Famous Puzzling Poems by Famous Poets
These are examples of famous Puzzling poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous puzzling poems. These examples illustrate what a famous puzzling poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).
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by
Sir Walter Raleigh
I was a Poet!
But I did not know it,
Neither did my Mother,
Nor my Sister nor my Brother.
The Rich were not aware of it;
The Poor took no care of it.
The Reverend Mr. Drewitt
Never knew it.
The High did not suspect it;
The Low could not detect it.
Aunt Sue
Said it was obviously untrue.
Uncle Ned
Said I was off my head:
(This from a Colonial
Was...Read more of this...
by
Walt Whitman
I MET a Seer,
Passing the hues and objects of the world,
The fields of art and learning, pleasure, sense, To glean Eidólons.
Put in thy chants, said he,
No more the puzzling hour, nor day—nor segments, parts, put in,
Put first before the rest, as light for all, and entrance-song of all, That of
Eidólons.
Ever the...Read more of this...
by
Lewis Carroll
The Barrister's Dream
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;
They charmed it with smiles and soap.
But the Barrister, weary of proving in vain
That the Beaver's lace-making was wrong,
Fell asleep, and in dreams saw the creature quite plain
That his fancy had...Read more of this...
by
Rg Gregory
whirligig twister
dancer prancer
st vitus’s quester
chancer romancer
the inkman cometh
from that nether world
where dream and coincidence
are darkly furled
accident rubbed him
into puzzling light
he is what he isn’t
(he’s the geist of zeit)
whirligig twister
dancer prancer
st vitus’s quester
chancer romancer
he cannot move
but he never stops
particle-wave
(ask the science-cops)
all creation swirls
from his restless frame
he isn’t what he is
that’s the inkman’s game
whirligig twister
dancer prancer
st vitus’s quester
chancer romancer
(ii) ninkam poop
so...Read more of this...
by
Philip Levine
Is it long as a noodle
or fat as an egg? Is it
lumpy like a potato or
ringed like an oak or an
onion and like the onion
the same as you go toward
the core? That would be
suitable, for is it not
the human core and the rest
meant either to keep it
warm or cold...Read more of this...
by
Barry Tebb
I sit inside the train of tears
The station mellow in shade
Unoriginal phrases air-brush the canvas.
Puzzling minds I wonder
If all are like my own
Closed to stillness.
From girders hang the acrobats of gone
Pearl grey Whistlers. We sat on
A train like this once, you and I,
Face to face but travelling
In opposite directions-
Or was it you alone I watched depart,
Stood on the platform...Read more of this...
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