Famous Stedfast Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

Acon and Rhodope

...e: his father's lands
Were fertile, herds lowed over them afar.
Now stood the two aside the hollow stone
And lookt with stedfast eyes toward the oak
Shivered and black and bare.

"May never we
Love as they loved!" said Acon. She at this
Smiled, for he said not what he meant to say,
And thought not of its bliss, but of its end.
He caught the flying smile, and blusht, and vow'd
Nor time nor other power, whereto the might
Of love hath yielded and may yield again,
Should alter hi...Read more of this...
by Landor, Walter Savage


Endymion: Book I

...
Now coming from beneath the forest trees,
A venerable priest full soberly,
Begirt with ministring looks: alway his eye
Stedfast upon the matted turf he kept,
And after him his sacred vestments swept.
From his right hand there swung a vase, milk-white,
Of mingled wine, out-sparkling generous light;
And in his left he held a basket full
Of all sweet herbs that searching eye could cull:
Wild thyme, and valley-lilies whiter still
Than Leda's love, and cresses from the rill.
His ...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

Hymn on the Morning of Christs Nativity

...uite forgot to rave, 
While Birds of Calm sit brooding on the charmeed wave. 

The Stars with deep amaze 
Stand fixt in stedfast gaze, 
 Bending one way their pretious influence, 
And will not take their flight, 
For all the morning light, 
 Or Lucifer that often warn'd them thence; 
But in their glimmering Orbs did glow, 
Untill their Lord himself bespake, and bid them go. 

And though the shady gloom 
Had given day her room, 
 The Sun himself with-held his wonted speed, 
An...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

If Truth in Hearts That Perish

...that perish 
Could move the powers on high, 
I think the love I bear you 
Should make you not to die. 

Sure, sure, if stedfast meaning, 
If single thought could save, 
The world might end to-morrow, 
You should not see the grave. 

This long and sure-set liking, 
This boundless will to please, 
--Oh, you should live for ever, 
If there were help in these. 

But now, since all is idle, 
To this lost heart be kind, 
Ere to a town you journey 
Where friends are ill to find....Read more of this...
by Housman, A E

Ode to Valour

...Inscribed to Colonel Banastre Tarleton]


TRANSCENDENT VALOUR! ­godlike Pow'r! 
Lord of the dauntless breast, and stedfast mien! 
Who, rob'd in majesty sublime, 
Sat in thy eagle-wafted car, 
And led the hardy sons of war, 
With head erect, and eye serene, 
Amidst the arrowy show'r; 
When unsubdued, from clime to clime, 
YOUNG AMMON taught exulting Fame 
O'er earth's vast space to sound the glories of thy name. 

ILLUSTRIOUS VALOUR ! from whose glance, 
Each recreant pa...Read more of this...
by Robinson, Mary Darby


On The Hurricane

...oof against such Storms. 
How shou'd the Guilty then be found, 
The Men in Wine, or looser Pleasures drown'd, 
To fix a stedfast Hope, or to maintain their Ground! 
When at his Glass the late Companion feels, 
That Giddy, like himself, the tott'ring Mansion reels! 


The Miser, who with many a Chest 
His gloomy Tenement opprest, 
Now fears the over-burthen'd Floor, 
And trembles for his Life, but for his Treasure more. 
What shall he do, or to what Pow'rs apply? 
To those, wh...Read more of this...
by Finch, Anne Kingsmill

Paradise Lost: Book 06

...ods, or of a numerous host. 
He on his impious foes right onward drove, 
Gloomy as night; under his burning wheels 
The stedfast empyrean shook throughout, 
All but the throne itself of God. Full soon 
Among them he arrived; in his right hand 
Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent 
Before him, such as in their souls infixed 
Plagues: They, astonished, all resistance lost, 
All courage; down their idle weapons dropt: 
O'er shields, and helms, and helmed heads he rode 
...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Paradise Lost: Book 08

