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Famous Softly Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Bryant, William Cullen
...lessly, around, 
From perch to perch, the solitary bird 
Passes; and yon clear spring, that, midst its herbs, 
Wells softly forth and wandering steeps the roots 
Of half the mighty forest, tells no tale 
Of all the good it does. Thou hast not left 
Thyself without a witness, in these shades, 
Of thy perfections. Grandeur, strength, and grace 
Are here to speak of thee. This mighty oak--- 
By whose immovable stem I stand and seem 
Almost annihilated---not...Read more of this...



by Poe, Edgar Allan
...cool glade, and
Have slept with the bee-
Arouse them, my maiden,
On moorland and lea-
Go! breathe on their slumber,
All softly in ear,
Thy musical number
They slumbered to hear-
For what can awaken
An angel so soon,
Whose sleep hath been taken
Beneath the cold moon,
As the spell which no slumber
Of witchery may test,
The rhythmical number
Which lull'd him to rest?"

Spirits in wing, and angels to the view,
A thousand seraphs burst th' Empyrean thro',
Young dreams still hoveri...Read more of this...

by Dickinson, Emily
...

And then—the size of this "small" life—
The Sages—call it small—
Swelled—like Horizons—in my vest—
And I sneered—softly—"small"!

280

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading—treading—till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through—

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum—
Kept beating—beating—till I thought
My Mind was going numb

And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots ...Read more of this...

by Keats, John
...is green covert: there she lay,
Sweet as a muskrose upon new-made hay;
With all her limbs on tremble, and her eyes
Shut softly up alive. To speak he tries.
"Fair damsel, pity me! forgive that I
Thus violate thy bower's sanctity!
O pardon me, for I am full of grief--
Grief born of thee, young angel! fairest thief!
Who stolen hast away the wings wherewith
I was to top the heavens. Dear maid, sith
Thou art my executioner, and I feel
Loving and hatred, misery and weal...Read more of this...

by Tennyson, Alfred Lord
...
Which in one moment, like the blast of doom,
Would shatter all the happiness of the hearth. 

He therefore turning softly like a thief,
Lest the harsh shingle should grate underfoot,
And feeling all along the garden-wall,
Lest he should swoon and tumble and be found,
Crept to the gate, and open'd it, and closed,
As lightly as a sick man's chamber-door,
Behind him, and came out upon the waste. 

And there he would have knelt, but that his knees
Were feeble, so that fa...Read more of this...



by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth
...orers home from the field, and serenely the sun sank
Down to his rest, and twilight prevailed. Anon from the belfry
Softly the Angelus sounded, and over the roofs of the village
Columns of pale blue smoke, like clouds of incense ascending,
Rose from a hundred hearths, the homes of peace and contentment.
Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers,--
Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free from
Fear, that reigns with the tyrant, and e...Read more of this...

by Hugo, Victor
...night-birds open wide 
 Their round eyes to gaze awhile, 
 Nymphs that lean their urns beside 
 From their grottoes softly smile, 
 
 "And exclaim, by fancy stirred, 
 'Hero and Leander they; 
 We in listening for a word 
 Let our water fall away.' 
 
 "Let us journey Austrian way, 
 With the daybreak on our brow; 
 I be great, and you I say 
 Rich, because we love shall know. 
 
 "Let us over countries rove, 
 On our charming steeds content, 
 In the azure ...Read more of this...

by Robinson, Edwin Arlington
...oughtful how you strike, remembering also
There was a fellow Naboth had a vineyard, 
And Ahab cut his hair off and went softly. 

HAMILTON

I don’t remember that he cut his hair off. 

BURR

Somehow I rather fancy that he did. 
If so, it’s in the Book; and if not so,
He did the rest, and did it handsomely. 

HAMILTON

Commend yourself to Ahab and his ways 
If they inveigle you to emulation; 
But where, if I may ask it, are you tending 
With your invidious wiel...Read more of this...

by Akhmatova, Anna
...ow,
But prison doors stay firmly bolted
Shutting off the convict burrows
And an anguish close to death.
Fresh winds softly blow for someone,
Gentle sunsets warm them through; we don't know this,
We are everywhere the same, listening
To the scrape and turn of hateful keys
And the heavy tread of marching soldiers.
Waking early, as if for early mass,
Walking through the capital run wild, gone to seed,
We'd meet - the dead, lifeless; the sun,
Lower every day; the Neva, mi...Read more of this...

by Milton, John
...to stare
At my affliction, and perhaps to insult,
Thir daily practice to afflict me more.

