"The Sorrow of Love" by William Butler Yeats

 

The Sorrow of Love

The brawling of a sparrow in the eaves,

The brilliant moon and all the milky sky,

And all that famous harmony of leaves,

Had blotted out man's image and his cry.

 

A girl arose that had red mournful lips

And seemed the greatness of the world in tears,

Doomed like Odysseus and the labouring ships

And proud as Priam murdered with his peers;

 

Arose, and on the instant clamorous eaves,

A climbing moon upon an empty sky,

And all that lamentation of the leaves,

Could but compose man's image and his cry.

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Who wrote the poem "The Sorrow of Love"?

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. 

"The Sorrow of Love" explanation

In the poem, the speaker brilliantly describes the transition from seemingly calm and beautiful imagery of nature to a gloomy and somber mood with the introduction of human sorrow and pain using tragic mythical imagery. This poem is about Maud Gonne, the poet’s life-long subject of unrequited love.

"For the Man Who Fails" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

 

For the Man Who Fails

The world is a snob, and the man who wins

Is the chap for its money’s worth:

And the lust for success causes half of the sins

That are cursing this brave old earth.

For it ’s fine to go up, and the world’s applause

Is sweet to the mortal ear;

But the man who fails in a noble cause

Is a hero that ’s no less dear.

 

‘T is true enough that the laurel crown

Twines but for the victor’s brow;

For many a hero has lain him down

With naught but the cypress bough.

There are gallant men in the losing fight,

And as gallant deeds are done

As ever graced the captured height

Or the battle grandly won.

 

We sit at life’s board with our nerves highstrung,

And we play for the stake of Fame,

And our odes are sung and our banners hung

For the man who wins the game.

But I have a song of another kind

Than breathes in these fame–wrought gales,—

An ode to the noble heart and mind

Of the gallant man who fails! 

 

The man who is strong to fight his fight,

And whose will no front can daunt,

If the truth be truth and the right be right,

Is the man that the ages want.

Tho’ he fail and die in grim defeat,

Yet he has not fled the strife,

And the house of Earth will seem more sweet

For the perfume of his life.

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Who wrote the poem "For the Man Who Fails"?

Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906)

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Born to parents who were freed slaves from Kentucky, Dunbar began writing stories and poems from 6 and published his first poem at 16. He was the only African-American student at Central High School in Dayton, Ohio. But he was well accepted among students and was elected as president of the school’s literary society, and became the editor of the school newspaper. Dunbar later became one of the first African-American writers to gain an international literary fame. He died from tuberculosis in Dayton, Ohio at 33.

"For the Man Who Fails" explanation

In the poem, the speaker cherishes those unsung heroes who fought worthy fights but failed to win. In his view they are no less dear a hero than winners, if not dearer. We all have noble purposes and are facing our own battles in life. Are you willing to risk failures to pursue noble goals and fight worthy fights?

"Memorabilia" by ROBERT BROWNING

Memorabilia

Ah, did you once see Shelley plain,

And did he stop and speak to you?

And did you speak to him again?

How strange it seems, and new!

 

But you were living before that,

And you are living after,

And the memory I started at—

My starting moves your laughter!

 

I crossed a moor, with a name of its own

And a certain use in the world no doubt,

Yet a hand's-breadth of it shines alone

'Mid the blank miles round about:

 

For there I picked up on the heather

And there I put inside my breast

A moulted feather, an eagle-feather—

Well, I forget the rest.

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "Memorabilia"?

Robert Browning (May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889)

Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright in the Victorian era and was widely known for his dramatic monologues. His father was a bank clerk and assembled a personal library of 6,000 books, which became the foundation of Browning’s education. He married the eminent Victorian poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in 1846, and the couple moved to Italy and lived there until the wife’s death in 1861. He began to attain literary fame in his 50’s and was widely respected in his later years. 

"Memorabilia" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes his encounter with someone who met Percy Bysshe Shelley, the great Romantic poet whom Browning admired but couldn’t meet in person. Although this incident meant a lot to the speaker, the person who met Shelley doesn’t seem to share the excitement. The speaker compares the encounter with picking up an eagle feather walking on a moor, a small remnant of the literary giant’s traces felt through someone else’s short experience.

