Famous Troth Poems by Famous Poets

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

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108. Song—Will ye go to the Indies my Mary?

...plight me your lily-white hand;
O plight me your faith, my Mary,
 Before I leave Scotia’s strand.


We hae plighted our troth, my Mary,
 In mutual affection to join;
And curst be the cause that shall part us!
 The hour and the moment o’ time!...Read more of this...
by Burns, Robert


109. My Highland Lassie O

...shore,
That Indian wealth may lustre throw
Around my Highland lassie, O.


She has my heart, she has my hand,
By secret troth and honour’s band!
Till the mortal stroke shall lay me low,
I’m thine, my Highland lassie, O.


 Farewell the glen sae bushy, O!
 Farewell the plain sae rashy, O!
 To other lands I now must go,
 To sing my Highland lassie, O....Read more of this...
by Burns, Robert

A Lovers Complaint

...ending soft audience to my sweet design,
And credent soul to that strong-bonded oath
That shall prefer and undertake my troth.'

'This said, his watery eyes he did dismount,
Whose sights till then were levell'd on my face;
Each cheek a river running from a fount
With brinish current downward flow'd apace:
O, how the channel to the stream gave grace!
Who glazed with crystal gate the glowing roses
That flame through water which their hue encloses.

'O father, what a hell of wit...Read more of this...
by Shakespeare, William

A Pastoral Sung To The King

...MONTANO, SILVIO, AND MIRTILLO, SHEPHERDS

MON. Bad are the times. SIL. And worse than they are we.
MON. Troth, bad are both; worse fruit, and ill the tree:
The feast of shepherds fail. SIL. None crowns the cup
Of wassail now, or sets the quintel up:
And he, who used to lead the country-round,
Youthful Mirtillo, here he comes, grief-drown'd.
AMBO. Let's cheer him up. SIL. Behold him weeping-ripe.
MIRT. Ah, Amarillis! farewell mirth and pipe;
Since thou art gone...Read more of this...
by Herrick, Robert

Beowulf (Modern English)

...f the Half-Danes, Hnæf Scylding,
must fall in Frisian fighting. Nor indeed did Hildeburh
have much need to praise the troth of the Jutes—
guiltlessly she was deprived of her loved ones
at the shield-play, of sons and brothers.
they were to crumble to earth, ever since birth,
wounded by the spear. That was a miserable woman. (ll. 1068b-75)

Not at all without reason did Hoc’s daughter
bemourn her measured fate, after the morning came
when she could look upon those mu...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,


Dickinson Poems by Number

...som!
Make me bearded like a man!

Blush, my spirit, in thy Fastness—
Blush, my unacknowledged clay—
Seven years of troth have taught thee
More than Wifehood ever may!

Love that never leaped its socket—
Trust entrenched in narrow pain—
Constancy thro fire—awarded—
Anguish—bare of anodyne!

Burden—borne so far triumphant—
None suspect me of the crown,
For I wear the "Thorns" till Sunset—
Then—my Diadem put on.

Big my Secret but it's bandaged—
It will never ...Read more of this...
by Dickinson, Emily

Guinevere

...is kith and kin 
Clave to him, and abode in his own land. 
And many more when Modred raised revolt, 
Forgetful of their troth and fealty, clave 
To Modred, and a remnant stays with me. 
And of this remnant will I leave a part, 
True men who love me still, for whom I live, 
To guard thee in the wild hour coming on, 
Lest but a hair of this low head be harmed. 
Fear not: thou shalt be guarded till my death. 
Howbeit I know, if ancient prophecies 
Have erred not, that I march to...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Heritage

...sive jungle herds,
Juggernauts of flesh that pass
Trampling tall defiant grass
Where young forest lovers lie,
Plighting troth beneath the sky.
So I lie, who always hear,
Though I cram against my ear
Both my thumbs, and keep them there,
Great drums throbbing through the air.
So I lie, whose fount of pride,
Dear distress, and joy allied,
Is my somber flesh and skin,
With the dark blood dammed within
Like great pulsing tides of wine
That, I fear, must burst the fine
Channels of ...Read more of this...
by Cullen, Countee

In Memoriam A. H. H.

...of crime,
To whom a conscience never wakes;
 
Nor, what may count itself as blest,
   The heart that never plighted troth
   But stagnates in the weeds of sloth;
Nor any want-begotten rest.
 
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
   I feel it, when I sorrow most;
   'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all....Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

Pelleas And Ettarre

...my lady sear the stump for him, 
Howl as he may. But hold me for your friend: 
Come, ye know nothing: here I pledge my troth, 
Yea, by the honour of the Table Round, 
I will be leal to thee and work thy work, 
And tame thy jailing princess to thine hand. 
Lend me thine horse and arms, and I will say 
That I have slain thee. She will let me in 
To hear the manner of thy fight and fall; 
Then, when I come within her counsels, then 
From prime to vespers will I chant thy praise...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Bride Of Corinth

...drinks in each sound:
"Can it be that now before my gaze

Stands my loved one on this silent ground?

