Tag Archives: Lyric Poem

“I have never seen ‘Volcanoes’ –” (175) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

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I have never seen "Volcanoes" --
   But, when Travellers tell
 How those old -- phlegmatic mountains
   Usually so still --

Bear within -- appalling Ordnance,
   Fire, and smoke, and gun,
 Taking Villages for breakfast,
   And appalling Men --

If the stillness is Volcanic
   In the human face
 When upon a pain Titanic
   Features keep their place --

If at length the smouldering anguish
   Wil not overcome ---
 And the palpitating Vineyard
   In the dust, be thrown?

If some loving Antiquary,
   On Resumption Morn,
 Will not cry with joy "Pompeii"!
   To the Hills return!

“Jade Gate Pass” by Wang Wei [w/ Audio]

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Dawn rain has washed the city of its dust;
  The refreshed hotel willows tremble in a gust.
 My friendly advice, you dry up another glass,
  You have no acquaintance beyond The Jade Gate Pass.

“Men Say They Know Many Things” by Henry David Thoreau [w/ Audio]

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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.

Foggy Stream [Lyric]

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A thick cloud nestled into the
   valley down below,
 I wonder if the forager 
   in that streambed knows
   that it's sunny above.

“Afternoon on a Hill” by Edna St. Vincent Millay [w/ Audio]

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I will be the gladdest thing
   Under the sun!
 I will touch a hundred flowers
   And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds
   With quiet eyes,
 Watch the wind bow down the grass,
    And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show
   Up from the town, 
 I will mark which must be mine, 
   And then start down!

“Snowflakes” (45) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]

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I counted till they danced so
   Their slippers leaped the town --
 And then I took a pencil 
   To note the rebels down --
 And then they grew so jolly
   I did resign the prig --
 And ten of my once stately toes
   Are marshalled for a jig!

Nature Reclaims [Lyric Poem]

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All it takes is one thin crack, and
   A fine flurry of blowing seed.
 And nature takes back all that land --
   Wall-to-wall with growing weeds.

Death of a Stout Tree [Common Meter]

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Oh, those high waters are rising;
   They've spilled their banks in flood,
 Slouching toward the Tree of Life:
   Its roots immersed in mud. 

That tree is just so stout & straight --
   Unambitious of height --
 Not man nor beast could knock it down,
    Regardless of their might.

But just a long soak of its roots --
   A gift of too much good --
 And then a well-timed gust of wind
   Will turn that tree to wood.

“Annabel Lee” by Edgar Allan Poe [w/ Audio]

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It was many and many a year ago,
   In a kingdom by the sea,
 That a maiden there lived whom you may know
   By the name of Annabel Lee;
 And this maiden she lived with no other thought
   Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
   In this kingdom by the sea,
 But we loved with a love that was more than love --
   I and my Annabel Lee --
 With a love that the winged seraphs of Heaven
   Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
   In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
   My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
   And bore her away from me,
 To shut her up in a sepulchre
    In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,
   Went envying her and me ---
 Yes! -- that was the reason (as all men know,
   In this kingdom by the sea)
 That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
   Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
   Of those who were older than we --
   Of many far wiser than we --
 And neither the angels in Heaven above
   Nor the demons down under the sea
 Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
 
For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
 And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
   Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
 And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
   Of my darling -- my darling -- my life and my bride,
   In her sepulchre there by the sea --
   In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Days of Wonder [Lyric Poem]

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Some say they miss days of wonder,
   But I think I see their blunder.
 Those thrilling days, they never left;
   It's something of one's soul, bereft.
 That fatal flaw of lacking awe
   Is from not seeing, cause you saw.