"A Prayer in Spring" by Robert Frost

 

A Prayer in Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest; keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

 

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;

And make us happy in the happy bees,

The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

 

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

 

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfil.

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Who wrote the poem "A Prayer in Spring"?

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 Prayer in Spring" explanation

In the poem, the speaker asks God to grant some peace and happiness in the present moment in the Spring nature, without worrying about the future.

"Clenched Soul" by Pablo Neruda

 

Clenched Soul

We have lost even this twilight.

No one saw us this evening hand in hand

while the blue night dropped on the world.

 

I have seen from my window

the fiesta of sunset in the distant mountain tops.

 

Sometimes a piece of sun

burned like a coin in my hand.

 

I remembered you with my soul clenched

in that sadness of mine that you know.

 

Where were you then?

Who else was there?

Saying what?

Why will the whole of love come on me suddenly

when I am sad and feel you are far away?

 

The book fell that always closed at twilight

and my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet.

 

Always, always you recede through the evenings

toward the twilight erasing statues.

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Who wrote the poem "Clenched Soul"?

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.

"Clenched Soul" explanation

In the poem, the speaker expresses deep feelings of loneliness and sorrow due to perhaps being far away from his love. His passionate love gives him so much pain because she is not there with him and might be somewhere else far away with someone else.

"To the Spring" by Sir John Davies

 

To the Spring

From “Hymnes of Astræa, in Acrosticke Verse”

 

E ARTH now is green, and heaven is blue,

L ively Spring which makes all new,

I olly Spring, doth enter;

S weet young sun beams do subdue

A ngry, agèd Winter. 

B lasts are mild, and seas are calm,

E very meadow flows with balm,

T he Earth wears all her riches;

H armonious birds sing such a psalm,

A s ear and heart bewitches. 

R eserve (sweet Spring) this Nymph of ours,

E ternal garlands of thy flowers,

G reen garlands never wasting:

I n her shall last our state’s fair Spring,

N ow and for ever flourishing, 

A s long as Heaven is lasting.

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Who wrote the poem "To the Spring"?

Sir John Davies (April, 1569 – December 8, 1626)

John Davies was an English poet, lawyer, and politician. As a renowned lawyer, he served as Attorney General for Ireland and contributed to establishing many legal principles for the British Empire. While concentrating mostly on his political and legal career, he wrote many poems, much of which were sonnets and epigrams. His poetry was largely neglected until 19^th century when T.S. Eliot reexamined his works. He died of apoplexy at the age of 57.

"To the Spring" explanation

In the poem, the speaker cherishes the arrival of Spring and the beauty of nature using vivid imagery and personification.

"To George Sand: A Desire" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 To George Sand: A Desire

Thou large-brained woman and large-hearted man,

Self-called George Sand! whose soul, amid the lions

Of thy tumultuous senses, moans defiance

And answers roar for roar, as spirits can:

I would some mild miraculous thunder ran

Above the applauded circus, in appliance

Of thine own nobler nature's strength and science,

Drawing two pinions, white as wings of swan,

From thy strong shoulders, to amaze the place

With holier light! that thou to woman's claim

And man's, mightst join beside the angel's grace

Of a pure genius sanctified from blame

Till child and maiden pressed to thine embrace

To kiss upon thy lips a stainless fame.

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "To George Sand: A Desire"?

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.

"To George Sand: A Desire" explanation

This poem is about the French female poet, Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin who wrote under the pen name of George Sand. The speaker praises the quality of her work and appreciates the greatness of her accomplishments. 

"The Brain is Wider than the Sky" by Emily Dickinson

 

The Brain is Wider than the Sky

The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

For—put them side by side—

The one the other will contain

With ease—and You—beside—

The Brain is deeper than the sea—

For—hold them—Blue to Blue—

The one the other will absorb—

As Sponges—Buckets—do—

 

The Brain is just the weight of God—

For—Heft them—Pound for Pound—

And they will differ—if they do—

As Syllable from Sound—

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poem video👇 

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Who wrote the poem "The Brain is Wider than the Sky"?

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.

"The Brain is Wider than the Sky" explanation

In the poem, the speaker compares the human brain with the sky, the sea, and God. By doing so, she cherishes the wonder of the human mind and the complexity of the human experience.