Famous Preference Poems by Famous Poets

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

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A Preference

...Mastah drink his ol' Made'a,
Missy drink huh sherry wine,
Ovahseah lak his whiskey,
But dat othah drink is mine,
Des' 'lasses an' watah, 'lasses an' watah.
Wen you git a steamin' hoe-cake
On de table, go way, man!
'D ain but one t'ing to go wid it,
'Sides de gravy in de pan,
Dat 's 'lasses an' watah, 'lasses an' watah.
W'en hit 's 'possum dat you ...Read more of this...
by Laurence Dunbar, Paul


Dæmonic Love

...ildren, ye desire
To please each other well;
Another round, a higher,
Ye shall climb on the heavenly stair,
And selfish preference forbear;
And in right deserving,
And without a swerving
Each from your proper state,
Weave roses for your mate.

Deep, deep are loving eyes,
Flowed with naphtha fiery sweet,
And the point is Paradise
Where their glances meet:
Their reach shall yet be more profound,
And a vision without bound:
The axis of those eyes sun-clear
Be the axis of the sph...Read more of this...
by Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Lara

...ey all pursued, 
With hope still baffled, still to be renew'd; 
Nor shadowy honour, nor substantial gain, 
Nor beauty's preference, and the rival's pain: 
Around him some mysterious circle thrown 
Repell'd approach, and showed him still alone; 
Upon his eye sate something of reproof, 
That kept at least frivolity aloof; 
And things more timid that beheld him near, 
In silence gazed, or whisper'd mutual fear; 
And they the wiser, friendlier few confess'd 
They deem'd him bette...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

London Bridge

...e, in a language unbecoming 
To a lady, what you plan to tell me next. If I complain, 
If I seem an atom peevish at the preference you mention—
Or imply, to be precise—you may believe, or you may not, 
That I’m a trifle more aware of what he wants than you are. 
But I shouldn’t throw that at you. Make believe that I forgot. 
Make believe that he’s a genius, if you like,—but in the meantime 
Don’t go back to rocking-horses. There, there, there, now.”

“Make believe! 
When you ...Read more of this...
by Robinson, Edwin Arlington

Mr Bleaney

...rs with cotton-wool, to drown
The jabbering set he egged her on to buy.
I know his habits - what time he came down,
His preference for sauce to gravy, why

He kept on plugging at the four aways -
Likewise their yearly frame: the Frinton folk
Who put him up for summer holidays,
And Christmas at his sister's house in Stoke.

But if he stood and watched the frigid wind
Tousling the clouds, lay on the fusty bed
Telling himself that this was home, and grinned,
And shivered, withou...Read more of this...
by Larkin, Philip


Preference

...NOT in scorn do I reprove thee,
Not in pride thy vows I waive,
But, believe, I could not love thee,
Wert thou prince, and I a slave.
These, then, are thine oaths of passion ?
This, thy tenderness for me ?
Judged, even, by thine own confession,
Thou art steeped in perfidy.
Having vanquished, thou wouldst leave me !
Thus I read thee long ago;
Therefore, dare...Read more of this...
by Bronte, Charlotte

Song of the Open Road

...you are not all that is here;
I believe that much unseen is also here. 

Here the profound lesson of reception, neither preference or denial; 
The black with his woolly head, the felon, the diseas’d, the illiterate person, are not
 denied;

The birth, the hasting after the physician, the beggar’s tramp, the drunkard’s stagger,
 the
 laughing party of mechanics, 
The escaped youth, the rich person’s carriage, the fop, the eloping couple,
The early market-man, the hearse, the m...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

Sonnet CCI

...to her resign'd.Unmindful of her rival sisterhood,He motion'd silently his preference,And fondly welcomed her, that humblest one:So pure a kiss he gave, that all who stood,Though fair, rejoiced in beauty's recompense:By that strange act nay heart was quite undone! Wollaston....Read more of this...
by Petrarch, Francesco

The Machine

...ing no past but a certain future,
Insect in size as in form,
Was also accepted, all these forms of power placed without preference
In the grave arrangement of the evening....Read more of this...
by Jeffers, Robinson

The Maiden Speaks

...ek thee, but thou seek'st away to flee;
Fix'd as this sculptured figure, learn to grow!

Tell me, to which should I the preference pay?

Must I from both with coldness meet alone?

 The one is lifeless, thou with life art blest.

In short, no longer to throw words away,

I'll fondy kiss and kiss and kiss this stone,

 Till thou dost tear me hence with envious breast.

 1807....Read more of this...
by von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang

Titine

...limousine,
I also have a jenny ass
 I call Titine.
And if I had in sober sense
 To choose between,
I know I'd give the preference
 To sleek Titine.

My chauffeur drives my Cadillac
 In uniform.
I wear a worn coat on my back
 That he would scorn.
He speeds with umpty equine power,
 Like an express;
I amble at eight miles an hour,
 Or even less.

My wife can use our fancy bus
 To cut a dash;
She very definitely does,
 And blows my cash.
But this old codger seeks the sane
 And ...Read more of this...
by Service, Robert William

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