Famous Wake The Dead Poems by Famous Poets

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

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Ballad of the Goodly Fere

...o to the feast," quo' our Goodly Fere,
"Though I go to the gallows tree."

"Ye ha' seen me heal the lame and blind,
And wake the dead," says he,
"Ye shall see one thing to master all:
'Tis how a brave man dies on the tree."

A son of God was the Goodly Fere
That bade us his brothers be.
I ha' seen him cow a thousand men.
I have seen him upon the tree.

He cried no cry when they drave the nails
And the blood gushed hot and free,
The hounds of the crimson sky gave tongue
But ne...Read more of this...
by Pound, Ezra


Imagination

...There is a dish to hold the sea, 
A brazier to contain the sun, 
A compass for the galaxy, 
A voice to wake the dead and done! 

That minister of ministers, 
Imagination, gathers up 
The undiscovered Universe, 
Like jewels in a jasper cup. 

Its flame can mingle north and south; 
Its accent with the thunder strive; 
The ruddy sentence of its mouth 
Can make the ancient dead alive. 

The mart of power, the fount of will, 
The form and mould of every star, 
The...Read more of this...
by Davidson, John

The Ballad Of Reading Gaol

...of Fear they filled the ear,
As their grisly masque they led,
And loud they sang, and long they sang,
For they sang to wake the dead.

'Oho!' they cried, 'The world is wide,
But fettered limbs go lame!
And once, or twice, to throw the dice
Is a gentlemanly game,
But he does not win who plays with Sin
In the secret House of Shame.'

No things of air these antics were,
That frolicked with such glee:
To men whose lives were held in gyves,
And whose feet might not go free,
Ah! w...Read more of this...
by Wilde, Oscar

The Man from Iron Bark

...made a livid mark - 
No doubt it fairly took him in - the man from Ironbark. 

He fetched a wild up-country yell might wake the dead to hear, 
And though his throat, he knew full well, was cut from ear to ear, 
He struggled gamely to his feet, and faced the murd'rous foe: 
"You've done for me! you dog, I'm beat! one hit before I go! 
I only wish I had a knife, you blessed murdering shark! 
But you'll remember all your life the man from Ironbark." 

He lifted up his hairy paw...Read more of this...
by Paterson, Andrew Barton

The Man From Ironbark

...it made a livid mark—
No doubt it fairly took him in— that man from Ironbark.

He fetched a wild up-country yell might wake the dead to hear,
And though his throat, he knew full well, was cut from ear to ear,
He struggled gamely to his feet, and faced the murderous foe.
"You've done for me! you dog, I'm beat! one hit before I go!
I only wish I had a knife, you blessed murdering shark!
But you'll remember all your life the man from Ironbark."

He lifted up his hairy paw, with...Read more of this...
by Paterson, Andrew Barton


The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon

...drowned his wits,
and the Sun'll be rising soon!'

So the cat on the fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,
a jig that would wake the dead:
He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,
While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:
'It's after three!' he said.

They rolled the Man slowly up the hill
and bundled him into the Moon,
While his horses galloped up in rear,
And the cow came capering like a deer,
and a dish ran up with the spoon.

Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-di...Read more of this...
by Tolkien, J R R

The Old Woman of Berkeley

...k as an earthquake shock 
Uplifed its foundation. 

And a sound was heard like the trumpet's blast, 
That shall one day wake the dead; 
The strong church door could bear no more, 
And the bolts and the bars they fled; 

And the tapers' light was extinguish'd quite, 
And the Choristers faintly sung, 
And the Priests dismay'd, panted and pray'd, 
And on all the Saints in heaven for aid 
They call'd with trembling tongue. 

And in He came with eyes of flame, 
The Devil to fetch ...Read more of this...
by Southey, Robert

True Love

...In silence the heart raves.It utters words
Meaningless, that never had
A meaning.I was ten, skinny, red-headed,

Freckled.In a big black Buick,
Driven by a big grown boy, with a necktie, she sat
In front of the drugstore, sipping something

Through a straw. There is nothing like
Beauty. It stops your heart.It
Thickens your blood.It stops your breath.It

Ma...Read more of this...
by Warren, Robert Penn

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