Famous Temptations Poems by Famous Poets
These are examples of famous Temptations poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous temptations poems. These examples illustrate what a famous temptations poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).
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by
Merwin, W S
...Temptations still nest in it like basilisks.
Hang it up till the rings fall....Read more of this...
by
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler
...row shame.
Have I done wrong? Well, let the bitter taste
Of fruit that turned to ashes on my lip
Be my reminder in temptations hour,
And keep me silent when I could condemn.
Sometimes it takes the acid of a sin
To cleanse the clouded windows of our souls
So pity may shine through them.
Looking back,
My faults and errors seem like stepping-stones
That led the way to knowledge of the truth
And made me value virtue: sorrows shine
In rainbow colours o’er the gulf ...Read more of this...
by
Herrick, Robert
...In the hour of my distress,
When temptations me oppress,
And when I my sins confess,
Sweet Spirit comfort me!
When I lie within my bed,
Sick in heart, and sick in head,
And with doubts discomforted,
Sweet Spirit comfort me!
When the house doth sigh and weep,
And the world is drown'd in sleep,
Yet mine eyes the watch do keep,
Sweet Spirit comfort me!
Whe the artless doctor sees...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...nderness,
His bowels melt with love.
Touched with a sympathy within,
He knows our feeble frame;
He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he has felt the same.
But spotless, innocent, and pure,
The great Redeemer stood,
While Satan's fiery darts he bore,
And did resist to blood.
He in the days of feeble flesh
Poured out his cries and tears,
And in his measure feels afresh
What every member bears.
[He'll never quench the smoking flax,
But raise it to a flame...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...Presumption and despair; or, Satan's various temptations.
I hate the tempter and his charms,
I hate his flatt'ring breath;
The serpent takes a thousand forms
To cheat our souls to death.
He feeds our hopes with airy dreams,
Or kills with slavish fear;
And holds us still in wide extremes,
Presumption or despair.
Now he persuades, "How easy 'tis
To walk the road to heav'n;"
Anon he swells ...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...Complaint of desertion and temptations.
Dear Lord! behold our sore distress;
Our sins attempt to reign;
Stretch out thine arm of conquering grace,
And let thy foes be slain.
[The lion with his dreadful roar
Affrights thy feeble sheep:
Reveal the glory of thy power,
And chain him to the deep.
Must we indulge a long despair?
Shall our petitions die?
Our mourning's never r...Read more of this...
by
Smart, Christopher
...
Let Bowes, house of Bowes rejoice with the Dog Fly. Lord have mercy upon me and support me in all my plagues and temptations.
Let Alberton, house of Alberton rejoice with Paneros a precious stone good against barrenness.
Let Morgan, house of Morgan rejoice with Prasius Lapis of a Leek-green colour.
Let Powell, house of Powell rejoice with Synochitis a precious stone abused by the ancient sorcerers.
Let Howell, house of Howell rejoice with Ostrac...Read more of this...
by
Herrick, Robert
...IN the hour of my distress,
When temptations me oppress,
And when I my sins confess,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!
When I lie within my bed,
Sick in heart and sick in head,
And with doubts discomforted,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!
When the house doth sigh and weep,
And the world is drown'd in sleep,
Yet mine eyes the watch do keep,
Sweet Spirit, comfort me!
When the passing bell ...Read more of this...
by
Milton, John
...mean,
Drawn to his part; but other Powers as great
Fell not, but stand unshaken, from within
Or from without, to all temptations armed.
Hadst thou the same free will and power to stand?
Thou hadst: whom hast thou then or what to accuse,
But Heaven's free love dealt equally to all?
Be then his love accursed, since love or hate,
To me alike, it deals eternal woe.
Nay, cursed be thou; since against his thy will
Chose freely what it now so justly rues.
Me m...Read more of this...
by
Milton, John
...revenge,
As a despite done against the Most High,
Thee once to gain companion of his woe.
But listen not to his temptations, warn
Thy weaker; let it profit thee to have heard,
By terrible example, the reward
Of disobedience; firm they might have stood,
Yet fell; remember, and fear to transgress....Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...ys,
I've walked upright before thy face;
Or if my feet did e'er depart,
'Twas never with a wicked heart.
