Famous Scarcely Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Marshalls Mate

by Henry Lawson
 You almost heard the surface bake, and saw the gum-leaves turn -- 
You could have watched the grass scorch brown had there been grass to burn. 
In such a drought the strongest heart might well grow faint and weak -- 
'Twould frighten Satan to his home -- not far from Dingo Creek. 

The tanks went dry on Ninety Mile,...Read more of this...

411. Extempore Reply to an Invitation

by Robert Burns
 THE KING’S most humble servant, I
 Can scarcely spare a minute;
But I’ll be wi’ you by an’ by;
 Or else the Deil’s be in it....Read more of this...

Lines Written In The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

by Elizabeth Bishop
 You won't become a gourmet* cook 
By studying our Fannie's book-- 
Her thoughts on Food & Keeping House 
Are scarcely those of Lévi-Strauss. 
Nevertheless, you'll find, Frank dear, 
The basic elements** are here. 
And if a problem should arise: 
The Soufflé fall before your eyes, 
Or strange things happen to the Rice 
--You know I love to give advice....Read more of this...

Tame Xenia

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 THE Epigrams bearing the title of XENIA were written 
by Goethe and Schiller together, having been first occasioned by 
some violent attacks made on them by some insignificant writers. 
They are extremely numerous, but scarcely any of them could be translated 
into English. Those here given are merely presented as a specimen.

GOD gave to mortals birth,

In his own image...Read more of this...

The Walrus and the Carpenter

by Lewis Carroll
The sun was shining on the sea,
   Shining with all his might;
He did his very best to make
   The billows smooth and bright—
And this was odd, because it was
   The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
   Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
   After...Read more of this...

Stowaway

by Robert William Service
 We'd left the sea-gulls long behind,
And we were almost in mid-ocean;
The sky was soft and blue and kind,
The boat had scarcely any motion;
Except that songfully it sped,
And sheared the foam swift as an arrow . . .
There fluttered down a city sparrow.

I stared with something of surprise;
The apparition mocked my seeming;
In fact I gently rubbed my eyes
And wondered if...Read more of this...

The Flaming Circle

by Louis Untermeyer
Though for fifteen years you have chaffed me across the table,
Slept in my arms and fingered my plunging heart,
I scarcely know you; we have not known each other.
For all the fierce and casual contacts, something keeps us apart.
Are you struggling, perhaps, in a world that I see only dimly,
Except as it sweeps toward the star on which I stand alone?
Are...Read more of this...

Ended ere it begun --

by Emily Dickinson
 Ended, ere it begun --
The Title was scarcely told
When the Preface perished from Consciousness
The Story, unrevealed --

Had it been mine, to print!
Had it been yours, to read!
That it was not Our privilege
The interdict of God --...Read more of this...

The Schoolmaster

by D. H. Lawrence
I

=A Snowy Day in School=

All the slow school hours, round the irregular hum of the class,
Have pressed immeasurable spaces of hoarse silence
Muffling my mind, as snow muffles the sounds that pass
Down the soiled street. We have pattered the lessons ceaselessly--

But the faces of the boys, in the brooding, yellow light
Have shone for me like a crowded constellation of stars,
Like full-blown...Read more of this...

310. Tam o' Shanter: A Tale

by Robert Burns
 WHEN chapman billies leave the street,
And drouthy neibors, neibors, meet;
As market days are wearing late,
And folk begin to tak the gate,
While we sit bousing at the nappy,
An’ getting fou and unco happy,
We think na on the lang Scots miles,
The mosses, waters, slaps and stiles,
That lie between us and our hame,
Where sits our sulky, sullen dame,
Gathering her brows like gathering...Read more of this...

Johnny Boer

by Andrew Barton Paterson
 Men fight all shapes and sizes as the racing horses run, 
And no man knows his courage till he stands before a gun. 
At mixed-up fighting, hand to hand, and clawing men about 
They reckon Fuzzy-Wuzzy is the hottest fighter out. 
But Fuzzy gives himself away -- his style is out of date, 
He charges like a driven grouse...Read more of this...

The Wifes Will

by Charlotte Bronte
 Sit still­ a word­ a breath may break 
(As light airs stir a sleeping lake,) 
The glassy calm that soothes my woes, 
The sweet, the deep, the full repose. 
O leave me not ! for ever be 
Thus, more than life itself to me ! 

Yes, close beside thee, let me kneel­ 
Give me thy hand that I may...Read more of this...

The Master of the Dance

by Vachel Lindsay
 A chant to which it is intended a group of children shall dance and improvise pantomime led by their dancing-teacher.


I

A master deep-eyed
Ere his manhood was ripe,
He sang like a thrush,
He could play any pipe.
So dull in the school
That he scarcely could spell,
He read but a bit,
And he figured not well.
A bare-footed fool,
Shod only with grace;
Long hair streaming down
Round a...Read more of this...

