"If You Have Seen" by Thomas Moore

 

If You Have Seen

Good reader! if you e'er have seen,

When Phoebus hastens to his pillow

The mermaids, with their tresses green,

Dancing upon the western billow:

If you have seen, at twilight dim,

When the lone spirit's vesper hymn

Floats wild along the winding shore:

If you have seen, through mist of eve,

The fairy train their ringlets weave,

Glancing along the spangled green;--

If you have seen all this and more,

God bless me! what a deal you've seen!

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/GwpgSNi55as

Who wrote the poem "If You Have Seen"?

Thomas Moore (May 28, 1779 – February 25, 1852)

Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, satirist, musician, and political writer. He was a close friend of the famous poets, Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. He graduated Trinity College, Dublin, in 1799 and studied law at Middle Temple in London. He gave up his legal career (against his mother’s hope) to become a full-time writer and became famous as a poet, translator, and musician. Today, he is often considered as the Bard of Ireland and an important figure in the British literature.

"If You Have Seen" explanation

In the poem, the speaker asks the reader if he/she has seen various elements of life, some real and natural, some unreal and imaginative. By describing these intriguing moments, worth noticing to fully appreciate our life and the world, the poet shows his unique perspectives.

"Brown Penny" by William Butler Yeats

 

Brown Penny

I whispered, 'I am too young,'

And then, 'I am old enough';

Wherefore I threw a penny

To find out if I might love.

'Go and love, go and love, young man,

If the lady be young and fair.'

Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,

I am looped in the loops of her hair.

 

O love is the crooked thing,

There is nobody wise enough

To find out all that is in it,

For he would be thinking of love

Till the stars had run away

And the shadows eaten the moon.

Ah, penny, brown penny, brown penny,

One cannot begin it too soon.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/8mrm01sseOE

Who wrote the poem "Brown Penny"?

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. 

"Brown Penny" explanation

The main theme of the poem is love. The speaker tosses a brown penny to see if he is old enough to fall in love. The coin tells him to “go and love.” Yet love is too complicated to be completely understood. The poet shows the inevitable and enigmatic nature of love using the symbol of brown penny.

"Requiescat" by Oscar Wilde

 

REQUIESCAT

Tread lightly, she is near

Under the snow,

Speak gently, she can hear

The daisies grow.

All her bright golden hair

Tarnished with rust,

She that was young and fair

Fallen to dust.

Lily-like, white as snow,

She hardly knew

She was a woman, so

Sweetly she grew.

Coffin-board, heavy stone,

Lie on her breast,

I vex my heart alone,

She is at rest.

Peace, Peace, she cannot hear

Lyre or sonnet,

All my life's buried here,

Heap earth upon it.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/akFA7kFMhXA

Who wrote the poem "Requiescat" ?

Oscar Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900)

Oscar Wilde was an Irish poet, playwright, and journalist. He attended Trinity College and Oxford University and became involved in the newly emerging aesthetic movement. His works include poetry, novels, and plays. His plays in particular became extremely popular in London in the 1890s. He married Constance Lloyd in 1884 and had two sons. At the pinnacle of his success, he began a homosexual affair with Lord Alfred Douglas and was arrested and tried for gross indecency. He was convicted and sentenced to two years’ hard labor, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. He was released with his health and reputation ruined and left for France and never returned. He soon died of meningitis in 1900 at the age of 46.

"Requiescat"  explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes the feelings of sorrow and loss upon the death and burial of a woman. ‘Requiescat’ is a Latin word meaning ‘(may he or she) rest in peace.’ The woman in this poem is thought to be Wilde’s sister, Isola Wilde, who died of fever at the age of 9 (when the poet was just 12). The poem, written in the 1880s before Wilde’s downfall, was his deeply personal response to his little sister’s death. 

"Friends" by Abbie Farwell Brown

 

Friends

How good to lie a little while

And look up through the tree!

The Sky is like a kind big smile

Bent sweetly over me.

 

The Sunshine flickers through the lace

Of leaves above my head,

And kisses me upon the face

Like Mother, before bed.

 

The Wind comes stealing o'er the grass

To whisper pretty things;

And though I cannot see him pass,

I feel his careful wings.

 

So many gentle Friends are near

Whom one can scarcely see,

A child should never feel a fear,

Wherever he may be.

 

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇 

https://youtu.be/n-nd2ps3Llg

Who wrote the poem "Friends"?

Abbie Farwell Brown (August 21, 1871 – March 5, 1927)

Abbie Farwell Brown was an American author and poet. She was born in Boston, as the first of two daughters. (Her sister also became an author and illustrator.) She graduated from the Bowdoin School as valedictorian and attended the Girls’ Latin School, where she contributed to creating school newspaper, The Jabberwock, one of the oldest newspapers in the U.S. She began her literary career at Girls’ Latin School, writing for magazines. Her works include stories for children and poetry for children and adults. She also wrote song lyrics, including (partly) the official song of the Girl Scouts of the USA, “On the Trail.” She died of cancer at the age of 55.

"Friends"  explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes love, joy, and comfort one can feel about natural elements such as sky, sunlight, and wind. The straightforward rhyme scheme and simple texts make some people believe that this poem was intended as a children’s parable.

"Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond" by E.E. Cummings

 

Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond

any experience,your eyes have their silence:

in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,

or which i cannot touch because they are too near

 

your slightest look easily will unclose me

though i have closed myself as fingers,

you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens

(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

 

or if your wish be to close me,i and

my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,

as when the heart of this flower imagines

the snow carefully everywhere descending;

 

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals

the power of your intense fragility:whose texture

compels me with the colour of its countries,

rendering death and forever with each breathing

 

(i do not know what it is about you that closes

and opens;only something in me understands

the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)

nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/McdmbaZJs5Q

Who wrote the poem "Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond"?

E. E. Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962)

E. E. Cummings was an American poet, painter, essayist, and playwright. He is regarded as one of the most important American poets of the 20^th century with his modernist free-form poetry. His works include 2,900 poems, two novels, four plays, and several essays. He wanted to be a poet from childhood and wrote poems daily from age 8 to 22. His poems have idiosyncratic syntax and use lower-case spellings for poetic expressions.

"Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond"  explanation

In the poem, the speaker explores the theme of mutual impact between him and his reader. The reader has the power to open or close the speaker and yet is so fragile and multi-layered. The speaker finds this interaction with his reader very meaningful and precious. The poem also shows the poet’s unusual use of grammar (no capitalization, no periods, and unique use of parenthesis), as if it follows the speaker’s consciousness itself. 

  

"Love's Language" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Love's Language

How does Love speak?

In the faint flush upon the telltale cheek,

And in the pallor that succeeds it; by

The quivering lid of an averted eye--

The smile that proves the parent to a sigh

Thus doth Love speak.

 

How does Love speak?

By the uneven heart-throbs, and the freak

Of bounding pulses that stand still and ache,

While new emotions, like strange barges, make

Along vein-channels their disturbing course;

Still as the dawn, and with the dawn's swift force--

Thus doth Love speak.

 

How does Love speak?

In the avoidance of that which we seek--

The sudden silence and reserve when near--

The eye that glistens with an unshed tear--

The joy that seems the counterpart of fear,

As the alarmed heart leaps in the breast,

And knows, and names, and greets its godlike guest--

Thus doth Love speak.

 

How does Love speak?

In the proud spirit suddenly grown meek--

The haughty heart grown humble; in the tender

And unnamed light that floods the world with splendor;

In the resemblance which the fond eyes trace

In all fair things to one beloved face;

In the shy touch of hands that thrill and tremble;

In looks and lips that can no more dissemble--

Thus doth Love speak.

 

How does Love speak?

In the wild words that uttered seem so weak

They shrink ashamed in silence; in the fire

Glance strikes with glance, swift flashing high and higher,

Like lightnings that precede the mighty storm;

In the deep, soulful stillness; in the warm,

Impassioned tide that sweeps through throbbing veins,

Between the shores of keen delights and pains;

In the embrace where madness melts in bliss,

And in the convulsive rapture of a kiss--

Thus doth Love speak.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/_fpKyHsTxQc

Who wrote the poem "Love's Language"?

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.

"Love's Language" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes various physical and emotional symptoms of falling in love, inviting us readers to think about our own memories of love.

"Loss And Gain" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Loss And Gain

When I compare
What I have lost with what I have gained,
What I have missed with what attained,
Little room do I find for pride.
I am aware
How many days have been idly spent;
How like an arrow the good intent
Has fallen short or been turned aside.
But who shall dare
To measure loss and gain in this wise?
Defeat may be victory in disguise;
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/tu0-8EXyuBA

Who wrote the poem "Loss And Gain"?

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.

"Loss And Gain" explanation

When you feel lost and it seems all hope is lost, that’s when you should stay optimistic, believe in yourself, and keep moving forward. Success is not about not failing. It’s about getting back up when you fall down.

"I dwell in Possibility" by Emily Dickinson

 

I dwell in Possibility

I dwell in Possibility –

 

A fairer House than Prose –

 

More numerous of Windows –

 

Superior – for Doors –

 

 

 

Of Chambers as the Cedars –

 

Impregnable of eye –

 

And for an everlasting Roof

 

The Gambrels of the Sky –

 

 

Of Visitors – the fairest –

 

For Occupation – This –

 

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

 

To gather Paradise –

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/Q9KT8j8VOoo

Who wrote the poem "I dwell 

in Possibility"?

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.

"I dwell in Possibility" explanation

In the poem, the speaker looks into the theme of writing poetry and cherishes its power and enjoyment, as compared with writing prose. The poem also shows the poet’s unique use of dashes and sporadic capitalization.

"In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae

 

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

 

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇 

https://youtu.be/v2yGwj06q3A

Who wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields"?

John McCrae (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918)

John McCrae was a Canadian poet, physician and soldier. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Toronto. He suffered from recurring asthma from his youth. He worked as a physician in many medical institutions including Toronto General Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital. He served in the Boer War in South Africa as an artillery officer in Canadian military and later was promoted to the rank of major. When World War I broke out, he reenlisted in the Canadian Army and was stationed in Ypres, Belgium, in the area known as “Flanders.” During the war, his asthma worsened, and he died from pneumonia in 1918 at the age of 45.

"In Flanders Fields" explanation.

In the poem, the speaker describes poppies blooming around the soldiers’ graves in the field in Flanders, Belgium. He reminds the reader of the lost lives and urges to stand up against the enemies to not let down the fallen. The poet reportedly wrote this poem on the next day after his closest friend’s death in the battlefield of Ypres, Belgium. The poem has been very popular and is still used in Remembrance Day and Memorial Day celebrations in the US, Canada, and Europe.