Famous Poets& Their Poems

I, too, sing America.I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.They send me to eat in the kitchenWhen company comes,But I laugh,And eat well,And grow strong.

Tomorrow,I'll be at the tableWhen company comes.Nobody'll dareSay to me,"Eat in the kitchen,"Then.

Besides, They'll see how beautiful I amAnd be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Langston Hughes1902-1967

e e cummings1902-1967

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

i carry your heart with me(i carry it inmy heart)i am never without it(anywherei go you go, my dear; and whatever is doneby only me is your doing, my darling) i fearno fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i wantno world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)and it's you are whatever a moon has always meantand whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows(here is the root of the root and the bud of the budand the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which growshigher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

The Road Not TakenTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost1874-1963

I know why the caged bird singsA free bird leaps on the backOf the wind and floats downstream Till the current ends and dips his wing In the orange suns raysAnd dares to claim the sky.

But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cageCan seldom see through his bars of rageHis wings are clipped and his feet are tiedSo he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trillOf things unknown but longed for stillAnd his tune is heard on the distant hill forThe caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breezeAnd the trade winds soft throughThe sighing treesAnd the fat worms waiting on a dawn-brightLawn and he names the sky his own.

But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreamsHis shadow shouts on a nightmare screamHis wings are clipped and his feet are tiedSo he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings withA fearful trill of things unknownBut longed for still and hisTune is heard on the distant hillFor the caged bird sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou1928-present

I’m Nobody! Who are you?I'm Nobody! Who are you?Are you -- Nobody -- Too?Then there's a pair of us!Don't tell! they'd advertise -- you know!

How dreary -- to be -- Somebody!How public -- like a Frog --To tell one's name -- the livelong June --To an admiring Bog!

Emily Dickinson1830-1886

AloneFrom childhood's hour I have not beenAs others were; I have not seenAs others saw; I could not bringMy passions from a common spring.From the same source I have not takenMy sorrow; I could not awakenMy heart to joy at the same tone;And all I loved, I loved alone.Then- in my childhood, in the dawnOf a most stormy life- was drawnFrom every depth of good and illThe mystery which binds me still:From the torrent, or the fountain,From the red cliff of the mountain,From the sun that round me rolledIn its autumn tint of gold,From the lightning in the skyAs it passed me flying by,From the thunder and the storm,And the cloud that took the form(When the rest of Heaven was blue)Of a demon in my view.

Edgar Allen Poe1809-1849

Sonnet 43 – How do I love thee? Let me count the ways

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.I love thee to the depth and breadth and heightMy soul can reach, when feeling out of sightFor the ends of Being and ideal Grace.I love thee to the level of everyday'sMost quiet need, by sun and candle-light.I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.I love thee with the passion put to useIn my old griefs and with my childhood's faith.I love thee with a love I seemed to loseWith my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose,I shall but love thee better after death

Elizabeth Barrett Browning1809-1861

I Wandered Lonely As A CloudI wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o'er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils;Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the milky way,They stretched in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay:Ten thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but theyOut-did the sparkling leaves in glee;A poet could not be but gay,In such a jocund company!I gazed—and gazed—but little thoughtWhat wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lieIn vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eyeWhich is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.

1770-1850

He Wishes For The Cloths Of HeavenHad I the heavens' embroidered cloths,Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark clothsOf 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.

William Butler Yeats1865-1939

The Little Boy and the Old ManSaid the little boy, "Sometimes I drop my spoon."Said the old man, "I do that too."The little boy whispered, "I wet my pants.""I do that too," laughed the little old man.Said the little boy, "I often cry."The old man nodded, "So do I.""But worst of all," said the boy, "it seemsGrown-ups don't pay attention to me."And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand."I know what you mean," said the little old man.

Shel Silverstein1930-1999

I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You by Pablo NerudaI do not love you except because I love you;I go from loving to not loving you,From waiting to not waiting for youMy heart moves from cold to fire.

I love you only because it's you the one I love;I hate you deeply, and hating youBend to you, and the measure of my changing love for youIs that I do not see you but love you blindly.

Maybe January light will consumeMy heart with its cruelRay, stealing my key to true calm.

In this part of the story I am the one whoDies, the only one, and I will die of love because I love you,Because I love you, Love, in fire and blood.

1904-1973

Sonnet XVIII – Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;But thy eternal summer shall

not fadeNor lose possession of that

fair thou owest;Nor shall Death brag thou

wander'st in his shade,When in eternal lines to time

thou growest:So long as men can breathe or

eyes can see,So long lives this and this

gives life to thee.

William Shakespeare 1564-1616

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 brightTheir 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 sightBlind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that 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.

Dylan Thomas1914-1953

YellowLook at the stars,

Look how they shine for you,And everything you do,

Yeah, they were all yellow.I came along,

I wrote a song for you,And all the things you do,And it was called yellow.So then I took my turn,

Oh what a thing to have done,And it was all yellow.

Your skinOh yeah, your skin and bones,Turn into something beautiful,

You know, you know I love you so,You know I love you so.

Coldplay

Why Georgia?I am driving up 85 in theKind of morning that lasts all afternoonI’m just stuck inside the gloom

4 more exits to my apartment butI am tempted to keep the car in driveAnd leave it all behind

Cause I wonder sometimesAbout the outcomeOf a still verdictless lifeAm I living it rightAm I living it rightAm I living it rightWhy, why georgia, why

I rent a room and I fill the spaces withWood in places to make it feel like homeBut all I feel’s alone

It might be a quarter-life crisisOr just the stirring in my soulEither way

I wonder sometimesAbout the outcomeOf a still verdictless lifeAm I living it rightAm I living it rightAm I living it rightWhy, why georgia, why John Mayer

Who’s the poet?There's always that one personThat will always have your heartYou never see it comingCause you're blinded from the startKnow that you're that one for meIt's clear for everyone to seeOoh baby ooh you'll always be my boo

I don't know bout you allBut I know about us and uhIt's the only wayWe know how to rockI don't know bout you allBut I know about us and uhIt's the only wayWe know how to rock

Do you remember girlI was the one who gave you your first kissCause I remember girlI was the one who said put your lips like thisEven before all the fame andPeople screaming your nameGirl I was there when you were my baby

Rapper’s Delighti said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop, a you dont stop

the rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie

to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

now what you hear is not a test--i'm rappin to the beat and me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to

move your feet see i am wonder mike and i like to say hello

to the black, to the white, the red, and the brown, the purple and yellow

but first i gotta bang bang the boogie to the boogie say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie

let's rock, you dont stop rock the riddle that will make your body rock

well so far youve heard my voice but i brought two friends along

and next on the mike is my man hank come on, hank, sing that song

check it out, i'm the c-a-s-an-the-o-v-a and the rest is f-l-y

ya see i go by the code of the doctor of the mix and these reasons i'll tell ya why

ya see i'm six foot one and i'm tons of fun and i dress to a t

ya see i got more clothes than muhammad ali and i dress so viciously