Famous Willie Poems by Famous Poets

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

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62. Epistle to William Simson

by Robert Burns
 I GAT your letter, winsome Willie;
Wi’ gratefu’ heart I thank you brawlie;
Tho’ I maun say’t, I wad be silly,
 And unco vain,
Should I believe, my coaxin billie
 Your flatterin strain.


But I’se believe ye kindly meant it:
I sud be laith to think ye hinted
Ironic satire, sidelins sklented
 On my poor Musie;
Tho’ in sic phraisin terms ye’ve penn’d it,
 I scarce...Read more of this...

416. Song—Logan Braes

by Robert Burns
 O LOGAN, sweetly didst thou glide,
That day I was my Willie’s bride,
And years sin syne hae o’er us run,
Like Logan to the simmer sun:
But now thy flowery banks appear
Like drumlie Winter, dark and drear,
While my dear lad maun face his faes,
Far, far frae me and Logan braes.


Again the merry month of May
Has made our hills and valleys gay;
The birds...Read more of this...

510. Song—Fragment—Wee Willie Gray

by Robert Burns
 WEE Willie Gray, and his leather wallet,
Peel a willow wand to be him boots and jacket;
The rose upon the breir will be him trews an’ doublet,
The rose upon the breir will be him trews an’ doublet,


Wee Willie Gray, and his leather wallet,
Twice a lily-flower will be him sark and cravat;
Feathers of a flee wad feather up his bonnet,
Feathers of...Read more of this...

397. Song—Wandering Willie (Revised Version)

by Robert Burns
 HERE awa, there awa, wandering Willie,
 Here awa, there awa, haud awa hame;
Come to my bosom, my ain only dearie,
 Tell me thou bring’st me my Willie the same.
Winter winds blew loud and cauld at our parting,
 Fears for my Willie brought tears in my e’e,
Welcome nowhSimmer, and welcome, my Willie,
 The Simmer to Nature, my Willie to me!


Rest,...Read more of this...

370. Song—Sic a Wife as Willie had

by Robert Burns
 WILLIE WASTLE dwalt on Tweed,
 The spot they ca’d it Linkumdoddie;
Willie was a wabster gude,
 Could stown a clue wi’ ony body:
He had a wife was dour and din,
 O Tinkler Maidgie was her mither;
Sic a wife as Willie had,
 I wad na gie a button for her!


She has an e’e, she has but ane,
 The cat has twa...Read more of this...

Auld Lang Syne

by Robert Burns
 Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang...Read more of this...

Willie Metcalf

by Edgar Lee Masters
 I was Willie Metcalf.
They used to call me "Doctor Meyers"
Because, they said, I looked like him.
And he was my father, according to Jack McGuire.
I lived in the livery stable,
Sleeping on the floor
Side by side with Roger Baughman's bulldog,
Or sometimes in a stall.
I could crawl between the legs of the wildest horses
Without getting kicked -- we knew each other.
On spring...Read more of this...

58. Epitaph on Holy Willie

by Robert Burns
 HERE Holy Willie’s sair worn clay
 Taks up its last abode;
His saul has ta’en some other way,
 I fear, the left-hand road.


Stop! there he is, as sure’s a gun,
 Poor, silly body, see him;
Nae wonder he’s as black’s the grun,
 Observe wha’s standing wi’ him.


Your brunstane devilship, I see,
 Has got him there before ye;
But haud your nine-tail cat...Read more of this...

131. Song—Willie Chalmers

by Robert Burns
 WI’ braw new branks in mickle pride,
 And eke a braw new brechan,
My Pegasus I’m got astride,
 And up Parnassus pechin;
Whiles owre a bush wi’ donwward crush,
 The doited beastie stammers;
Then up he gets, and off he sets,
 For sake o’ Willie Chalmers.


I doubt na, lass, that weel ken’d name
 May cost a pair o’ blushes;
I am nae stranger...Read more of this...

Jeduthan Hawley

by Edgar Lee Masters
 There would be a knock at the door
And I would arise at midnight and go to the shop,
Where belated travelers would hear me hammering
Sepulchral boards and tacking satin.
And often I wondered who would go with me
To the distant land, our names the theme
For talk, in the same week, for I've observed
Two always go together.
Chase Henry was paired with Edith...Read more of this...

332. Song—You're welcome Willie Stewart

by Robert Burns
 Chorus.—You’re welcome, Willie Stewart,
 You’re welcome, Willie Stewart,
There’s ne’er a flower that blooms in May,
 That’s half sae welcome’s thou art!


COME, bumpers high, express your joy,
 The bowl we maun renew it,
The tappet hen, gae bring her ben,
 To welcome Willie Stewart,
 You’re welcome, Willie Stewart, &c.


May foes be strang, and friends be slack
 Ilk action, may he rue...Read more of this...

Willie Pennington

by Edgar Lee Masters
 They called me the weakling, the simpleton,
For my brothers were strong and beautiful,
While I, the last child of parents who had aged,
Inherited only their residue of power.
But they, my brothers, were eaten up
In the fury of the flesh, which I had not,
Made pulp in the activity of the senses, which I had not,
Hardened by the growth of the lusts,...Read more of this...

142. Epistle to Major Logan

by Robert Burns
 HAIL, thairm-inspirin’, rattlin’ Willie!
Tho’ fortune’s road be rough an’ hilly
To every fiddling, rhyming billie,
 We never heed,
But take it like the unback’d filly,
 Proud o’ her speed.