What sore temptations broke my rest!
What wars and strugglings in my breast!
But through thy grace, that reigns within,
I guard against my darling sin:
That sin which close besets me still,
That works and strives against my will:
When shall thy Spirit's sovereign power
Destroy it, that it rise no more?
[With an impartial hand, the Lord
Deals out to mortals their rew...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...oly Spirit seals the grace.
For this shall every humble soul
Make swift addresses to thy seat;
When floods of huge temptations roll,
There shall they find a bless'd retreat.
How safe beneath thy wings I lie,
When days grow dark and storms appear;
And when I walk, thy watchful eye
Shall guide me safe from every snare....Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...all I see thy courts of grace,
And meet my God again?
So long an absence from thy face
My heart endures with pain.
Temptations vex my weary soul,
And tears are my repast;
The foe insults without control,
"And where's your God at last?"
'Tis with a mournful pleasure now
I think on ancient days;
Then to thy house did numbers go,
And all our work was praise.
But why, my soul, sunk down so far
Beneath this heavy load?
Why do my thoughts indulge despair,
And sin against...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...these restless things.
Let me to some wild desert go,
And find a peaceful home;
Where storms of malice never blow,
Temptations never come.
Vain hopes, and vain inventions all
To 'scape the rage of hell!
The mighty God on whom I call,
Can save me here as well.
PAUSE.
By morning light I'll seek his face,
At noon repeat my cry;
The night shall hear me ask his grace,
Nor will he long deny.
God shall preserve my soul from fear,
Or shield me when afraid;
Te...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
...race forgave my faults,
Thy grace my pardon sealed.
This shall invite thy saints to pray;
When like a raging flood
Temptations rise, our strength and stay
Is a forgiving God....Read more of this...
by
Parker, Dorothy
...
Who will live to tell their siring?
Hear me now, nor let me rot
Wistful still, and still aspiring.
Ghosts of dear temptations, heed;
I am frail, be you forgiving.
See you not that I have need
To be living with the living?
Sail, tonight, the Styx's breast;
Glide among the dim processions
Of the exquisite unblest,
Spirits of my shared transgressions,
Roam with young Persephone.
Plucking poppies for your slumber . . .
With the morrow, there shall be
O...Read more of this...
by
Petrarch, Francesco
...ass=i0>And let thy sun dispel my darkness new. Look on my state, amid temptations new,Which, interrupting my life's tranquil course,Have made me denizen of darkling wood;If good, restore me, fetterless and free,My wand'ring consort, and be thine the prizeIf yet with thee I find her in blest part.Read more of this...
by
Goldsmith, Oliver
...ine,
How happy he who crowns in shades like these
A youth of labour with an age of ease;
Who quits a world where strong temptations try,
And, since 'tis hard to combat, learns to fly!
For him no wretches, born to work and weep,
Explore the mine, or tempt the dangerous deep;
No surly porter stands in guilty state
To spurn imploring famine from the gate;
But on he moves to meet his latter end,
Angels round befriending Virtue's friend;
Bends to the grave with unperceived decay,
...Read more of this...
by
Milton, John
...de.
IV
These latter scenes confine my roving vers,
To this Horizon is my Phoebus bound,
His Godlike acts, and his temptations fierce,
And former sufferings other where are found;
Loud o're the rest Cremona's Trump doth sound;
Me softer airs befit, and softer strings
Of Lute, or Viol still, more apt for mournful things.
Note: 22 latter] latest 1673.
V
Befriend me night best Patroness of grief,
Over the Pole thy thickest mantle throw,
And work my flatterd fanc...Read more of this...
by
Dickinson, Emily
...Through the strait pass of suffering --
The Martyrs -- even -- trod.
Their feet -- upon Temptations --
Their faces -- upon God --
A stately -- shriven -- Company --
Convulsion -- playing round --
Harmless -- as streaks of Meteor --
Upon a Planet's Bond --
Their faith -- the everlasting troth --
Their Expectation -- fair --
The Needle -- to the North Degree --
Wades -- so -- thro' polar Air!...Read more of this...
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