Famous Old Maid Poems by Famous Poets

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

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And One For My Dame

...A born salesman,
my father made all his dough
by selling wool to Fieldcrest, Woolrich and Faribo.

A born talker,
he could sell one hundred wet-down bales
of that white stuff. He could clock the miles and the sales

and make it pay.
At home each sentence he would utter
had first pleased the buyer who'd paid him off in butter.

Each word
had been tried over...Read more of this...
by Sexton, Anne


Emily Sparks

...e is my boy, my boy --
In what far part of the world?
The boy I loved best of all in the school? --
I, the teacher, the old maid, the virgin heart,
Who made them all my children.
Did I know my boy aright,
Thinking of him as a spirit aflame,
Active, ever aspiring?
Oh, boy, boy, for whom I prayed and prayed
In many a watchful hour at night,
Do you remember the letter I wrote you
Of the beautiful love of Christ?
And whether you ever took it or not,
My boy, wherever you are,
Work...Read more of this...
by Masters, Edgar Lee

Lilian Stewart

...from the people's betrayal
To wall the whole of his family in.
He vexed my life till I went back home
And lived like an old maid till I died,
Keeping house for father....Read more of this...
by Masters, Edgar Lee

Never Try To Trick Me With A Kiss

...patients let him have his say;
The dying man will scoff and scorn at this.

Each virile bachelor dreads paralysis,
The old maid in the gable cries all day:
Never try to trick me with a kiss.

The suave eternal serpents promise bliss
To mortal children longing to be gay;
The dying man will scoff and scorn at this.

Sooner or later something goes amiss;
The singing birds pack up and fly away;
So never try to trick me with a kiss:
The dying man will scoff and scorn at this....Read more of this...
by Plath, Sylvia

Proverbs of Hell (Excerpt from The Marriage of Heaven and H

...rt and your plow over the bones of the dead.
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.
Prudence is a rich, ugly old maid courted by Incapacity.
He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.
The cut worm forgives the plow.
Dip him in the river who loves water.
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.
Eternity is in love with the productions of time.
The busy bee has no time for sorrow.
The hours of f...Read more of this...
by Blake, William


prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by incapacity (blake proverb)

...prudence my love
each time you invite me to tea
i wonder do i have the appetite
for what i
hope you are requiring of me

prudence my love
are you really trying to say
over the sickly cream cakes
i can’t eat
that you desire me to stay

prudence my love
what can i read in the signs
your eyes and hands throw out
as we talk
i’m lost in your guide-lines

pruden...Read more of this...
by Gregory, Rg

Some Foreign Letters

...ou practiced castle life
in Hanover. Tonight your letters reduce
history to a guess. The count had a wife.
You were the old maid aunt who lived with us.
Tonight I read how the winter howled around
the towers of Schloss Schwobber, how the tedious
language grew in your jaw, how you loved the sound
of the music of the rats tapping on the stone
floors. When you were mine you wore an earphone.
This is Wednesday, May 9th, near Lucerne,
Switzerland, sixty-nine years ago. I learn
you...Read more of this...
by Sexton, Anne

Song of Myself

...at love women; 
For me the man that is proud, and feels how it stings to be slighted; 
For me the sweet-heart and the old maid—for me mothers, and the mothers of
 mothers; 
For me lips that have smiled, eyes that have shed tears;
For me children, and the begetters of children. 

Undrape! you are not guilty to me, nor stale, nor discarded; 
I see through the broadcloth and gingham, whether or no; 
And am around, tenacious, acquisitive, tireless, and cannot be shaken a...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

...rt and your plow over the bones of the dead.
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.

Prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by Incapacity.
He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence. 

The cut worm forgives the plow.

Dip him in the river who loves water.

A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.
Eternity is in love with the productions of time. 
The busy bee has no time for sorrow.
The hours...Read more of this...
by Blake, William

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (excerpt)

...rt and your plow over the bones of the dead.
The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.
Prudence is a rich, ugly old maid courted by Incapacity.
He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.
The cut worm forgives the plow.
Dip him in the river who loves water.
A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star.
Eternity is in love with the productions of time.
The busy bee has no time for sorrow.
The hours of f...Read more of this...
by Blake, William

Virginity

...would love to do her harm!

For ever since I cam from school she put it in my head
I was a weakling and a fool, a "born old maid" she said.
"You'll always stay at home," sighed she, "and keep your Mother company."

Oh pity is a bitter brew; I've drunk it to the lees;
For there is little else to do but do my best to please:
My life has been so little worth I curse the hour she gave me birth.

I curse the hour she gave me breath, who never wished me wife;
My happiest day will b...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

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