Famous Young Poems by Famous Poets

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

See also:

There was a Young Person of Smyrna

by Edward Lear
There was a Young Person of Smyrna,Whose Grandmother threatened to burn her;But she seized on the Cat, and said, "Granny, burn that!You incongruous Old Woman of Smyrna!" ...Read more of this...

The Young Fools (Les Ingénus)

by Paul Verlaine
 High-heels were struggling with a full-length dress
So that, between the wind and the terrain,
At times a shining stocking would be seen,
And gone too soon. We liked that foolishness.

Also, at times a jealous insect's dart
Bothered out beauties. Suddenly a white
Nape flashed beneath the branches, and this sight
Was a delicate feast for a young fool's heart.

Evening fell, equivocal, dissembling,
The women who...Read more of this...

There was a Young Lady of Turkey

by Edward Lear
There was a Young Lady of Turkey,Who wept when the weather was murky;When the day turned out fine, she ceased to repine,That capricious Young Lady of Turkey. ...Read more of this...

There was a Young Lady of Russia

by Edward Lear
There was a Young Lady of Russia,Who screamed so that no one could hush her;Her screams were extreme,—no one heard such a screamAs was screamed by that Lady of Russia. ...Read more of this...

A Million Young Workmen 1915

by Carl Sandburg
 A MILLION young workmen straight and strong lay stiff on the grass and roads,
And the million are now under soil and their rottening flesh will in the years feed roots of blood-red roses.
Yes, this million of young workmen slaughtered one another and never saw their red hands.
And oh, it would have been a great job of killing and a...Read more of this...

And Thou Art Dead As Young and Fair

by George (Lord) Byron
 And thou art dead, as young and fair 
As aught of mortal birth;
And form so soft, and charms so rare,
Too soon return'd to Earth!
Though Earth receiv'd them in her bed,
And o'er the spot the crowd may tread
In carelessness or mirth,
There is an eye which could not brook
A moment on that grave to look.

I will not ask where thou liest...Read more of this...

O youth's young cloudlet, O freshness free

by Hafez
O youth’s young cloudlet, O freshness free,
With heart so light on the winds to fly
Or glisten in spray up-scatter’d,—I
Am sad as the full surgings of the sea;
I gave thee birth, thou shalt return to me.

Thy heart is light as the empty wind
Of barren purposeless change,—but I
Am the thought-burden’d slow-searching mind:
I am the agony to form & find;—
The fluxing travail of...Read more of this...

To S.M. A Young African Painter On Seeing His Works

by Phillis Wheatley
 O show the lab'ring bosom's deep intent,
And thought in living characters to paint,
When first thy pencil did those beauties give,
And breathing figures learnt from thee to live,
How did those prospects give my soul delight,
A new creation rushing on my sight?
Still, wond'rous youth! each noble path pursue,
On deathless glories fix thine ardent view:
Still may the painter's and the poet's fire...Read more of this...

The Young Housewife

by William Carlos (WCW) Williams
 At ten AM the young housewife
moves about in negligee behind
the wooden walls of her husband's house.
I pass solitary in my car.

Then again she comes to the curb
to call the ice-man, fish-man, and stands
shy, uncorseted, tucking in
stray ends of hair, and I compare her
to a fallen leaf.

The noiseless wheels of my car
rush with a crackling sound over
dried leaves as I...Read more of this...

Loves Young Dream

by Thomas Moore
 Oh! the days are gone, when Beauty bright 
My heart's chain wove; 
When my dream of life, from morn till night, 
Was love, still love. 
New hope may bloom, 
And days may come, 
Of milder calmer beam, 
But there's nothing half so sweet in life 
As love's young dream: 
No, there's nothing half so sweet in life 
As love's...Read more of this...

Lament for Eorl the Young

by J R R Tolkien
 Where now is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the...Read more of this...

A Song Of A Young Lady To Her Ancient Lover

by John Wilmot
 Ancient Person, for whom I
All the flattering youth defy,
Long be it e'er thou grow old,
Aching, shaking, crazy cold;
But still continue as thou art,
Ancient Person of my heart.

On thy withered lips and dry,
Which like barren furrows lie,
Brooding kisses I will pour,
Shall thy youthful heart restore,
Such kind show'rs in autumn fall,
And a second spring recall;
Nor from thee will ever part,
Ancient Person...Read more of this...

The Old And The Young Bridegroom

by Victor Hugo
 ("L'homme auquel on vous destina.") 
 
 {HERNANI, Act I.} 


 Listen. The man for whom your youth is destined, 
 Your uncle, Ruy de Silva, is the Duke 
 Of Pastrana, Count of Castile and Aragon. 
 For lack of youth, he brings you, dearest girl, 
 Treasures of gold, jewels, and precious gems, 
 With which your...Read more of this...

