Get Your Premium Membership

Famous Scolding Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

by Tagore, Rabindranath
...Whey are those tears in your eyes, my child?
How horrid of them to be always scolding you for nothing!
You have stained your fingers and face with ink while writing-
is that why they call you dirty?
O, fie! Would they dare to call the full moon dirty because
it has smudged its face with ink?
For every little trifle they blame you, my child. They are
ready to find fault for nothing.
You tore your clothes while playing-is that ...Read more of this...



by von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang
...heir home, and their pitchers they place
By the side of their parents, with fear on their face,

Awaiting a beating and scolding.
But see what they're tasting: the choicest of beer!
Though three times and four times they quaff the good cheer

The pitchers remain still unemptied.

The marvel it lasts till the dawning of day;
All people who hear of it doubtless will say:

"What happen'd at length to the pitchers?"
In secret the children they smile, as they wait;
At last...Read more of this...

by Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)
...tension, slip, slide, perish,
Decay with imprecision, will not stay in place,
Will not stay still. Shrieking voices
Scolding, mocking, or merely chattering,
Always assail them. The Word in the desert
Is most attacked by voices of temptation,
The crying shadow in the funeral dance,
The loud lament of the disconsolate chimera.

 The detail of the pattern is movement,
As in the figure of the ten stairs.
Desire itself is movement
Not in itself desirable;
Love is i...Read more of this...

by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
..."Nokomis?"
And the good Nokomis answered: 
"That is but the owl and owlet,
Talking in their native language, 
Talking, scolding at each other."
Then the little Hiawatha 
Learned of every bird its language, 
Learned their names and all their secrets, 
How they built their nests in Summer, 
Where they hid themselves in Winter, 
Talked with them whene'er he met them, 
Called them "Hiawatha's Chickens."
Of all beasts he learned the language, 
Learned their names and all ...Read more of this...

by Whittier, John Greenleaf
...oll of the Church they sing the rune
By the Northern Sea in the harvest moon;
And the fishers of Zealand hear him still
Scolding his wife in Ulshoi hill.

And seaward over its groves of birch
Still looks the tower of Kallundborg church
Where, first at its altar, a wedded pair,
Stood Helva of Nesvek and Esbern Snare!...Read more of this...



by Edson, Russell
...l find hills and 
valleys made of flesh on the other side, or simply constant 
night, villages of sleep. The ape is scolding me for not teaching 
him better. I am letting him wear my pith helmet for 
consolation. The bridge looks like one of those skeletal 
reconstructions of a huge dinosaur one sees in a museum. The 
ape is looking at the stump of his wrist and scolding me again. 
I offer him another banana and he gets very furious, as though 
I'd insulte...Read more of this...

by Service, Robert William
...rating.'

The Third: 'The explanation I
 Have been so long a-olding,
Is that to wash I never try,
 Despite conjugal scolding.
I hate the sight of soap and so
 I seldom change my shirt:
Believe me, Brother, there is no
 Preservative like dirt.'

So there you have the reasons three
 Why age may you rejoice:
Booze, squalour and temerity,--
 Well, you may take your choice.
Yet let me say, although it may
 Your egoism hurt,
Of all the three it seems to me
 The best...Read more of this...

by Sassoon, Siegfried
...ing trees. 
I looked below and saw the glinting lights: 
I heard the treble cries of bustling life, 
And mirth, and scolding; and the grind of wheels.
An engine whistled, piercing-shrill, and called 
High echoes from the sombre slopes afar; 
Then a long line of trucks began to move. 

It was quite still; the columned chestnuts stood 
Dark in their noble canopies of leaves.
I thought: ‘A little longer I’ll delay, 
And then he’ll be more glad to hear my feet, 
A...Read more of this...

by Pope, Alexander
...d Humour still whate'er we lose? 
And trust me, Dear! good Humour can prevail,
When Airs, and Flights, and Screams, and Scolding fail.
Beauties in vain their pretty Eyes may roll;
Charms strike the Sight, but Merit wins the Soul.

So spake the Dame, but no Applause ensu'd;
Belinda frown'd, Thalestris call'd her Prude.
To Arms, to Arms! the fierce Virago cries,
And swift as Lightning to the Combate flies.
All side in Parties, and begin th' Attack;
Fans clap, Si...Read more of this...

by Pope, Alexander
...humour still whate'er we lose?
And trust me, dear! good humour can prevail,
When airs, and flights, and screams, and scolding fail.
Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll;
Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul."

So spoke the dame, but no applause ensu'd;
Belinda frown'd, Thalestris call'd her prude.
"To arms, to arms!" the fierce virago cries,
And swift as lightning to the combat flies.
All side in parties, and begin th' attack;
Fa...Read more of this...

by Hugo, Victor
...ead, for I am sure, 
 Oh, madcaps terrible and dear, 
 That you were right and I was wrong. 
 But who has ne'er with scolding tongue 
 Blamed out of season. Pardon me! 
 You must forgive—for sad are we. 
 
 The young should not be hard and cold 
 And unforgiving to the old. 
 Children each morn your souls ope out 
 Like windows to the shining day, 
 Oh, miracle that comes about, 
 The miracle that children gay 
 Have happiness and goodness too, 
 Caressed by des...Read more of this...

by Auden, Wystan Hugh (W H)
...the fight
Against the false and the unfair
Was always worth it. So was gardening. Civilize.

Cajoling, scolding, screaming, cleverest of them all,
He'd had the other children in a holy war
Against the infamous grown-ups; and, like a child, been sly
And humble, when there was occassion for
The two-faced answer or the plain protective lie,
But, patient like a peasant, waited for their fall.

And never doubted, like D'Alembert, he would win:
Only Pas...Read more of this...

by Smart, Christopher
...The poker lost, poor Susan storm'd, 
And all the rites of rage perform'd; 
As scolding, crying, swearing, sweating, 
Abusing, fidgetting, and fretting. 
"Nothing but villany, and thieving; 
Good heavens! what a world we live in! 
If I don't find it in the morning, 
I'll surely give my master warning. 
He'd better far shut up his doors, 
Than keep such good for nothing whores; 
For wheresoe'er their trade they drive, 
We vartuo...Read more of this...

by Service, Robert William
...waiting, my hook I'll be baiting,
And flip me a fish from the foam of the pool;
Then Mother beholding, came crying and scolding:
"You're late, ye young devil! Be off to the school."
So grabbing me bait-tin I dropped them fat worms in,
With globs of green turf for their comfort and cheer;
And there, clean forgotten, no doubt dead and rotten;
I left them to languish for nigh on a year.

One day to be cleaning the byre I was meaning,
When seeing that old rusty can on th...Read more of this...

by Padel, Ruth
...ust. Please let me hope.
Give me one look, from eyes I hardly dare
To look back at. Or scupper my dream 
By scolding me. I've given you rope
To hang me: tell me I'm mistaken. You're so much in
The world; while I just live here, bent on jam 
And harvest, songs and books. That's not complaint.
We live such different lives. So - this is the end. It's taken 
All night. I'm scared to read it back. I'm faint
With shame and fear. But t...Read more of this...

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Scolding poems.


Book: Reflection on the Important Things