Famous Saw Poems by Famous Poets

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

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I saw no Way -- The Heavens were stitched

by Emily Dickinson
 I saw no Way -- The Heavens were stitched --
I felt the Columns close --
The Earth reversed her Hemispheres --
I touched the Universe --

And back it slid -- and I alone --
A Speck upon a Ball --
Went out upon Circumference --
Beyond the Dip of Bell --...Read more of this...

I saw Old General at Bay

by Walt Whitman
 I SAW old General at bay; 
(Old as he was, his grey eyes yet shone out in battle like stars;) 
His small force was now completely hemm’d in, in his works; 
He call’d for volunteers to run the enemy’s lines—a desperate emergency; 
I saw a hundred and more step forth from the ranks—but two or three were selected;
I saw...Read more of this...

I Saw Thy Form in Youthful Prime

by Thomas Moore
 I saw thy form in youthful prime, 
Nor thought that pale decay 
Would steal before the steps of Time, 
And waste its bloom away, Mary! 
Yet still thy features wore that light, 
Which fleets not with the breath; 
And life ne'er look'd more truly bright 
Than in thy smile of death, Mary! 

As streams that run o'er golden mines,...Read more of this...

I saw a busy potter by the way

by Omar Khayyam
I saw a busy potter by the way
Kneading with might and main a lump of clay;
And, lo! the clay cried, «Use me gently, pray;
I was a man myself but yesterday!»...Read more of this...

Although we saw this bright garden

by Emile Verhaeren
Although we saw this bright garden, wherein we pass silently, flower before our eyes, it is rather in us that grows the pleasantest and fairest garden in the world.
For we live all the flowers, all the plants and all the grasses in our laughter and our tears of pure and calm happiness.
For we live all the transparencies of the blue...Read more of this...

Sonnet 83: I never saw that you did painting need

by William Shakespeare
 I never saw that you did painting need,
And therefore to your fair no painting set;
I found, or thought I found, you did exceed
That barren tender of a poet's debt;
And therefore have I slept in your report,
That you yourself being extant well might show
How far a modern quill doth come too short,
Speaking of worth, what worth in you doth grow.
This...Read more of this...

I saw a bird perched on the walls of Tus,

by Omar Khayyam
I saw a bird perched on the walls of Tus,
Before him lay the skull of Kai Kawus,
And thus he made his moan, «Alas, poor king!
Thy drums are hushed, thy 'larums have rung truce.»...Read more of this...

I saw a man pursuing the horizon

by Stephen Crane
 I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
"It is futile," I said,
"You can never -"

"You lie," he cried,
And ran on....Read more of this...

To the wine-house I saw the sage repair,

by Omar Khayyam
To the wine-house I saw the sage repair,
Bearing a wine-cup, and a mat for prayer;
I said, «O Shaikh, what does this conduct mean?»
Said he, «Go drink! the world is naught but air.»...Read more of this...

Once I saw mountains angry

by Stephen Crane
 Once I saw mountains angry,
And ranged in battle-front.
Against them stood a little man;
Aye, he was no bigger than my finger.
I laughed, and spoke to one near me,
"Will he prevail?"
"Surely," replied this other;
"His grandfathers beat them many times."
Then did I see much virtue in grandfathers --
At least, for the little man
Who stood against the mountains....Read more of this...

See-Saw

by Mother Goose
See-saw, Margery Daw,
Sold her bed and lay upon straw....Read more of this...

I Saw a Chapel

by William Blake
 I saw a chapel all of gold 
That none did dare to enter in,
And many weeping stood without,
Weeping, mourning, worshipping.

I saw a serpent rise between
The white pillars of the door,
And he forc'd and forc'd and forc'd,
Down the golden hinges tore.

And along the pavement sweet,
Set with pearls and rubies bright,
All his slimy length he drew
Till upon the altar white

Vomiting his...Read more of this...

Poem (I saw Len Hutton in his prime...)

by Harold Pinter
 I saw Len Hutton in his prime

Another time

 another time...Read more of this...