Sweeney

by Henry Lawson
 It was somewhere in September, and the sun was going down, 
When I came, in search of `copy', to a Darling-River town; 
`Come-and-have-a-drink' we'll call it -- 'tis a fitting name, I think -- 
And 'twas raining, for a wonder, up at Come-and-have-a-drink. 

'Neath the public-house verandah I was resting on a bunk 
When a stranger rose before me,...Read more of this...

Circumstantial Evidence

by Ellis Parker Butler
 She does not mind a good cigar
 (The kind, that is, I smoke);
She thinks all men quite stupid are,
 (But laughs whene’er I joke).

She says she does not care for verse
 (But praises all I write);
She says that punning is a curse,
 (But then mine are so bright!)

She does not like a big moustache
 (You see that mine is...Read more of this...

Obligation

by Amy Lowell
 Hold your apron wide
That I may pour my gifts into it,
So that scarcely shall your two arms hinder them
From falling to the ground.
I would pour them upon you
And cover you,
For greatly do I feel this need
Of giving you something,
Even these poor things.
Dearest of my Heart!...Read more of this...

Cherry- Tree Inn

by Henry Lawson
 The rafters are open to sun, moon, and star, 
Thistles and nettles grow high in the bar -- 
The chimneys are crumbling, the log fires are dead, 
And green mosses spring from the hearthstone instead. 
The voices are silent, the bustle and din, 
For the railroad hath ruined the Cherry-tree Inn. 

Save the glimmer of stars, or the moon's...Read more of this...

The Chimney Sweeper (Innocence)

by William Blake
 When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue,
Could scarcely cry weep weep weep weep,
So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

Theres little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curled like a lambs back was shav'd, so I said.
Hush Tom never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know...Read more of this...

Ben Duggan

by Henry Lawson
 Jack Denver died on Talbragar when Christmas Eve began, 
And there was sorrow round the place, for Denver was a man; 
Jack Denver's wife bowed down her head -- her daughter's grief was wild, 
And big Ben Duggan by the bed stood sobbing like a child. 
But big Ben Duggan saddled up, and galloped fast and far, 
To raise...Read more of this...

The Doubters And The Lovers

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 THE DOUBTERS.

YE love, and sonnets write! Fate's strange behest!

The heart, its hidden meaning to declare,

Must seek for rhymes, uniting pair with pair:
Learn, children, that the will is weak, at best.

Scarcely with freedom the o'erflowing breast

As yet can speak, and well may it beware;

Tempestuous passions sweep each chord that's there,
Then once more sink to night and gentle rest.

Why vex yourselves...Read more of this...

O Beauty Passing Beauty!

by Alfred Lord Tennyson
 O beauty, passing beauty! Sweetest sweet!
How can thou let me waste my youth in sighs?
I only ask to sit beside thy feet.
Thou knowest I dare not look into thine eyes.
Might I but kiss thy hand! I dare not fold
My arms about thee--scarcely dare to speak.
And nothing seems to me so wild and bold,
As with one kiss to touch thy...Read more of this...

Orinda upon Little Hector Philips

by Katherine Philips
 Twice forty months of Wedlock did I stay,
Then had my vows crown'd with a Lovely boy,
And yet in forty days he dropt away,
O swift Visissitude of humane joy.

I did but see him and he dis-appear'd,
I did but pluck the Rose-bud and it fell,
A sorrow unforeseen and scarcely fear'd,
For ill can mortals their afflictions spell.

And now (sweet Babe) what can...Read more of this...

Last Words To A Dumb Friend

by Thomas Hardy
 Pet was never mourned as you,
Purrer of the spotless hue,
Plumy tail, and wistful gaze
While you humoured our ***** ways,
Or outshrilled your morning call
Up the stairs and through the hall--
Foot suspended in its fall--
While, expectant, you would stand
Arched, to meet the stroking hand;
Till your way you chose to wend
Yonder, to your tragic end.

Never another pet for me!
Let your place all...Read more of this...

Expectans Expectavi

by Charles Sorley
 From morn to midnight, all day through,
 I laugh and play as others do,
 I sin and chatter, just the same
 As others with a different name.
 And all year long upon the stage
 I dance and tumble and do rage
 So vehemently, I scarcely see
 The inner and eternal me.
 I have a temple I do not
 Visit,...Read more of this...

Mi Musa Triste (My Sad Muse)

by Delmira Agustini
SpanishVagos preludios. En la noche espléndidaSu voz de perlas una fuente calla,Cuelgan las brisas sus celestes pifanosEn el follaje. Las cabezas pardasDe los búhos acechan.Las flores se abren más, como asombradas.Los cisnes de marfil tienden los cuellosEn las lagunas pálidas.Selene mira del azul. Las frondasTiemblan… y todo! hasta el silencio, calla…Es que ella pasa con su boca tristeY el gran...Read more of this...

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