"A Birthday" By Christina Rossetti [Inspirational poem]

 

A Birthday

My heart is like a singing bird

Whose nest is in a water’d shoot;

My heart is like an apple-tree

Whose boughs are bent with thickset fruit;

My heart is like a rainbow shell

That paddles in a halcyon sea;

My heart is gladder than all these

Because my love is come to me.

 

 

Raise me a dais of silk and down;

Hang it with vair and purple dyes;

Carve it in doves and pomegranates,

And peacocks with a hundred eyes;

Work it in gold and silver grapes,

In leaves and silver fleurs-de-lys;

Because the birthday of my life

Is come, my love is come to me.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/835aEaaF820

Who wrote the poem "A Birthday"?

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.

"A Birthday" explanation

In the poem, the speaker expresses her excitement and joy for the birthday of her “life.” It is one of the poet’s most popular poems and today is often used in greeting cards and wedding invitations. There can also be religious interpretations given the poet’s devout faith in Christianity. “Life” here can mean various things: her beloved, the Easter, the arrival of spring, or ‘The Second Coming of Christ.’

"Life Is What We Make It" by Edgar Albert Guest [Powerful Life Poetry]

 

Life Is What We Make It

 

Life is a jest;

Take the delight of it.

Laughter is best;

Sing through the night of it.

Swiftly the tear

And the hurt and the ache of it

Find us down here;

Life must be what we make of it.

 

Life is a song;

 

Dance to the thrill of it.

Grief's hours are long,

And cold is the chill of it.

Joy is man's need;

Let us smile for the sake of it.

This be our creed:

Life must be what we make of it.

 

Life is a soul;

The virtue and vice of it,

 

Strife for a goal,

And man's strength is the price of it.

Your life and mine,

The bare bread and the cake of it

End in this line:

Life must be what we make of it.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/jVkvLPlI8zA

Who wrote the poem "Life Is What We Make It"?

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.

"Life Is What We Make It" explanation

In our life, there are both positive things and negative things. We can either focus on positive things and keep moving forward or be frustrated by various obstacles and adversities. The poem teaches us that it is up to us to choose the path.

"She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron

 

She Works in Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

 

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

 

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem video👇

https://youtu.be/SQyU2HO0X00

Who wrote the poem "She Walks in Beauty"?

George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron) (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824)

George Gordon Byron, a.k.a. Lord Byron, was an English poet and politician. He was one of the leading figures of Romantic Movement (attempts to dispel the effects of scientific, rational trend and to restore magic and wonder to the humanistic world) and often considered as one of the greatest English poets. He travelled extensively across Europe, which inspired most of his works. He fought in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire and was revered as a national hero by the Greeks. He died at the age of 36 from a fever contracted during the war.

 

"She Walks in Beauty" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes his awe at a woman’s (almost divine) beauty. Byron was exiled from England due to rumors about his scandalous affairs, including one with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh. This poem was rumored to be an ode to her. Some scholars believe that Byron wrote this poem after he met his cousin Mrs. John Wilmont at a funeral.

"The World is Too Much With Us" by William Wordsworth [Story about poem and poet]

 

The World is Too Much With Us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

 

It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/3iWeSU7oRjE

Who wrote the poem "The World is Too Much With Us"?

William Wordsworth  (April 7, 1770 – April 23, 1850)

William Wordsworth was an English poet who pioneered the Romantic Movement with his close friend and fellow poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He famously defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” Using the ordinary language “really used by men,” he wrote beautiful poetry with sweet imagery, often based around the natural world. He suffered from depression, which was reflected in somber undertones in his poems. He was the Poet Laureate for Queen Victoria from 1843 until his death from pleurisy in 1850.

"The World is Too Much with Us" explanation

In the poem, the speaker laments that most people are overly obsessed with earthly concerns such as money, possessions, and power and lose sight of true beauties in nature. He then urges the reader to appreciate and enjoy nature (the sea, the wind, and the flowers) more.

"Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden [Family Quotes and Poem]

 

Those Winter Sundays

Sundays too my father got up early

And put his clothes on in the blue black cold,

Then with cracked hands that ached

from labor in the weekday weather made

banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

 

I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breking.

when the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress,

fearing the chronic angers of that house,

 

Speaking indifferently to him,

who had driven out the cold

and polished my good shoes as well.

What did I know, what did I know

of love’s austere and lonely offices?

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/5IgtMfErsOg

Who wrote the poem ""Those Winter Sundays"?

Robert Hayden (August 4, 1913 – February 25, 1980)

Robert Hayden was an American poet, essayist, and educator. He was the first African American Consultant of Poetry for the United States Congress (U.S. Poet Laureate) from 1976 to 1978. His works often demonstrated his interest in African American history.

