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Famous Statutes Poems by Famous Poets

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

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by Dryden, John
...r shall the rascal rabble here have place,
Whom kings no titles gave, and God no grace:
Not bull-faced Jonas, who could statutes draw
To mean rebellion, and make treason law.
But he, though bad, is follow'd by a worse,
The wretch, who Heav'n's Anointed dar'd to curse.
Shimei, whose youth did early promise bring
Of zeal to God, and hatred to his king;
Did wisely from expensive sins refrain,
And never broke the Sabbath, but for gain:
Nor ever was he known an oath to ven...Read more of this...



by Gregory, Rg
...sis with them

no leave it
there's still one more
the need now

  the need now is to chronicle new times
  by their own statutes not as ***-ends of the old
  ideas stand out bravely against the surrounding grey
  seeking their own order in what themselves proclaim
  fortresses no longer belong by right to an older day

  i want to gather in my hands things i believe in
  not to be told that other rules prevail - there is
  a treading forward to be done of great excitement
  a...Read more of this...

by Whitman, Walt
...d. 

4
Great is Justice! 
Justice is not settled by legislators and laws—it is in the Soul; 
It cannot be varied by statutes, any more than love, pride, the attraction of gravity,
 can;
It is immutable—it does not depend on majorities—majorities or what not, come at
 last
 before the same passionless and exact tribunal. 

For justice are the grand natural lawyers, and perfect judges—is it in their Souls; 
It is well assorted—they have not studied for nothing—the great...Read more of this...

by Donne, John
...the Legacy
Of his and thy kingdom do thy Sons invest.
Yet such are thy laws that men argue yet
Whether a man those statutes can fulfil;
None doth; but all-healing grace and spirit
Revive again what law and letter kill.
Thy law's abridgement, and thy last command
Is all but love; Oh let this last Will stand!...Read more of this...

by Pope, Alexander
...he wrong, or fear'd it, took th' alarm,
Appeal'd to law, and justice lent her arm.
At length, by wholesome dread of statutes bound,
The poets learn'd to please, and not to wound:
Most warp'd to flatt'ry's side; but some, more nice,
Preserv'd the freedom, and forbore the vice.
Hence satire rose, that just the medium hit,
And heals with morals what it hurts with wit.


We conquer'd France, but felt our captive's charms;
Her arts victorious triumph'd o'er our arms;
B...Read more of this...



by Watts, Isaac
...eir steady feet aside.

ver. 6 

Then shall my heart have inward joy,
And keep my face from shame,
When all thy statutes I obey,
And honor all thy name.

ver. 21,118 

But haughty sinners God will hate,
The proud shall die accursed;
The sons of falsehood and deceit
Are trodden to the dust.

ver. 119,155 

Vile as the dross the wicked are;
And those that leave thy ways
Shall see salvation from afar,
But never taste thy grace....Read more of this...

by Watts, Isaac
...Breathing after holiness.

ver. 5,33 

O that the Lord would guide my ways
To keep his statutes still!
O that my God would grant me grace
To know and do his will!

ver. 29 

O send thy Spirit down to write
Thy law upon my heart!
Nor let my tongue indulge deceit,
Nor act the liar's part.

ver. 37,36 

From vanity turn off my eyes;
Let no corrupt design,
Nor covetous desires, arise
Within this soul of mine.

ver. 133 

Order ...Read more of this...

by Watts, Isaac
...t my soul complain;
Grant me the teachings of thy grace,
Or I shall stray again.

ver. 33,34 

If God to me his statutes show,
And heav'nly truth impart,
His work for ever I'll pursue,
His law shall rule my heart.

ver. 50,71 

This was my comfort when I bore
Variety of grief;
It made me learn thy word the more,
And fly to that relief.

ver. 51 

[In vain the proud deride me now;
I'll ne'er forget thy law,
Nor let that blessed gospel go,
Whence all my ...Read more of this...

by Watts, Isaac
...r me to wear the yoke,
For pride is apt to rise and swell;
'Tis good to bear my Father's stroke,
That I might learn his statutes well.

ver. 72 

The law that issues from thy mouth
Shall raise my cheerful passions more
Than all the treasures of the south,
Or western hills of golden ore.

ver. 73 

Thy hands have made my mortal frame,
Thy Spirit formed my soul within;
Teach me to know thy wondrous name,
And guard me safe from death and sin.

ver. 74 

T...Read more of this...

by Watts, Isaac
...British lands, rejoice,
Here he reveals his word;
We are not left to nature's voice,
To bid us know the Lord.

His statutes and commands
Are set before our eyes;
He puts his gospel in our hands,
Where our salvation lies.

His laws are just and pure,
His truth without deceit,
His promises for ever sure,
And his rewards are great.

