"Echo" by Christina Rossetti

 

Echo

Come to me in the silence of the night;

Come in the speaking silence of a dream;

Come with soft rounded cheeks and eyes as bright

As sunlight on a stream;

Come back in tears,

O memory, hope, love of finished years.

 

O dream how sweet, too sweet, too bitter sweet,

Whose wakening should have been in Paradise,

Where souls brimfull of love abide and meet;

Where thirsting longing eyes

Watch the slow door

That opening, letting in, lets out no more.

 

Yet come to me in dreams, that I may live

My very life again though cold in death:

Come back to me in dreams, that I may give

Pulse for pulse, breath for breath:

Speak low, lean low

As long ago, my love, how long ago.

Enjoy this poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/ZakHrrDiGOk

Who wrote the poem "Remember"?

Christina Rossetti (December 5, 1830 ~ December 29, 1894)

Christina Rossetti was an English poet who was lauded as one of the foremost female poets of the 19th-century Victorian era. She wrote romantic, devotional, and children's poems, marked by symbolism and intense feeling. Her literary status was often compared to that of Elizabeth Barren Browning, and upon Browning's death in 1861, Rossetti was hailed as Browning's rightful successor. She opposed slavery, cruelty to animals, and the exploitation of girls in under-age prostitution. Rossetti suffered from Graves' disease in the later decades of her life. In 1893, she was diagnosed of breast cancer and died of a recurrence in 1894.

"Echo" Explanation

In the poem, the speaker expresses her longing for the loved one who passed away long ago. The only way for the speaker to meet the lost love is to see him in her dreams. But, those dreams are just like an echo, a remnant of the past memories. The unique atmosphere of the poem, combining somberness and loneliness, is augmented by the poet’s effective use of alliteration, euphony, and metaphor.

"A Light exists in Spring" by Emily Dickinson

 

A Light exists in Spring

A Light exists in Spring

Not present on the Year

At any other period --

When March is scarcely here

 

A Color stands abroad

On Solitary Fields

That Science cannot overtake

But Human Nature feels.

 

It waits upon the Lawn,

It shows the furthest Tree

Upon the furthest Slope you know

It almost speaks to you.

 

Then as Horizons step

Or Noons report away

Without the Formula of sound

It passes and we stay --

 

A quality of loss

Affecting our Content

As Trade had suddenly encroached

Upon a Sacrament.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/Tg0y29kEbaw

Who wrote the poem "A Light exists in Spring"?

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson 

(December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet who was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. She spent most of her adult life at the family home in isolation, attending to her ill mother. Introverted and timid, she never married or sought a permanent romantic relationship all her life. Although she wrote nearly 1,800 poems during her lifetime, her poetry was largely misunderstood or underrated while she was alive. Her poems were quite original and disregarded many conventional rules, containing short lines, typically lacking titles, and often using imperfect rhyme and odd-looking syntax. Her poetry however captures universal feelings in a simple sentence with unique but resonating metaphors and reflects the poet’s lively, imaginative, and dynamic inner world. Her poetic genius began to be appreciated only after her death when her sister published her works. Now Dickinson is regarded as one of the most important American poets.

"A Light Exists in Spring" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes a particular light that can only be seen in early Spring in a calm and serene manner. This seemingly beautiful yet simple nature poem, however, has a deeper philosophical and religious connotation about the cycle of light and dark, day and night, life and death, etc.

"To My Mother" by Edgar Allan Poe

 

To My Mother

Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,

The angels, whispering to one another,

Can find, among their burning terms of love,

None so devotional as that of “Mother,”

Therefore by that dear name I long have called you—

You who are more than mother unto me,

And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you

In setting my Virginia's spirit free.

My mother—my own mother, who died early,

Was but the mother of myself; but you

Are mother to the one I loved so dearly,

And thus are dearer than the mother I knew

By that infinity with which my wife

Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/CT0Ow4mX0rc

Who wrote the poem "To My Mother"?

