Famous Queen Poems by Famous Poets

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

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An Epitaph On A Child Of Queen Elizabeths Chapel

by Ben Jonson
 Weep with me, all you that read
This little story;
And know, for whom a tear you shed
Death's self is sorry.
'Twas a child that so did thrive
In grace and feature,
As heaven and nature seemed to strive
Which owned the creature.

Years he numbered scarce thirteen
When fates turned cruel,
Yet three filled zodiacs had be been
The stage's jewel;
And did act what now we moan,
Old men...Read more of this...

313. Lament of Mary Queen of Scots

by Robert Burns
 NOW Nature hangs her mantle green
 On every blooming tree,
And spreads her sheets o’ daisies white
 Out o’er the grassy lea;
Now Phoebus cheers the crystal streams,
 And glads the azure skies;
But nought can glad the weary wight
 That fast in durance lies.


Now laverocks wake the merry morn
 Aloft on dewy wing;
The merle, in his noontide bow’r,
 Makes woodland echoes...Read more of this...

The Death of the Queen

by William Topaz McGonagall
 Alas! our noble and generous Queen Victoria is dead,
And I hope her soul to Heaven has fled,
To sing and rejoice with saints above,
Where ah is joy, peace, and love. 

'Twas on January 22, 1901, in the evening she died at 6.30 o'clock,
Which to the civilised world has been a great shock;
She was surrounded by her children and grandchildren dear,
And...Read more of this...

Little Girl And Queen

by Mother Goose
"Little girl, little girl, where have you been?"
"Gathering roses to give to the Queen."
"Little girl, little girl, what gave she you?"
"She gave me a diamond as big as my shoe."...Read more of this...

Queen Elizabeth Speaks

by Joyce Kilmer
 My hands were stained with blood, my heart was 
proud and cold,
My soul is black with shame . . . but I gave Shakespeare gold.
So after aeons of flame, I may, by grace of God,
Rise up to kiss the dust that Shakespeare's feet have trod....Read more of this...

The Old Age Of Queen Maeve

by William Butler Yeats
 A certain poet in outlandish clothes
Gathered a crowd in some Byzantine lane,
Talked1 of his country and its people, sang
To some stringed instrument none there had seen,
A wall behind his back, over his head
A latticed window. His glance went up at time
As though one listened there, and his voice sank
Or let its meaning mix into the strings.

Maeve the great queen...Read more of this...

In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess Queen ELIZABETH

by Anne Bradstreet
 Proem. 

1.1 Although great Queen, thou now in silence lie,
1.2 Yet thy loud Herald Fame, doth to the sky
1.3 Thy wondrous worth proclaim, in every clime, 
1.4 And so has vow'd, whilst there is world or time. 
1.5 So great's thy glory, and thine excellence, 
1.6 The sound thereof raps every human sense 
1.7 That men account it no...Read more of this...

To The Queen

by Alfred Lord Tennyson
 O loyal to the royal in thyself, 
And loyal to thy land, as this to thee-- 
Bear witness, that rememberable day, 
When, pale as yet, and fever-worn, the Prince 
Who scarce had plucked his flickering life again 
From halfway down the shadow of the grave, 
Past with thee through thy people and their love, 
And London rolled one tide...Read more of this...

The Queen-Rose—A Summer Idyl

by Fannie Isabelle Sherrick
The sunlight fell with a golden gleam
  On the waves of the rippling rill;
The pansies nodded their purple heads;
  But the proud queen-rose stood still.
She loved the light and she loved the sun,
And the peaceful night when the day was done,
But the faithless sun in his careless way
Had broken her heart on that summer's day.
She had bathed her...Read more of this...

Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere

by Alfred Lord Tennyson
 LIKE souls that balance joy and pain, 
With tears and smiles from heaven again 
The maiden Spring upon the plain 
Came in a sun-lit fall of rain. 
In crystal vapour everywhere 
Blue isles of heaven laugh'd between, 
And far, in forest-deeps unseen, 
The topmost elm-tree gather'd green 
From draughts of balmy air. 

Sometimes the linnet piped his song: 
Sometimes...Read more of this...

Sonnet IX: Queen Virtues Court

by Sir Philip Sidney
 Queen Virtue's court, which some call Stella's face, 
Prepar'd by Nature's choicest furniture, 
Hath his front built of alabaster pure; 
Gold in the covering of that stately place. 

The door by which sometimes comes forth her Grace 
Red porphir is, which lock of pearl makes sure, 
Whose porches rich (which name of cheeks endure) 
Marble mix'd red and white...Read more of this...

A Song From The Player Queen

by William Butler Yeats
 My mother dandled me and sang,
'How young it is, how young!'
And made a golden cradle
That on a willow swung.

'He went away,' my mother sang,
'When I was brought to bed,'
And all the while her needle pulled
The gold and silver thread.

She pulled the thread and bit the thread
And made a golden gown,
And wept because she had dreamt that I
Was born to...Read more of this...

Queen and Huntress

by Ben Jonson
 Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,
Now the sun is laid to sleep,
Seated in thy silver chair
State in wonted manner keep:
Hesperus entreats thy light,
Goddess excellently bright.

Earth, let not thy envious shade
Dare itself to interpose;
Cynthia's shining orb was made
Heaven to clear when day did close:
Bless us then with wished sight,
Goddess excellently bright.