Chor: This, this is he; softly a while,
Let us not break in upon him;
O change beyond report, thought, or belief!
See how he lies at random, carelessly diffus'd,
With languish't head unpropt,
As one past hope, abandon'd 
And by himself given over;
In slavish habit, ill-fitted weeds
O're worn and soild;
Or do my eyes misrepresent? Can this be hee,
That Heroic, that Renown'd,
Irresis...Read more of this...

by Byron, George (Lord)
...
One shade the more, one ray the less, 
Had half impaired the nameless grace 
Which waves in every raven tress, 
Or softly lightens o'er her face; 
Where thoughts serenely sweet express, 
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. 

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, 
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, 
The smiles that win, the tints that glow, 
But tell of days in goodness spent, 
A mind at peace with all below, 
A heart whose love is innocent!...Read more of this...

by Frost, Robert
...names on.—
I think I’ll just call up my wife and tell her
I’m here—so far—and starting on again.
I’ll call her softly so that if she’s wise
And gone to sleep, she needn’t wake to answer.”
Three times he barely stirred the bell, then listened.
“Why, Lett, still up? Lett, I’m at Cole’s. I’m late.
I called you up to say Good-night from here
Before I went to say Good-morning there.—
I thought I would.— I know, but, Lett—I know—
I could, but what’s...Read more of this...

by Byron, George (Lord)
...
But, mark me, when the twilight drum 
Hath warn'd the troops to food and sleep, 
Unto thy cell will Selim come: 
Then softly from the Haram creep 
Where we may wander by the deep: 
Our garden-battlements are steep; 
Nor these will rash intruder climb 
To list our words, or stint our time; 
And if he doth, I want not steel 
Which some have felt, and more may feel. 
Then shalt thou learn of Selim more 
Than thou hast heard or thought before: 
Trust me, Zuleika — fear not ...Read more of this...

by Tennyson, Alfred Lord
...luggard, and I ride apace, 
For now there is a lion in the way.' 
So vanished." 

`Then Sir Bors had ridden on 
Softly, and sorrowing for our Lancelot, 
Because his former madness, once the talk 
And scandal of our table, had returned; 
For Lancelot's kith and kin so worship him 
That ill to him is ill to them; to Bors 
Beyond the rest: he well had been content 
Not to have seen, so Lancelot might have seen, 
The Holy Cup of healing; and, indeed, 
Being so clouded wit...Read more of this...

by Carroll, Lewis
...Snarks should be tried!")

" 'But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
 If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
You will softly and suddenly vanish away,
 And never be met with again!'

"It is this, it is this that oppresses my soul,
 When I think of my uncle's last words:
And my heart is like nothing so much as a bowl
 Brimming over with quivering curds!

"It is this, it is this--" "We have had that before!"
 The Bellman indignantly said.
And the Baker replied "Let me say...Read more of this...

by Chaucer, Geoffrey
...ing," the second literally for "eye;" and Bishop Gardner,
"On True Obedience," in his address to the reader, says: "How
softly she was wont to chirpe him under the chin, and kiss him;
how prettily she could talk to him (how doth my sweet heart,
what saith now pig's-eye)."

13. Oseney: A once well-known abbey near Oxford.

14. Trave: travis; a frame in which unruly horses were shod.

15. Harow and Alas: Haro! was an old Norman cry for redress
or aid.Read more of this...

by Walker, Alice
...rother
Carefully
Out the door
I used to think they
Were born
Knowing how to
Gently swing
A casket
They shuffled softly
Eyes dry
More awkward
With the flowers
Than with the widow
After they'd put the
Body in
And stood around waiting
In their
Brown suits. ...Read more of this...

by Lowell, Amy
...ich he had made;
He put on his rabbit cloak, and snuffed
His candle out. The room seemed stuffed
With darkness. Softly he crossed the floor,
And let himself out through the door.

The sun was flashing from every pin
And wheel, when Paul let himself in.
The whitewashed walls were hot with light.
The room was the core of a chrysolite,
Burning and shimmering with fiery might.
The sun was so bright that no shadow could fall
From the furniture upon the wall...Read more of this...

by Eliot, T S (Thomas Stearns)
...ink into the wet bank. The wind
Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed.
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,
Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends
Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs are departed.
And their friends, the loitering heirs of city directors; 
Departed, have left no addresses.
By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept . . .Read more of this...

by Angelou, Maya
...otta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.

Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
'Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.

Sun, rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You're all that I can call my own....Read more of this...

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Book: Reflection on the Important Things