 

"Those Winter Sundays" explanation

In the poem, the speaker recollects some memories of his father. His father used to wake up early on wintry Sundays “too” to light up the fire with his cracked hands for the comfort of his family, but no one ever thanked him for that. The speaker, perhaps as an adult, now understands his father’s struggle and regrets his ungrateful and indifferent attitude. The poem reminds us of the sacrifices our parents have made for us. The poem also displays somewhat darker undertone, for the tensions between the father and the son, created by misunderstanding and/or “chronic angers,” might not have been healed.

"Beautiful Dreamer" by Stephen Collins Foster [Love song lyrics | Story about poet and poem]

 

Beautiful Dreamer

Beautiful dreamer, wake unto me,

Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee;

Sounds of the rude world heard in the day,

Lull’d by the moonlight have all pass’d away!

 

Beautiful dreamer, queen of my song,

List while I woo thee with soft melody;

Gone are the cares of life’s busy throng,

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

 

Beautiful dreamer, out on the sea,

Mermaids are chanting the wild lorelei;

Over the streamlet vapors are borne,

Waiting to fade at the bright coming morn.

 

Beautiful dreamer, beam on my heart,

E’en as the morn on the streamlet and sea;

Then will all clouds of sorrow depart,

Beautiful dreamer, awake unto me!

Enjoy the "Beautiful Dreamer."

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/EkFcb0LuKAQ

Who wrote the lyrics?

Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826 – January 13, 1864)

Stephen Collins Foster was an American songwriter, often called “the father of American music.” He wrote more than 200 songs, including “Oh! Susanna,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” “Old Black Joe,” and “Beautiful Dreamer.” He has been considered as the most famous songwriter of the 19^th century.

 

"Beautiful Dreamer" explanation

The main themes of the poem are love, beauty, and creativity. The speaker talks to a beautiful dreamer (perhaps his beloved) about different beauties of nature, saying that she is the true inspiration for his songs. This song lyric was written several months before Foster’s death in his destitution and poor health, and has become one of his most beloved ballads.

"A Time to Talk" by Robert Frost [Friendship Poem]

 

A Time to Talk

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk,

I don't stand still and look around

On all the hills I haven't hoed,

And shout from where I am, 'What is it?'

No, not as there is a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,

Blade-end up and five feet tall,

And plod: I go up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/1S0HG2mdodw

Who wrote the poem "A Time to Talk"?

Robert Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963)

Robert Frost was an American poet who was born in San Francisco, California. Frost’s life was marked by grief and loss. When he was 11, his father died of tuberculosis, leaving just eight dollars. Frost’s mother died of cancer when he was 26. Mental illness ran in his family. He and his mother suffered from depression, and his sister and his daughter were committed to mental hospitals. Using realistic depictions of rural life, his poems often examined complex social and philosophical themes. Frost’s first book was published at the age of 40, but he ended up winning four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and becoming the most famous poet of his time.

"A Time to Talk" explanation

The main message of the poem is that treating your friend well and maintaining a friendship is more important than your work or livelihood. The speaker describes a situation where his friend visits and calls to him from the road while he is working on the field. He sets aside his work and walks to his friend, reminding the reader of the importance of friendship.

"O Me! O Life!" by Walt Whitman [in the film 'Dead Poets Society]

 

O Me! O Life!

Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,

Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,

Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)

Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,

Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,

Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,

The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?

 

Answer.

 

That you are here—that life exists and identity,

That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

Enjoy the poem with inspirational music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/AYS7o3qGf3Q

Who wrote the poem "O Me! O Life!" ?

Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892)

Walt Whitman was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. Whitman is one of the most important American poets, often called the father of free verse. His major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 at his own expense and became popular and controversial due to its overt sensuality. Whitman greatly admired Abraham Lincoln, and on Lincoln’s death, he wrote famous poems, “O Captain! My Captain!” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman “America’s poet… He is America.”

 

"O Me! O Life!" explanation

In the first stanza, the speaker talks about negative elements of life in metaphor. In the second stanza, the speaker presents good elements of life for a strong contrast. With far more negative elements discussed than positive elements, the reader is noted that, although good things in life are so rare compared to bad things, embracing them could lead to a “life” worth experiencing.

"Sea Fever" by John Masefield [ Inspirational Ocean Quotes | Ocean poem ]

 

"Sea Fever" by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

 

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

 

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/KfI3f8aEMzc

Who wrote the poem "Sea Fever"?

John Masefield (June 1, 1878 – May 12, 1967)

John Masefield was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the U.K., an honorary position appointed by the monarch from 1930 until 1967. After attending the King’s School in Warwick between 1888 and 1891, he boarded HMS Conway (a naval training school ship) and spent several years sailing on the sea, during which he developed his love for the sea and its creatures and his passion for writing.

 

"Sea Fever" explanation

In the poem, the speaker talks about his love for the sea and desire for adventurous and exploratory life on the sea. This is one of the poet’s best known poems, famous for wanderlust and love for nature.

