Famous One And Only Poems by Famous Poets

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

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How Solemn as One by One

by Walt Whitman
 HOW solemn, as one by one, 
As the ranks returning, all worn and sweaty—as the men file by where I stand; 
As the faces, the masks appear—as I glance at the faces, studying the masks; 
(As I glance upward out of this page, studying you, dear friend, whoever you are;) 
How solemn the thought of my whispering soul, to...Read more of this...

All Women in One

by Dejan Stojanovic
You shall not stop or hesitate and sway 
Until you pass through the forest, 
And compare the beauty of the summer's day and night— 
Until you arrive in your own Ithaca. 

There is always Venus; 
New Elissa to build new Carthage, 
The new Kingdom of Light. 

You shall not stop until you find Venus: 
One woman in all, 
And all...Read more of this...

Special one

by Ehsan Sehgal
"My love is only one, but unfortunately that love is a bit stupid or fake or proud or shy, anyhow that's my love and that is special one ."
Ehsan Sehgal...Read more of this...

In Memoriam A. H. H.: 6. One writes that Other Friends Rem

by Alfred Lord Tennyson
 One writes, that "Other friends remain," 
That "Loss is common to the race"--
And common is the commonplace,
And vacant chaff well meant for grain.
That loss is common would not make
My own less bitter, rather more.
Too common! Never morning wore
To evening, but some heart did break.
O father, wheresoe'er thou be,
Who pledgest now thy gallant son,
A shot, ere half thy draught be...Read more of this...

One Life

by Paul Laurence Dunbar
Oh, I am hurt to death, my Love;
The shafts of Fate have pierced my striving heart,
And I am sick and weary of
The endless pain and smart.
My soul is weary of the strife,
And chafes at life, and chafes at life.
Time mocks me with fair promises;
A blooming future grows a barren past,
Like rain my fair full-blossomed trees
Unburden in the blast.
The harvest fails...Read more of this...

One need not be a Chamber -- to be Haunted --

by Emily Dickinson
 One need not be a Chamber -- to be Haunted --
One need not be a House --
The Brain has Corridors -- surpassing
Material Place --

Far safer, of a Midnight Meeting
External Ghost
Than its interior Confronting --
That Cooler Host.

Far safer, through an Abbey gallop,
The Stones a'chase --
Than Unarmed, one's a'self encounter --
In lonesome Place --

Ourself behind ourself, concealed --
Should startle most --
Assassin...Read more of this...

One, He Loves

by Mother Goose
One, he loves; two, he loves;
Three, he loves, they say;
Four, he loves with all his heart;
Five, he casts away.
Six, he loves; seven, she loves;
Eight, they both love.
Nine, he comes; ten, he tarries;
Eleven, he courts; twelve, he marries....Read more of this...

One host of men is pondering upon belief, or on the

by Omar Khayyam
One host of men is pondering upon belief, or on the
faith; others are hovering between doubt and certainty.
But suddenly behind the veil there's one will cry: O
ignorant ones! the way that you seek is neither here
nor there!...Read more of this...

What lord is fit to rule but Truth? Not one

by Omar Khayyam
What lord is fit to rule but «Truth»? Not one.
What beings disobey His rule? Not one.
All things that are, are such as He decrees;
And naught is there beside beneath the sun....Read more of this...

One Day is there of the Series

by Emily Dickinson
 One Day is there of the Series
Termed Thanksgiving Day.
Celebrated part at Table
Part in Memory.

Neither Patriarch nor Pussy
I dissect the Play
Seems it to my Hooded thinking
Reflex Holiday.

Had there been no sharp Subtraction
From the early Sum --
Not an Acre or a Caption
Where was once a Room --

Not a Mention, whose small Pebble
Wrinkled any Sea,
Unto Such, were such Assembly
'Twere Thanksgiving Day....Read more of this...

One to Four

by Omer Tarin
I

One quarter of a century has elapsed
the diurnal movement of a life-cycle
rotating on its own axis
turned inwards and away from
hung by a nail upon the casement 

II

Two of the nine lives have drifted 
sinking somewhere near the embankment
while out prowling the empty streets at night
digging in this corner and that
poking here and there
in the trashcans lining the alley

III

Three horsemen have...Read more of this...

And One For My Dame

by Anne Sexton
 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 and over,...Read more of this...

The Other One

by Robert William Service
 "Gather around me, children dear;
The wind is high and the night is cold;
Closer, little ones, snuggle near;
Let's seek a story of ages old;
A magic tale of a bygone day,
Of lovely ladies and dragons dread;
Come, for you're all so tired of play,
We'll read till it's time to go to bed."