...id, 
Progressive, retrograde, or standing still, 
In six thou seest; and what if seventh to these 
The planet earth, so stedfast though she seem, 
Insensibly three different motions move? 
Which else to several spheres thou must ascribe, 
Moved contrary with thwart obliquities; 
Or save the sun his labour, and that swift 
Nocturnal and diurnal rhomb supposed, 
Invisible else above all stars, the wheel 
Of day and night; which needs not thy belief, 
If earth, industrious of he...Read more of this...
by Milton, John

Sonnet LI

...at would attend,
mote soften it and to his will allure:
so doe I hope her stubborne hart to bend,
and that it then more stedfast will endure.
Onely my paines wil be the more to get her,
but hauing her, my ioy wil be the greater....Read more of this...
by Spenser, Edmund

Sonnet LIX

...uch selfe assurance need not feare the spight,
of grudging foes, ne fauour seek of friends:
but in the stay of her owne stedfast might,
nether to one her selfe nor other bends.
Most happy she that most assured doth rest,
but he most happy who such one loues best....Read more of this...
by Spenser, Edmund

The Adieu to Love

...on chas'd the fatal dream away,
And with it all my rending woes,
While in its place majestic rose
The Angel TRUTH !­her stedfast mien
Bespoke the conscious breast serene;
Her eye more radiant than the day
Beam'd with persuasion's temper'd ray;
Sweet was her voice, and while she sung
Myriads of Seraphs hover'd round,
Eager to iterate the sound, 
That on her heav'n-taught accents hung. 
Wond'ring I gaz'd! my throbbing breast, 
Celestial energies confest; 
Transports, before unf...Read more of this...
by Robinson, Mary Darby

The Eve Of St. Agnes

...in the moonlight gleam;
 Broad golden fringe upon the carpet lies:
 It seem'd he never, never could redeem
 From such a stedfast spell his lady's eyes;
So mus'd awhile, entoil'd in woofed phantasies.

 Awakening up, he took her hollow lute,--
 Tumultuous,--and, in chords that tenderest be,
 He play'd an ancient ditty, long since mute,
 In Provence call'd, "La belle dame sans mercy":
 Close to her ear touching the melody;--
 Wherewith disturb'd, she utter'd a soft moan:
 He ce...Read more of this...
by Keats, John

The Immortal Part

...ng, 

Before this fire of sense decay, 
This smoke of thought blow clean away, 
And leave with ancient night alone 
The stedfast and enduring bone....Read more of this...
by Housman, A E

The Lascar

...LASCAR, pray'd for Death.

And now the flood began to rise
And foaming rush'd along the vale;
The LASCAR watch'd, with stedfast eyes,
The flash descending quick and pale;
And now again the cavalcade
Pass'd slowly near the upland glade;--
But HE was dark, and dark the scene,
The torches long extinct had been;
He call'd, but, in the stormy hour,
His feeble voice had lost its pow'r,
'Till, near a tree, beside the flood,
A night-bewilder'd Trav'ller stood.

The LASCAR now with t...Read more of this...
by Robinson, Mary Darby

To A Fallen Elm

...ld thee as his sacred dower
And nature claimed thee her domestic tree
Storms came and shook thee with aliving power
Yet stedfast to thy home thy roots hath been
Summers of thirst parched round thy homely bower
Till earth grew iron—still thy leaves was green
The children sought thee in thy summer shade
And made their play house rings of sticks and stone
The mavis sang and felt himself alone
While in they leaves his early nest was made
And I did feel his happiness mine own
Noug...Read more of this...
by Clare, John

Troilus And Criseyde: Book 04

...out fro goddes purveyinge,
Ther nere no prescience of thing cominge;

'But it were rather an opinioun
Uncerteyn, and no stedfast forseinge;
And certes, that were an abusioun, 
That god shuld han no parfit cleer witinge
More than we men that han doutous weninge.
But swich an errour up-on god to gesse
Were fals and foul, and wikked corsednesse.

'Eek this is an opinioun of somme 
That han hir top ful heighe and smothe y-shore;
They seyn right thus, that thing is not to come
For...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Stedfast poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter