Famous Require Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Absalom And Achitophel

...he careful Devil is still at hand with means;
And providently pimps for ill desires:
The good old cause reviv'd, a plot requires.
Plots, true or false, are necessary things,
To raise up common-wealths, and ruin kings.

 Th' inhabitants of old Jerusalem
Were Jebusites: the town so call'd from them;
And theirs the native right—
But when the chosen people grew more strong,
The rightful cause at length became the wrong:
And every loss the men of Jebus bore,
They still were though...Read more of this...
by Dryden, John


An Essay On Criticism

...e:
Unfinish'd Things, one knows now what to call,
Their Generation's so equivocal:
To tell 'em, wou'd a hundred Tongues require,
Or one vain Wit's, that might a hundred tire.

But you who seek to give and merit Fame,
And justly bear a Critick's noble Name,
Be sure your self and your own Reach to know.
How far your Genius, Taste, and Learning go;
Launch not beyond your Depth, but be discreet,
And mark that Point where Sense and Dulness meet.

Nature to all things fix'd the Lim...Read more of this...
by Pope, Alexander

An Ode in Time of Hesitation

...chaffer from the bays 
Of their dear praise, 
One jot of their pure conquest put to hire, 
The implacable republic will require; 
With clamor, in the glare and gaze of noon, 
Or subtly, coming as a thief at night, 
But surely, very surely, slow or soon 
That insult deep we deeply will requite. 
Tempt not our weakness, our cupidity! 
For save we let the island men go free, 
Those baffled and dislaureled ghosts 
Will curse us from the lamentable coasts 
Where walk the frustrate...Read more of this...
by Moody, William Vaughn

Avons Harvest

...r and then to think of him, 
And thereupon to contemplate the fall 
Of a dim curtain over the dark end 
Of a dark play, required of me no more
Clairvoyance than a man who cannot swim 
Will exercise in seeing that his friend 
Off shore will drown except he save himself. 
To her I could say nothing, and to him 
No more than tallied with a long belief
That I should only have it back again 
For my chagrin to ruminate upon, 
Ingloriously, for the still time it starved; 
And that w...Read more of this...
by Robinson, Edwin Arlington

Bride of Abydos The

...but close thy dying eye, 
For that I could not live to try; 
To these alone my thoughts aspire: 
More can I do? or thou require? 
But, Selim, thou must answer why 
We need so much of mystery? 
The cause I cannot dream nor tell, 
But be it, since thou say'st 'tis well; 
Yet what thou mean'st by 'arms' and 'friends,' 
Beyond my weaker sense extends. 
I mean that Giaffir should have heard 
The very vow I plighted thee; 
His wrath would not revoke my word: 
But surely he would le...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)


Gawain and the Green Knight

...negh myyght on Nw Ygheres morne
For alle the londe inwyth Logres, so me oure lorde help!
Forthy, sir, this enquest I require yow here,
That yghe me telle with trawthe if euer yghe tale herde

Of the grene chapel, quere hit on grounde stondez,
And of the knyyght that hit kepes, of colour of grene.
Ther watz stabled bi statut a steuen vus bytwene
To mete that mon at that mere, yghif I myyght last;
And of that ilk Nw Yghere bot neked now wontez,
And I wolde loke on th...Read more of this...
by Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)

Imitations of Horace: The First Epistle of the Second Book

...got,
The last and greatest art, the art to blot.


Some doubt, if equal pains, or equal fire
The humbler Muse of comedy require.
But in known images of life, I guess
The labour greater, as th' indulgence less.
Observe how seldom ev'n the best succeed:
Tell me if Congreve's fools are fools indeed?
What pert, low dialogue has Farqu'ar writ!
How Van wants grace, who never wanted wit!
The stage how loosely does Astr{ae}ea tread,
Who fairly puts all characters to bed!
And idle Cib...Read more of this...
by Pope, Alexander

Inferno (English)

...r while she feeds, and worse 
 Her craving. And the beasts with which she breed 
 The noisome numerous beasts her lusts require, 
 Bare all the desirable lands in which she feeds; 
 Nor shall lewd feasts and lewder matings tire 
 Until she woos, in evil hour for her, 
 The wolfhound that shall rend her. His desire 
 Is not for rapine, as the promptings stir 
 Of her base heart; but wisdoms, and devoirs 
 Of manhood, and love's rule, his thoughts prefer. 
 The Italian lowlands...Read more of this...
by Alighieri, Dante

Paradise Lost: Book 04

...tresses wore 
Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved 
As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied 
Subjection, but required with gentle sway, 
And by her yielded, by him best received, 
Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, 
And sweet, reluctant, amorous delay. 
Nor those mysterious parts were then concealed; 
Then was not guilty shame, dishonest shame 
Of nature's works, honour dishonourable, 
Sin-bred, how have ye troubled all mankind 
With shows instead, mere sho...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 05

...rt 
Spiritual, may of purest Spirits be found 
No ingrateful food: And food alike those pure 
Intelligential substances require, 
As doth your rational; and both contain 
Within them every lower faculty 
Of sense, whereby they hear, see, smell, touch, taste, 
Tasting concoct, digest, assimilate, 
And corporeal to incorporeal turn. 
For know, whatever was created, needs 
To be sustained and fed: Of elements 
The grosser feeds the purer, earth the sea, 
Earth and the sea feed a...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 08

...is to manifest 
His single imperfection, and beget 
Like of his like, his image multiplied, 
In unity defective; which requires 
Collateral love, and dearest amity. 
Thou in thy secresy although alone, 
Best with thyself accompanied, seekest not 
Social communication; yet, so pleased, 
Canst raise thy creature to what highth thou wilt 
Of union or communion, deified: 
I, by conversing, cannot these erect 
From prone; nor in their ways complacence find. 
Thus I emboldened spa...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 09

...at alluring fruit, urged me so keen. 
About the mossy trunk I wound me soon; 
For, high from ground, the branches would require 
Thy utmost reach or Adam's: Round the tree 
All other beasts that saw, with like desire 
Longing and envying stood, but could not reach. 
Amid the tree now got, where plenty hung 
Tempting so nigh, to pluck and eat my fill 
I spared not; for, such pleasure till that hour, 
At feed or fountain, never had I found. 
Sated at length, ere long I might pe...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Samson Agonistes

...an Lords for
Samson's redemption; who in the mean while is visited by other
persons; and lastly by a publick Officer to require coming to the
Feast before the Lords and People, to play or shew his strength in
thir presence; he at first refuses, dismissing the publick officer with
absolute denyal to come; at length perswaded inwardly that this
was from God, he yields to go along with him, who came now the
second time with great threatnings to fetch him; the Chorus yet
remainin...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Sword Blades and Poppy Seed

...heard a kind voice say,
"The day will soon be dawning, when
You must begin to work again.
Here are the things which you require."
By the fading light of the dying fire,
And by the guttering candle's flare,
I saw the old man standing there.
He handed me a packet, tied
With crimson tape, and sealed. "Inside
Are seeds of many differing flowers,
To occupy your utmost powers
Of storied vision, and these swords
Are the finest which my shop affords.
Go home and use them; do not spar...Read more of this...
by Lowell, Amy

The Bride of Abydos

...but close thy dying eye, 
For that I could not live to try; 
To these alone my thoughts aspire: 
More can I do? or thou require? 
But, Selim, thou must answer why 
We need so much of mystery? 
The cause I cannot dream nor tell, 
But be it, since thou say'st 'tis well; 
Yet what thou mean'st by 'arms' and 'friends,' 
Beyond my weaker sense extends. 
I mean that Giaffir should have heard 
The very vow I plighted thee; 
His wrath would not revoke my word: 
But surely he would le...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

The Eve Of St. Agnes

..., supperless to bed they must retire,
 And couch supine their beauties, lily white;
 Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require
Of Heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire.

 Full of this whim was thoughtful Madeline:
 The music, yearning like a God in pain,
 She scarcely heard: her maiden eyes divine,
 Fix'd on the floor, saw many a sweeping train
 Pass by--she heeded not at all: in vain
 Came many a tiptoe, amorous cavalier,
 And back retir'd; not cool'd by high dis...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

The Giaour

...hat I deem a worthy prize
The maid I love, the man I hate,
And I will hunt the steps of fate,
To save or slay, as these require,
Through rending steel, and rolling fire:
Nor needest thou doubt this speech from one
Who would but do ~ what he hath done.
Death is but what the haughty brave,
The weak must bear, the wretch must crave;
Then let life go to him who gave:
I have not quailed to danger's brow
When high and happy - need I now?


'I loved her, Friar! nay, adored -
But the...Read more of this...
by Byron, George (Lord)

The Good Man

...us roses, our rank wreath, our
love's unreliable cement, the gray
jubilees of our demondom.
Coherent
Counsel! Good man.
Require of us our terribly excluded blue.
Constrain, repair a ripped, revolted land.
Put hand in hand land over.
Reprove
the abler droughts and manias of the day
and a felicity entreat.
Love.
Complete
your pledges, reinforce your aides, renew
stance, testament....Read more of this...
by Brooks, Gwendolyn

The Lady of the Lake

...rades, missed the deer,
     Lost his good steed, and wandered here.'
     ***.

     Fain would the Knight in turn require
     The name and state of Ellen's sire.
     Well showed the elder lady's mien
     That courts and cities she had seen;
     Ellen, though more her looks displayed
     The simple grace of sylvan maid,
     In speech and gesture, form and face,
     Showed she was come of gentle race.
     'T were strange in ruder rank to find
     Such lo...Read more of this...
by Scott, Sir Walter

The Wife of Baths Tale

...uite your hire."* *instruct 11
"Plight me thy troth here in mine hand," quoth she, *reward you*
"The nexte thing that I require of thee
Thou shalt it do, if it be in thy might,
And I will tell it thee ere it be night."
"Have here my trothe," quoth the knight; "I grant."
"Thenne," quoth she, "I dare me well avaunt,* *boast, affirm
Thy life is safe, for I will stand thereby,
Upon my life the queen will say as I:
Let see, which is the proudest of them all,
That wears either a ke...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

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