Lay thy bow of pearl apart
And thy crystal-shining quiver;
Give unto...Read more of this...

To Christina Queen of Sweden

by Andrew Marvell
 Verses to accompany a portrait of Cromwell

Bright Martial Maid, Queen of the frozen zone, 
The northern pole supports thy shining throne. 
Behold what furrows age and steel can plough; 
The helmet's weight oppressed this wrinkled brow. 
Through fate's untrodden paths I move; my hands 
Still act my free-born people's bold commands; 
Yet this stern shade, to you submits his...Read more of this...

An Ode to the Queen

by William Topaz McGonagall
 All hail to the Empress of India, Great Britain's Queen!
Long may she live in health, happy and serene;
Loved by her subjects at home and abroad;
Blest may she be when lying down
To sleep, and rising up, by the Eternal God;
Happy may her visions be in sleep ...
And happy her thoughts in the day time;
Let all loyal subjects drink to her...Read more of this...

A Requisition to the Queen

by William Topaz McGonagall
 Smiths Buildings No. 19
Patons Lane,
Dundee.
Sept the 6th. 1877. 


Most August! Empress of India, and of great Britain the Queen,
I most humbly beg your pardon, hoping you will not think it mean
That a poor poet that lives in Dundee,
Would be so presumptous to write unto Thee 

Most lovely Empress of India, and Englands generous Queen,
I send you an Address, I...Read more of this...

Queen Hilda of Virland

by Henry Lawson
 PART I 
Queen Hilda rode along the lines, 
And she was young and fair; 
And forward on her shoulders fell 
The heavy braids of hair: 
No gold was ever dug from earth 
Like that burnished there – 
No sky so blue as were her eyes 
Had man seen anywhere. 

'Twas so her gay court poets sang, 
And we believed...Read more of this...

Sonnet XXXII: Our Floods-Queen Thames

by Michael Drayton
 Our flood's-queen Thames for ships and swans is crown'd, 
And stately Severn for her shore is prais'd, 
The crystal Trent for fords and fish renown'd, 
And Avon's fame to Albion's cliffs is rais'd; 
Carlegion Chester vaunts her holy Dee, 
York many wonders of her Ouse can tell, 
The Peak her Dove, whose banks so fertile be, 
And Kent will...Read more of this...

To the Queen

by Anne Killigrew
 AS those who pass the Alps do say, 
The Rocks which first oppose their way, 
And so amazing-High do show, 
By fresh Accents appear but low, 
And when they come unto the last, 
They scorn the dwarfish Hills th'ave past. 
 So though my Muse at her first flight, 
Thought she had chose the greatest height, 
And (imp'd with...Read more of this...

The Color of a Queen is this --

by Emily Dickinson
 The Color of a Queen, is this --
The Color of a Sun
At setting -- this and Amber --
Beryl -- and this, at Noon --

And when at night -- Auroran widths
Fling suddenly on men --
'Tis this -- and Witchcraft -- nature keeps
A Rank -- for Iodine --...Read more of this...

Oberon to the Queen of the Fairies

by Mary Darby Robinson
 My OBERON, with ev'ry sprite
"That gilds the vapours of the night,
"Shall dance and weave the verdant ring
"With joy that mortals thus can sing; 
"And when thou sigh'st MARIA'S name, 
"And mourn'st to feel a hopeless flame, 
"Eager they'll catch the tender note
"Just parting from thy tuneful throat, 
"And bear it to the careless ear 
"Of her who scorn'd a...Read more of this...

The Beggar To Mab The Fairy Queen

by Robert Herrick
 Please your Grace, from out your store
Give an alms to one that's poor,
That your mickle may have more.
Black I'm grown for want of meat,
Give me then an ant to eat,
Or the cleft ear of a mouse
Over-sour'd in drink of souce;
Or, sweet lady, reach to me
The abdomen of a bee;
Or commend a cricket's hip,
Or his huckson, to my scrip;
Give for...Read more of this...

The Queen of Bubbles

by Vachel Lindsay
 [Written for a picture]


The Youth speaks: —:
"Why do you seek the sun 
In your bubble-crown ascending? 
Your chariot will melt to mist. 
Your crown will have an ending." 

The Goddess replies: — :
"Nay, sun is but a bubble, 
Earth is a whiff of foam — 
To my caves on the coast of Thule 
Each night I call them home....Read more of this...

The Wreck of the Steamer Storm Queen

by William Topaz McGonagall
 Ye landsmen, all pray list to me,
While I relate a terrible tale of the sea,
Concerning the screw steamer "Storm Queen"
Which was wrecked, alas! a most heast-rending scene. 

From Sebastopol, with a cargo of grain, she was on her way,
And soon after entering the Bay of Biscay,
On the 21st of December, they experienced a fearful storm
Such as they never experienced...Read more of this...

428. Song—Phillis the Queen o' the fair

by Robert Burns
 ADOWN winding Nith I did wander,
 To mark the sweet flowers as they spring;
Adown winding Nith I did wander,
 Of Phillis to muse and to sing.


Chorus.—Awa’ wi’ your belles and your beauties,
 They never wi’ her can compare,
Whaever has met wi’ my Phillis,
 Has met wi’ the queen o’ the fair.


The daisy amus’d my fond fancy,
 So artless, so...Read more of this...

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