There was a young person of Bantry

by Edward Lear
There was a young person of Bantry,Who frequently slept in the pantry;When disturbed by the mice, she appeased them with rice,That judicious young person of Bantry. ...Read more of this...

Portrait of My Father as a Young Man

by Rainer Maria Rilke
In the eyes dream. The brow as if it could feel
something far off. Around the lips a great
freshness-seductive though there is no smile.
Under the rows of ornamental braid
on the slim Imperial officer's uniform:
the saber's basket-hilt. Both hands stay
folded upon it going nowhere calm
and now almost invisible as if they 
were the first to grasp the distance and dissolve.
And all the...Read more of this...

On a young Lady Whose LORD was Travelling

by Anne Killigrew
 NO sooner I pronounced Celindas name,
But Troops of wing'd Pow'rs did chant the fame: 
Not those the Poets Bows and Arrows lend, 
But such as on the Altar do attend. 
Celinda nam'd, Flow'rs spring up from the Ground,
Excited meerly with the Charming Sound. 
Celinda, the Courts Glory, and its fear,
The gaz'd at Wonder, where she does appear. 
Celinda great...Read more of this...

To The Pious Memory Of The Accomplished Young Lady Mrs. Anne Killigrew

by John Dryden
 Thou youngest virgin-daughter of the skies,
 Made in the last promotion of the Blest;
Whose palms, new pluck'd from Paradise,
In spreading branches more sublimely rise,
Rich with immortal green above the rest:
Whether, adopted to some neighbouring star,
Thou roll'st above us, in thy wand'ring race,
 Or, in procession fix'd and regular,
 Mov'd with the Heavens' majestic pace:
 Or, call'd to more superior...Read more of this...

Young wooer, charm all hearts with lover's art,

by Omar Khayyam
Young wooer, charm all hearts with lover's art,
Glad winner, lead thy paragon apart!
A hundred Ka'bas equal not one heart,
Seek not the Ka'ba, rather seek a heart!...Read more of this...

Young Sea

by Carl Sandburg
 The sea is never still.
It pounds on the shore
Restless as a young heart,
Hunting.

The sea speaks
And only the stormy hearts
Know what it says:
It is the face
 of a rough mother speaking.

The sea is young.
One storm cleans all the hoar
And loosens the age of it.
I hear it laughing, reckless.

They love the sea,
Men who ride on it
And know they will die
Under the...Read more of this...

Young In New Orleans

by Charles Bukowski
 starving there, sitting around the bars,
and at night walking the streets for hours,
the moonlight always seemed fake
to me, mabye it was,
and in the French Quarter I watched
the horses and buggies going by,
everybody sitting high in the open
carriages, the black driver, and in
back the man and the woman,
usually young and always white.
and I was always white.
and hardly charmed by the
world.
New...Read more of this...

There was a young lady of Firle

by Edward Lear
There was a young lady of Firle,Whose hair was addicted to curl;It curled up a tree, and all over the sea,That expansive young lady of Firle. ...Read more of this...

200. Song—The Young Highland Rover

by Robert Burns
 LOUD blaw the frosty breezes,
 The snaws the mountains cover;
Like winter on me seizes,
 Since my young Highland rover
 Far wanders nations over.
Where’er he go, where’er he stray,
 May heaven be his warden;
Return him safe to fair Strathspey,
 And bonie Castle-Gordon!


The trees, now naked groaning,
 Shall soon wi’ leaves be hinging,
The birdies dowie moaning,
 Shall a’ be blythely singing,
...Read more of this...

Spring and Fall: To A Young Child

by Ted Hughes
 Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving? 
Leaves, like the things of man, you 
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you? 
Ah! as the heart grows older 
It will come to such sights colder 
By & by, nor spare a sigh 
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie; 
And yet you wíll weep & know why. 
Now no matter, child,...Read more of this...

There was a Young Lady of Norway

by Edward Lear
There was a Young Lady of Norway,Who casually sat in a doorway;When the door squeezed her flat, she exclaimed, "What of that?"This courageous Young Lady of Norway. ...Read more of this...

The Young that Died in Beauty

by William Barnes
 If souls should only sheen so bright
In heaven as in e’thly light,
An’ nothen better wer the cease,
How comely still, in sheape an’ feace,
Would many reach thik happy pleace, -
The hopevul souls that in their prime
Ha’ seem’d a-took avore their time, -
The young that died in beauty.

But when woone’s lim’s ha’ lost their strangth
A-tweilen drough a lifetime’s langth,
An’ over cheaks...Read more of this...

Dont forget to view our wonderful member Young 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