Pledge to me thy troth!

Through our father's oath:

With Heav'ns blessing will our love be crown'd."

"Kindly youth, I never can be thine!

'Tis my sister they intend for thee.
When I in the silent cloister pine,

Ah, within her arms remember me!

Thee alone I love,

While love's pangs I prove;

Soon the earth will veil my misery."

"No! for by this glowing flame I swear,

...Read more of this...
by von Goethe, Johann Wolfgang

The General Prologue

...that we hadde made our reckonings;
And saide thus; "Now, lordinges, truly
Ye be to me welcome right heartily:
For by my troth, if that I shall not lie,
I saw not this year such a company
At once in this herberow*, am is now. *inn 
Fain would I do you mirth, an* I wist* how. *if I knew*
And of a mirth I am right now bethought.
To do you ease*, and it shall coste nought. *pleasure
Ye go to Canterbury; God you speed,
The blissful Martyr *quite you your meed*; *grant you what...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Growth of Love

...h ken'd
Fancy pourtray'd, above recorded oath
Of Israel's God, or light of poem pen'd;
The very countenance of plighted troth
'Twixt heaven and earth, where in one moment blend
The hope of one and happiness of both. 

8
For beauty being the best of all we know
Sums up the unsearchable and secret aims
Of nature, and on joys whose earthly names
Were never told can form and sense bestow;
And man hath sped his instinct to outgo
The step of science; and against her shames
Imaginat...Read more of this...
by Bridges, Robert Seymour

The Knights Tale

...ite
But, for thou art a worthy gentle knight,
And *wilnest to darraine her by bataille*, *will reclaim her
Have here my troth, to-morrow I will not fail, by combat*
Without weeting* of any other wight, *knowledge
That here I will be founden as a knight,
And bringe harness* right enough for thee; *armour and arms
And choose the best, and leave the worst for me.
And meat and drinke this night will I bring
Enough for thee, and clothes for thy bedding.
And if so be that thou my l...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

The Lady of the Lake

...hapel pathway strained.
     A blithesome rout that morning-tide
     Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride.
     Her troth Tombea's Mary gave
     To Norman, heir of Armandave,
     And, issuing from the Gothic arch,
     The bridal now resumed their march.
     In rude but glad procession came
     Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame;
     And plaided youth, with jest and jeer
     Which snooded maiden would not hear:
     And children, that, unwitting why,
     Len...Read more of this...
by Scott, Sir Walter

The Princess (part 1)

...and watched it lying bathed 
In the green gleam of dewy-tasselled trees: 
What were those fancies? wherefore break her troth? 
Proud looked the lips: but while I meditated 
A wind arose and rushed upon the South, 
And shook the songs, the whispers, and the shrieks 
Of the wild woods together; and a Voice 
Went with it, 'Follow, follow, thou shalt win.' 

Then, ere the silver sickle of that month 
Became her golden shield, I stole from court 
With Cyril and with Florian, unpe...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Princess (part 5)

...ur captive, yet my father wills not war: 
And, 'sdeath! myself, what care I, war or no? 
but then this question of your troth remains: 
And there's a downright honest meaning in her; 
She flies too high, she flies too high! and yet 
She asked but space and fairplay for her scheme; 
She prest and prest it on me--I myself, 
What know I of these things? but, life and soul! 
I thought her half-right talking of her wrongs; 
I say she flies too high, 'sdeath! what of that? 
I take ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Princess (part 7)

...face 
A little flushed, and she past on; but each 
Assumed from thence a half-consent involved 
In stillness, plighted troth, and were at peace. 

Nor only these: Love in the sacred halls 
Held carnival at will, and flying struck 
With showers of random sweet on maid and man. 
Nor did her father cease to press my claim, 
Nor did mine own, now reconciled; nor yet 
Did those twin-brothers, risen again and whole; 
Nor Arac, satiate with his victory. 

But I lay still, and with ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Talking Oak

..., 
That makes thee broad and deep! 

And hear me swear a solemn oath, 
That only by thy side 
Will I to Olive plight my troth, 
And gain her for my bride. 

And when my marriage morn may fall, 
She, Dryad-like, shall wear 
Alternate leaf and acorn-ball 
In wreath about her hair. 

And I will work in prose and rhyme, 
And praise thee more in both 
Than bard has honour'd beech or lime, 
Or that Thessalian growth, 

In which the swarthy ringdove sat, 
And mystic sentence spoke; ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

The Wife of Baths Tale

...r would them chide.
For, though the Pope had sitten them beside,
I would not spare them at their owen board,
For, by my troth, I quit* them word for word *repaid
As help me very God omnipotent,
Though I right now should make my testament
I owe them not a word, that is not quit* *repaid
I brought it so aboute by my wit,
That they must give it up, as for the best
Or elles had we never been in rest.
For, though he looked as a wood* lion, *furious
Yet should he fail of his conclu...Read more of this...
by Chaucer, Geoffrey

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