song—Of a' the Airts the Wind can Blaw

by Robert Burns
 OF 1 a’ the airts the wind can blaw,
 I dearly like the west,
For there the bonie lassie lives,
 The lassie I lo’e best:
There’s wild-woods grow, and rivers row,
 And mony a hill between:
But day and night my fancys’ flight
 Is ever wi’ my Jean.


I see her in the dewy flowers,
 I see her sweet and fair:
I hear her...Read more of this...

Dream Song 102: The sunburnt terraces which swans make home

by John Berryman
 The sunburnt terraces which swans make home
with water purling, Macchu Pichu died
like Delphi long ago-”
a message to Justinian closing it out,
the thousand years' authority, although
tho' never found exactly wrong

political patterns did indeed emerge;
the Oracle was conservative, like Lippmann,
roared the winds on the height,
The Shining Ones behind the shrine, whose verge
saw the impious plunged, 6000 statures
above the Temple shone

plundered, centuries...Read more of this...

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