[Not honey to the taste
Affords so much delight,
Nor gold that has the furnace passed
So much allures the sight.

While of thy work...Read more of this...

by Watts, Isaac
...
"Unthinking wretch! how couldst thou hope to please
A God, a Spirit, with such toys as these,
While, with my grace and statutes on thy tongue,
Thou lov'st deceit, and dost thy brother wrong?
In vain to pious forms thy zeal pretends,
Thieves and adulterers are thy chosen friends.

"Silent I waited with long-suff'ring love,
But didst thou hope that I should ne'er reprove?
And cherish such an impious thought within,
That God, the Righteous, would indulge thy sin?
Behold my ...Read more of this...

by Whitman, Walt
...ar untrimm’d faces, 
The beauty of independence, departure, actions that rely on themselves, 
The American contempt for statutes and ceremonies, the boundless impatience of restraint,

The loose drift of character, the inkling through random types, the solidification;
The butcher in the slaughter-house, the hands aboard schooners and sloops, the raftsman,
 the
 pioneer, 
Lumbermen in their winter camp, day-break in the woods, stripes of snow on the limbs of
 trees,
 the
 occa...Read more of this...

by Whitman, Walt
...all the passing errors, perturbations of the surface; 
You vital, universal, deathless germs, beneath all creeds, arts, statutes,
 literatures,

Here build your homes for good—establish here—These areas entire, Lands of the Western
 Shore, 
We pledge, we dedicate to you.

For man of you—your characteristic Race, 
Here may be hardy, sweet, gigantic grow—here tower, proportionate to Nature, 
Here climb the vast, pure spaces, unconfined, uncheck’d by wall or roof, 
Here laug...Read more of this...

by Cowper, William
...br>

"My grace, a flowing stream, proceeds
To wash your filthiness away;
Ye shall abhor your former deeds,
And learn my statutes to obey.

"My truth the great design ensures,
I give myself away to you;
You shall be mine, I will be yours,
Your God unalterably true.

"Yet not unsought or unimplored,
The plenteous grace I shall confer;
No -- your whole hearts shall seek the Lord,
I'll put a praying spirit there.

"From the first breath of life divine
Down to the last...Read more of this...

by Tennyson, Alfred Lord
...le.' 

At those high words, we conscious of ourselves, 
Perused the matting: then an officer 
Rose up, and read the statutes, such as these: 
Not for three years to correspond with home; 
Not for three years to cross the liberties; 
Not for three years to speak with any men; 
And many more, which hastily subscribed, 
We entered on the boards: and 'Now,' she cried, 
'Ye are green wood, see ye warp not. Look, our hall! 
Our statues!--not of those that men desire, 
Sleek...Read more of this...

by Johnson, Samuel
...reasures rise.

29 Let hist'ry tell where rival kings command,
30 And dubious title shakes the madded land,
31 When statutes glean the refuse of the sword,
32 How much more safe the vassal than the lord,
33 Low sculks the hind beneath the rage of pow'r,
34 And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tow'r,
35 Untouch'd his cottage, and his slumbers sound,
36 Tho' confiscation's vultures hover round.

37 The needy traveller, serene and gay,
38 Walks the wild heath, and sings...Read more of this...

by Whitman, Walt
...screaming priest—(soon, soon deserted;)
Of the lessening, year by year, of venerableness, and of the dicta of officers, statutes,
 pulpits, schools; 
Of the rising forever taller and stronger and broader, of the intuitions of men and women,
 and
 of self-esteem, and of personality; 
—Of the New World—Of the Democracies, resplendent, en-masse; 
Of the conformity of politics, armies, navies, to them and to me, 
Of the shining sun by them—Of the inherent light, greater than the ...Read more of this...

by Whitman, Walt
...ce or ingratitude of the people, or by any unfaithfulness, 
Or the show of the tushes of power, soldiers, cannon, penal statutes.

Revolt! and still revolt! revolt! 
What we believe in waits latent forever through all the continents, and all the islands
 and
 archipelagos of the sea; 
What we believe in invites no one, promises nothing, sits in calmness and light, is
 positive
 and composed, knows no discouragement, 
Waiting patiently, waiting its time. 

(Not songs o...Read more of this...

by Marvell, Andrew
...r>
And (if I Judgement have) I censure right;
For something guides my hand that I must write.
You have Translations statutes best fulfil'd.
That handling neither sully nor would guild...Read more of this...

by Whitman, Walt
...iests alarming—air breathing, water drinking, on the turf or the
 sea-beach
 dancing, 
Cities wrenching, ease scorning, statutes mocking, feebleness chasing, 
Fulfilling our foray....Read more of this...

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