Famous No Rhyme Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous No Rhyme poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous no rhyme poems. These examples illustrate what a famous no rhyme poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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The Wonderer

by Robert William Service
 I wish that I could understand
The moving marvel of my Hand;
I watch my fingers turn and twist,
The supple bending of my wrist,
The dainty touch of finger-tip,
The steel intensity of grip;
A tool of exquisite design,
With pride I think: "It's mine! It's mine!"

Then there's the wonder of my Eyes,
Where hills and houses, seas and skies,
In waves of light converge and pass,
And...Read more of this...

Leaves From Australian Forests - Dedication

by Henry Kendall
To her who, cast with me in trying days, 
Stood in the place of health and power and praise;- 
Who, when I thought all light was out, became 
A lamp of hope that put my fears to shame;- 
Who faced for love's sole sake the life austere 
That waits upon the man of letters here;- 
Who, unawares, her deep affection...Read more of this...

Y was a Youth who kicked

by Edward Lear
Y  was a Youth, who kickedAnd screamed and cried like mad; Papa he said, "Your conduct isAbominably bad!" ...Read more of this...

Ding, Dong, Bell

by Mother Goose
Ding, dong, bell,
Pussy's in the well!
Who put her in?
Little Tommy Lin.

Who pulled her out?
Little Johnny Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To try to drown poor pussy-cat.
Who never did him any harm,
But killed the mice in his father's barn!...Read more of this...

As I Was Going Along

by Mother Goose
As I was going along, along,
A-singing a comical song, song, song,
The lane that I went was so long, long, long,
And the song that I sang was so long, long, long,
And so I went singing along....Read more of this...

Squash in Blossom

by Robert Francis
 How lush, how loose, the uninhibited squash is.
If ever hearts (and these immoderate leaves
Are vegetable hearts) were worn on sleeves,
The squash's are. In green the squash vine gushes.

The flowers are cornucopias of summer,
Briefly exuberant and cheaply golden.
And if they make a show of being hidden,
Are open promiscuously to every comer.

Let the squash be what it was doomed to be
By...Read more of this...

In Memoriam A. H. H.: 45. The baby new to earth and sky

by Alfred Lord Tennyson
 The baby new to earth and sky,
What time his tender palm is prest
Against the circle of the breast,
Has never thought that "this is I":
But as he grows he gathers much,
And learns the use of "I," and "me,"
And finds "I am not what I see,
And other than the things I touch."
So rounds he to a separate mind
From whence clear memory...Read more of this...

Shall We Go A-Shearing?

by Mother Goose
"Old woman, old woman, shall we go a-shearing?"
"Speak a little louder, sir, I am very thick of hearing."
"Old woman, old woman, shall I kiss you dearly?"
"Thank you, kind sir, I hear you very clearly."...Read more of this...

Wee Willie Winkie

by Mother Goose
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown;
Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,
"Are the children in their beds? Now it's eight o'clock."...Read more of this...

Intery, Mintery

by Mother Goose
Intery, mintery, cutery corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn;
Wire, brier, limber-lock,
Five geese in a flock,
Sit and sing by a spring,
O-u-t, and in again....Read more of this...

Saturday, Sunday

by Mother Goose
On Saturday night
    Shall be all my care
To powder my locks
    And curl my hair.

On Sunday morning
    My love will come in.
When he will marry me
    With a gold ring....Read more of this...

The Clock

by Mother Goose
There's a neat little clock,--
  In the schoolroom it stands,--
And it points to the time
  With its two little hands.

And may we, like the clock,
  Keep a face clean and bright,
With hands ever ready
  To do what is right....Read more of this...

For Baby

by Mother Goose
You shall have an apple,
YOU shall have a plum,
You shall have a rattle,
When papa comes home....Read more of this...

The Old Woman Under A Hill

by Mother Goose
There was an old woman
  Lived under a hill;
And if she's not gone,
  She lives there still....Read more of this...

U was an urn

by Edward Lear
U  was an urnAll polished and bright,And full of hot waterAt noon and at night. u Useful old urn!...Read more of this...

Heigh-Ho, The Carrion Crow

by Mother Goose
A carrion crow sat on an oak,
    Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi ding do,
Watching a tailor shape his cloak;
    Sing heigh-ho, the carrion crow,
    Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi ding do!

Wife, bring me my old bent bow,
    Fol de riddle, lol de riddle, hi...Read more of this...

The Alphabet

by Mother Goose
A, B, C, and D,
Pray, playmates, agree.
E, F, and G,
Well, so it shall be.
J, K, and L,
In peace we will dwell.
M, N, and O,
To play let us go.
P, Q, R, and S,
Love may we possess.
W, X, and Y,
Will not quarrel or die.
Z, and ampersand,
Go to school at command....Read more of this...

Modern Love VII: She Issues Radiant

by George Meredith
 She issues radiant from her dressing-room, 
Like one prepared to scale an upper sphere: 
--By stirring up a lower, much I fear 
How deftly that oiled barber lays his bloom 
That long-shanked dapper Cupid with frisked curls 
Can make known women torturingly fair; 
The gold-eyed serpent dwelling in rich hair, 
Awakes beneath his magic whisks and twirls. 
His art...Read more of this...

Fragmentary Blue

by Robert Frost
 Why make so much of fragmentary blue
In here and there a bird, or butterfly,
Or flower, or wearing-stone, or open eye,
When heaven presents in sheets the solid hue?

Since earth is earth, perhaps, not heaven (as yet)--
Though some savants make earth include the sky;
And blue so far above us comes so high,
It only gives our wish for blue a whet....Read more of this...

A Ship's Nail

by Mother Goose
    Over the water,
    And under the water,
And always with its head down....Read more of this...

Georgy Porgy

by Mother Goose
Georgy Porgy, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.
When the boys came out to play,
Georgy Porgy ran away....Read more of this...

Taffy

by Mother Goose
Taffy was a Welshman, Taffy was a thief,
Taffy came to my house and stole a piece of beef;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not home;
Taffy came to my house and stole a marrow-bone.

I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was not in;
Taffy came to my house and stole a silver pin;
I went to Taffy's house, Taffy was in bed,
I took...Read more of this...

Master I Have

by Mother Goose
Master I have, and I am his man,
    Gallop a dreary dun;
Master I have, and I am his man,
    And I'll get a wife as fast as I can;
With a heighty gaily gamberally,
    Higgledy piggledy, niggledy, niggledy,
    Gallop a dreary dun....Read more of this...

The Old Woman Of Gloucester

by Mother Goose
There was an old woman of Gloucester,
Whose parrot two guineas it cost her,
    But its tongue never ceasing,
    Was vastly displeasing
To the talkative woman of Gloucester....Read more of this...

The Robin

by Mother Goose
The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then,
                    Poor thing?

He'll sit in a barn,
And keep himself warm,
And hide his head under his wing,
           ...Read more of this...

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