 

"When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes" by Pablo Neruda

 

When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes

When I die I want your hands on my eyes:

I want the light and the wheat of your beloved hands

to pass their freshness over me one more time

to feel the smoothness that changed my destiny.

 

I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep,

I want for your ears to go on hearing the wind,

for you to smell the sea that we loved together

and for you to go on walking the sand where we walked.

 

I want for what I love to go on living

and as for you I loved you and sang you above everything,

for that, go on flowering, flowery one,

 

so that you reach all that my love orders for you,

so that my shadow passes through your hair,

so that they know by this the reason for my song.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/ObHBSqKqtHE

Who wrote the poem "When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes"?

Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973)

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He wrote in various styles, including surrealist poems and passionate love poems. After Neruda experienced Spanish Civil War as a diplomat in Spain, he became a devoted Communist for the rest of his life. Neruda is often called one of the greatest poets of the 20^th century.

 

"When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes" explanation

 

In the poem, the speaker asks his lover, after he passes, not to mourn his death but to remember him and continue to live her life.

"Have You Earned Your Tomorrow" by Edgar Albert Guest

 

Have You Earned Your Tomorrow

Is anybody happier because you passed his way?

Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?

This day is almost over, and its toiling time is through;

Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?

 

Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along?

Or a churlish sort of "Howdy" and then vanish in the throng?

Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way,

Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?

 

Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that's slipping fast,

That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed?

Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said;

Does a man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?

 

Did you waste the day, or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?

Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?

As you close your eyes in slumber do you think that God would say,

You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?

Enjoy the poem with inspirational music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/rzt_KtxpzXI

Who wrote the poem "Have You Earned Your Tomorrow" ?

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.

"Have You Earned Your Tomorrow" explanation

The poem, most likely written by Edgar A. Guest, was first published in the Detroit Free Press around 1916. There are different versions of the poem with different authorship and different titles such as “The Day’s Results,” “The Day’s Work,” “At Day’s End,” and “Is Anybody Happier.” This simple yet uplifting poem reminds the reader the importance of each and every day in our life and the need to do something meaningful everyday.

"Solitude" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Solitude

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone;

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;

Sigh, it is lost on the air;

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

But shrink from voicing care.

 

Rejoice, and men will seek you;

Grieve, and they turn and go;

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

But they do not need your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;

Be sad, and you lose them all,

There are none to decline your nectared wine,

But alone you must drink life's gall.

 

Feast, and your halls are crowded;

Fast, and the world goes by.

Succeed and give, and it helps you live,

But no man can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure

For a large and lordly train,

But one by one we must all file on

Through the narrow aisles of pain.

 

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem video👇

https://youtu.be/Gvp_AErAaHI

Who wrote the poem "Solitude?"

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919)

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet who wrote “Solitude,” which contains the famous lines “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” Popular among people rather than among literary critics, she often displayed in her poems cheerful and optimistic sentiments in plain and rhyming words. After she married Robert Wilcox in 1884, the couple became interested in spiritualism and promised each other that whoever died first would return and communicate with the other. After her husband died in 1916 after over 30 years of marriage, she was overwhelmed by grief and waited long to hear from her deceased husband in vain. She also believed in reincarnation. She died of cancer in 1919.

"Solitude" explanation

 

In the poem, the speaker describes the relationship between one’s attitude toward life and other people’s reaction to it. If you maintain a positive outlook on life, then others will be attracted to you and gather around you. In contrast, if you have a negative attitude toward life, then others will avoid you and you’ll have to face the pain alone. People in general already have enough sufferings of their own and don’t need unhappiness from others. They tend to flock around someone who is happy because it may make them happy too. The poem was inspired by Wilcox’s encounter with a sorrowful widow when she was travelling to Madison, Wisconsin, to attend the Governor’s inaugural ball. The young widow dressed in black was crying and Wilcox tried to comfort her throughout the journey, which made her so exhausted and unhappy that she could barely attend the event. When she looked at her own face in the mirror, she recalled the sorrowful widow and wrote the opening lines of “Solitude.”

"God’s Grandeur" by Gerard Manley Hopkins

 

God’s Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

 

And for all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/YkVyD-Jo1-0

Who wrote the poem "God's Grandeur"?

Gerard Manley Hopkins (July 28, 1844 – June 8, 1889)

Gerard Manley Hopkins was an English poet and Jesuit priest and is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era. He never published his poems during his lifetime. His friend poet, Robert Bridges, published his poems after his death. His poetry was famous for its inventiveness and rich aural patterning. He often praised God through vivid use of imagery and nature in his poems.

 

"God’s Grandeur" explanation

The poem talks about the relationship between the divine world and the world of nature. The speaker praises God for restoring the world destroyed by human greed. On the other hand, he criticizes man’s insensitivity to the damages upon nature caused by shallow materialism.