"Trees" by Joyce Kilmer

 

Trees

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

 

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

 

A tree that may in Summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

 

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

 

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/RSq24eeP0nE

Who wrote the poem "Trees"?

Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918)

 

Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American poet, journalist, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. His poems often described the beauty of nature and his Roman Catholic faith. He was married to Aline Murray, a famous poet and author herself, in 1908 and had five children. He enlisted in the New York National Guard and was sent to France in 1917. He was killed at the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31. He was considered as one of foremost American Roman Catholic poets of his time.

 

"Trees" explanation

In the poem, the speaker personifies trees to celebrate their natural beauty and praise God for creating them.

"Home And The Office" by Edgar Albert Guest

 

Home And The Office

Home is the place where the laughter should ring,

And man should be found at his best.

Let the cares of the day be as great as they may,

The night has been fashioned for rest.

So leave at the door when the toiling is o'er

All the burdens of worktime behind,

And just be a dad to your girl or your lad--

A dad of the rollicking kind.

 

The office is made for the tasks you must face;

It is built for the work you must do;

You may sit there and sigh as your cares pile up high,

And no one may criticize you;

You may worry and fret as you think of your debt,

You may grumble when plans go astray,

But when it comes night, and you shut your desk tight,

Don't carry the burdens away.

 

Keep daytime for toil and the nighttime for play,

Work as hard as you choose in the town,

But when the day ends, and the darkness descends,

Just forget that you're wearing a frown--

Go home with a smile! Oh, you'll find it worth while;

Go home light of heart and of mind;

Go home and be glad that you're loved as a dad,

A dad of the fun-loving kind.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/KNgbu2ZEE5Q

Who wrote the poem "Home And The Office"?

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.

"Home And The Office" explanation

In the poem, the speaker gives the reader wise advice about having a good and valuable time with your family at home, leaving whatever burdens or worries you may have during the day at work.

"The Rainbow" by Christina Rossetti

 

The Rainbow

Boats sail on the rivers,

And ships sail on the seas;

But clouds that sail across the sky

Are prettier far than these.

 

There are bridges on the rivers,

As pretty as you please;

But the bow that bridges heaven,

And overtops the trees,

And builds a road from earth to sky,

Is prettier far than these.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/Ikw5fFQfE1k

Who wrote the poem "The Rainbow"?

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.

"The rainbow" explanation

In the poem, the speaker makes comparisons between ships/boats and clouds, and bridges and rainbows. She cherishes superior beauty of natural or God-made things compared to man-made things.

"As I Grew Older" by Langston Hughes

 

As I Grew Older

It was a long time ago.

I have almost forgotten my dream.

But it was there then,

In front of me,

Bright like a sun—

My dream.

And then the wall rose,

Rose slowly,

Slowly,

Between me and my dream.

Rose until it touched the sky—

The wall.

Shadow.

I am black.

I lie down in the shadow.

No longer the light of my dream before me,

Above me.

Only the thick wall.

Only the shadow.

My hands!

My dark hands!

Break through the wall!

Find my dream!

Help me to shatter this darkness,

To smash this night,

To break this shadow

Into a thousand lights of sun,

Into a thousand whirling dreams

Of sun!

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/Zw1inijA7K4

Who wrote the poem "As I Grew Older"?

Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967)

 

Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist who pioneered the literary art form called “jazz poetry.” He is also known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Self-admittedly influenced by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman, Hughes is known for insightful portrayals of black life and culture of his time.

"As I Grew Older" explanation

In the poem, the speaker depicts hardships and obstacles he had to face as an African American. However he refuses to stop there and goes on to urge his “dark hands” to break through the wall and find his dream again. The speaker represents and empowers all African Americans whose dreams had to be relinquished because of the racial discrimination and persecution in the early 20^th century America.

 

"The Rainy Day" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

The Rainy Day

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

 

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇 

https://youtu.be/pr8Qrg5UImw

Who wrote the poem "The Rainy Day"?

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.

"The Rainy Day" explanation

In our life, we all face dark and dreary times. The speaker in the poem reminds us that no matter dark and difficult it may seem, it will pass too, and there are always better days to come.

