Poems List

Roger Mcgough

The Leader I wanna

The Leader
I wanna be the leader
I wanna be the leader
Can I be the leader?
Can I? I can?
Promise? Promise?
Yippee I'm the leader
I'm the leader
OK what shall we do?

714

Roger Mcgough

Cake i wanted one

Cake
i wanted one life
you wanted another
we couldn't have our cake
so we ate eachother.

399

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Distinction I am but

Distinction
"I am but clay," the sinner plead,
Who fed each vain desire.
"Not only clay," another said,
"But worse, for thou art mire."

272

Paul Laurence Dunbar

Theology There is a

Theology
There is a heaven, for ever, day by day,
The upward longing of my soul doth tell me so.
There is a hell, I'm quite as sure; for pray
If there were not, where would my neighbours go?

680

William Carlos Williams

Epitaph An old willow

Epitaph
An old willow with hollow branches
slowly swayed his few high gright tendrils
and sang:
Love is a young green willow
shimmering at the bare wood's edge.

768

George Gordon Lord Byron

On My Thirty-Third Birthday, January

On My Thirty-Third Birthday, January 22, 1821

Through life's dull road, so dim and dirty,
I have dragg'd to threeandthirty.
What have these years left to me?
Nothingexcept
thirtythree.

877

William Carlos Williams

Après le Bain I

Après le Bain
I gotta
buy me a new
girdle.
(I'll buy
you one) O.K.
(I wish
you'd wiggle
that way
for me,
I'd be
a happy man)
I GOTTA
wiggle
for this.
(You pig)

197

William Blake

The Lily The modest

The Lily
The modest Rose puts forth a thorn,
The humble sheep a threat'ning horn:
While the Lily white shall in love delight,
Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.

747

William Blake

Lily, The The modest

Lily, The
The modest Rose puts forth a thorn,
The humble sheep a threat'ning horn:
While the Lily white shall in love delight,
Nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright.

250

William Blake

The Chimney -sweeper Hi

The Chimney -sweeper
Hi There! I see you're enjoying the site, and just wanted to extend an invitiation to
register for our free site. The members of oldpoetry strive to make this a fun place to
learn and share - hope you join us! - Kevin

232

Spike Milligan

Feelings There must be

Feelings
There must be a wound!
No one can be this hurt
and not bleed.
How could she injure me so?
No marks
No bruise
Worse!
People say 'My, you're looking well'
.....God help me!
She's mummified me -
ALIVE!

115

Walt Whitman

Visor'd A

Visor'd

A MASK--a perpetual natural disguiser of herself,
Concealing her face, concealing her form,
Changes and transformations every hour, every moment,
Falling upon her even when she sleeps.

682

Spike Milligan

A Silly Poem Said

A Silly Poem
Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
I'll draw a sketch of thee,
What kind of pencil shall I use?
B or not B?

144

Rudyard Kipling

The Prayer My brother

The Prayer
My brother kneels, so saith Kabir,
To stone and brass in heathen wise,
But in my brother's voice I hear
My own unanswered agonies.
His God is as his fates assign,
His prayer is all the world's--and mine.

318

Rudyard Kipling

How the Rhinoceros got His

How the Rhinoceros got His Skin
This Uninhabited Island
Is near Cape Gardafui;
But it's hot--too hot--of Suez
For the likes of you and me
Ever to go in a P. & O.
To call on the Cake Parsee.

276

Rudyard Kipling

False Dawn To-night, God

False Dawn
To-night, God knows what thing shall tide,
The Earth is racked and fain--
Expectant, sleepless, open-eyed;
And we, who from the Earth were made,
Thrill with our Mother's pain.

247

Rudyard Kipling

A Lover's Journey When

A Lover's Journey
When a lover hies abroad
Looking for his love,
Azrael smiling sheathes his sword,
Heaven smiles above.
Earth and sea
His servants be,
And to lesser compass round,
That his love be sooner found!

317

Robert Louis Stevenson

Time to Rise A

Time to Rise
A birdie with a yellow bill
Hopped upon my window sill,
Cocked his shining eye and said:
"Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy-head!"

208

Robert Louis Stevenson

De Coenatione Micae LOOK

De Coenatione Micae
LOOK round: You see a little supper room;
But from my window, lo! great Caesar's tomb!
And the great dead themselves, with jovial breath
Bid you be merry and remember death.

263

Robert Louis Stevenson

Happy Thought The world

Happy Thought
The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

189

Robert Louis Stevenson

Auntie's Skirts Whenever Auntie

Auntie's Skirts
Whenever Auntie moves around,
Her dresses make a curious sound,
They trail behind her up the floor,
And trundle after through the door.

212

Robert Browning

Parting At Morning Round

Parting At Morning
Round the cape of a sudden came the sea,
And the sun looked over the mountain's rim:
And straight was a path of gold for him,
And the need of a world of men for me.

167

Roald Dahl

Hot and Cold A

Hot and Cold
A woman who my mother knows
Came in and took off all her clothes.
Said I, not being very old,
'By golly gosh, you must be cold!'
'No, no!' she cried. 'Indeed I'm not!
I'm feeling devilishly hot!'

162

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Eros The sense of

Eros
The sense of the world is short, -
Long and various the report, -
To love and be beloved;
Men and gods have not outlearned it;
And, how oft soe'er they've turned it,
'Tis not to be improved.

171