I Saw From the Beach

by Thomas Moore
 I saw from the beach, when the morning was shining, 
A bark o'er the waters move gloriously on; 
I came when the sun o'er that beach was declining, 
The bark was still there, but the waters were gone. 

And such is the fate of our life's early promise, 
So passing the spring-tide of joy we have known; 
Each wave...Read more of this...

Unlike For Example The Sound Of A Riptooth Saw

by Thomas Lux
 gnawing through a shinbone, a high howl
inside of which a bloody, slashed-by-growls note
is heard, unlike that
sound, and instead, its opposite: a barely sounded
sound (put your nuclear ears
on for it, your giant hearing horn, its cornucopia mouth
wide) -- a slippery whoosh of rain
sliding down a mirror
leaned against a windfallen tree stump, the sound
a child's head makes
falling against his mother's breast,
or...Read more of this...

I saw on the walls of the city of Thous a bird hovering

by Omar Khayyam
I saw on the walls of the city of Thous a bird hovering
before the skull of Kai-Kawous. The bird said to
the skull: Alas! what has become of the noise of thy
glory and the sound of the clarion?...Read more of this...

I Saw Myself

by Lew Welch
 I saw myself
a ring of bone
in the clear stream
of all of it

and vowed
always to be open to it
that all of it
might flow through

and then heard
"ring of bone" where
ring is what a

bell does...Read more of this...

None who saw it ever told it

by Emily Dickinson
 None who saw it ever told it
'Tis as hid as Death
Had for that specific treasure
A departing breath --
Surfaces may be invested
Did the Diamond grow
General as the Dandelion
Would you serve it so?...Read more of this...

Dream Song 130: When I saw my friend covered with blood I thought

by John Berryman
 When I saw my friend covered with blood, I thought
This is the end of the dream, now I'll wake up.
That was more years ago
than I care to reckon, and my friend is not 
dying but adhering to an élite group
in California O.

Why did I never wake, when covered with blood
I saw my fearful friend, his nerves are bad
with the...Read more of this...

This moth saw brightness

by Kobayashi Issa
 This moth saw brightness
in a woman's chamber--
burnt to a crisp....Read more of this...

I never saw a moor

by Emily Dickinson
I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks,
And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given....Read more of this...

I saw fair Fortune, one clear morning, touch

by Hafez
I saw fair Fortune, one clear morning, touch
Like the bright-sceptred sun’s first point of scorn,
With slightest finger my full-ripen’d corn.

I glimps’d her beauty: slender was she, such
As the moon’s waning sickle, paled afar,
Or dawn’s faint star-sheaves that scarce vision’d are.

I said, ‘O my life’s crowning queen, for thee
Have I long toiled without repose or rest;
In hope of thee, my harvest...Read more of this...

484. Song—Saw you my dear my Philly

by Robert Burns
 O SAW ye my Dear, my Philly?
 O saw ye my Dear, my Philly,
She’s down i’ the grove, she’s wi’ a new Love,
 She winna come hame to her Willy.


 What says she my dear, my Philly?
 What says she my dear, my Philly?
She lets thee to wit she has thee forgot,
 And forever disowns thee, her Willy.


 O...Read more of this...

What did They do since I saw Them?

by Emily Dickinson
 What did They do since I saw Them?
Were They industrious?
So many questions to put Them
Have I the eagerness

That could I snatch Their Faces
That could Their lips reply
Not till the last was answered
Should They start for the Sky.

Not if Their Party were waiting,
Not if to talk with Me
Were to Them now, Homesickness
After Eternity.

Not if the Just suspect me
And offer a...Read more of this...

In lands I never saw -- they say

by Emily Dickinson
 In lands I never saw -- they say
Immortal Alps look down --
Whose Bonnets touch the firmament --
Whose Sandals touch the town --

Meek at whose everlasting feet
A Myriad Daisy play --
Which, Sir, are you and which am I
Upon an August day?...Read more of this...

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