"Desert Places" by Robert Frost

 

Desert Places

Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast

In a field I looked into going past,

And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,

But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

 

The woods around it have it--it is theirs.

All animals are smothered in their lairs.

I am too absent-spirited to count;

The loneliness includes me unawares.

 

And lonely as it is that loneliness

Will be more lonely ere it will be less--

A blanker whiteness of benighted snow

With no expression, nothing to express.

 

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces

Between stars--on stars where no human race is.

I have it in me so much nearer home

To scare myself with my own desert places.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/YYuaxY8w2_E

Who wrote the poem "Desert Places'?

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.

"Desert Places" explanation

In the poem, the speaker (poet himself) uses the fall of the snow and the night as a metaphor to express his own feeling of loneliness and depression. All the empty spaces around him cannot “scare” him because he has much emptier places within himself.

"One Hundred Love Sonnets: xvii" by Pablo Neruda

 

One Hundred Love Sonnets

I don’t love you as if you were a rose of salt, topaz,

or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:

I love you as one loves certain obscure things,

secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

 

I love you as the plant that doesn’t bloom but carries

the light of those flowers, hidden, within itself,

and thanks to your love the tight aroma that arose

from the earth lives dimly in my body.

 

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,

I love you directly without problems or pride:

I love you like this because I don’t know any other way to love,

except in this form in which I am not nor are you,

so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,

so close that your eyes close with my dreams.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem video👇

https://youtu.be/jZXnDFou2OI

Who wrote the poem "One Hundred Love Sonnets: xvii"

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.

"One Hundred Love Sonnets: xvii" explanation

Cien sonetos de amor (“100 Love Sonnets”) is a collection of sonnets written by Neruda, originally published in Argentina in 1959. These beautiful love poems were dedicated to his third and last wife, Matilde Urrutia.

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas

 

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

 

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

 

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

 

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/hbixlKQM3iU

Who wrote the poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"?

Dylan Thomas (October 27, 1914 – November 9, 1953)

Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer. Although he became popular as a poet during his lifetime, he found it difficult to make a living as a writer and had to engage in reading tours and radio broadcasts. He was also known for his roistering lifestyle and drinking habit. His premature death at the age of 39 was due to a collapse after a long drinking bout during his fourth America tour. He is considered as one of the most important Welsh poets of the 20th century.

 

"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" explanation

The main theme of the poem is that we should resist death with all our strength until the last moment. Some have speculated that the poem was written for his sick father, who passed away the year after the poem was first published. Sadly, within 2 years of the poem’s publication, the poet himself, his father, his unborn son would pass away as if the poem foreshadowed it.

"Today" by Thomas Carlyle

 

Today

So here hath been dawning

Another blue Day:

Think wilt thou let it

Slip useless away.

 

Out of Eternity

This new Day is born;

Into Eternity,

At night, will return.

 

Behold it aforetime

No eye ever did:

So soon it forever

From all eyes is hid.

 

Here hath been dawning

Another blue Day:

Think wilt thou let it

Slip useless away.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/J5I_PuK7yk0

Who wrote the poem "Today"?

Thomas Carlyle (December 4, 1795 – February 5, 1881)

Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish historian, essayist, philosopher, mathematician, and teacher. He is known for his argument that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men.” He was a very controversial and enigmatic character, and his reputation ranges widely from cranky, argumentative, and radical to moral, sage, and conservative. His works often attempted to invigorate the human soul and elevate the spirit.

 

"Today" explanation

In the poem, the speaker notes that each and every day is new and significant and urges the reader to not waste it.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost

 

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem video👇

https://youtu.be/U1RLwDYQj_c

Who wrote the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay"?

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.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" explanation

 

In the poem, the speaker talks about the beauty of nature, the inevitability of change or decay, and its transience. In the cycle of nature, the seasons change, and the flowers and leaves wither. All beautiful things in nature will eventually fade away. Likewise, all beautiful and valuable things in life last for so long and will soon disappear. Therefore, we should fully recognize and appreciate the beauty and preciousness of things, people, and moments around us while they are still with us.