Famous Publicly Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Carol of Occupations

...ouchable and untouching; 
It is not you I go argue pro and con about, and to settle whether you are alive or no; 
I own publicly who you are, if nobody else owns. 

Grown, half-grown, and babe, of this country and every country, in-doors and out-doors,
 one
 just as
 much as the other, I see,
And all else behind or through them. 

The wife—and she is not one jot less than the husband; 
The daughter—and she is just as good as the son; 
The mother—and she is every bit as much a...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt


Days of 1986

...tried to corrupt the sons of his dearest friends;
He pressed on them drinks and drugs,
And of course he was caught and publicly shamed.
Was his death a suicide? No one is sure. 

But that’s not the whole story; it’s too sordid to tell.
Besides, the memory of his poems deserves better.
Though we were unable to look at them for a time
His poems survive his death.
There he appears as his finest self:
Attractive, scholarly, dedicated to love.

At last we can read him again, putt...Read more of this...
by Kizer, Carolyn

James Simmons R.i.p

...ve the devils their due:

The ‘Honest Ulsterman’ you founded

Lost its honesty the day you withdrew

But floundered on, publicly sighed and

Ungraciously expired as soon as you died.



You went with fallen women, smoked and sang and boozed,

Loved your many children, wrote poetry

As good as Yeats but the ignominy you had to bear

Bred an immortality impossible to share.

You showed us your own peccadilloes,

Your early lust for fame, but you learned

The cost of suffering, ...Read more of this...
by Tebb, Barry

Just Keep Quiet and Nobody Will Notice

...n't caviar or the partridge is veal;
They apologize privately for the crudeness of the other guests,
And they apologize publicly for their wife's housekeeping or their husband's jests;
If they give you a book by Dickens they apologize because it isn't by Scott,
And if they take you to the theater, they apologize for the acting and the dialogue and the plot;
They contain more milk of human kindness than the most capacious diary can,
But if you are from out of town they apologi...Read more of this...
by Nash, Ogden

Love Letter Written In A Burning Building

...estos gloves,
the cough is filling me with black and a red powder seeps through my
veins,
our little crate goes down so publicly
and without meaning it, you see, meaning a solo act,
a cremation of the love,
but instead we seem to be going down right in the middle of a Russian
street,
the flames making the sound of
the horse being beaten and beaten,
the whip is adoring its human triumph
while the flies wait, blow by blow,
straight from United Fruit, Inc....Read more of this...
by Sexton, Anne


O Bitter Sprig! Confession Sprig!

...TTER sprig! Confession sprig! 
In the bouquet I give you place also—I bind you in, 
Proceeding no further till, humbled publicly, 
I give fair warning, once for all. 

I own that I have been sly, thievish, mean, a prevaricator, greedy, derelict,
And I own that I remain so yet. 

What foul thought but I think it—or have in me the stuff out of which it is thought? 
What in darkness in bed at night, alone or with a companion?...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

Sex Goddess

...think: You know, I may not look like much
but deep inside, I am a SEX GODDESS. 

Only
we'd never come out and admit it publicly
well, you wouldn't admit it publicly 
but I will
because I am
THE SEX GODDESS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE.


I haven't always been 
a SEX GODDESS
I used to be just a mere mortal woman
but I grew tired of sexuality being repressed
then manifest
in late night 900 number ads
where 3 bodacious bimbettes
heave cleavage into the camera's winking lens and si...Read more of this...
by Estep, Maggie

The New Poetry Handbook

...,
 he shall be scorned by men.

9 If a man continues to be angry at a poem,
 he shall be scorned by women.

10 If a man publicly denounces poetry,
 his shoes will fill with urine.

11 If a man gives up poetry for power,
 he shall have lots of power.

12 If a man brags about his poems,
 he shall be loved by fools.

13 If a man brags about his poems and loves fools,
 he shall write no more.

14 If a man craves attention because of his poems,
 he shall be like a jackass in moonl...Read more of this...
by Strand, Mark

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