"To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet

 

To My Dear and Loving Husband

If ever two were one, then surely we.

If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;

If ever wife was happy in a man,

Compare with me, ye women, if you can.

I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,

Or all the riches that the East doth hold.

My love is such that rivers cannot quench,

Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.

Thy love is such I can no way repay.

The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.

Then while we live, in love let’s so persever[e]

That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/FBWvV4NZGtc

Who wrote the poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband"

Anne Bradstreet (March 20, 1612 – September 16, 1672)

Anne Bradstreet was the first female poet in British North American colonies who had her works published. Born to a wealthy Puritan family in Northampton, England, she was well educated in history, literature, and several foreign languages from the early childhood. She was married to Simon Bradstreet at the age of 16, and the couple and her parents moved to America with the Puritan emigrants in 1630 and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her husband and her father played an important role in the establishment of Harvard. As a mother of 8 children and the wife and daughter of public officials, she wrote poetry while attending her other duties. The themes of her works include love, nature, Puritan faith, and community. She was also a feminist and free thinker. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 60.

 

"To My Dear and Loving Husband" explanation

 

In the poem, the speaker (the poet herself) expresses her deep and genuine love and gratitude for her husband. She declares no other materialistic things or relationships can be compared to their relationship and their feelings for each other. Based upon her Puritan belief, she expects their love to live forever in the heaven after death. This romantic love poem gives the reader an inspiration as to true conjugal love in this day and age where so many marriages fail.

"Winter Trees" by William Carlos Williams

 

Winter Trees

All the complicated details

of the attiring and

the disattiring are completed!

A liquid moon

moves gently among

the long branches.

Thus having prepared their buds

against a sure winter

the wise trees

stand sleeping in the cold.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/KBeFZtPfPPk

Who wrote the poem "Winter Trees"?

William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963)

William Carlos Williams was an American poet, writer, and physician. As a family doctor and leading poet of Imagist movement, he practiced medicine by day and wrote at night. He was known for his experimental and innovative poetic style while maintaining a remarkably conventional life.

 

"Winter Trees" explanation

In the poem, the speaker watches trees gain and lose their leaves as the season approaches winter and personifies them as if they are human beings getting in and out of clothes. A somewhat surreal, yet friendly and warm atmosphere shows the poet’s affinity with nature.

"Patience Taught by Nature" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

Patience Taught by Nature

“O Dreary life!” we cry, “O dreary life!”

And still the generations of the birds

Sing through our sighing, and the flocks and herds

Serenely live while we are keeping strife

With Heaven’s true purpose in us, as a knife

Against which we may struggle. Ocean girds

Unslackened the dry land: savannah-swards

Unweary sweep: hills watch, unworn; and rife

Meek leaves drop yearly from the forest-trees,

To show, above, the unwasted stars that pass

In their old glory. O thou God of old!

Grant me some smaller grace than comes to these;—

But so much patience, as a blade of grass

Grows by contented through the heat and cold.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/r5b-xzdOnRU

Who wrote the poem "Patience Taught by Nature"?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (March 6, 1806 — June 29, 1861)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an English poet of the Victorian era, famous in England and the U.S. during her lifetime. She was the eldest of 12 children and wrote poetry from 11. She was an avid reader and writer, and Shakespeare was her favorite. From 15, she suffered from frail health due to intense head and spinal pain and lung problems throughout her life. After her 1844 volume "Poems" had a great success, Robert Browning, an English poet and playwright, was inspired to write to her, praising her work. The two met in 1845, fell in love, and soon got married. Their special bond had an important influence on their respective subsequent writings. Her work also had a great influence on famous contemporary writers such as the American poets Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson.

"Patience Taught by Nature" explanation

The poem begins with the speaker’s lament for sufferings of our life. She then proceeds to observe various animals “serenely live” and watch natural phenomena go on continuously, uninterrupted and uninfluenced by human sufferings. She pleads with Godfor the patience of nature, to be contented by such mundane things as “heat and cold.”

"He Wishes for The Cloths of Heaven" by William Butler Yeats

 

He Wishes for The Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths

Of night and light and the half light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/ZuiYL5QRf4I

Who wrote the poem "He Wishes for The Cloths of Heaven"?

William Butler Yeats (June 13, 1865 – January 28, 1939)

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, playwright, prose writer, and is widely considered as one of the greatest poets of the 20^th century. He was born to the Protestant, Anglo-Irish community that considered themselves English people born in Ireland and had largely controlled the economic, political, and social life of Ireland. However, Yeats strongly affirmed his Irish nationality and found inspiration in Irish legends and the occult in his early career. Later his poetry became more physical and realistic. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. 

"He Wishes for The Cloths of Heaven" explanation

In the poem, the speaker expresses his love for his beloved, saying that he would give all the luxuries in the world (symbolized by heavenly cloths of different lights) if he could. But, being poor, he could only offer his dreams. He pleads his beloved to “tread softly” on his dreams, which is delicate and vulnerable. This short and beautiful poem is generally thought to be written for Maud Gonne, the subject of the poet’s lifelong unrequited love.

"Peace" by Bessie Rayner Parkes [story about poem and poet]

 

Peace

THE steadfast coursing of the stars,

The waves that ripple to the shore,

The vigorous trees which year by year

Spread upwards more and more;

 

The jewel forming in the mine,

The snow that falls so soft and light,

The rising and the setting sun,

The growing glooms of night;

 

All natural things both live and move

In natural peace that is their own;

Only in our disordered life

Almost is she unknown.

 

She is not rest, nor sleep, nor death;

Order and motion ever stand

To carry out her firm behests

As guards at her right hand.

 

And something of her living force

Fashions the lips when Christians say

To Him Whose strength sustains the world,

"Give us Thy Peace, we pray!“

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/CFCAQUS_4AM

Who wrote the poem "Peace"?

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.

"Peace" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes various natural phenomena and urges us to appreciate natural peace reflected in them. She notes that peace is not rest, sleep, nor death. It is living while enjoying the life we have and little things we might easily overlook.

"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.