Famous Signifies Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Violet De Vere

by Robert William Service
 You've heard of Violet de Vere, strip-teaser of renown,
Whose sitting-base out-faired the face of any girl in town;
Well, she was haled before the Bench for breachin' of the Peace,
Which signifies araisin' Cain, an' beatin' up the police.
So there she stood before the Court of ruddy Judge McGraw
Whom folks called Old Necessity, because he knew no law.
Aye, crackin' in a...Read more of this...

The Pin

by Ann Taylor
 "Dear me! what signifies a pin! 
I'll leave it on the floor;
My pincushion has others in,
Mamma has plenty more: 
A miser will I never be," 
Said little heedless Emily. 

So tripping on to giddy play,
She left the pin behind, 
For Betty's broom to whisk away, 
Or some one else to find; 
She never gave a thought, indeed, 
To what...Read more of this...

Sound Sweet Song

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 SOUND, sweet song, from some far land,
Sighing softly close at hand,

Now of joy, and now of woe!

Stars are wont to glimmer so.

Sooner thus will good unfold;
Children young and children old
Gladly hear thy numbers flow.

1820.*
-----

* In the cases in which the date is marked thus 
(*), it signifies the original date of publication--the year of 
composition not being known. In...Read more of this...

Fleckno an English Priest at Rome

by Andrew Marvell
 Oblig'd by frequent visits of this man,
Whom as Priest, Poet, and Musician,
I for some branch of Melchizedeck took,
(Though he derives himself from my Lord Brooke)
I sought his Lodging; which is at the Sign
Of the sad Pelican; Subject divine
For Poetry: There three Stair Cases high,
Which signifies his triple property,
I found at last a Chamber, as 'twas said,
But seem'd a Coffin...Read more of this...

Green Grow The Rashes

by Robert Burns
 Green grow the rashes, O!
Green grow the rashes, O!
The sweetest hours that e'er I spend,
Are spent amang the lasses, O!

There's nought but care on every han'
In every hour that passes, O;
What signifies the life o' man,
An 'twere na for the lasses, O?

The warl'ly race may riches chase,
An' riches still may fly them, O;
An' though at last they catch them...Read more of this...

The Ancient World

by Mark Doty
 Today the Masons are auctioning 
their discarded pomp: a trunk of turbans, 
gemmed and ostrich-plumed, and operetta costumes 
labeled inside the collar "Potentate" 
and "Vizier." Here their chairs, blazoned 
with the Masons' sign, huddled 
like convalescents, lean against one another 

on the grass. In a casket are rhinestoned poles 
the hierophants carried in parades; 
here's a splendid golden staff...Read more of this...

68. The Holy Fair

by Robert Burns
 UPON 1 a simmer Sunday morn
 When Nature’s face is fair,
I walked forth to view the corn,
 An’ snuff the caller air.
The rising sun owre Galston muirs
 Wi’ glorious light was glintin;
The hares were hirplin down the furrs,
 The lav’rocks they were chantin
 Fu’ sweet that day.


As lightsomely I glowr’d abroad,
 To see a scene sae gay,
Three hizzies, early...Read more of this...

32. Song—Green Grow the Rashes

by Robert Burns
 Chor.—Green grow the rashes, O;
 Green grow the rashes, O;
The sweetest hours that e’er I spend,
 Are spent amang the lasses, O.


THERE’S nought but care on ev’ry han’,
 In ev’ry hour that passes, O:
What signifies the life o’ man,
 An’ ’twere na for the lasses, O.
 Green grow, &c.


The war’ly race may riches chase,
 An’ riches still may fly...Read more of this...

Walking the Dog

by Howard Nemerov
 Two universes mosey down the street
Connected by love and a leash and nothing else.
Mostly I look at lamplight through the leaves
While he mooches along with tail up and snout down,
Getting a secret knowledge through the nose
Almost entirely hidden from my sight.

We stand while he's enraptured by a bush
Till I can't stand our standing any more
And haul him off; for...Read more of this...

The Ballade Of The Mistletoe Bough

by Ellis Parker Butler
 I am standing under the mistletoe,
 And I smile, but no answering smile replies
For her haughty glance bids me plainly know
 That not for me is the thing I prize;
Instead, from her coldly scornful eyes,
 Indifference looks on my barefaced guile;
She knows, of course, what my act implies—
 But look at those lips! Do they hint a smile?

I stand...Read more of this...

The Silken Tent

by Robert Frost
 She is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when the sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is...Read more of this...

131. Song—Willie Chalmers

by Robert Burns
 WI’ braw new branks in mickle pride,
 And eke a braw new brechan,
My Pegasus I’m got astride,
 And up Parnassus pechin;
Whiles owre a bush wi’ donwward crush,
 The doited beastie stammers;
Then up he gets, and off he sets,
 For sake o’ Willie Chalmers.


I doubt na, lass, that weel ken’d name
 May cost a pair o’ blushes;
I am nae stranger...Read more of this...

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