When, idly goavin’, whiles we saunter,
Yirr! fancy barks, awa we canter,
Up hill, down brae, till some mischanter,
 Some black bog-hole,
Arrests us; then the scathe an’ banter
 We’re forced to thole.


Hale be your heart!...Read more of this...

Messy Room

by Shel Silverstein
 Whosever room this is should be ashamed!
His underwear is hanging on the lamp.
His raincoat is there in the overstuffed chair,
And the chair is becoming quite mucky and damp.
His workbook is wedged in the window,
His sweater's been thrown on the floor.
His scarf and one ski are beneath the TV,
And his pants have been carelessly hung on the door.
His books are...Read more of this...

Wee Willie Winkie

by Mother Goose
Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town,
Upstairs and downstairs, in his nightgown;
Rapping at the window, crying through the lock,
"Are the children in their beds? Now it's eight o'clock."...Read more of this...

Willie

by Robert William Service
 'Why did the lady in the lift
 Slap that poor parson's face?'
Said Mother, thinking as she sniffed,
 Of clerical disgrace.

Said Sonny Boy: 'Alas, I know.
 My conscience doth accuse me;
The lady stood upon my toe,
 Yet did not say--"Excuse me!"

'She hurt--and in that crowd confined
 I scarcely could endure it;
So when I pinched her fat behind
 She thought--it was...Read more of this...

150. Song—Rattlin Roarin Willie

by Robert Burns
 AS 1 I cam by Crochallan,
 I cannilie keekit ben;
Rattlin’, roarin’ Willie
 Was sittin at yon boord-en’;
Sittin at yon boord-en,
 And amang gude companie;
Rattlin’, roarin’ Willie,
 You’re welcome hame to me!


 Note 1. William Dunbar, W. S., of the Crochallan Fencibles, a convivial club. [back]...Read more of this...

302. Elegy on Willie Nicol's Mare

by Robert Burns
 PEG NICHOLSON was a good bay mare,
 As ever trod on airn;
But now she’s floating down the Nith,
 And past the mouth o’ Cairn.


Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare,
 An’ rode thro’ thick and thin;
But now she’s floating down the Nith,
 And wanting even the skin.


Peg Nicholson was a good bay mare,
 And ance she bore a priest;
But...Read more of this...

258. Epistle to James Tennant of Glenconner

by Robert Burns
 AULD comrade dear, and brither sinner,
How’s a’ the folk about Glenconner?
How do you this blae eastlin wind,
That’s like to blaw a body blind?
For me, my faculties are frozen,
My dearest member nearly dozen’d.
I’ve sent you here, by Johnie Simson,
Twa sage philosophers to glimpse on;
Smith, wi’ his sympathetic feeling,
An’ Reid, to common sense appealing.
Philosophers have fought and wrangled,
An’ meikle Greek an’...Read more of this...

349. Song—Kenmure's on and awa Willie

by Robert Burns
 O KENMURE’S on and awa, Willie,
 O Kenmure’s on and awa:
An’ Kenmure’s lord’s the bravest lord
 That ever Galloway saw.


Success to Kenmure’s band, Willie!
 Success to Kenmure’s band!
There’s no a heart that fears a Whig,
 That rides by kenmure’s hand.


Here’s Kenmure’s health in wine, Willie!
 Here’s Kenmure’s health in wine!
There’s ne’er a coward o’ Kenmure’s blude,
 Nor yet o’...Read more of this...

396. Song—Wandering Willie

by Robert Burns
 HERE awa, there awa, wandering Willie,
 Now tired with wandering, haud awa hame;
Come to my bosom, my ae only dearie,
 And tell me thou bring’st me my Willie the same.
Loud blew the cauld winter winds at our parting;
 It was na the blast brought the tear in my e’e:
Now welcome the Simmer, and welcome my Willie,
 The Simmer to...Read more of this...

Little Willie

by Eugene Field
 When Willie was a little boy,
No more than five or six, 
Right constantly he did annoy
His mother with his tricks. 
Yet not a picayune cared I
For what he did or said, 
Unless, as happened frequently, 
The rascal wet the bed.
Closely he cuddled up to me, 
And put his hands in mine, 
Till all at once I seemed to be
Afloat...Read more of this...

283. Song—Willie brew'd a Peck o' Maut

by Robert Burns
 O WILLIE 1 brew’d a peck o’ maut,
 And Rob and Allen cam to see;
Three blyther hearts, that lee-lang night,
 Ye wadna found in Christendie.


Chorus.—We are na fou, we’re nae that fou,
 But just a drappie in our ee;
The cock may craw, the day may daw
 And aye we’ll taste the barley bree.


Here are we met, three merry boys,
...Read more of this...

In the Pink

by Siegfried Sassoon
 So Davies wrote: ' This leaves me in the pink. ' 
Then scrawled his name: ' Your loving sweetheart Willie ' 
With crosses for a hug. He'd had a drink 
Of rum and tea; and, though the barn was chilly, 
For once his blood ram warm; he had pay to spend, 
Winter was passing; soon the year would mend....Read more of this...

To Willie and Henrietta

by Robert Louis Stevenson
 If two may read aright 
These rhymes of old delight 
And house and garden play, 
You too, my cousins, and you only, may. 

You in a garden green 
With me were king and queen, 
Were hunter, soldier, tar, 
And all the thousand things that children are. 

Now in the elders' seat 
We rest with quiet feet, 
And from the...Read more of this...

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