So they all are glad, and they nestle in,
And squat on...Read more of this...

Better to make one soul rejoice with glee,

by Omar Khayyam
Better to make one soul rejoice with glee,
Than plant a desert with a colony;
Rather one freeman bind with chains of love,
Than set a thousand prisoned captives free!...Read more of this...

One Lonely Afternoon

by Russell Edson
 Since the fern can't go to the sink for a drink of
water, I graciously submit myself to the task, bringing two
glasses from the sink.
 And so we sit, the fern and I, sipping water together.


 Of course I'm more complex than a fern, full of deep
thoughts as I am. But I lay this aside for the easy company
of an...Read more of this...

One Cigarette

by Edwin Morgan
 No smoke without you, my fire.
After you left,
your cigarette glowed on in my ashtray
and sent up a long thread of such quiet grey
I smiled to wonder who would believe its signal
of so much love. One cigarette
in the non-smoker's tray.
As the last spire
trembles up, a sudden draught
blows it winding into my face.
Is it smell, is it taste?
You are here again,...Read more of this...

I have not had one word from her

by Sappho
I have not had one word from her 

Frankly I wish I were dead
When she left she wept 

a great deal; she said to me This parting must be
endured, Sappho. I go unwillingly.  

I said Go, and be happy
but remember (you know 
well) whom you leave shackled by love 

If you forget me think
of our gifts to Aphrodite
and all...Read more of this...

The Deacons Masterpiece Or The Wonderful One-Hoss Shay: A Logical Story

by Oliver Wendell Holmes
 Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay, 
That was built in such a logical way
It ran a hundred years to a day,
And then, of a sudden, it -- ah, but stay,
I'll tell you what happened without delay,
Scaring the parson into fits,
Frightening people out of their wits, --
Have you ever heard of that, I say?

Seventeen hundred and fifty-five.
Georgius Secundus...Read more of this...

I Am Like One That For Long Days Had Sate

by Robert Louis Stevenson
 I AM like one that for long days had sate,
With seaward eyes set keen against the gale,
On some lone foreland, watching sail by sail,
The portbound ships for one ship that was late;
And sail by sail, his heart burned up with joy,
And cruelly was quenched, until at last
One ship, the looked-for pennant at its mast,
Bore gaily, and dropt safely past...Read more of this...

To Put One Brick Upon Another

by Philip Larkin
 To put one brick upon another, 
Add a third and then a forth, 
Leaves no time to wonder whether 
What you do has any worth. 

But to sit with bricks around you 
While the winds of heaven bawl 
Weighing what you should or can do 
Leaves no doubt of it at all....Read more of this...

One Joy of so much anguish

by Emily Dickinson
 One Joy of so much anguish
Sweet nature has for me
I shun it as I do Despair
Or dear iniquity --
Why Birds, a Summer morning
Before the Quick of Day
Should stab my ravished spirit
With Dirks of Melody
Is part of an inquiry
That will receive reply
When Flesh and Spirit sunder
In Death's Immediately --...Read more of this...

One, Two, Three

by Mother Goose
One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish alive.
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
But I let it go again.
Why did you let it go?
Because it bit my finger so.
Which finger did it bite?
The little one upon the right....Read more of this...

One White Tree

by J R R Tolkien
 Tall ships and tall kings
Three times three.
What brought they from the foundered land
Over the flowing sea?
Seven stars and seven stones
And one white tree....Read more of this...

For The One Who Would Take Mans Life In His Hands

by Delmore Schwartz
 Tiger Christ unsheathed his sword,
Threw it down, became a lamb.
Swift spat upon the species, but
Took two women to his heart.
Samson who was strong as death
Paid his strength to kiss a ****.
Othello that stiff warrior
Was broken by a woman's heart.
Troy burned for a sea-tax, also for
Possession of a charming whore.
What do all examples show?
What must the finished murderer know?

You cannot...Read more of this...

The House Of Dust: Part 01: 03: One where the pale sea foamed at the yellow sand

by Conrad Aiken
 One, where the pale sea foamed at the yellow sand,
With wave upon slowly shattering wave,
Turned to the city of towers as evening fell;
And slowly walked by the darkening road toward it;
And saw how the towers darkened against the sky;
And across the distance heard the toll of a bell.

Along the darkening road he hurried alone,
With his eyes cast down,
And thought...Read more of this...

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