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849)

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. He is best known for his poetry as a central figure of Romanticism in the US and short stories as an important contributor in such emerging genres as mystery, detective fiction, and science fiction. He was also the first well-known professional writer, unfortunately resulting in a financially difficult career. Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809, but his father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. He was raised as a foster child by John and Francis Allan in Virginia. His academic excellence was marred by his bad habits, and he had to leave the University of Virginia when his foster father refused to pay his gambling debts. In 1827, Poe joined the US Army and published his first collection of poems. Later he quit his military career, changed his focus to prose, and became editors of literary journals. In 1836, he married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. After she died of tuberculosis in 1847, Poe’s depression and alcoholism got worse. Although he died in 1849 at age 40, the cause of his death is unknown and still controversial among disease, alcoholism, substance abuse, suicide, and others.

"To My Mother" explanation

The poem was published in July of 1849 right before Poe’s death. It is a devotional sonnet in which the poet expresses his feelings for his wife, Virginia and her mother. The poem begins with the speaker emphasizing the importance of the term “mother.” The speaker then says the mother of his wife is more important to him than his own biological mother, who died early. He feels so because his love for the mother of his wife comes from the infinity of the love he feels for his wife, Virginia. Through the love for Virginia’s mother, the poet expresses his infinite love for the late wife.

"Time Does Not Bring Relief" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

 

Time Does Not Bring Relief

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied

Who told me time would ease me of my pain!

I miss him in the weeping of the rain;

I want him at the shrinking of the tide;

The old snows melt from every mountain-side,

And last year’s leaves are smoke in every lane;

But last year’s bitter loving must remain

Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.

There are a hundred places where I fear

To go,—so with his memory they brim.

And entering with relief some quiet place

Where never fell his foot or shone his face

I say, “There is no memory of him here!”

And so stand stricken, so remembering him.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/9IoZe8P8ZJ4

Who wrote the poem "Time Does Not Bring Relief"?

Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 - October 19, 1950)

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet, playwright, political activist, and feminist. Her rebellious viewpoints were reflected in both her works and her uninhibited lifestyle involving many passing relationships with both sexes. As a well known feminist of her time, she inspired a generation of American women. She became the first female to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 1923. She died from a heart attack at the age of 58 and is buried alongside her husband in Austerlitz, New York.

"Time Does Not Bring Relief" explanation

The poem tells of an emotionally hurt woman, seeking relief from heartbreak. The poem begins with the speaker complaining to the reader about their lies that time would ease her pain from the past heartbreak. Any pain she feels for her lost lover would not fade away. Rather, her longing for him is everywhere with her heart and mind obsessed with the loss, regardless of physical settings and situations.

"Only A Dad" by Edgar Albert Guest

 

Only A Dad

Only a dad, with a tired face,

Coming home from the daily race,

Bringing little of gold or fame,

To show how well he has played the game,

But glad in his heart that his own rejoice

To see him come, and to hear his voice.

 

Only a dad, with a brood of four,

One of ten million men or more.

Plodding along in the daily strife,

Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,

With never a whimper of pain or hate,

For the sake of those who at home await.

 

Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,

Merely one of the surging crowd

Toiling, striving from day to day,

Facing whatever may come his way,

Silent, whenever the harsh condemn,

And bearing it all for the love of them.

 

Only a dad, but he gives his all

To smooth the way for his children small,

Doing, with courage stern and grim,

The deeds that his father did for him.

This is the line that for him I pen,

Only a dad, but the best of men.

 

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/SupyAKXIpqw

Who wrote the poem "Only A Dad"?

Edgar Albert Guest (August 20, 1881 ~ August 5, 1959)

Edgar Albert Guest was a Britishborn American poet who was popular in the first half of the 20th century. He wrote 11,000 poems which were syndicated in 300 newspapers. He became known as the People's Poet because his poems were easy to read and had an inspirational and optimistic view of everyday life with such themes as family, work, children, and God.

"Only A Dad" explanation

In the poem, the speaker talks about a father’s self-sacrifice and self-control, following his own father’s footsteps. Although he may be only a dad, one in ten millions and more, neither rich nor proud, he is the very best man in the world to his children, his wife, his family.

"Remember" by Christina Rossetti

 

Remember

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand,

Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.

Remember me when no more day by day

You tell me of our future that you plann'd:

Only remember me; you understand

It will be late to counsel then or pray.

Yet if you should forget me for a while

And afterwards remember, do not grieve:

For if the darkness and corruption leave

A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,

Better by far you should forget and smile

Than that you should remember and be sad.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem video👇

https://youtu.be/caXNO2JFsCg

Who wrote the poem "Remember"?

