Famous Versus Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

Impossible To Tell

by Robert Pinsky
 to Robert Hass and in memory of Elliot Gilbert


Slow dulcimer, gavotte and bow, in autumn,
Bashõ and his friends go out to view the moon;
In summer, gasoline rainbow in the gutter,

The secret courtesy that courses like ichor
Through the old form of the rude, full-scale joke,
Impossible to tell in writing. "Bashõ"

He named himself, "Banana Tree": banana
After the plant some grateful students...Read more of this...

The Moon Versus Us Ever Sleeping Together Again

by Richard Brautigan
 I sit here, an arch-villain of romance, 
thinking about you. Gee, I'm sorry 
I made you unhappy, but there was nothing 
I could do about it because I have to be free. 
Perhaps everything would have been different 
if you had stayed at the table or asked me 
to go out with you to look at the moon, 
instead...Read more of this...

Dream Song 51: Our wounds to time from all the other times

by John Berryman
 Our wounds to time, from all the other times,
sea-times slow, the times of galaxies
fleeing, the dwarfs' dead times,
lessen so little that if here in his crude rimes
Henry them mentions, do not hold it, please,
for a putting of man down.

Ol' Marster, being bound you do your best
versus we coons, spare now a cagey John
a whilom bits that whip:
who'll tell your...Read more of this...

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Versus poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace