Famous Philistine Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Babi Yar

...Egypt. 
Here I perish crucified, on the cross, 
and to this day I bear the scars of nails. 
I seem to be
 Dreyfus. 
The Philistine 
 is both informer and judge. 
I am behind bars.
 Beset on every side. 
Hounded, 
 spat on,
 slandered.
Squealing, dainty ladies in flounced Brussels lace
stick their parasols into my face.
I seem to be then
 a young boy in Byelostok. 
Blood runs, spilling over the floors. 
The barroom rabble-rousers 
give off a stench of vodka and onion. 
A boot ...Read more of this...
by Yevtushenko, Yevgeny


Goliath and David

...: 
Out between the lines he went 
To that one-sided tournament, 
A shepherd boy who stood out fine
And young to fight a Philistine 
Clad all in brazen mail. He swears 
That he’s killed lions, he’s killed bears, 
And those that scorn the God of Zion 
Shall perish so like bear or lion.
But … the historian of that fight 
Had not the heart to tell it right. 

Striding within javelin range, 
Goliath marvels at this strange 
Goodly-faced boy so proud of strength.
David’s clear eye ...Read more of this...
by Graves, Robert

Goliath Of Gath

...ng wood;
Between them an extensive valley lay,
O'er which the gleaming armour pour'd the day,
When from the camp of the Philistine foes,
Dreadful to view, a mighty warrior rose;
In the dire deeds of bleeding battle skill'd,
The monster stalks the terror of the field.
From Gath he sprung, Goliath was his name,
Of fierce deportment, and gigantic frame:
A brazen helmet on his head was plac'd,
A coat of mail his form terrific grac'd,
The greaves his legs, the targe his shoulders ...Read more of this...
by Wheatley, Phillis

How Samson Bore Away the Gates of Gaza

...w the sun anew.
He left the gates in the grass and dew.
He went to a county-seat a-nigh.
Found a harlot proud and high:
Philistine that no man could tame —
Delilah was her lady-name.
Oh sorrow,
Sorrow,
She was too wise.
She cut off his hair,
She put out his eyes.

Let Samson 
Be coming 
Into your mind....Read more of this...
by Lindsay, Vachel

If I Were King

...eather;
And love, sweet love, should never fall to sere,
If I were king.

But politics should find no harbour near;
The Philistine should fear to slip his tether;
Tobacco should be duty free, and beer;
In fact, in room of this, the age of leather,
An age of gold all radiant should appear,
If I were king....Read more of this...
by Henley, William Ernest


MFingal - Canto IV

...'s foxes, each assails,
Let loose with firebrands in their tails,
And spreads destruction more forlorn,
Than they among Philistine corn.
And see in flames their triumphs rise,
Illuming all the nether skies,
O'er-streaming, like a new Aurora,
The western hemisphere with glory!
What towns, in ashes laid, confess
These heroes' prowess and success!
What blacken'd walls and burning fanes,
For trophies spread the ruin'd plains!
What females, caught in evil hour,
By force submit to ...Read more of this...
by Trumbull, John

Philosophy

...es we've had together!

We were not Phyllis, simple-sweet,
And Corydon; we did not meet
By brook or meadow, but among
A Philistine and flippant throng

Which much we scorned; (less rigorous
It had no scorn at all for us!)
How many an eve of sweet July,
Heedless of Mrs. Grundy's eye,

We've scaled the stairway's topmost height,
And sat there talking half the night;
And, gazing on the crowd below,
Thanked Fate and Heaven that made us so;--

To hold the pure delights of brain
Ab...Read more of this...
by Levy, Amy

Samson Agonistes

...ith a peal of words (O weakness!)
Gave up my fort of silence to a Woman.

Chor: In seeking just occasion to provoke
The Philistine, thy Countries Enemy,
Thou never wast remiss, I hear thee witness:
Yet Israel still serves with all his Sons. 

Sam: That fault I take not on me, but transfer
On Israel's Governours, and Heads of Tribes,
Who seeing those great acts which God had done
Singly by me against their Conquerours
Acknowledg'd not, or not at all consider'd
Deliverance offe...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

t of the Fifth Scene in the Second Act of Athalia

...ted Command 
From Sea to Sea o'er the obedient Land: 
Whilst your Jerusalem all Peace enjoys, 
Nor now the' encroaching Philistine destroys, 
Nor wandring Arab his Pavilion spreads, 
Near Jordan's Banks, nor wastes his flow'ry Meads. 
The great Assyrian, Terror of your Kings, 
Who bought his Friendship with their holiest Things, 
Yields that a Sister, of his pow'rful Race, 
Should sway these Realms, and dignify the Place. 
Nor need we add the late insulting Foe, 
The furious ...Read more of this...
by Finch, Anne Kingsmill

The Philistine And The Bohemian

...She was a Philistine spick and span,
He was a bold Bohemian.
She had the mode, and the last at that;
He had a cape and a brigand hat.
She was so riant and chic and trim;
He was so shaggy, unkempt and grim.
On the rue de la Paix she was wont to shine;
The rue de la Gaîté was more his line.
She doted on Barclay and Dell and Caine;
He quoted Mallarmé and Paul Verlaine.
S...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

The Warning

...t of heaven no more,
Shorn of his noble strength and forced to grind
In prison, and at last led forth to be
A pander to Philistine revelry,--

Upon the pillars of the temple laid
His desperate hands, and in its overthrow
Destroyed himself, and with him those who made
A cruel mockery of his sightless woe;
The poor, blind Slave, the scoff and jest of all,
Expired, and thousands perished in the fall!

There is a poor, blind Samson in this land,
Shorn of his strength and bound in...Read more of this...
by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

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