Christina Rossetti (December 5, 1830 ~ December 29, 1894)

Christina Rossetti was an English poet who was lauded as one of the foremost female poets of the 19th-century Victorian era. She wrote romantic, devotional, and children's poems, marked by symbolism and intense feeling. Her literary statue was often compared to that of Elizabeth Barren Browning, and upon Browning's death in 1861, Rossetti was hailed as Browning's rightful successor. She opposed slavery, cruelty to animals, and the exploitation of girls in under-age prostitution. Rossetti suffered from Graves' disease in the later decades of her life. In 1893, she was diagnosed of breast cancer and died of a recurrence in 1894.

"Remember" explanation

Rossetti wrote this poem when she was 19 years old. In the poem, the speaker asks the reader (her beloved) to remember her after her death. Near the end of the poem, however, the speaker changes her mind and allows him to forget her if remembering her would make him sad. Although she is scared of being forgotten after death, she would rather her beloved be happy than maintain her memory with sorrow.

"A Day of Sunshine" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

A Day of Sunshine

O gift of God! O perfect day:

Whereon shall no man work, but play;

Whereon it is enough for me,

Not to be doing, but to be!

 

Through every fibre of my brain,

Through every nerve, through every vein,

I feel the electric thrill, the touch

Of life, that seems almost too much.

 

I hear the wind among the trees

Playing celestial symphonies;

I see the branches downward bent,

Like keys of some great instrument.

 

And over me unrolls on high

The splendid scenery of the sky,

Where though a sapphire sea the sun

Sails like a golden galleon,

 

Towards yonder cloud-land in the West,

Towards yonder Islands of the Blest,

Whose steep sierra far uplifts

Its craggy summits white with drifts.

 

Blow, winds! and waft through all the rooms

The snow-flakes of the cherry-blooms!

Blow, winds! and bend within my reach

The fiery blossoms of the peach!

 

O Life and Love! O happy throng

Of thoughts, whose only speech is song!

O heart of man! canst thou not be

Blithe as the air is, and as free?

 

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/MgmLaerOv54

Who wrote the poem "A Day of Sunshine"?

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)

 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator. He was one of the most famous American poets of the 19th century, both domestically and internationally, and was one of the few American writers honored in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine (then still part of Massachusetts). He studied at Bowdoin College and became a professor there and later at Harvard University. His poems were known for their musicality, often including stories of mythology and legend.

"A Day of Sunshine" explanation

In the poem, the speaker celebrates the beauty of one particular sunny day. He celebrates the sky, sea, clouds, mountains, and winds. The poem demonstrates the poet’s love for nature through his masterful use of such literary devices as simile, imagery, and caesura.

"Death Is Nothing At All" by Henry Scott Holland

 

Death Is Nothing At All

Death is nothing at all.

It does not count.

I have only slipped away into the next room.

Nothing has happened.

 

Everything remains exactly as it was.

I am I, and you are you,

and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.

Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

 

Call me by the old familiar name.

Speak of me in the easy way which you always used.

Put no difference into your tone.

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

 

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.

Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.

 

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same as it ever was.

There is absolute and unbroken continuity.

What is this death but a negligible accident?

 

Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

I am but waiting for you, for an interval,

somewhere very near,

just round the corner.

 

All is well.

Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost.

One brief moment and all will be as it was before.

How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

 

Enjoy this poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/sRrERstTnIk

Who wrote the poem "Death Is Nothing At All"?

Henry Scott Holland (January 27, 1847 – March 17, 1918)

Henry Scott Holland was Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford and a canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral. He was deeply interested in social justice and formed a group called PESEK (Politics, Economics, Socialism, Ethics, and Christianity), which blamed capitalist exploitation for urban poverty. He also founded the Christian Social Union to provide direction to various social reforms.

"Death Is Nothing At All" explanation

This passage was not intended as a poem but was a part of a sermon by Holland in May 1910, delivered at St. Paul’s Cathedral after the death of King Edward VII. In the sermon, titled “Death the King of Terrors,” Holland talked about contradictory perceptions to death: the fear of the unknown and the belief in continuity. From his discussion of the latter was drawn this famous passage, “Death is Nothing at All.”

