"The Voice of the Rain" by Walt Whitman

Here is a poem that Walt Whitman wrote about what he called "the Poem of Earth."


THE VOICE OF THE RAIN

And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form'd, altogether changed, and yet the same,
I descend to lave the drouths, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin and make pure and beautify it;
(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering,
Reck'd or unreck'd, duly with love returns.)

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

"Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson and Paul Simon

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, "'Richard Cory'" is a song written by Paul Simon in early 1965, and recorded by Simon and Garfunkel for their second studio album, Sounds of Silence. The song was based on Edwin Arlington Robinson.s 1897 poem of the same title." Here is that poem.


RICHARD CORY
by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich -- yes, richer than a king --
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)

American poet,

the author of the poem "Richard Cory"

To listen to the audio recording of Simon and Garfunkel singing Paul Simon's song "Richard Cory," click here.

"the dark tree, the cold sea" by Emily Fragos : Poets.org

"People are curious about the you in 'the dark tree, the cold sea.' It need not be a secret. My beloved sister died young of cancer. It is she to whom I am speaking." So says American poet Emily Fragos. To read her poem "the dark tree, the cold sea" and to listen to an audio recording of her reading that poem, click here.

"Last Night We Saw South Pacific" by James Applewhite : Poets.org

"Last Night We Saw South Pacific" is one of the poems in American poet James Applewhite's book A Diary of Altered Light: Poems, a book that was published in 2006 by Louisiana State University Press. To read that poem, click here.

"The hydrangea blooms

its dry blue, burns a brown lavender."

-- James Applewhite

in his poem "Last Night We Saw South Pacific"

"Buffalo Dusk" by Carl Sandburg

"If it ain't poetry, it's history." So said Carl Sandburg about his poem "Buffalo Dusk." To read that poem and to listen to an audio recording of Carl Sandburg reading that poem of his, click here.

Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

The Velveteen Rabbit (1922) is a children's book written by Margery Williams and illustrated by William Nicholson. It is the story of a stuffed rabbit and his desire to become real, through the love of his owner. To read The Velveteen Rabbit in its entirety, click here.

Margery Williams (1881-1944)

English-American author,

primarily of popular children's books

"Choices" by Tess Gallagher : The Poetry Foundation

The poem "Choices" by American poet, essayist, and short-story writer Tess Gallagher is good for children. It is one of my favorite poems about nature. To read that poem, click here.

Tess Gallagher

(Photo by Brian Farrell)

Video: Tess Gallagher's poem "Choices" from Motionpoems

This video, this short film, is Tess Gallagher's contemporary poem "Choices" retold from the filmmaker's perspective. To watch this video, click here.

"Autism Screening Questionnaire -- Speech and Language Delay" by Oliver de la Paz : Poetry Magazine

"Autism Screening Questionnaire -- Speech and Language Delay" is a poem by Asian-American poet Oliver de la Paz in the July/August 2017 issue of Poetry Magazine. In 2010 Oliver de la Paz's son was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. To read that poem and to listen to an audio recording of Oliver de la Paz reading that poem of his, click here.

Oliver de la Paz

(Photo by Caleb Young)

"Rasp" by Maggie Smith : Poets.org

To read the new, unpublished poem "Rasp" by American poet Maggie Smith and to listen to an audio recording of her reading that poem of hers, click here.

Maggie Smith

(Studio 127 Photography)

Two Poems by Henry David Thoreau

"My life has been the poem I would have writ, / But I could not both live and utter it." So wrote American essayist, poet and naturalist Henry David Thoreau in his book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849). On this day two hundred years ago in 1817, Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts. Here are two poems that he did write.


I WAS MADE ERECT AND LONE

I was made erect and lone,
And within me is the bone;
Still my vision will be clear,
Still my life will not be drear,
To the center all is near.
Where I sit there is my throne.
If age choose to sit apart,
If age choose, give me the start,
Take the sap and leave the heart.


MEN SAY THEY KNOW MANY THINGS

Men say they know many things;
But lo! they have taken wings, --
The arts and sciences,
And a thousand appliances;
The wind that blows
Is all that any body knows.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Petula Clark sings "While You See a Chance" (1980) by Steve Winwood and Will Jennings (Live)

Petula Clark - "Sacrifice My Heart" (Official Video)

"In the desert" by Stephen Crane

Here is a short, untitled poem by Stephen Crane, a poem the theme of which is alienation. This short, untitled poem of his was first published in his first collection of poems titled The Black Riders and Other Lines (1895).

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter -- bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
"Because it is bitter,
"And because it is my heart."

Stephen Crane (1871-1900)

American writer

"The Judgment of the Nations": A Poem of Jesus Christ

Here is a poem of Jesus Christ about the Lord's return. This poem is Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats.


THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS
A Poem of Jesus Christ
from the Bible: Matthew 25:31-46 (King James Version)

When the Son of man shall come in his glory,
And all the holy angels with him,
Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations:
And he shall separate them one from another,
As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand,
But the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
"Come, ye blessed of my Father,
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you
From the foundation of the world:
For I was a-hungered, and ye gave me meat:
I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me:
I was sick, and ye visited me:
I was in prison, and ye came unto me."

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
"Lord, when saw we thee a-hungered, and fed thee?
Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?
Or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick,
Or in prison, and came unto thee?"
And the King shall answer and say unto them,
"Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye have done it
Unto one of the least of these my brethren,
Ye have done it unto me."

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
Prepared for the devil and his angels:
For I was a-hungered, and ye gave me no meat:
I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in:
Naked, and ye clothed me not:
Sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not."

Then shall they also answer him, saying,
"Lord, when saw we thee a-hungered, or athirst,
Or a stranger, or naked,
Or sick, or in prison,
And did not minister unto thee?"
Then shall he answer them, saying,
"Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye did it not
To one of the least of these,
Ye did it not to me."
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:
But the righteous into life eternal.

An untitled poem by Emily Dickinson about the United States

Here is an untitled poem that American poet Emily Dickinson wrote about the United States. This poem is in the public domain. It was first published in 1891.


My country need not change her gown,
Her triple suit as sweet
As when 'twas cut at Lexington,
And first pronounced "a fit."

Great Britain disapproves, "the stars";
Disparagement discreet, --
There's something in their attitude
That taunts her bayonet.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

"I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, 1819-1892

"I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear," wrote American poet Walt Whitman in his poem "I Hear America Singing." To read that poem of his in its entirety, click here.

Walt Whitman

Sonnet V from Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"I lift my heavy heart up solemnly," wrote English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning in her love poem Sonnet V in her Sonnets from the Portuguese. To read that classic love poem in its entirety, click here.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806-1861

Wife of English poet Robert Browning (1812-1889)

"Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens

Read this classic poem that is good for children: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens

To read an article about that poem, an article from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, click here.

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)

American poet

Petula Clark sings The Beatles' "Blackbird" by Lennon and McCartney (Official Audio)