"Hope Is The Thing With Feathers" by Emily Dickinson

 

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers

'Hope' is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words—

And never stops—at all—

 

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—

And sore must be the storm—

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm—

 

I've heard it in the chillest land—

And on the strangest Sea—

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb—of Me.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/xhU3PEUsCts

Who wrote the poem "Hope Is The Thing With Feathers"?

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet who was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. She spent most of her adult life at the family home in isolation, attending to her ill mother. Introverted and timid, she never married or sought a permanent romantic relationship all her life. Although she wrote nearly 1,800 poems during her lifetime, her poetry was largely misunderstood or underrated while she was alive. Her poems were quite original and disregarded many conventional rules, containing short lines, typically lacking titles, and often using imperfect rhyme and odd-looking syntax. Her poetry however captures universal feelings in a simple sentence with unique but resonating metaphors and reflects the poet’s lively, imaginative, and dynamic inner world. Her poetic genius began to be appreciated only after her death when her sister published her works. Now Dickinson is regarded as one of the most important American poets.

"Hope Is The Thing With Feathers" explanation

This is one of the best known of Emily Dickenson’s poems. The poet likens hope to a feathered bird that perches in everyone’s soul. (Dickinson loved birds.) And the bird keeps singing to inspire even when times get rough. No matter how difficult the circumstances, we all have hope within ourselves to help us overcome the worst adversities.

"Pray To What Earth" by Henry David Thoreau

 

Pray To What Earth

Pray to what earth does this sweet cold belong,

Which asks no duties and no conscience?

The moon goes up by leaps, her cheerful path

In some far summer stratum of the sky,

While stars with their cold shine bedot her way.

The fields gleam mildly back upon the sky,

And far and near upon the leafless shrubs

The snow dust still emits a silver light.

Under the hedge, where drift banks are their screen,

The titmice now pursue their downy dreams,

As often in the sweltering summer nights

The bee doth drop asleep in the flower cup,

When evening overtakes him with his load.

By the brooksides, in the still, genial night,

The more adventurous wanderer may hear

The crystals shoot and form, and winter slow

Increase his rule by gentlest summer means.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/gwxTEdfwN3Y

Who wrote the poem "Pray To What Earth"?

Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)

Henry David Thoreau was an American poet, essayist, naturalist, and philosopher. He was a leading transcendentalist and is best known for this book “Walden,” a personal reflection upon simple living in nature. His writings display a unique combination of a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and attention to practical detail. Thoreau was a lifelong abolitionist, and he pioneered modern-day environmentalism. His political philosophy of civil disobedience, which argued for disobedience to an unjust state, later greatly influenced such historical figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. He died of tuberculosis at 44.

 

"Pray To What Earth" explanation

In the poem, the speaker depicts the beauty of nature using such literary devices as personification and imagery.

"Music" by Bessie Rayner Parkes

 

Music

Sweet melody amidst the moving spheres
Breaks forth, a solemn and entrancing sound,
A harmony whereof the earth's green hills
Give but the faintest echo; yet is there
A music everywhere, and concert sweet!
All birds which sing amidst the forest deep
Till the flowers listen with unfolded bells;
All winds that murmur over summer grass,
Or curl the waves upon the pebbly shore;
Chiefly all earnest human voices rais'd
In charity and for the cause of truth,
Mingle together in one sacred chord,
And float, a grateful incense, up to God.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/FC7YrL3_gG8

Who wroth the poem "Music"?

Bessie Rayner Parkes (June 16, 1829 – March 23, 1925)

Bessie Rayner Parkes was an English poet, essayist, and journalist. She was one of the most important English feminists and campaigners for women’s rights in Victorian times. Parkes was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England to caring, affluent parents, who were avid consumers of the arts. Having been exposed to the cultured life as a child, Parkes developed passion for writing. She also became aware of the unjust situation of women in England and later greatly contributed to improvement of women’s status through her activism. She was a devout Christian, and her faith influenced greatly her political and literary life. At 38, Parkes fell in love with Louis Belloc, a Frenchman of feeble health, got married, and had two children. 5 years later, her husband suddenly died of sunstroke, and she never got over her husband’s death. After the marriage and the death of her husband, her active involvement of organized feminist movements abated. She continued writing, and died in 1925, aged 95.

"Music" explanation

In this simple and beautiful poem, the speaker describes a concert created by nature for any attentive listeners.